Beizhen Mosque

Beizhen Mosque

Beizhen Mosque is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

Beizhen Mosque is located in the southeastern part of Guangning Town, Beizhen City. It is surrounded by residential houses on the east, south, and west sides, and about 80 meters away from National Highway 102 to the north. The rear of the mosque faces a residential street. The mosque faces east and sits west, measuring 38 meters from north to south and 37 meters from east to west, covering a total area of 1,406 square meters. It includes thirteen structures such as a main gate, a rolled-roof porch, a main prayer hall, a moon-viewing tower, the imam’s room, and ablution rooms. The rolled-roof porch is three bays wide and one bay deep, built with a large wooden frame structure. The main prayer hall is three bays wide and three bays deep, with a rolled-roof style. The moon-viewing tower is three bays wide and three bays deep, square-shaped, and reaches a total height of 19 meters. It has two levels and features a double-eave helmet-roof pavilion-style structure. Other buildings were reconstructed later and are well preserved. The mosque holds significant historical and artistic value for the study and research of the history of Islam in Beining and ancient architectural art.

The mosque was first built in the fourth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1525). In the third year of the Jiāqìng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1798), Muslim locals led by the village elder Yang Yuzhen carried out major renovations on the mosque. After completion, Yang Yuzhen and his sons Yang Ming and Yang Jian donated a wooden plaque inscribed with "Ancient Faith of Islam" and also donated 80 acres of land to support the mosque. In the late Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Muslim residents of Guangning Town established a private school in front of the mosque. In the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), it was called the Private Islamic Primary School. By the end of 1985, the mosque used returned funds from the implementation of ethnic policies to build seven gray-tiled houses, which served as the imam’s room and ablution rooms. Later, with assistance from the Beizhen County Ethnic Affairs Committee, funds were raised to renovate the damaged parts of the main prayer hall, giving the mosque a completely renewed appearance. In 1986, the investigation team from Jinzhou City surveyed the site and designated it as a key cultural relic for protection. In 2001, it was announced by the Beining Municipal People's Government as a second batch county-level cultural relic protection unit, and in June 2008, it was listed by the Liaoning Provincial People's Government as an eighth batch provincial-level cultural relic protection unit.

Protected area: within the surrounding wall and within 50 meters outside the outer base of the wall.

Construction control zone: a first-class construction control zone within 40 meters outside the protected area.

Information source: Beizhen City Tourism Development Committee

Further reading:

· Eighth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Liaoning Province