The Tongxin Great Mosque is one of
the oldest mosques in China. It is located in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
in Northwest China. Ningxia is the largest residential place of the Hui ethnic
minority group in China. There are more that 2,000 mosques with Arabic and
traditional Chinese architectural styles. The Tongxin Great Mosque is one of
them.
The Tongxin Great Mosque, located in Tongxin
County, is the most famous mosque in the southern mountainous area in Ningxia.
Many famous Moslem scholars used to study and lecture there. The mosque was
established around the 14th century at the end of the Yuan Dynasty
(1271-1368) and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). All the buildings
are built on a cyan platform of seven meters high. In front of the gate there is
an imitated-timberwork entrance wall decorated with brick carvings. Visitors can
climb to the pedestal of several meters high via an arch and a hidden
passageway. On the pedestal, the first building you see is a two-storeyed
minbar. Passing through the door beside the minaret, visitors can enter the
courtyard that is composed of the main worship hall and the southern and
northern sermon halls. The main worship hall consists of two connected halls,
and can seat more than 1,000 worshipers.