The Traditional Chinese Style Mosque

This dissertation will focus on the traditional Chinese mosque. This type ofmosque takes on the typical Chinese style, which is different from Central Asian style,Arabian Style and other styles that may occur in other regions of China. As thesetraditional Chinese style mosques have had a long history in China, it will be importantto understand the history of the mosque, its unique components and the changes that themosque is being subjected to in modern time.First, this dissertation will look at the history of the Mosque outside of China tounderstand where the mosque may have evolved from and evolved into. It will brieflyconsider region as well as dynasty but will take a more broad view that breaks throughthese cultural and regional differences to give a larger understanding of the typicalmosque outside of China.It will then formulate how the mosque is organized and try to understand mosquespace. The next part will be to understand the individual history of the Chinese Mosque.This is important as it will give a better understanding of the overall picture of whenmosques were being built in China and in what regions. It will span from the Tangdynasty to today to get a better understanding of the overall history of the ChineseMosque.From there this dissertation will give a broader understanding of the componentsfound with the traditional Chinese mosque. It will seek to find the common componentswith mosques outside of China as well as to find compnents that are unique to theChinese Mosque. Four unique components: the dadian, yaodian, wangyuelou andminaret, will be analyzed closer to show the fundamental and unique differencesbetween the traditional Chinese mosque and the mosque found outside of China.Lastly, this dissertation will consider the changes in the traditional mosque spacethat is occurring in modern day China to get a better understanding of the preservationof or destruction of the tradition Chinese mosque.