Nanjing Jingjue Mosque

Nanjing Jingjue Mosque

Nanjing Jingjue Mosque is a cultural heritage conservation unit of Jiangsu Province.

Jingjue Mosque is the earliest Islamic mosque in Nanjing. The temple was first built in the 21st year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1388), commissioned by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to “accommodate people from the Western Regions.” It was destroyed by fire in the 5th year of the Xuande reign (1430). In the same year, before Zheng He’s seventh voyage to the Western Seas, he petitioned for its reconstruction. After rebuilding, the scale extended south to Shengzhou Road, east to Zhonghua Road, west to Maxiang, and north to Shazhu Lane, covering an area of approximately 6,700 square meters, making it one of China’s eight great mosques. All structures were lost in the flames during the Xianfeng era. The current buildings were constructed in the 3rd year of the Guangxu reign (1877), and in the early years of the Republic of China, the Hui Muslim business couple Jiang Xiudong and his wife further built the hall building and the north and south lecture halls.

The current site covers an area of 3,715.7 square meters, with a total floor space of 1,869.1 square meters. The entrance gatehouse faces south while the main buildings face east (as the sacred Islamic site—Mecca—is to the west of China, the main prayer hall must face west to allow worshippers to pray in that direction). Existing structures include the Moon-Watching Tower, north and south lecture halls, the main hall, and the Imageless Treasure Hall (also called the Prayer Hall). The Imageless Treasure Hall, which has a “convex” floor plan, features a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, small clay tiles, and a post-and-lintel beam structure. It covers an area of 408.58 square meters, is 27.7 meters wide across five bays, and 14.75 meters deep across nine rafters. It has double corridors on three sides, each 2.20 meters wide, and the hall is 12 meters high. Above the central door of the main prayer space hangs a plaque inscribed with “Zheng Xin Cheng Yi” (Sincere and Upright Heart), erected in June of the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922) by the president and members of the Nanjing Muslim Association, with the side inscription reading “Respectfully erected by the President and Members of the Nanjing Muslim Association, June, 11th Year of the Republic of China.”

It was listed as a cultural heritage conservation unit of Nanjing in 1982, and was upgraded to a provincial-level conservation unit in October 2002.

Location: No. 28, Shengzhou Road, Qinhuai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

Transportation: Take bus routes 4, 7, 7 Interval, 40, 44, 802, 804, 816, or Tourist Route 2 in Nanjing, and get off at Sanshan Street.

Wangfu Nanyuan Community: Located in the bustling Confucius Temple area, Wangfu Nanyuan Community stretches from Taiping South Road in the east to Zhongshan South Road in the west, and from Jiankang Road and Shengzhou Road in the south to Fuxi Street and Huiyuan Street in the north, covering an area of approximately 0.17 square kilometers.

The community consists of ten residential complexes of varying sizes, namely Shazhu Lane Residential Area, Shazhu Lane Building 0708 Residential Area, No. 140 Zhonghua Road, No. 21 Fuxi Street, No. 18 Shengzhou Road, Wangfu Xiyuan Residential Area, Wangfu Dongyuan Residential Area, No. 115 Jiankang Road, No. 9 Runde Li, No. 12 Hujiaxiang, as well as No. 36 Shengzhou Road, No. 54 Shengzhou Road, No. 9 Huiyuan Street, … Detailed information about Wangfu Nanyuan Community++

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Cultural Heritage Conservation Units of Jiangsu Province