The Taiyuan Ancient Mosque, originally called Qingxiu Mosque, is located in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. According to the epigraph on the stele built in 1876, the mosque was first established at the end of the 8th century in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Then it underwent several reconstructions after the 11th century. The existing buildings were mainly built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The mosque has two courtyards and features the traditional Chinese architectural style. The main buildings include the gate, theXingxinpavilion, the stele pavilion, the worship hall, the sermon hall, the decorated archway, the water house, etc. The decorated archway is in front of the gate and has the name of the mosque on it. The spectacularXingxinpavilion is a two-storeyed building with flying cornice. The stele pavilion, the sermon hall, and the worship hall are behind theXingxinpavilion. The principal building of the mosque is the worship hall, which combines the traditional Chinese and the Arabic Islamic architectural styles. Its distinctive characteristic is that no brick can be seen from inside and no timber can be seen from outside.
Many tablets written by ancient celebrities, as well as several steles of imperial edicts, are preserved in the mosque.
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