Angulu Gongbei

Angulu Gongbei

Angulu Gongbei. Located at the top of the rocky cliff on the southern bank of the Yellow River at the lower end of Gongbo Gorge, about 15 kilometers west of Bao’an River estuary and 7.5 kilometers east of Lewu, it is called Ani Xia’wu in Tibetan. Legend has it that this is a place where a pious Islamic sage once appeared (one version says that during the mid-Ming Dynasty, an Iraqi missionary named Hansan Besori preached in the Xunhua area. After his death, followers built a memorial shrine on the steep mountaintop at the gorge entrance. Another version claims it is the burial site of the Third Grand Master of the Dongxiang Beizhuang Menhuan, the second lineage of the North Gate in Gansu). Han Musa from Jiezi returned home after studying in Xinjiang and once practiced spiritual retreat here for 13 months. Its founding date is unknown. It is said that funds were raised by the people of Chahan Dusi Township to build an octagonal gongbei on the stone platform where the sage appeared, with a tomb chamber inside, commonly referred to as the “Gongzi.” Since then, Muslims who revere the gongbei have often come here to recite scriptures, gather for prayers, meditate in solitude, or pray for children. Over time, the number of visitors grew significantly. Due to limited space at the gongbei, around the end of the Guangxu reign, a three-room passageway pavilion was built below the gongbei for worshippers to pray and meditate. Later, a mosque prayer hall was constructed in what is now Gongbei Village, east of the gongbei, for those attending commemorative services. Reconstruction began on March 1, 1985, and was completed in the autumn of 1986. The rebuilt gongbei is more solid, larger in scale, more aesthetically pleasing, and easier to access, featuring plaques and poems gifted by worshippers from various places during the Guangxu and Republican eras. At the bottom of the valley below the gongbei, over 30 lodging rooms of various sizes were built for pilgrims. Devotees include members of the Salar, Hui, and Tibetan ethnic groups from five northwestern provinces who follow the gongbei tradition. Among the Han Chinese, there are also those who pray, donate, burn incense, and seek blessings. This gongbei also holds great prestige in Saudi Arabia. April 14th of the lunar calendar is observed as its commemoration day.