中国宗教艺术-中国伊斯兰教艺术（英）

“中国宗教艺术”系列图文并茂，以大量精美图片，反映中国五大宗教艺术的起源、风格特征、艺术价值以及对世界文明的影响等诸多方面内容，向中外读者介绍中国宗教各方面的知识，使其更直观地了解中国宗教文化。

PrefaceChapter One: Mosque Construction and Decoration Art in ChinaI. The Four Ancient MosquesII. The Mosques in North China and the South Region of the Yangtze RiverIII. Mosques in Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Inner MongoliaIV. Mosques in XinjiangChapter Two: Khanqah, Qubbah, Mazar and MausoleumI. KhanqahII. QubbahIII. Mazar and MausoleumChapter Three: Calligraphy, Scripture and PorcelainI. CalligraphyII. ScriptureIII. PorcelainChapter Four: Ritual

Preface1. A Brief Introduction to Islam in ChinaDuring the mid-7th century, the Arab and Persian businessmen and diplomats introduced Islam into China in a peaceful way through the Silk Road overland and the Spice Route over sea. After 1300-year development, Islam has got 23 million believers in China at the moment, which accounts for 1.6% of the total Chinese population. 10 minority groups in China, namely the Huis, the Uyghurs, the Kazaks, the Dongxiangs, the Uzbeks, the Salars, the Khalkhas, the Tajiks, the Bao’ans and the Tatars have taken Islam as their national religion. Besides them, there are a small number of Muslims among other ethnic groups like the Hans, the Tibetans, the Mongols, and the Dais.The majority of the Muslims in China live in the ethnic autonomous regions. Almost the entire population of the Uyghurs, the Kazaks, the Khalkhas, the Tatars, the Tajiks and the Uzbeks are in Xinjiang. Most of these ethnic groups have their national languages and letters. The letters they use are based upon Arabic letters; and their national cultures bear obvious influence from the Central and Western Asia. The Bao’ans and the Dongxiangs concentrate in the Gansu Province; and the Salars are in Gansu and Qinghai. About 60% of the Huis live in the northwest region, and the rest 3 millions are scattered all over China. The Huis, the Salars, the Dongxiangs and the Bao’ans do not have their national letters, and they use Chinese characters. These four ethnic groups had already accepted Islam before their ethnicity came into being. Islam played a critical role in connecting the people and shaping them into independent ethnicity. These ethnic groups live together in some areas with the Hans, the Tibetans and the Mongols, and are in close touch with them. Therefore, they are much influenced by the culture of the peoples around them. There are about 35,000 Islamic religious sites in China at the moment, including mosques, khanqahs, qubbahs and mazars. They are scattered all over the Muslim populated places of the country. Every religious site has an administrative committee elected by the local Muslims. There are over 40,000 Islamic religious persons all over the country, including Imams and Mawlas, who master rich Islamic knowledge and are in charge of religious activities. A good number of them are elected as the members of the People’s Congress and the People’s Political Consultative Conference at all levels. They take an active part in the political affairs and enjoy an admirable social status. There are more than 400 Islamic associations in the entire country, from the national level to the grassroots level. There are 13 Islamic institutes located in Beijing, Yinchuan, Lanzhou, Xining, Urmuqi, Kunming, Zhengzhou, Shenyang and some other cities. Mosque education is conducted everywhere as a tradition to educate the successors of religious work.More than 90% of the Chinese Muslims are of Sunni, while only 1.3% of them are of Shiah. Sufism has a considerable influence upon the Muslims in the northwest region. There are some local and imported sects and schools existing in China, like Qadim, Ikhwan, Xidaotang (also known as the Western Khanqah) and Salafiyyah. All the Islamic sects and schools in China have always been in good mutual relationship. They respect each other and coexist peacefully. Islam in China keeps good relationship with other religions as well.2. Islamic Art in ChinaAs we mention the Islamic art, the first images coming to our mind would be the grand Holy Mosque in Mecca, the extraordinary Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the magnificent Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the elegant Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the splendid Damascus Mosque in Syria…In the history of Islam, the caliphs of Umayyad and Abbasid, the sultans of Mamluk, the emperors of Ottoman, Safavids and Moguls built cities, palaces, markets, schools, hospitals and public bath rooms with national wealth. The well-designed cities, magnificent mosques and splendid mausoleums tell the world how much effort and passion have been devoted by many caliphs, sultans, emperors and Muslims artisans…….

III. Mosques in Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Inner MongoliaThe Xiguan Mosque in LanzhouSince the Ming and the Qing dynasties, Lanzhou has been the provincial capital of Gansu, with numerous Muslims and mosques. The Xiguan Mosque in Lanzhou was built during Hongwu’s reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1398), and rebuilt and expanded for many times later on. Originally it was a Chinese palatial building complex, and was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).After the reform and opening-up to the outside world, the policy of freedom of religious belief is implemented in China. With the financial support from the government and donation from the Muslims, the Xiguan Mosque was rebuilt in 1983. The newly-built Xiguan Mosque bears full features of Islamic architecture, a large dome above of the prayer hall, and more than 20 arches on its west  side, magnificent and spectacular. The prayer hall is 38 meters high, comprising four floors, spacious and bright. It can hold 2,000 people for prayer. On the dark green marble wall of the prayer hall, there are copper plaques inscribed with Qur’anic verses. The white marble mihrab is decorated with golden Qur’anic inscriptions, dignified and elegant. In the south and the north of the prayer hall are the 3-floor attached buildings. The first floor is used as a kindergarten, while the second and the third floors are used as Qura’nic classrooms for girls and boys respectively. In the east of the prayer hall is the entrance of the mosque, a white marble arch with microlite wall, solemn, serene and magnificent. On both the south and the north sides of the entrance are the 56-meter high minarets with spherical vault.The Tongxin Mosque in NingxiaSince the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the Muslim population in Tongxin County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has kept increasing, and the Muslims there began to build mosques in their communities. According to the History of Tongxin County, in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), there were 3 mosques in Tongxin County, namely the Tongxin Mosque, the Weizhou Mosque andthe Yuwang Mosque. By the early 20th century, there had been more than 100 mosques, and Tongxin became a Muslim populate place in China.The Tongxin Mosque was built during the transition period of the Yuan and the Ming dynasties, with a history of about 700 years. The mosque is magnificent and spectacular, ingeniously integrating the Chinese architecture with Islamic decorative art. The Tongxin Mosque ranks among the top ten mosques in China. It is a well-known Islamic building with the largest size and longest history in Ningxia. It was repaired twice during the reigns of Qianlong (1735-1795) and Guangxu (1875-1908) of the Qing Dynasty, and renovated for many times with the financial support from the government after 1949.The Tongxin Mosque faces east and covers an area of 3,542 square meters. It is composed of the upstairs part and downstairs part. The entrance, the screen wall, the well house and the ablution room are downstairs, while the minaret and the prayer hall are built upstairs on a 7-meter high brick pedestal, which is round in the front and square in the back. In 1936, the Red Army arrived here and established a Hui’s Autonomous County Government in this mosque, which is the first autonomous government of the Hui nationality in the history of China. Now, the Tongxin Mosque is listed among the first batch of the national protected relic by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.In front of the mosque is a screen wall, 6 meters high and 9 meters wide, built with black bricks. On the surface of the wall is an exquisite embossment named “Moon Hidden in Pines and Cypress”. A couplet glorifying Allah Almighty and Prophet Muhammad are engraved on the edges of the embossment. The entrance hall of the mosque is 2.79 meters high and 1.7 meters wide, decorated with the brick carvings of drooping lotuses. On the lintel of the entrance hall there are three Chinese characters of “Qing Zhen Si” (清真寺, mosque), to the right of it are two characters of “Xi Xin” (洗心, literally means getting out of evil intentions), and to the left of it are two characters of “Ren Nai” (忍耐, keep endurance). Among these three groups of characters are four Arabic calligraphic designs.The prayer hall is a post and panel structure, facing east. It is composed of the front hall, the rear hall and the Baoxia (抱厦, the porch leading to the main hall in a wood structure building). The Baoxia is a 5-interspace hip-and-gable roofed porch. The front hall, a 3-span structure, is linked to the similarly constructed rear hall. There are four columns in both the front and the rear halls, supporting the ceiling. There is a wooden plaque inlaid on each of the columns.The prayer hall is the principal building of the mosque. It is a single-eave structure, comprising the front round ridge roof and two nine-ridge hip-and-gable roofs, magnificent and spectacular. It uses more than 20 wooden columns to support the beam frame of the prayer hall. There are exquisite Qur’anic calligraphic inscriptions on inner sides of the walls. The minaret is 22 meters high, with double-eave and pointed roof. It is located in the southwest, echoing with the prayer hall. To the south and the north of the prayer hall are lecture hall and wing-rooms. Beneath the pedestal are the entrance of the mosque, the well house and the ablution room, etc. The mosque ingeniously integrates the Chinese traditional wood-structure architecture with rich brickcarving decorative art of Islam.