Chinese Mosques

[Michael]

Chinese Mosques

Journal article; Architectural Science Review, Vol. 47, 2004

Islam was established in Arabia in 622 AD and it was from the beginning a proselytising religion. In 651 an envoy was sent to Emperor Gaozong in his capital Chang'an, but few Han Chinese converted to it. However, an active trade was established between the Arab and the Chinese empires. There were in the 9th century AD about four thousand foreign merchants in the Tang capital of Chang'an, most of them Arab or Persian. Later, when the Chinese Empire expanded westward, it acquired in Sinkiang a population previously converted to Islam.

The trade between China and the West was first conducted mainly overland by the northern and the southern silk routes, but later civil wars affecting western China resulted in a change to a sea route. Mosques were built in most major cities: Chang'an, Beijing, Tianjin, Jining Lanzhou, Shanghai, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou, the three last after the opening of the sea route.

The Tang and Song dynasties encouraged the foreign Muslim merchants to live in compact communities, and issued imperial edicts allocating land, which generally included space for at least one mosque. From the inscriptions, which are predominantly in Arabic and only rarely in Chinese characters, it is evident that the users were mainly foreigners.

However, the style of the building is predominantly Chinese, and Chinese workmen presumably built them. Most have upswept timber roofs, supported on traditional Chinese dougong brackets and on brightly coloured timber columns. There are a few buildings with ceramic Islamic tiles and a very few with masonry domes, but the prototype is clearly the Chinese Temple. There are exquisite wooden carvings, but no Arabic geometric decorations. On the other hand, in accordance with Islamic custom, neither are there any carvings of people or animals, although many of plants and flowers, and some of Arabic calligraphy. There are few minarets, but a number of pagoda-like towers.

This is interesting, we see here that the Chinese were open to, and accommodating of, their Arab Muslim trading partners. The Chinese were mainly Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist. Living within these philosophies the Chinese were more than able to and easily accepted people of a different faith - their Muslims trading partners. Not only this, but the Chinese Emperors and Chinese people themselves were more than willing to provide land for Muslims to live on and paid for and built for the Muslims Mosques for them worship in.

We know that during the periods when China was open and tolerant of other people and other cultures - the Chinese civilization greatly flourished. When China was closed - it stagnated.

Now, is there a reciprocal respect afforded to foreign Chinese merchants in Mecca? Did Muslims (who did a tidy profit off the Chinese Silk trade mind you) likewise provide their Chinese trading partners with land in Mecca to live on and build for the Chinese in Mecca, Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian Temples to worship in? Where they, like their Chinese trading partners, open and respectful and tolerant of the Chinese people's different faiths enough to reciprocate the many Chinese Emperors kind gestures?

Also, India was a very close trading partner with Muslim Arabs. Indian Kings certainly allowed for the construction of Mosques within their Hindu Kingdoms. Did their Muslims trading partners ever reciprocate and build Hindu temples in Mecca for Indians?


Nope. Or at least I haven't found anything.


One must wonder: Could the Chinese and Indian tolerance of the Muslims different religion be based on their Hindu and Buddhist religious ideologies? Is the intolerance of non-Islamic faiths, as displayed by Arab Muslims, entrenched in, one could say woven into, their Islamic ideologies? Are these Islamic ideologies inherently intolerant and disrespectful of different people's different Gods and belief systems? To the point where they can not even afford to reciprocate a kindness shown them by Indians and Chinese?

:shrug:
Michael

I wonder, do we see a VERY SIMILAR intolerance of other people's ideologies today in modern Muslim nations? Historically have Muslims been hostile to people of different faiths - taxing them for the privilege of having a different faith? EVEN when they were citizens of their own countries - such as Persian Zoroastrians living in Persia or Egyptian Coptic Christians living in Egypt? Following the Islamic Crusades.

note: The only non-Islamic Temple in Mecca that I heard of may be of Hindu origin. That would be the Kaaba - but if so then it converted into a Muslim religious icon. Even now Muslims would be very very Intolerant to the idea that this ancient Hindu Temple is anything other than Abrahamic in origin. Which is odd unless Jews built the Kaaba? Have they ever built these square structures before? They'd probably never allow a Hindu to come and pray to their Gods there.

 

[Michael]

Chang'an

Each square housed approximately 10,000 citizens. It was the largest city in the world. Very open and very tolerant of many different cultures and peoples. According to a census in the year 742 the city housed 1,960,188 persons!

You can see the massive number of Buddhist Temples in the city. Within the city the Chinese Emperor made room for and Chinese Citizens built a large Mosque for the mainly Arab and Persians who he gave space to live in the city. Approximately 4000 people.

 

[Michael]

Here's an example of the types of Mosques the Chinese Citizens kindly paid for and built for their Muslims friends and trading partners.

I've looked for the equivalent in Mecca - ancient Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian or Hindu Temples and they don't seem to exist. So, I looked for them in Bagdhad - as of now no luck. Surely there must be some of these Ancient Temples in Islamic centers of commerce??!? Other than pre-Islamic temples I just haven't found anything from a similar era.