Bo'ai Xiguan Mosque

Bo'ai Xiguan Mosque

The Bo'ai Xiguan Mosque is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Qing Dynasty

Address: Xiguan Village, Bo'ai County

The architectural form of the Xiguan Mosque resembles a phoenix gazing back at a peony. The main gate represents the phoenix’s head—a pavilion-style structure facing south with a hip-and-gable roof topped with a sacred bottle gourd, covered in blue-glazed tiles. Both the main and vertical ridges are adorned with mythical creatures. A vertical plaque on the front reads “The Ancient Religion of Heaven,” and the eaves feature bracket sets. Stone lions guard both sides of the entrance. On the west side of the screen wall is the second gate, also known as the “Moon-Gazing Tower,” which faces east. This three-bay building has a hip-and-gable roof. The main gate plaque reads “Reverence Leads to Truth,” while the plaque on the tower reads “Moon-Gazing Tower.” Twenty meters west along the central axis lies a large raised platform, with stele pavilions on either side—both commemorating rebuilds. On the platform stands a Qing-era curved-roof hall, three bays wide and deep, with no side walls, supported entirely by wooden pillars. Its roof is covered in blue-glazed tiles, with a central vertical plaque inscribed with the hundred-character eulogy bestowed by Emperor Taizu of Ming, written in regular script. The eaves feature eight bracket sets with three-tiered and five-tiered patterns, and the dragon-headed carved brackets. Adjacent to this curved-roof hall is the prayer hall, five bays wide, covered with green-glazed tiles. Further west is the worship chamber, eight bays wide, featuring a caisson ceiling in the center, surrounded by carved bracket sets, cross-hanging pillars, and exquisitely ornate designs. The worship chamber’s roof is a double-eaved hip-and-gable style, topped with a one-meter-eight-high sacred bottle gourd secured with chains, all ridge tiles made of blue-glazed components, creating a magnificent sight. The interiors of the halls are richly decorated with carved beams, painted rafters, and colorful designs—especially the three-meter-high scripture lecture room inside, whose staircase and platform are finely carved, representing a masterpiece of wood carving. All major halls are interconnected, spanning over 80 meters from north to south and more than 40 meters from east to west.

The main halls along the central axis represent the body of the phoenix, while the roof of the worship chamber forms the phoenix’s tail.

The temple’s north and south wing rooms consist of nine two-story buildings each, symbolizing the phoenix’s outstretched wings—six of them are curved-roof style and three are pavilion-style, used as scripture halls and offices. On both the north and south sides of the main hall are three rooms each for the imam and the prayer leader.

Entering through the second gate to the north, the east side houses a grand ablution room capable of accommodating over a hundred people for washing. To the south are three rooms of the Retreat Reflection Pavilion, all designed in European architectural style.

The mosque originally had several stone steles, some of which are now lost. Currently, three Qing-era steles (including those from the Xianfeng era) commemorating renovations stand on the north side of the prayer hall.

On May 3, 2013, the State Council announced it as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units