| A man fainted when accompanying his girlfriend for shopping! | |
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| Nov 27, 2013 07:19 | #21   |
 | It's true, during Tang, it was named Chang'an. But can we see the original Chang'an now? Even the purported old great mosque in the Muslim quarters remains a question. Was it an old mosque or a temple that turned into a mosque? Wan |
| Nov 27, 2013 21:23 | #22 |
| Wan, That we can't see old Chang'an doesn't mean that old Chang'an didn't exisit. We are a part of history. Someday, today's Xian might disappear and a new city will be born. According to the sources I read, the mosque behind the Drum Tower in Xian was created during the reign of Emperor Li Longji in the Tang Dynasty. It didn't say whether the mosque was turned from a temple. However, the mosque do have some characteristics that belong to Han people in the Tang Dynasty. It's not like other mosques. |
| Nov 30, 2013 13:55 | #23 |
| Maybe you should visit the mosque and look closely. I made comparative studies too betwen Fayuan temple and niu Jie Libai Si that look almost identical. One is a msque and the other is a temple. When I visited Xi'an last july, I met two British visitors. He's a pensioner while his wife teaches English Literature. They came to visit China for a month. Although he's not a Muslim but he studied Arabic and Islam and used to live in Arab countries for almost 20 years. We comared notes and concluded with a question: how could a mosque have motifs and decorations with animal figures, such as heavenly horses, dragon, etc.? If you go to kaifeng, you can see two stone lions guarding the entrance of the mosque besides the heavenly horses on the rooftop of the mosque. Wan |
| Dec 10, 2013 21:55 | #24 |
| Wan, Tang Dynasty might be the most flourishing time in Chinese history. Many foreigners came to Chang'an. I guess that some of them assimilated themselves into Han people's life. Today, many muslims still reside in the northwest part of Xian City. I don't know if you know the Xuexi Lane near the Moslem Street. During the Tang Dynasty, many envoys from countries of the West Regions settled down there. Some historical records claim that Guo Ziyi came back to Chang'an with more than 200 officials from the West Regions after he ceased Rebellion of An Lushan and Shi Siming. Later, these people settled down and started to study Tang Culture. The place they stayed is called Xuexi (Studying) Lane. Therefore, I think the mosque is a mixture of Han and Muslim Cultures. |
| Jan 21, 2014 06:36 | #25 |
| In Taiwan all Chinese are Han, be they Muslims or otherwise. The same goes with overseas Chinese. Only in mainland China, due to mixed marriages and perhaps transmigration, its nationals are divided into 56 ethnics where 10 minorities are considered as Muslims. Besides their attire, I can't really differentiate between a Hui and a Han as both speak Chinese, eating with chopsticks, etc. Some of them may be able to speak Arabic but a lot of Yiwu traders can speak Arabic too. I have Chinese friends that can speak German and Spanish too. From my observations and discussions with some students and academicians, Islam forbids any kind of animal or human motifs or statues in or near its qing zheng si. As I am editing a research by a student about ancient buildings and its correlations with Islamic arts, it dawns upon me how could a mosque which was established by Muslims to have such motifs? It is not a question of blending culture but rather basic requirement that all kinds of idols and statues are prohibited. With several similarities with other old existing temples, I am just thinking aloud, perhaps these old building are former temples that converted to become libai si? Wan |
| Jan 22, 2014 02:36 | #26 |
| Wan, The muslims near the Bell Tower in Xian have their own characteristics. Middle aged women still wear hijabs but their faces are not covered. The men wear small hats which indicate their identities. I didn't tell you that one of my colleagues is a Muslim. Her mother can't write Arabic articles but she can speak Arabic fluently. She has finished her pilgrimage to Mekka. |
| Oct 16, 2014 23:41 | #27 |
| Dear Cherry apologise for the late response, as for the last 6 months I was quite busy with my extra 1`work. As you may understand in Islam especially in or part of the mosque is not allowed to have those idol and animal images. I am still searching for some clues about ancient buildings in China. I am also searching for some bibliographies about Islam in China, from the Tang Period (618-907) until Qing (that ended in 1911) and a little bit on the new era during Kuomintang (1911-1949) and the new China from 1949. It's not easy as I can't read Chinese. I am interested in ancient history. Wan |
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