Chinese Islamic architecture

[1] With the acculturation of the Islamic religion within the predominant Han-Chinese culture, a unique architectural style emerged among Chinese Muslims.

[1] It became standard for them to incorporate traditional Chinese and Islamic architectural elements together for mosques, prayer halls, mausoleums, and other buildings.

Saʿd ibn Abī Waḳḳāṣ, the maternal uncle and second cousin of Muhammad, was sent with a delegation to meet the Chinese Gaozong Emperor.

[9] According to traditional Chinese Muslim legendary accounts, Islam was first introduced to China in 616–618 CE by some of Muhammad's closest companions (ṣaḥāba): Saʿd ibn Abī Waḳḳāṣ, Sayid, Wahb Abu Kabcha, and another one.

[12] Arab sources also report that Qutayba ibn Muslim briefly took Kashgar from China towards 714 CE and withdrew after an agreement,[13] but modern historians entirely dismiss this claim.

[17] This period was characterized by an increased and widespread use of Islamic architectural elements, such as high entrances, domes, transition zones, and the use of bricks and stones.

[23][17] In the early Ming period, an increasing amount of mosques and other Islamic institutions adopted strongly Chinese styles of architecture.

Traditional Islamic architectural influences started coming in stronger, with many rebuilt and renovated mosques having Islamic-style domes and minarets.

[27] Starting in 2018 the government instituted a sinicization policy "to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to sinicise the religion".

[33][34] This policy has led to public unrest such as in August 2018 at the Weizhou Grand Mosque in Ningxia and in June 2023 in Najiaying, Yunnan.