Jinan Great Southern Mosque
Jinan Great Southern Mosque
- The Jinan Great Southern Mosque is the oldest Musjid in the city of Jinan, Shandong Province, China. It was established during the Yuan dynasty (in 1295). Most of the present structures were erected during the Ming dynasty (in 1436 and 1492). The basic layout of the Musjid is that of a Chinese temple into which the elements needed for its function as a Musjid have been integrated.
- According to legend, the Great Southern Mosque was founded during the Tang dynasty, but there are no known records to confirm this. The written record dates the establishment of the Musjid at its present site to the year 1295, during the first year of the reign of Temür Khan (Emperor Chengzong of Yuan).
- Construction of the present day structures started in the 1420s and 1430s. Significant expansions were undertaken in the year 1492, the fifth year in the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor. Other recorded renovations followed during the reigns of the Jiajing (1521–1567) and Wanli (1572–1620) Emperors of the Ming dynasty, the Jiaqing (1796–1820), Daoguang (1820–1850), and Tongzhi (1861–1875) Emperors of the Qing dynasty, as well as during the early Republican era.
- The Musjid was damaged severely during the Cultural Revolution with many of the historical artifacts it housed being destroyed and the building converted into a factory. Since 1992, it has been protected as a provincial-level key cultural heritage site.
