Xiguan Mosque

Period: Qing Dynasty Address: Xiguan Village, Bo'ai County

The layout of Xiguan Mosque resembles a phoenix turning its head to gaze at a peony blossom.

The main gate forms the phoenix’s head. This multi-storey pavilion faces south and features a hip-and-gable roof crowned with a precious gourd. The roof is covered with blue glazed tiles, and mythical beast ornaments line the main ridges, sloping ridges and corner ridges. A vertical horizontal board inscribed with The Ancient Faith Established at the Dawn of Time hangs on the front facade, and bracket sets are arranged beneath the eaves. Stone lions stand guard on both sides of the entrance.

West of the screen wall stands the secondary gate, also known as the Moon-Watching Tower. Facing east, this three-bay building has a hip-and-gable roof. The plaque above the front gate reads Devotion to the One and Return to the True Faith, and the plaque on the rear side bears the name Moon-Watching Tower.

Twenty metres further west along the central axis lies a large stone terrace, flanked by two stele pavilions housing inscriptions recording temple renovations. On the terrace stands an open covered corridor built in the Qing Dynasty. It spans three bays in both width and depth, with no enclosing walls and supported entirely by wooden columns. Its roof is laid with blue glazed tiles. A vertical plaque bearing the One-Hundred-Word Eulogy by the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in regular script is mounted in the centre. Eight sets of evenly spaced three-tier brackets are installed under the eaves, while the corner brackets have five tiers. The side elevations mirror the front facade, with bracket ends carved into vivid dragon heads.

Adjoining the corridor is the prayer hall with five bays, roofed with green glazed tiles. Further west stands the mihrab hall of eight bays. A coffered ceiling rises in its centre, surrounded by elaborately carved brackets and cross-shaped hanging columns with magnificent floral carvings. The mihrab hall has a double-eave hip-and-gable roof topped with a precious gourd 1.8 metres tall secured by tension rods. All ridge tiles are blue glazed components, creating a splendid appearance. Every hall boasts carved beams and painted rafters with gorgeous coloured lacquer decoration. Particularly exquisite is the three-metre-high preaching pavilion inside the hall; the staircase and platform are masterfully carved and rank among the finest wood sculptures.

All halls are interconnected as a single complex, measuring more than 80 metres from north to south and over 40 metres from east to west.

The halls along the central axis form the phoenix’s body, and the roof of the mihrab hall forms its tail.

Nine two-storey wing rooms line the northern and southern sides of the courtyard, representing the phoenix’s outstretched wings. Six of them are covered verandas and three are multi-storey pavilions, used as scripture-teaching halls and offices. Three rooms for the imam and religious supervisors stand on each side of the main hall.

Passing through the secondary gate and heading north, the large ablution house on the east can accommodate more than one hundred people at a time. To the south stands the Retreat Studio with three rooms built in European architectural style.

Some ancient stone steles originally kept in the temple have been lost. Three surviving steles recording renovations during the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty remain on the north side of the prayer hall.

On May 3, 2013, the State Council listed Xiguan Mosque among the Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units.