China | Shaanxi | Xian | Great Mosque

After touring the City Wall in Xian I wandered by the Qing Zhen Si, or Great Mosque of Xian. The original mosque was founded here in 742 AD, during the reign of the Tang Dynasty emperor Xuanzong, Like Nestorian Christianity, Islam quickly migrated eastward on the Silk Road, resulting in the founding of this mosque a mere 120 years after the Hijah. The mosque was updated during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties and is still active today, serving the 30,000 or so Huis—Chinese Moslems—in Xian.

Wooden Gateway to the Mosque
First Courtyard of the Mosque
Ming Dynasty Stone Gate

Inscription on Ming Dynasty Stone Gate: “The Courtyard of Heaven.” (All you Sinophiles out there—feel free to correct this.)

I think this structure houses one of the stelae recording the history of the mosque. I am not sure, since there are some other stelae on the grounds. Very little is available in English about the mosque, and it is hard to tell what is what. Anyone with any information is free to weigh in. The so-called Introspection Tower, which also serves as the Mosque’s minaret. This is the highest structure in the mosque compound.

Ceiling of the Introspection Tower
Another view of the Introspection Tower. This stele may be the one which records the mosque’s history. Gate to one of the courtyards
Gate to another one of the courtyards
Calligraphy on one of the walls of the compound
There is supposed to be a stone in the mosque which portrays the Moslem world with Mecca in the middle. This might be it, with the dark circle in the middle representing Mecca.
But on the walkway to the Phoenix Pavilion there is another stone which might also represent the Moslem world.
This stone also has a circle in the middle which might represent Mecca. If anyone has any information about this please come forward now.
The Phoenix Pavilion, or Main Hall of the Mosque.
Entrance to the Phoenix Pavilion. The inscription over the door reportedly reads “One God”.

China | Shaanxi | Xian City Wall

While in town to see the Nestorian Stele, I thought I might as well check out the rest of Xian, which as you no doubt know was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and during the Tang Dynasty probably the largest and most developed city in the world. It is still now probably the last large walled city in the world. The wall surrounding the inner city is a total of 7.3 miles long, forty-nine feet high, and fifty-nine feet wide at the top.

The immense Southern Gate to the city

Just inside the Southern Gate

Stairs lead up to the top of the City Wall

The southern side of the City Wall

The top of the City Wall

The 7.3 mile-long top of the wall provides a nice walking and biking path. Notice the bicycle-built-for-two.

Biker on top of the Wall

Belly button of Biker on top of the Wall

Inside of the east side of the City Wall

Outside of the east side of the City Wall

A green strip and hiking path extends all around the outside of the wall

Path along the outside of the wallOuter rampart of the City Wall

Green strip and park along the outside of the City WallRestored Qing Dynasty houses just inside the City Wall

China | Shaanxi | Xian | Nestorian Stele

I have a big stack of books I have been dipping into, but when my mind wearies and I need a little light reading I turn to The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died (also Kindle Edition). Although not a Christian myself, I do find the advance of Nestorian Christianity into Asia via the Silk Road fascinating from an historical point of view. A few years ago I wandered down to Xian, the Eastern Terminous of the Silk Road, specifically to see the famous Nestorian Stele on display in the city’s Belian Museum.

Grounds of the Belian Museum

Erected in 781 AD, the stele gives a brief description of the introduction of Nestorian Christianity into China in the 8th Century.

At the top of stele is a Nestorian Cross; beneath the cross is the heading “Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin”. Beneath the heading—not really visible in the photo—is The History Itself in 1,756 Chinese characters plus a few lines in the Syriac language.

Peony at Tang Dynasty Times now informs me that there is an entire book about the stele:

Christianity, along with Islam, was one of the many imports that trodded eastward on the Silk Road. For more on this see the wonderfully informative Religions of the Silk Road.

Of course there is much else in the Belian Museum, including many swoon-inducing Buddhist art works. Here are just two samples:

A Tang Dynasty Buddha

A Tang Dynasty rendering of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, unearthed in Xian in 1952.

China | Xinjiang | Urumqi

Update: Death Toll Rises to 156 in Ethnic Clashes in Western China. The riots have now spread to Khotan. Update #2: Internet service has now been cut to Xinjiang: China Locks Down Restive Region After Deadly Clashes.

My favorite city in China, Urumqi, is experiencing serious problems. See Riots Erupt in Western China Amid Ethnic Tension. Haven’t heard from any of my friends there yet. They are usually very hesitant to communicate by email, which they are convinced is monitored by the government. Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang, which I used to visit quite frequently. Given the difficulty of acquiring Chinese visas here in the Big Buuz I doubt if I will be going back any time soon.

Downtown Urumqi

Uighur Market District in Urumqi

Uighur Carpet dealer in downtown Urumqi

Pomegranates in the Uighur Market

China | Xinjiang | Dragon Fighter

Rebiya Kadeer

There is a new book out about Rebiya Kadeer, from Urumqi, in Xinjiang Province, who was once reputed to be the richest women in China and was later arrested and thrown into prison on what was widely considered to be trumped-up charges. (Among other suspicious activities, she once met with evil Microsoft potentate Bill “666” Gates.) See Dragon Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China.

Despite being persona non grata in China her name is still displayed on the front of one of the department stores she owned in Urumqi (in Uighur Arabic Script). Interestingly, the Uighurs originated in Mongolia—the ruins of their Old Capital City can still be seen in Arkhangai Aimag, north of Kharkhorin. And of course, the Mongolian Vertical Script is based on the old Uighur Vertical Script . . .

China | Beijing | Imperial College

From the Confucius Temple I passed through an archway into the Gui Zi Jian (Imperial College) complex, located just to the west. The Gui Zi Jian was created by Khölög Khan (1281–1311), who in 1308 had been named Mongol Yuan Emperor Wuzong at the old Mongol capital of Shangdu near Dolonnuur in what is now the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia.

Khölög Khan, a.k.a. Emperor Wuzong

The same year he established the Gui Zi Jian right next door to the Confucius Temple founded by his predecessor, the Mongol Yuan Emperor Chengzong. The whole complex covers 28,000 square meters, or almost seven acres. It would become the highest ranking educational institution in China during the Yuan Dynasty and remained so during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now it is the oldest educational institution in China which has been preserved intact.

Gateway to the Gui Zi Jian
Building in the Imperial College

Building in the Imperial College

Like the Confucius Temple, the Gui Zi Jian contains numerous trees planted in the fourteenth century, during the Yuan Dynasty. Here they are known as Chinese Scholar Trees. This one was later given the name Luo Guo Huai (Hunchback) by the Qing emperor Qianlong, who said that it resembled one of his advisers, a hunchback himself.

Tree named Luo Guo Huai

This Chinese Scholar Tree was planted by Xu Heng, the president of Guo Zi Jian for a time during the Yuan Dynasty. It flourished for a while and then withered and appeared to have died. Then in 1751, in the Qing Dynasty, the tree suddenly sprang back to life during the celebration of the 6oth birthday of the mother of the Qianlong emperor, which was considered auspicous. It was given the name Fu Su Huai, meaning “Coming back to Life.” Now the main trunk is propped up with a metal support but overall the tree appears fairly healthy.

Tree named Fu Su Huai

Entrance to the Scholars’ Courtyard

Statues of Scholars in the Scholars’ Courtyard

Statues of Scholars in the Scholars’ Courtyard

Statues of Scholars in the Scholars’ Courtyard

Vegetarian restaurant just outside the entrance to the Imperial College. From the assortment of the luxury sedans parked out front this appeared to be a pretty up-scale place. I did not go in.