Mosque stands legacy to China, Muslim history
Print Edition
THE Songjiang Mosque, Shanghai’s oldest Islamic building, is an architectural monument to the civilizations of ancient China and the Muslim world.
The mosque was built between 1341 and 1367, when a Muslim governor officiated over the area. Since the 15th century, the mosque had undergone three renovations and expansions. However, it has retained the original style of a mosque, with added features from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1616-1911) dynasties.
The complex has multiple rooms and halls featuring Islamic domes and ornamentation. It also contains Chinese-style halls, corridors and stone carvings.
According to Songjiang Archives, General Nasuciding, who was of the Muslim Hui nationality, led a tribe of Persians into Songjiang during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and settled there. They were considered the first Muslims to settle in what today is Shanghai.
Nasuciding himself was not Chinese, but he and his people pledged loyalty to the Chinese emperor of the time and reportedly lived peacefully with locals. The general was later named governor of Songjiang. In order to conduct their daily religious activities, the Hui people built the mosque as a place of prayer, religious education and social gathering.
Stepping into the complex, visitors are greeted by an intricately carved zhao bi, or large screen wall, facing the front gate. It serves as a shield for the inner courtyard.
A domed four-meter minaret sits in the east of the complex. Its interior brick walls are carved with ancient scriptures.
In the west, just opposite the minaret, is a brick-and-wood prayer hall. The front part of the hall is in the Ming style, and the back is Yuan style.
The minaret and the hall face each other, symbolically linking ancient China and the Islamic world.
Past the front gate and the zhao bi, along the winding corridors, is a cemetery where Nasuciding and Muslim followers are buried.
The northern lecture hall, built in the Ming Dynasty, was undertaken by a Muslim official named Ma Ziqiang, who donated gold to ornament stone slabs in the structure.
The southern lecture room is in the Qing-style of architecture. There, imams taught holy scriptures to students. The room has been converted into an exhibition hall, displaying the history of the mosque and Islam in China.
The main courtyard is dominated by a 400-year-old cypress. Muslims said the Ming General Chang Yuchun once tied his horse to the tree. To its left is an ancient well dating back to the Ming Dynasty.
Address: Gangpeng Lane, Zhongshan Road M. (enter from Huating Old Street)
How to get there:
By Metro: Disembark at Zuibai Pond Station of Metro Line 9. Walk north along Renmin Road. Gangpeng Lane is by Shenyue Square.
By car: Take the G60 Hukun Highway to the Songjiang exit and continue along Rongle Road M., Renmin Road N. and Zhongshan Road M. (Huating Old Street)
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