Qinyang Beida Mosque

Qinyang Beida Mosque

Qinyang Beida Mosque is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Qinyang Beida Mosque is located in the middle section of Zizhi Street in downtown Qinyang City, Henan Province. Its exact founding date is unknown. It was renovated in the eighth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1580) and expanded and refurbished during the Qing Dynasty. Known locally as Beida Mosque, the Qinyang Mosque.

The mosque complex faces east and is divided into a men’s mosque and a women’s mosque, covering an area of about 3,100 square meters. The women’s mosque consists of multiple structures with flush gable roofs. The men’s mosque is larger in scale, with surviving structures including the main gate, hallway, lecture halls to the north and south, and the prayer hall.

The main buildings are symmetrically arranged along a central axis, divided into three sections. The site houses stone inscriptions from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Structures along the axis increase gradually in size and height from front to back, with their roofs adorned with three-color glazed tiles—peacock blue, green, and yellow. The gateway building has two sets of doors, with a latticed gate at the front and a chessboard-style door in the middle. The hallway features a single-eave hanging gable roof, with murals decorating the interstitial beam frames on the gable sides. Behind the hallway lies the prayer hall, which consists of a reception room, two-tiered front and rear prayer rooms, and the domed sanctum. These structures are interconnected with water drainage systems, forming a unified whole that extends 36 meters in depth. The reception room has a rolled shed–hip-and-gable roof. The prayer hall comprises two buildings. The front hall has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof, while the rear one has a single-eave hanging gable roof, both featuring colorful multi-tiered bracket sets, murals painted on spandrel panels, and grand interior wooden structures with large beams, purlins, columns, and brackets, all intricately carved, painted, and gilded, creating a magnificent and opulent appearance. The domed sanctum (main hall) has a width of three bays and a depth of one bay, with three vaulted ceilings built inside the chamber. The roof combines tower pavilion and multi-story pavilion styles, decorated with a cruciform ridge and more than 70 ornamental roof ridge beasts, all finished in glazed elements. The eaves are inlaid with colored glazed beams, arches, and pendant lotus columns, presenting a dazzling array of colors and delicate forms, standing as a masterpiece of ancient Islamic architecture in China, with significant historical and cultural value. The mosque also houses nine stone inscriptions from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In May 2006, Qinyang Beida Mosque, as an architectural site dating from the Ming to Qing periods, was approved by the State Council for inclusion in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units