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Najiahu Muslim Mosque
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Najiahu, meaning “neighborhood of the Na family”, is the name of a famous northwest Chinese Muslim mosque in a Hui-inhabited village in Yinchuan’s Yongning County. The Nas are the descendants of a Mongol aristocrat who settled in Yinchuan during the Yuan Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties the neighborhood of the Na family wa an economic and cultural center for local Muslims. The Najiahu Mosque, oriented to the east, turns out to be a courtyard built in the traditional Chinese architecture, comprising a front gate-tower, a pair of aisle suites, a main hall and a bathroom which are spread out on a rectangular area of 2 hectares. The main hall is large enough to seat a thousand people at prayer. The buildings on the premises are adorned with numerous boards and couplets with calligraphic inscriptions on them, one of which tells of the origin of the Na family and the mosque itself: “My family left Qing (center China) and moved to Western Xia, and built this temple during the Jiajing reign.” After receiving repeated facelifts, the mosque is now opened for cultural and religious exchanges with foreign countries.
(china.org.cn)
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