Jiezi Mosque

Jiezi Mosque
街子清真寺
Religion
AffiliationSunni Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusMosque
StatusActive
Location
LocationJiezi, Xunhua, Qinghai
CountryChina
Architecture
TypeMosque
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese街子清真寺
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJiēzǐ Qīngzhēnsì

The Jiezi Mosque (Chinese: 街子清真寺; pinyin: Jiēzǐ Qīngzhēnsì) is a mosque in Jiezi Town, Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, Qinghai Province, China. It is regarded as the ancestral mosque of the Salar people and is the second largest mosque in Qinghai Province.

History

The mosque was built in the early years of the Ming dynasty, in the third year of the Hongwu reign. It was later expanded during the Qing dynasty and again in 1931. During the Cultural Revolution, the structure was destroyed. In 1982, it was rebuilt with government funding and public donations, modeled after the Kashgar Mosque in Xinjiang. Since 2009, it is listed as a provincial-level cultural heritage protection item.[1]

The mosque serves as a place of worship for the Salar Muslim minority and is the second largest mosque in Qinghai Province.[1]

Oldest Quran Manuscript

The mosque houses a rare handwritten copy of the Quran that is regarded as the oldest of its kind in China. The manuscript consists of 867 pages in two volumes and is written in Arabic. Experts believe it dates between the 8th and 13th centuries.[2][3]

According to the National Catalogue of Precious Ancient Books (国家珍贵古籍名录) published by the Ministry of Culture, the manuscript is listed as a precious ancient book and is dated to the 13th century.[4]

Historical accounts state that the Quran was brought to China by the ancestors of the Salar people when they migrated east from Samarkand about 700 to 800 years ago. The manuscript was handwritten by Arab Muslims, unlike other early copies in China written by Chinese Muslims.[2]

In 2007, Chinese authorities funded a restoration project. Experts from the Nanjing Museum conducted scientific analysis of the paper and ink, cleaned mildew, and repaired damaged pages using conservation techniques.[2] In 2009, the manuscript was included in the national list of precious cultural heritage items and placed in a specially constructed exhibition hall beside the mosque, where it is preserved in a temperature and humidity controlled glass case.[3][5]

The mosque museum also displays later printed copies of the Quran, many reflecting traditional Chinese calligraphic styles.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "中国青海撒拉族 "祖莹之地" — 街子清真寺". Medcom.id (in Chinese). September 16, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "China restores oldest handwritten copy of Quran". Xinhua. February 25, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Oldest Quran Manuscript in China at Jiezi Mosque". International Quran News Agency. August 20, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  4. ^ 第二批国家珍贵古籍名录 (PDF) (in Chinese). National Library of China. May 22, 2009. p. 415.
  5. ^ "China's oldest handwritten copy of the Koran to open to public". Xinhua. April 9, 2009. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010.
  6. ^ "China preserves one of the oldest written copies of the Quran in the world". ShiaWaves. August 20, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2026.

Further reading

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