[Internet Repost]

Halal Map of Hangzhou: Guide to Heritage Spots and Regional Halal Flavors

Abstract:



A comprehensive and systematic breakdown of Hangzhou's halal food landscape, covering traditional heritage restaurants, signature Xinjiang spots, exotic Middle Eastern flavors, and convenient chain eateries. Providing residents and visitors in Hangzhou with a clear, practical guide and complete route map for hunting down delicious halal food.

Hangzhou’s halal scene runs as a path you can follow. Legacy sets the pace, Xinjiang builds the table, Middle Eastern kitchens reset the rhythm, and chains plus campus zones handle daily use. Stable structure, easy decisions.



Hangzhou’s halal scene runs as a path you can follow. Legacy sets the pace, Xinjiang builds the table, Middle Eastern kitchens reset the rhythm, and chains plus campus zones handle daily use. Stable structure, easy decisions.

Start around Hefang Street. Qingyazhaian anchors the area, tied to the Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque) skewer lineage—clean heat, steady output, the fixed point. Around it, the options open up: Dongyishun for fast hybrid meals, Yifengxiang for a fuller Northwest spread, Xibei Renjia for a more direct grill rhythm. Everything sits within a few steps, easy solo. Nearby, Phoenix Halal Snacks brings it back to everyday; spots like CUMIN add long-run consistency—years of steady output, rarely misses, a reliable fallback in the area.



Start around Hefang Street. Qingyazhaian anchors the area, tied to the Phoenix Mosque skewer lineage—clean heat, steady output, the fixed point. Around it, the options open up: Dongyishun for fast hybrid meals (including some Middle Eastern options), Yifengxiang for a fuller Northwest spread, Xibei Renjia for a more direct grill rhythm. Everything sits within a few steps, easy solo. Nearby, Phoenix Halal Snacks brings it back to everyday; spots like Cumin add long-run consistency—years of steady output, rarely misses, a reliable fallback in the area.

Move outward and Xinjiang takes over the table, split into two modes. Pamir Restaurant anchors the traditional path—grounded flavor, steady structure, built for groups; Afanty opens that same lane into a more social format—larger room, more energy, suited for gatherings and longer meals. The mall version, like SERINDIA, tightens everything—more controlled room, more controlled output, easier when you want a softer pace.



Move outward and Xinjiang takes over the table, split into two modes. Pamir Restaurant anchors the traditional path—grounded flavor, steady structure, built for groups; Afanty opens that same lane into a more social format—larger room, more energy, suited for gatherings and longer meals. The mall version, like SERINDIA, tightens everything—more controlled room, more controlled output, easier when you want a softer pace.

The Xinjiang lane runs deep—spots like Li Li Yang Ke, Husaini Gobi Desert, and Xibei Dongxiang Lou spread across the city as reliable stops.



The Xinjiang lane runs deep—spots like Li Li Yang Ke, Husaini Gobi Desert, and Xibei Dongxiang Lou spread across the city as reliable stops.

Middle Eastern sits as a reset. Souq runs dual nodes—PAFC and Shanzeli—lighter spice, clean builds, an easy shift out of heavier meals.



Middle Eastern sits as a reset. Souq runs dual nodes—PAFC and Shanzeli—lighter spice, clean builds, an easy shift out of heavier meals.

New openings sharpen the map. Lale Turkish lands in Hubin with an Ottoman-leaning format; Multan Pakistani opens in Chez Lotus with deeper spice and stew-driven structure; Ayoubu Pizzeria appears in Sandun and Xiaohe for a more casual, pizza-driven lane; Westlake 66 in Wulin is set to bring in Sultan Restaurant as a new Middle Eastern node.



New openings sharpen the map. Lale Turkish lands in Hubin with an Ottoman-leaning format; Multan Pakistani opens in Chez Lotus with deeper spice and stew-driven structure; Ayoubu Pizzeria appears in Sandun and Xiaohe for a more casual, pizza-driven lane; Westlake 66 in Wulin is set to bring in Sultan Restaurant as a new Middle Eastern node.

Further out, the campus belt takes over. Xiasha and Xiaoheshan concentrate density—shawarma and burgers as repeat meals, low price, low friction. Xiaoheshan runs Sultan Shawarma, and Amman Shawarma in sequence; Xiasha clusters ARABESKA for Arab expression, Sefar for efficiency, and Sultan for a steady shawarma line.



Further out, the campus belt takes over. Xiasha and Xiaoheshan concentrate density—shawarma and burgers as repeat meals, low price, low friction. Xiaoheshan runs Sultan Shawarma, and Amman Shawarma in sequence; Xiasha clusters ARABESKA for Arab expression, Sefar for efficiency, and Sultan for a steady shawarma line.

When you don’t want to think, the system tightens. Pin Hui Wei Taste Halal spans the city—six locations, consistent output, always available. Chains like Ma Yi Jong and Chen Xiang Gui turn Lanzhou noodles into a reliable mall solution. Muyangke and Yangbatou extend the system into halal hotpot—slower pace, still steady for groups.



When you don’t want to think, the system tightens. Pin Hui Wei Taste Halal spans the city—six locations, consistent output, always available. Chains like Ma Yi Jong and Chen Xiang Gui turn Lanzhou noodles into a reliable mall solution. Muyangke and Yangbatou extend the system into halal hotpot—slower pace, still steady for groups.

Finding halal food in Hangzhou is straightforward: Xinjiang, Xibei (Northwest), and even many Dongbei (Northeast) restaurants operate within the halal system, with strong density across the city—you’ll run into it in most neighborhoods. Look for the "清真" (Halal) characters or signage at the entrance.



Finding halal food in Hangzhou is straightforward: Xinjiang, Xibei (Northwest), and even many Dongbei (Northeast) restaurants operate within the halal system, with strong density across the city—you’ll run into it in most neighborhoods. Look for the “清真” characters or signage at the entrance.

The move is simple: solo—hit a legacy spot and finish fast; groups—run the traditional Xinjiang line; reset—Souq; no thinking—Pin Hui Wei; campus zones—rotate shawarma and burgers. Follow the path and you land right.

The move is simple: solo—hit a legacy spot and finish fast; groups—run the traditional Xinjiang line; reset—Souq; no thinking—Pin Hui Wei; campus zones—rotate shawarma and burgers. Follow the path and you land right. view all

[Internet Repost]

The Crispy Beef Pan-Fried Buns Locals Line Up For! Hangzhou Zhongshan Middle Road Halal Spot: Exploring Mutton Shaomai and Golden, Crispy-Bottom Buns

Summary:

Stroll down Southern Song Imperial Street and Zhongshan Middle Road to discover a beloved neighborhood halal spot cherished by old locals. Featuring golden, crispy-bottomed niurou jianbao (pan-fried beef buns), juicy lamb shaomai (steamed lamb dumplings), and rich beef vermicelli soup, it serves up a steaming hot slice of local street-side halal culture.



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Zhongshan Middle Road in Hangzhou is a magical street. Step off West Lake Avenue and you're right on Southern Song Imperial Street, where old-school Hangzhou daily life unfolds at an unhurried, steady pace. Walk just a short distance, and an ancient building with upturned eaves suddenly catches your eye. Featuring double-eaved octagonal roofs and soaring corner tips, Arabian-style domes are hidden beneath traditional Chinese architecture—a striking blend that makes you stop in your tracks for a second look.



This is the Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque).

Originally built during the Tang Dynasty and once known as Zhenjiao Temple (True Teaching Mosque), the entire complex resembled a phoenix spreading its wings, which is how it earned this poetic name. Destroyed by war during the Southern Song Dynasty, it was rebuilt during the Yuan Dynasty when a wealthy Islamic master from the Western Regions named Alaoding donated funds, giving it the look you see today.

Alongside Yangzhou's Crane Mosque, Quanzhou's Kirin Mosque, and Guangzhou's Lion Mosque, it is known as one of the four great ancient mosques along China's southeast coast. For over a millennium, it has remained the heartbeat of Hangzhou's Muslim community. Surrounding the mosque, Hui Muslims gradually formed a unique halal food scene, turning the Zhongshan Middle Road area into the most authentic spot in Hangzhou for halal flavors.



At its core, the charm of halal street food comes down to one word: "clean." With no tobacco or alcohol allowed, strict ingredient selection, and careful ritual slaughter, the meat quality is exceptionally pure. Among all halal snacks, niurou jianbao (pan-fried beef buns) are a staple at almost every spot.

Halal niurou jianbao are actually more accurately called "water-pan-fried beef buns." The cooking method is totally different from Shanghai's shengjianbao (crispy pan-fried soup buns) or Hangzhou's guotie (crispy beef potstickers): oil is added to a flat-bottomed skillet first, then the buns go in and water is added before covering them to steam. Once the water evaporates and the buns are nearly cooked through, a final drizzle of oil is poured in to fry up a crispy, golden bottom. This gives them the soft, fluffy texture of steamed buns combined with the crisp, savory crunch of pan-frying. One side is golden and crispy, the other is snowy white and soft, wrapping a solid, hearty beef filling right in the center. Take a bite, and the crispy bottom, soft wrapper, and savory beef juices burst in your mouth all at once—a level of satisfaction regular pan-fried buns just can't match.

Right by the back door of Phoenix Mosque sits a small halal eatery. Once simply called "Halal Snacks," its sign now reads "Phoenix Halal Snacks," and it has been rooted in Hangzhou for at least a dozen years. The owner is a local Hangzhou Hui Muslim.



The shop isn't large, but it's kept bright and spotless. The tables and chairs are standard setup for an old-school snack shop with no flashy decor. Service is fast, so you won't be waiting long.

Niurou Jianbao (Pan-Fried Beef Buns)

Their undisputed heavyweight champion.



Some people make a special trip just for these buns, often packing up 10 to go. They aren't small either; unlike the bite-sized, delicate versions you find in Henan or Shandong, Hangzhou's beef pan-fried buns take the hearty route. Thick wrappers loaded with filling, they feel heavy and substantial in your hand. Fresh out of the pan, the dough gleams with a golden luster, and the bottoms are fried to a crispy, savory crunch. Bite through the soft, fluffy wrapper, and you'll find a generous, tightly packed ball of beef filling bursting with rich juices. The seasoning is clean and straightforward—no heavy, overpowering spices, just the pure, natural flavor of the beef.

Yangrou Shaomai (Steamed Lamb Dumplings)

The mutton shaomai are an absolute must-try and have racked up tons of glowing reviews. A steamer basket costs twenty yuan, and the wrappers are so thin you can vaguely see the pink, tender meat filling inside. There's no dry white flour "snow cap" on top; instead, the pleated edges of the wrappers fan out naturally, folding like flower petals—they're a joy just to look at. Pick one up and you'll feel its weight; take a bite and it immediately oozes juices—truly the kind that bursts in your mouth.



The lamb filling is fresh, tender, and juicy, with zero gamey odor. Word is the mutton is sourced specifically from China's Northwest. Hangzhou locals love shaomai with thin wrappers, generous fillings, and plenty of broth, and this spot nails every single requirement. One reviewer raved, "Way better than the mutton soup restaurants!"

Yangrou Chuan (Mutton Skewers)

Five yuan a skewer—an absolute bargain in today's Hangzhou.

Alternating fat and lean meat threaded onto iron skewers, they sizzle away as they grill. When served, the surface has a slight smoky char while locking in the juices inside. The seasoning leans Northwest-style, with cumin and chili flakes applied with restraint so they don't overpower the meat, letting the natural flavor of the lamb truly shine.

Some say the mutton skewers around Phoenix Mosque used to be some of the best in all of Hangzhou. While more young foodies come out for skewers these days and quality can occasionally fluctuate, overall, getting this kind of quality mutton skewer for five yuan leaves zero room for complaints.

Phoenix Halal Snacks Address: No. 227 Zhongshan Middle Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou (Back door of Phoenix Mosque)

⏰ Business Hours: Approx. 08:00 – 19:00 (Call ahead to confirm before heading out) view all

[Internet Repost]

Academic Research: Deciphering Newly Discovered Imam Tombstones at Hangzhou's Yong'an Muslim Cemetery: New Evidence on Islamic History and the Fenghuang Mosque's Imam System

Abstract:

Through detailed textual research on newly discovered tombstones of imams dating from the Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Republican periods at Hangzhou's Yong'an Muslim Cemetery, this study fills a historical gap in the lineage of Hangzhou's Islamic leaders and provides precious first-hand physical evidence for the three-imam system historically practiced at Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque).



Academic Research:

Discovery of Imam Tombstones at Hangzhou's Yong'an Muslim Cemetery

Guo Chengmei, Yang Hua



Abstract

Three tombstones respectively bearing the titles of "Grand Imam" and "Third Imam" have been discovered at the Yong'an Muslim Cemetery in Hangzhou. Dating to the Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Republican eras, these stones provide concrete evidence that Fenghuang Mosque once practiced a three-imam system. The subjects of these three tombstones have rarely been mentioned in academic circles, and their indisputable roles as religious leaders offer fresh content and fertile ground for researching late Qing and Republican-era Islam in Hangzhou. This article offers a preliminary decipherment of the inscriptions on these three steles. Around the 1930s, titles like "Grand Imam" disappeared from Yong'an Cemetery, replaced by terms such as "Ahong (Islamic teacher/imam)" and "Jiaozhang (chief imam/dean)", indicating that the Fenghuang Mosque's three-imam system was no longer in practice. This historical shift was linked to the rising status of community elders, the gradual dilution of the imams' administrative powers, and external influences.

Keywords



Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque); Three-Imam System; Tombstones

1. The Discovery of Grand Imam, Third Imam, and Imam Tombstones in Hangzhou

Historically, the three-imam system was one of the organizational structures used in inland China's mosques, also known as the "Three-Path System." Emerging among Hui Muslims in interior China in the late 14th century, it was a mosque organization system composed of three religious roles: the Imam, the Khatib, and the Mu'adhdhin. In Ma Zhu's Qingzhen Zhinhai (Guide to Islam), the Imam, Khatib, and Mu'adhdhin are referred to sequentially as the "Grand Imam," "Second Imam," and "Third Imam," and are collectively called "religious leaders." Liu Zhi's Tianfang Dianli (Islamic Rites) refers to the Khatib as "Yujiao" (instructor of teachings) and the Mu'adhdhin as "Zangjiao" (praiser of teachings). Within the three-imam system, the Imam led the congregation in prayer and presided over public religious rituals and activities; the Khatib preached and admonished; and the Mu'adhdhin served as the muezzin, specifically calling the faithful to the mosque for prayer when the time arrived. This system was widely prevalent in Hui Muslim communities during the Ming and Qing dynasties and formed a hereditary practice. With social development, aside from a few religious communities that formally retained the "three-imam system," it gradually faded away by the mid-Republican period, and the institution ceased to exist.



Whether the historic Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque) in Hangzhou practiced the three-imam system of mosque management is a question worthy of attention and study. Due to a scarcity of sources, it has remained unaddressed. Since 2017, and particularly starting two years ago, with the support of the Zhejiang Islamic Association, we have gained a general understanding of the Yong'an Muslim Cemetery through multiple field surveys. By numbering, registering, and photographing the tombs and steles, and by transcribing inscriptions and measuring stones for key monuments, we have gathered a wealth of precious first-hand material and achieved preliminary research results. Among them, several tombstones related to Fenghuang Mosque particularly caught our attention. Upon research, we discovered that the sparse words carved on these few stones actually pertain to the implementation of the three-imam system at Fenghuang Mosque. Below, this paper will focus on introducing the evidence found on these steles at the Yong'an Muslim Cemetery concerning the practice of the three-imam system at Fenghuang Mosque in the late Qing and early Republican periods.

The Yong'an Muslim Cemetery is located within the Yuquan Scenic Area in Hangzhou. Because Muslim cemeteries such as the one in the West Lake South Garden fell into ruin over time and left no space for burials, clan members raised funds in 1934 to purchase 99 mu of land at Lingfeng, Yuquan, West Lake, establishing the Yong'an Cemetery. In 1991, to beautify the West Lake scenic area, the Hangzhou municipal government banned further burials at the "Yong'an Cemetery" in the Yuquan scenic zone, designating the site as a permanent area for ancient Hui Muslim tombs. The original 44 burial plots were funded by the government and relocated to the Liuxia Hui Muslim Cemetery in the nearby suburbs.

The burial grounds of the Yong'an Muslim Cemetery currently contain roughly three categories of Muslim graves. The first consists of original burials from various dynasties prior to 1934 that were already located within the Yong'an graveyard, such as the 55th year of the Qianlong era (1790) "Tomb of Aunt Ding," the Daoguang-era (1838) "Joint Tomb of Wang Chunhui and Madam Liu," the Tongzhi-era (1867) "Tomb of Madam Wang and Madam Ding," and the Guangxu-era (1877) "Tomb of Ma Ermei." The second category comprises graves added as a public cemetery for Hangzhou's Muslims between the establishment of the cemetery in 1934 and 1991, when the Hangzhou municipal government prohibited further burials at Yong'an and designated it as ancient Hui Muslim graves. The third category includes a certain number of relocated tombs. After 1949, as Hangzhou accelerated urban construction and development, many ancient Muslim graves and modern burials originally located in development zones were relocated, and Yong'an Cemetery took in a portion of them. Because the cemetery is nestled in a tranquil mountain scenic area, the Hangzhou municipal government preserved it in its original state permanently. The 1991 government burial ban took effect in 1992, after which the Yong'an Cemetery distanced itself from urban clamor and settled into natural serenity. These ancient tombs and steles within the cemetery grounds have thus been preserved before us in their original locations and appearances.



The Yong'an Cemetery currently holds two tombstones bearing the title "Grand Imam" and one bearing the title "Third Imam." These three graves lie side by side in the southwest corner of the cemetery; from right to left, they are Er Zhiru the Third Imam, Tan Zhongling the Grand Imam, and Xiyuan the Grand Imam. Another tombstone bearing the title "Imam" is located on the southern side of the cemetery. Due to years of rainwater erosion on the hillside, mountain moisture, and sparse human traffic, the lower halves of the two "Grand Imam" tombstones have been buried in mountain mud, with moss clinging to the surface above ground. We conducted tentative preliminary excavations, leading to new discoveries regarding the inscriptions. For instance, on the tombstone of Grand Imam Xiyuan, originally only lines such as "Summer of the 12th year of the Republic of China, ninth month" and "Grand Imam of Fenghuang Mosque" were visible. After excavation, important information such as "Lord Xiyuan" and "Filial son Bai" was successively identified. Further excavation to read characters deeper down proved too difficult, so work was regretfully halted.

2. Inscriptions and Decipherment

The four tombstones recording the "Grand Imam," "Third Imam," and "Imam" are arranged in chronological order by their erection dates: the tombstone of Third Imam Er Zhiru, the tombstone of Grand Imam Tan Zhongling, the tombstone of Grand Imam Bai Xiyuan, and the joint tombstone of Imams Ding Yinchun and Yang Hongdao.



(1) Tombstone of Third Imam Er Zhiru and His Wife

Inscription: Joint tomb of the late Third Imam Er Gong of the Great Mosque and his surviving wife, Madam Ma. Erected in the sixth month of the seventh year of Daoguang. Filial sons Fuchang, Furui, Rongqing, Ronggui, and Rongchang bow a hundred times.

Decipherment: Carved from granite, the stele measures 125 cm in height, 65 cm in width, and 10 cm in thickness, in a rectangular shape. Erected in the seventh year of Daoguang (1827). The top is outlined with simple lines forming a pointed arch, a commonly used decorative shape in Islam. Below this are the horizontally arranged characters "Qing Gu" (the late Qing...), written in larger font. Eight vertical lines of text record the erection date, the identity of the tomb occupants, and information about the sponsors.



"Great Mosque" was a designation for Fenghuang Mosque in the late Qing period; academic research shows this usage first appears in the Tongzhi Xinyin edition of Wugong Yaoyao (Essentials of the Five Duties). The discovery of this stele pushes back the recorded use of "Great Mosque" by 44 years from existing historical sources.

The tomb occupant, Er Zhiru, served as the Third Imam of the Great Mosque. The surname Er is relatively rare, and history does not directly mention any famous Islamic figures with the surname Er. Among the donor lists in the surviving Qianlong 8th year (1743) stele "Inscription on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple" at Fenghuang Mosque, individuals with the surname Er include: Er, instructor at Liuhe Cangzhou; Er Shengyong; Er Tongwen; Er Tai-nu; Er Yushu; Er Dezhang; Er Qianzhi; Er Bixian; Er Tianwei; and "Guangyu Hall Er." Among the existing tombstones in Yong'an Cemetery, this is the only one bearing the Er surname. The 8th year of Qianlong (1743) was only 84 years away from the 7th year of Daoguang (1827), and nearly two hundred years have passed since then. The number of Muslims with the surname Er in Hangzhou has undergone significant shifts and rapid decline, nearly vanishing entirely.

We believe that Third Imam Er Zhiru was a local religious scholar born in Hangzhou. Out-of-towners buried at Yong'an Cemetery usually have notations on their tombstones, such as: "Tomb of Chen Wenzhi of Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan" on Chen Wenzhi's tombstone; "Native of Nanshan County, Nansxiang, Yizhou Prefecture, Shandong" on Wang Shiqi's tombstone; and "Huaiyin Hall, Jinling" carved on Wang Hongtai's tombstone. These details clearly mark the ancestral homes and identities of the deceased. Tombstones lacking such information typically belong to locals, requiring no special explanatory inscription.



(2) Tombstone of Grand Imam Tan Zhongling

Inscription: (Arabic text) Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Imperial Qing bestowed the scholarly rank of Xiuzhiguo, Grand Imam of the Wulin Great Mosque, Lord Zhongling... Twelfth month of the fifth year of Xianfeng. Filial son Tan Shengxian, filial nephew Tan Shengde...

Decipherment: Carved from granite, the stele measures 100 cm in height, 65 cm in width, and 10 cm in thickness, in a rectangular shape. Erected in the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855). The upper portion features a circular design enclosing the Quranic text Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, translated into Chinese as "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful." The bottom of the tombstone is submerged in the ground, and the text at the lower end is buried and illegible. Based on typical tombstone layouts, we estimate that the buried text is brief and contains no critical information. Directly below "Lord" are likely the characters "Zhi Mu" (Tomb of); below "Shengxian and Shengde" are likely phrases like "Respectfully erected / jointly erected" or "bowing a hundred times / weeping a hundred times."



This is the second tombstone discovered at the Yong'an Muslim Cemetery inscribed with the name "Great Mosque." Wulin is an alternative name for Hangzhou. The Wulin Great Mosque is thus Hangzhou's Fenghuang Mosque.

The tombstone is engraved with the Arabic Quranic "Basmala." The Qing-era rank of Xiuzhiguo was a titular rank for civil officials of the eighth lower grade—a nominal official title without real power, roughly equivalent to a deputy staff member in modern civil service hierarchies. Several officials and their wives buried at Yong'an Cemetery who bear the designation "Imperial Qing" lack Arabic scriptures and terms like "Qingzhen" (Islamic/Halal) or "Hui Muslim." Examples include Liu Caizhang, a candidate prefectural judge in the 8th year of Guangxu; Ding Jinchun, bestowed the rank of Xiuzhiguo in the 9th year of Guangxu; Madam Chen in the guisi year of Guangxu; Zhang Zhizheng, bestowed the rank of official in the 19th year of Guangxu; and Madam Wang, bestowed a title in the 6th year of Tongzhi. Tan Zhongling is the only person in Yong'an Cemetery who held both an imperial court title and the position of Grand Imam.

Muslims with the surname Tan are scarce in Hangzhou. The 1743 Qianlong-era "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple" at Fenghuang Mosque lists no local Hangzhou Muslims with the surname Tan. Aside from the tombstone of Grand Imam Tan Zhongling, Yong'an Muslim Cemetery contains only five tombstones bearing the Tan surname: the first is the tombstone of "Late Ancestral Grandmother Madam Tan," erected in the 27th year of the Republic (1938); the second is the tombstone of "Tan Liansheng and Madam Zhao," erected in 1955; the third is for "Tan Shunyuan," erected in 1973; the fourth is for "Tan Yunsun," erected in 1979; and the fifth is for "Hua Hanzhi and Tan Quanyun," erected in 1980. The occupants of these four post-liberation tombstones appear to be two generations of the same family.



The tomb occupant "Lord Xiyuan" has an uncertain surname. Referring to the sponsor at the lower left, "Filial son Bai," it is possible his name was Bai Xiyuan. However, a "filial son Bai" would not refer to Xiyuan as "Lord" (Jun); he should have used "Lord Father" (Fujun) or "Late Father." Consulting the 1743 Qianlong-era "Stele Inscription on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple" by gentry member Ding Shishen of Hangzhou's Fenghuang Mosque, the text records two individuals with the surname Bai: one is "Bai, military commander of the Jiangsu Governor's central garrison," and the other is "Baba Bai." Baba, also called Papa, signifies an elder or a figure of prestige. Hangzhou's Buhetiy'er Tomb is popularly known as the Baba Tomb. Imams and religious leaders were also called Baba. Among the more than two hundred donors listed on that Qianlong stele are four Babas: Baba Bai, Baba Suo of Zhenjiang, Baba Ningbo, and Baba Wang.

The life deeds of Grand Imam Lord Xiyuan, Third Imam Er Zhiru, and Grand Imam Tan Zhongling mentioned above remain unknown.

(3) Tombstone of Grand Imam Bai Xiyuan



Inscription: (Arabic text) Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. True Fenghuang Mosque Grand Imam Lord Xiyuan... Summer of the 12th year of the Republic of China, ninth month... Filial son Bai...

Decipherment: Carved from granite, the stele measures 125 cm in height, 80 cm in width, and 6 cm in thickness, in a square shape. Erected in the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923). The upper portion is engraved with a square design enclosing the Quranic text Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, translated into Chinese as "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful." To the right is the character "Zhen" (True), a spelling style also found on other steles at Yong'an Cemetery. "Zhen" seems to refer to "Qingzhen" (Islamic), a simplified writing convention of the time used to highlight the Muslim identity of the deceased. The face of the stele features two vertical lines of text, rendered in a font relatively smaller than the Arabic Basmala and the character "Zhen." The characters at the bottom of the tombstone are obscured, preventing further deep excavation and identification.

(4) Joint Tombstone of Imams Ding Yinchun and Yang Hongdao



Inscription: (Arabic text) Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Joint tomb of late Qing Fenghuang Mosque Imam Ding and Imam Yang. Right: Late great-grandfather Ding Gong Yinchun, great-grandmother Madam Feng. Left: Late Yang Gong Hongdao, Madam. Having no direct heirs, originally buried to the left of the Ding tomb, per instructions they were relocated here together for convenience. Sons Shouyuan, Shoucheng, Shoudao, Shoulian, Shouzhi; grandsons Ruiyan, Ruiheng, Ruiting, Ruixin, Ruilun, Ruizhen, Ruihua, Ruigan; great-grandsons Yongben, Wu Qianguan, Yongkang, Yongming, Yongquan, Yong'an, Yongkun, Yongxi, Yongqiang, Yongyue, Yongkou, Yongzhen, Yongjia, Yongqun, Yongning, Yongzhong respectfully erect this. Relocated here from Wansongling during Eid al-Fitr in 1987.

Decipherment: Carved from granite, the stele measures 163 cm in height, 76 cm in width, and 10 cm in thickness, square with an arched top. The upper portion features a floral decorative pattern formed by the Quranic text Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, translated as "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful." Twelve vertical lines of text are carved into the stone.

The inscription indicates that this is a joint relocation tomb for Imams Ding Yinchun and his wife, and Imam Yang Hongdao and his wife. The inscription states that the tombs were "relocated here from Wansongling." Wansongling stretches from the lake shore in the west to Jianggan in the east, formerly crossed by the Hangzhou city wall, thus serving as the boundary between the urban area and the mountain forests. In past times, this was the base of the imperial city. Wansongling is an ancient Muslim graveyard, and three Yuan-dynasty tomb covers still survive there. A bilingual commemorative monument reading "Site of the Wansongling Foreign Guests' Tombs" stands there, stating: "Since the Tang dynasty, Muslims from the Western Regions have traveled along the Maritime Silk Road to Hangzhou to propagate Islam. According to historical records, Islamic heritage sites in Hangzhou include Fenghuang Mosque, Huihui New Bridge, and the Foreign Guests' Tombs. The Wansongling Foreign Guests' Tomb cluster is one of the ancient Muslim cemeteries in Hangzhou, primarily interring early Western Region Muslims who stayed as guests in Hangzhou. Due to their great antiquity, most of the foreign guests' tombs are deeply buried underground. These three tombs are relatively representative, exhibiting the typical style of Western Region Muslim tombs. From the Tang dynasty down to the present, passed down through generations, Muslims in Hangzhou visit this site during Islamic festivals to recite scriptures and pay homage to the Muslim ancestors within the tombs—they were messengers of early Sino-Western economic exchange and pioneers in spreading Islam, Western Region culture, medicine, architecture, and art. We pray that Allah bestows His blessings upon them."



According to the tombstone inscription, the tomb of Yang Hongdao and his wife was originally located on the "left flank" of Ding Yinchun and his wife's tomb. Because the Yang family had "no surviving heirs," the descendants of the Ding family followed Yang Hongdao's dying wish when relocating Ding Yinchun's tomb, moving the Yang tomb alongside it and reburying them jointly with the Dings. The relocation took place during Eid al-Fitr in 1987. The author surmises that prior to the relocation, they each had their own separate tombstones, and when the relocation occurred, the Ding descendants newly fashioned this joint Imam tombstone.

Yang Hongdao participated in the translation and compilation of Wugong Yaoyao (Essentials of the Five Duties) during the Tongzhi reign. The 1871 "Preface to Wugong Yaoyao" by members of the Zhejiang Fenghuang Grand Mosque states: "We earnestly requested Teacher Yang Hongdao, who holds the position of Zhangjiao (religious leader), collaborating with Teacher Jingshan, to translate and explain the true scriptures and compile them into a volume. Gathering the essentials of all scriptures, they authored the regulations of the five daily duties, separating and analyzing them in detail, translating scriptural texts into Chinese characters. While pronunciations often relied on loan words, the principles were rendered with utmost precision and detail. The completed compilation and textual research focus exclusively on the five duties, recording without omission the heavenly commands, the Prophet's practices, and the routine habits of daily life down to the finest detail." This shows that Yang Hongdao held the status of a religious leader (Zhangjiao). "Teacher" (Shi) denotes a scriptural teacher. An appendix to the 1892 Fenghuang Mosque "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple" records: "Received twenty-five silver dollars from Ahong Yang Hongdao," placing him at the very top of the list of donors and organizations. This reflects respect for the mosque's religious leader and also indicates that Yang Hongdao was at the helm of Fenghuang Mosque's religious affairs in the 18th year of Guangxu (1892). Since Fenghuang Mosque practiced the three-imam system during the Guangxu era, Yang Hongdao was undoubtedly the Grand Imam.

The tombstones of Ding Yinchun and Yang Hongdao bear the words "Late Qing," indicating that Ding and Yang lived in the late Qing period and also served as Imams during that time. The inscription refers to tomb occupant Ding Yinchun as "late great-grandfather" and notes that both Ding and Yang served as Imams. Imam is an Arabic transliteration meaning "prayer leader," "role model," or "leader." It refers to the prayer leader within a mosque who guides the Muslim congregation in performing ritual prayers and presides over public religious rituals and activities. The Imam is equivalent to the Grand Imam. The appearance of "Late Qing Fenghuang Mosque" and "Imams Ding and Yang" on the tombstone provides yet another piece of evidence supporting the practice of the three-imam system at Fenghuang Mosque during the late Qing and early Republican periods, following the tombstones of Third Imam Er Zhiru, Grand Imam Tan Zhongling, and Grand Imam Bai Xiyuan.



3. The Exit of the Three-Imam System from the Historical Stage

From the tombstone of Third Imam Er Zhiru, we know that Fenghuang Mosque practiced the three-imam management system no later than the sixth year of Daoguang (1827), though historical sources do not yet prove when this system was first instituted at the mosque. Steles at the Yong'an Muslim Cemetery show that after the tombstone of Grand Imam Bai Xiyuan in the 12th year of the Republic of China (1923), no further tombstones appeared bearing titles such as Grand Imam, Second Imam, or Third Imam. Aside from Ding Qingyun's tombstone from the 25th year of the Republic (1936), which addressed him as "Zhangjiao of the West Lake Mosque," contemporary and subsequent tombstones uniformly addressed the deceased as "Ahong" or "Jiaozhang." Examples include the 1933 tombstone of "Ahong Yang Hexuan," the 1934 tombstones of "Ahong Ma Jianting," "Ahong Li Fangxiao," and "Ahong Ding Changqing," the 1958 tombstone of "Chief Imam Liu Shihua" relocated from outside Qingbomen Ershixiang, the 1959 tombstone of "Ahong Su Zhenhuan," and the 1960 tombstone of "Chief Imam Yang Zhexhen."

The 1871 preface to Wugong Yaoyao states, "We earnestly request Teacher Yang Hongdao, who holds the position of Zhangjiao...", addressing Yang Hongdao with the title "Zhangjiao." This "Zhangjiao" is likely an abbreviation for "Grand Imam," because Fenghuang Mosque was already practicing the three-imam system during the Tongzhi era. Although we have no way of knowing what titles were inscribed on the pre-relocation tombstones of Ding and Yang, the new stele erected during the 1987 relocation bears the titles "Imam Ding" and "Imam Yang." Perhaps the Ding descendants saw records similar to "Imam" of Fenghuang Mosque on the original stones, though unfortunately the originals no longer survive. The shifts in titles used for the Ahongs who administered mosque affairs across different periods not only demonstrate that Hangzhou's Fenghuang Mosque practiced the three-imam management system during the late Qing and early Republican eras, but also indicate that around the 1930s, the three-imam system exited the historical stage, as titles like Grand Imam vanished and were gradually replaced by Jiaozhang (chief imam) and Ahong.



The transformation of the three-imam system in Hangzhou was closely tied to the rising status of community elders and the gradual weakening of the imams' administrative powers during the late Qing and early Republican periods. Fenghuang Mosque's temple affairs and social activities were managed by village elders (xianglao), while the imams (Ahongs and Jiaozhang) handled religious affairs. The main text of the 1743 Qianlong-era "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple" at Fenghuang Mosque specifically praises four elders: "Now elders Lu Yehou, Wang Shushun, Mu Xiucang, Ma Chengyu and others have once again imitated past regulations, accumulating meager funds, sparing no effort in management, gathering workers and gathering materials, painting pillars and carving beams, reapplying white plaster, and in less than half a year making it magnificent and thoroughly renewed." It also records the names of 19 board elders and directors such as Wang Zhiping and Ma Congjing. The term "xianglao" (elder) generally referred to the Muslim masses of the mosque community in Chinese Islamic contexts, though in some regions it specifically designated members of the mosque's administrative body. The elders mentioned in the stele refer to mosque managers, a meaning previously reinforced by the prefix "director" (dongshi). The stele states: "Now the elders reconstruct, and directors assist in praise—this is a grand event of the times, truly a painstaking effort," emphasizing the importance of the elder directors in this mosque reconstruction.

Guo Chengmei published the full text of the Qianlong stele in 1999 under the title "Five Chinese Steles of Fenghuang Mosque," noting that the stele lists the names of 23 director-elders and surmising that "by then Fenghuang Mosque already possessed a management organization resembling a board of directors." The stele inscription makes no mention of imams. About thirty years later, Fenghuang Mosque welcomed an incoming "administering imam" named Ma Shifang (styled Huachuan) from Xianyang, Shaanxi, who made notable contributions to the translation and annotation of Islamic classics into Chinese, successively writing prefaces for Jin Tianzhu's Qingzhen Shiyi (Resolving Doubts on Islam) and Liu Zhi's Tianfang Zhisheng Shilu (True Records of the Ultimate Sage of Islam). One preface is dated: "Midsummer day of the intercalary month in thegui-si year, the 38th year of Qianlong, respectfully written by Ma Shifang of Longxi, Zhangjiao of the Wulin Zhenjiao Temple." Another preface is dated: "First day of the winter month in the bing-shen year, the 41st year of Qianlong, respectfully composed with ablutions and bows by the late student Ma Shifang Huachuan, administering Zhangjiao of the Wulin Qingzhen Temple." The Wulin Zhenjiao Temple and Qingzhen Temple refer to Hangzhou's Fenghuang Mosque. Ma Shifang participated in re-engraving Wu Zunqi's Xiuzhen Mengyin (Introduction to Cultivating Truth) and invited Jiang Yuanlong of Jiaxing to write a re-engraving preface. Ma Shifang's signing as "administering Zhangjiao" reflects his self-assurance and the power of his religious office. The 1892 "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple" at Fenghuang Mosque records: "As for directing the affairs of scriptural study and repairs, gentlemen Zhu Zhengsu and Wang Xingsheng shared in the labor," praising the directors who repaired the temple. At the same time, the stele appendix records: "Received twenty-five silver dollars from Ahong Yang Hongdao," placing him at the very front of the donors and organizations. This honors the mosque's religious leader and shows that Yang Hongdao was directing the religious affairs of Fenghuang Mosque in 1892. The inscription accommodates both the elders and the Ahong, representing a balance in their relationship: one "directed scriptural study and repair affairs," while the other was the "Ahong"; one "had labor" in temple repairs, while the other donated 25 silver dollars; one appeared in the main text of the stele, the other in the appendix. Comparing them, the relative weight is clear at a glance. In the early Republican period, Ahongs rarely stepped forward in Fenghuang Mosque's external communications. For instance, Ma Zhaolong submitted a petition to protect ancient tombs in the 9th year of the Republic (1920); in 1925, Fenghuang Mosque board directors Zhang Qi, Jin Rudong, Sun Jialin, Sun Songting, Sun Zhongwei, Feng Yanbang, Feng Erxiao, and Jin Jingen submitted a petition to protect ancient tombs. In 1925, the China Islamic Association founded in Shanghai published a "Directory of Members" listing as many as 14 prominent figures from Hangzhou's business and academic circles, yet not a single Ahong was included. This situation indicates that religious leader and Ahong roles were gradually stepping back from social affairs, while directors and elders began to shine brightly.

The transformation of Hangzhou's three-imam system was also driven by external influences, appearing closely connected to the reforms of the three-imam system then underway in Shanghai's Islamic community. In 1922, voices emerged within Shanghai's Islamic community suggesting the abolition of the second imam and a change to the three-imam system. In the summer of 1925, elder Jin Zhian wrote a letter to the board of directors proposing that the leadership of prayer and the recitation of the Khutbah be performed by a single person, which in substance demanded the abolition of the second imam position. In May 1926, the China Islamic Association Monthly published a piece titled "Correspondence Exchanged with Mr. Yuan Hanchen," formally issued under the signature of "Respectfully written by the China Islamic Association." It formally proposed that every mosque should hire "principal and deputy imams (namely the Imam and the Mu'adhdhin)," expressing the hope that "our country's religious affairs everywhere should appropriately follow this system." The text stated: "Teachers at mosques in foreign countries have no practice of reciting scriptures and replacing people for compensation, yet they all receive stipends... In our Association's view, co-religionists across our country should urgently and appropriately adopt this system. Each mosque should raise public funds locally, engaging two individuals of superior character and learning as principal and deputy imams (namely the Imam and the Mu'adhdhin) to preside over religious affairs and preach doctrine, provided that the salaries offered are benchmarked against local conditions and sufficient to support their households." These reforms won the approval of the China Islamic Association. In 1940, approval was obtained from the Ministry of the Interior to formulate the "Measures for Mosque Management," which were circulated to all mosques nationwide for compliance and implementation. "However, during the War of Resistance, mosques in occupied areas were unable to implement them. Consequently, the Association revised the "Interim Measures for Mosque Management of the China Islamic Association," which was approved by the Ministry of the Interior for implementation in July 1947. In March 1948, the China Islamic Association Bulletin published the "Interim Measures" along with the "General Rules for the Organization of Mosque Boards of Directors" and "Precautions." These reaffirmed the adoption of the title "Jiaozhang" (chief imam/dean) and the management of all mosque affairs by the board of directors. The hiring or dismissal of the chief imam, the purchase or sale of mosque property, the income and expenditure of mosque funds, and various religious innovations and reforms could not be undertaken without the approval of the mosque board of directors.



Shanghai's reform of the three-imam system was relatively thorough: the second imam was abolished, the titles of the imams were changed, the Grand Imam (Imam) was renamed Jiaozhang (chief imam/dean), and the third imam (Mu'adhdhin) was renamed Deputy Jiaozhang (deputy dean). Shanghai's reform of the three-imam system exerted a major influence on neighboring Hangzhou's Muslims, who maintained close ties and also practiced the three-imam system. In the 1920s and 1930s, Hangzhou Muslims must have been aware of the events unfolding within Shanghai's religious circles regarding the three-imam system. With as many as 14 members of the China Islamic Association hailing from Hangzhou, they could not have turned a blind eye to the articles published in the China Islamic Association Monthly or the calls to abolish the second imam and adopt the principal-deputy imam system. Hangzhou was close at hand, and Fenghuang Mosque would naturally follow the trend; its reform of the three-imam system would not have been delayed until the China Islamic Association's 1940 nationwide circular, but would have been implemented earlier. Judging by the changes in Ahong titles on tombstones, titles like "Grand Imam" vanished after 1923, replaced by "Jiaozhang" and "Ahong," indicating that Fenghuang Mosque abandoned the three-imam system around the 1930s.

References

1. Ma Jian, trans., The Quran, Chinese Social Sciences Press, 1981.



2. Guo Chengmei, "Five Chinese Steles of Fenghuang Mosque," published in Islamic Culture Studies, Xi'an, 1999, No. 2.

3. Jiang Yuanlong, "Preface to the Re-engraving," 40th year of Qianlong, in Wu Zunqi, Xiuzhen Mengyin, Qingzhen Daodian, 2005, Vol. 15, p. 5.

4. Shanghai Mosque Board of Directors Meeting Motions, Republican period, 4 volumes, preserved at the Shanghai Islamic Association.



5. China Islamic Association, Directory of Members, 1925, preserved at the Shanghai Library.

6. China Islamic Association, China Islamic Association Bulletin, 1948, National Library of China Reader Website.

Notes



¹ Guo Chengmei (1949–), male, native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, council member of the China Hui Muslim Association. Primarily engaged in local cultural and historical research on Hui Islam.

Yang Hua (1981–), female, native of Xi'an, Shaanxi, residing in Zhejiang, primarily engaged in local history research on Hui Islam.

² Ma Jian, trans., The Quran, Chapter 1, Verse 1, Chinese Social Sciences Press, 1981. Same below.



³ Ding Shishen, "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple," 8th year of Qianlong (1743), preserved in the stele corridor of Fenghuang Mosque.

⁴ According to Ding descendant Ding Yongzhong, "Qianguan" was the son of Ding Ruiyuan by name, not biological, named Wu Qianguan (with the traditional Chinese character for guan). He was extremely filial, becoming a model for their generation.

⁵ 1871 "Preface to Wugong Yaoyao" by members of the Zhejiang Fenghuang Grand Mosque, found in Jingshan and Yang Hongdao, Wugong Yaoyao, preserved in the Dalian Library.

⁶ Ma Zhaolong, "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple," 18th year of Guangxu, Qing dynasty, preserved at Fenghuang Mosque.

⁷ Ding Shishen: 1743 "Stele on the Reconstruction of the Zhenjiao Temple," preserved at Fenghuang Mosque.

⁸ Guo Chengmei, "Five Chinese Steles of Fenghuang Mosque," published in Islamic Culture Studies, Xi'an, 1999, No. 2.

⁹ Jiang Yuanlong stated: "Yanshan Yang Gong cherished the canon of our co-religionists, seeing how few understand this Path, and discussed it with Wulin Zhangjiao Teacher Huachuan Ma, urging several comrades to jointly plan a re-engraving and asking me to write a preface." See "Preface to the Re-engraving," 40th year of Qianlong, in Wu Zunqi, Xiuzhen Mengyin, Qingzhen Daodian, 2005, Vol. 15, p. 5.

¹⁰ The 1920 "Zhejiang Provincial Capital Police Department Proclamation No. 54 Stele" states: "According to Ma Zhaolong, President of the Zhejiang Branch of the China Islamic Progressive Association." The stele does not survive; a rubbing is kept at Fenghuang Mosque. "Petition to the Governor of Zhejiang Xia to Protect Ancient Muslim Tombs," published in Huiguang, Vol. 2, No. 2, Shanghai, 1925.

¹¹ China Islamic Association, Directory of Members, 1925, preserved at the Shanghai Library.

¹² Shanghai Mosque Board of Directors, Board Meeting Motions, 1922, Vol. 1, pp. 17, 19, 21, 32; Board Meeting Motions, 1925, Vol. 2, p. 31.

¹³ "Correspondence Exchanged with Mr. Yuan Hanchen," China Islamic Association Monthly, 1926, Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 45.

¹⁴ China Islamic Association Bulletin, combined issue of Vol. 7, Nos. 8 to 12, p. 21, March 1948. view all

[Internet Repost]

Chasing the fluffiest, crispiest-bottom niurou jianbao (pan-fried beef buns) and traditional Halal street eats right next to the glow of Fenghuang Mosque at sunset.



Summary:



Rooted in the rich, thousand-year heritage of Hangzhou's historic Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque), we head over to a time-honored Halal spot tucked right beside Imperial Street (Zhongshan Middle Road). Watch the magic of freshly wrapped and pan-fried niurou jianbao come to life, experience that unbeatable crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside bite, and soak up the timeless vibes and neighborhood warmth right next to the ancient masjid.



227 Zhongshan Middle Road, Hangzhou Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque)



This historic mosque sitting right at the Imperial Street intersection features a double-eaved octagonal center and single-eaved hexagonal sides. It's totally striking and full of character, blending traditional Chinese architecture with Arabic design elements. Every time I walk past, I honestly can't help stopping to take it all in.



Right next door, there's a low-key Halal snack shop.



They dish out niurou jianbao, yangrou chuan (skewered lamb kebabs), lamian (hand-pulled beef noodles), and a whole lineup of classic bites.



But the absolute star of the show here is their niurou jianbao.



Local elders are constantly rolling up to pack away 10 jianbao to go.



Great pan-fried buns really come down to one foolproof, positive cycle:



1. The jianbao are legit delicious.



2. More people pull up to buy them.



3. The batches are always fresh, piping hot, and straight out of the pan.

Bottom line: in a city that's basically a niurou jianbao desert like Hangzhou, you're about to score:

Dough that's super fluffy and soft, a bottom that's shatteringly crisp, and a beef filling packed with juicy goodness.

Golden, glowing, and fresh out of the iron skillet—

Niurou jianbao!

Setting up shop right next to Fenghuang Mosque,

the owner puts it best: 'Where the heart feels at peace, that is home.' view all

[Internet Repost]

Tracing the History and Evolution of the Three Hui Muslim Mosques in Hangzhou During the Yuan Dynasty: A Documentary Record of Jiangnan Muslim Masjids and Cultural Relics in the Song and Yuan Dynasties

Abstract:

This study examines and organizes the historical origins, rise, and fall of the three important masjids within the city of Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty. By combining historical local gazetteers and epigraphic records, it reveals the religious life, social status, and historical and cultural heritage value of the Muslim community in the Jiangnan metropolis during the Song and Yuan dynasties.

The growth of the Muslim population during the Yuan Dynasty led to the widespread construction of masjids as places for Islamic religious activities. The Yuan government gave explicit recognition to this phenomenon, and historical literature shifted from calling these prayer sites 'halls' (tang) to 'temples/masjids' (si). As recorded in the 'Records of Rebuilding the Masjid in Dingzhou': 'Today, near the capital and far across various circuits, there are over ten thousand masjids, all facing west to perform the ritual of prostrating and praying to Allah.' Hangzhou was no exception. Hui Muslims built masjids while strictly adhering to religious doctrines and fulfilling religious duties: 'Reciting scriptures and keeping the fast, returning to tranquility, with their elders leading them, called mullahs (manla). All scriptures are in foreign scripts, bowing and prostrating facing the wall, without setting up Buddha statues, simply using religious titles to praise and bless the deities.' Tian Rucheng's 'Travels and Sights of the West Lake' states: 'Zhenjiao Mosque was built south of Wenjin Lane by the Hui Muslim Grand Master Alaoding during the Yuan Zhida/Yanyou era (1314–1320).' [1]

Hui Muslims lived in communities surrounding their masjids, and the construction of a masjid actually marked the formation of local Muslim neighborhoods. A great number of Hui Muslims lived in Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty; building upon the Song Dynasty fanfang (foreign quarters), they naturally expanded into three major communities and built masjids, resulting in three masjids in Hangzhou at that time: Zhenjiao Mosque (True Teaching Mosque), the Hui Muslim Prayer Hall, and the Hui Clan Masjid. The Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta described Hangzhou's third Muslim residential district, noting that 'the city is beautiful, and the street layout is like that of Islamic regions. Inside, there are a masjid and muezzins; when entering the city, it happened to be the time for the Dhuhr prayer, and their voices could be heard far and near.' [2] From this perspective, the Hui Muslim population residing in Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty was indeed quite substantial. Ibn Battuta also mentioned a wealthy merchant from Egypt named Othman ibn Anfani, stating that 'he also built a large congregational masjid in the city and endowed the masjid and the Sufi lodge with generous charitable funds.' 'The Muslims in this city are numerous. We stayed in this city for fifteen days, and we were invited every day and night. They were also very particular about their food and cuisine, and every day they accompanied us on horseback to tour the entire city.' [3] This account perfectly corroborates the historical facts reflected in Chinese-language literature, namely that there were two masjids and one Sufi lodge within the city of Hangzhou. It seems credible that Hangzhou had three masjids during the Yuan Dynasty.

Hangzhou's Zhenjiao Mosque appears frequently in historical records. The 'Records of Rebuilding the Masjid in Hangzhou Prefecture' from the sixth year of the Hongzhi reign in the Ming Dynasty (1493) records that a man named Alaoding during the Yuan Dynasty presided over the rebuilding of the masjid in the eighteenth year of the Shizu Zhiyuan reign (1281). Meanwhile, Tian Rucheng's 'Travels and Sights of the West Lake' states that Zhenjiao Mosque was built during 'the Yuan Yanyou era (1314–1320).' Originally built in the Song Dynasty, Zhenjiao Mosque may have fallen into disrepair by the end of the Song and suffered from the ravages of war, leaving it quite dilapidated. It was rebuilt in the early Yuan Dynasty by the Hui Muslim Grand Master Alaoding, becoming a famous masjid in Hangzhou. The exact date of the reconstruction remains difficult to pinpoint, though it may have been repaired during the Zhiyuan, Yanyou, or even Zhizheng periods. It is worth noting that Alaoding clearly played a major role in the reconstruction of Zhenjiao Mosque during the Yuan Dynasty. Today, Fenghuang Mosque (Phoenix Mosque) preserves a Yuan Dynasty Persian and Arabic inscription for the rebuilding of the masjid, though the exact date is untraced; it explicitly states that the masjid was 'built by Fakhr al-Din ibn Shihab al-Din ibn Alaoding Tarmati' [4]—the very same person known as the Hui Muslim Grand Master Alaoding in Chinese historical records. After its reconstruction, Zhenjiao Mosque stood tall; its 'foundation alone was five to six feet high, with tightly secured gates that few could casually enter, commonly known as the Masjid.' [5]

The Hui Muslim Prayer Hall went by various names in successive local gazetteers, including 'Hui Muslim Worship Hall', 'Western Regions Worship Hall', 'Western Regions Prayer Hall', and 'Hui Muslim New Bridge Prayer Hall'. It likely evolved from the Sufi lodge funded and built by the wealthy Egyptian merchant Othman ibn Anfani. Historical records show that the location of the Hui Muslim Prayer Hall was always closely linked to an adjacent 'bridge', distinguishing it from Zhenjiao Mosque.



This bridge was once called Daoming Bridge, Jishan Bridge, and later known as Hui Muslim New Bridge. The bridge ran east-west, and the street segment was once named 'Hui Muslim New Bridge Straight Street'. This bridge is located right between the present-day Fengle South Bridge and Jianqiao Bridge. Fengle South Bridge was built in recent years, with Fengle Bridge lying just to its north, perfectly matching the historical records. East of Hui Muslim New Bridge is Zhubao Lane (Jewelry Lane), running north-south, which divides the street into Upper Zhubao Lane and Lower Zhubao Lane. Today, the 'Hui Muslim Prayer Hall' no longer exists, but the Hui Muslim New Bridge still stands proudly over Hangzhou's Central Grand Canal (Zhonghe Canal).

Regarding the Hui Clan Masjid, according to the Ming Dynasty Chenghua edition of the 'Hangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer': 'Temurles, style name Zhouxian, was a native of Kangli. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng reign, as prefect of Hangzhou, when the Qihuang rebels invaded the prefecture, the Confucian school was reduced to rubble. Temurles argued that because the school was tied to moral education, he could not use hard times as an excuse, and thus planned its reconstruction. The original foundation was cramped, so he purchased the land of the Hui Clan Masjid to expand it.' [6] This indicates that it was an Islamic masjid built during the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, due to military turmoil, many Hui Muslims suffered calamities. Coinciding with the destruction of the Confucian school, Temurles purchased the site to serve as the school grounds. The Hui Clan Masjid was likely its Yuan and Ming dynasty designation, while the Yongzheng edition of the 'Zhejiang General Gazetteer' and the Qianlong edition of the 'Hangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer' both simply referred to it as the 'Masjid'. The exact site of the Hui Clan Masjid is not recorded in historical gazetteers. However, because its site was converted into the prefectural Confucian school (known as the Fuxue), the location of the Hui Clan Masjid can still be determined based on the address of the prefectural school. The Yongzheng edition of the 'Zhejiang General Gazetteer' states that the prefectural school 'is located east of the prefecture, formerly outside Tongyue Gate. In the first year of Shaoxing, it was initially built at Lingjia Bridge, now known as the former site of Hui'an Temple west of Lingyun Bridge' [7]. Lingjia Bridge, as recorded in the 'Xianchun Lin'an Gazetteer', is located on the West River at

'Lingjia Bridge, Fengyu Lane entrance' [8]. Zhong Yulong wrote in 'Tales of Hangzhou': 'Under the Transport Office River, during the Southern Song dynasty, it was Fengyu Lane Prefecture School Lane, where the Hangzhou Prefectural School was established. In the Ming dynasty, it was called Confucian Temple Street, and the prefectural school was converted into the Confucian Temple.' The Transport Office River

was filled in in 1936 and renamed Laodong Road (Labor Road). 'The Prefectural School is on today's Laodong Road, which is Confucius Temple.' [9] Meanwhile, the Southern Song 'Capital Map' drawn in the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign in the Qing Dynasty (1867) [10] marks 'Houshi Street' between 'Fengle Bridge' and 'Jianqiao Bridge'. If one marks the respective locations of Fenghuang Mosque, the Hui Muslim Prayer Hall, and the Hui Clan Masjid around the 'Prefectural School' on the map, it becomes clear that all three masjids basically lie on the same east-west main axis.

Fenghuang Mosque sits in the middle, with the Hui Muslim Prayer Hall to the east and the Hui Clan Masjid to the west. The distances from Fenghuang Mosque to the other two masjids are nearly equal, and the distribution of the three masjids in Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty closely matches the residential patterns of Hui Muslims living around their masjids, as well as their commercial markets.

Furthermore, according to the Chenghua edition of the 'Hangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer': 'Xia Sizhong, style name Zhongyan, was a native of Gaoyou. In his youth, he served as a clerk. When Zhang's forces occupied Gaoyou, Sizhong followed them. When Zhang surrendered and pledged allegiance, his subordinates were appointed to various posts, and Sizhong was appointed as a counselor in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Branch Secretariat, later reassigned as the Prefecture Administrator of Hangzhou. Sizhong was open-minded, quick, and unhindered, courageous and proactive when encountering matters, winning the respect of superiors and subordinates alike. After the Hangzhou school was devastated by the fires of war, the former prefect Temurles had just finished its reconstruction when the temple keeper was careless with fire, burning the whole complex down. Sizhong boldly took reconstruction upon himself. Previously, although Temurles had purchased the land of the masjid for expansion, he had not acquired all of it. Sizhong purchased the remainder in full, making the foundations vast and the temple buildings solemn and orderly. From then on, the Hangzhou school became the crown of western Zhejiang.' [11] The 'Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature' (Gujin Tushu Jicheng) contains the exact same record: 'Xia Sizhong served as the Prefecture Administrator of Hangzhou. After the Hangzhou school was ravaged by war and fire, the former prefect Temurles had just finished rebuilding it when it was subsequently destroyed by fire. Sizhong took the restoration upon himself, building upon Temurles' legacy by purchasing all the land of the masjid to expand the school grounds. The buildings were solemn and orderly, making the Hangzhou school the crown of western Zhejiang.' [12] It appears that the Hui Clan Masjid during the Yuan Dynasty occupied quite a large area and scale. When Temurles built the prefectural school in the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng reign (1353), it did not occupy all the land of the masjid. Just as the school's reconstruction was 'newly completed', a fire broke out and reduced it to ashes.

Later, Hangzhou Prefect Xia Sizhong purchased all the remaining land belonging to the Hui Clan Masjid and heavily expanded the prefectural school, making 'the Hangzhou school the crown of western Zhejiang.' This also demonstrates that the Hui Muslims living in Hangzhou at that time were not only numerous in number but also possessed immense financial resources.



From this, it is clear that Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty indeed housed three masjids: Zhenjiao Mosque, the Hui Clan Masjid, and the Hui Muslim Prayer Hall. It was only during the Zhizheng period at the end of the Yuan Dynasty that the Hui Clan Masjid was abandoned due to military turmoil, and its site was acquired by the government to be used as land for the prefectural school [13].

[1] Tian Rucheng: 'Travels and Sights of the West Lake', Volume 18, 'Scenic Spots in the City Along the Southern Mountain Branch: Zhenjiao Mosque', Chinese Local Gazetteers Series edition.

[2] 'The Travels of Ibn Battuta', Ningxia People's Publishing House, 1985 edition, p. 557.

[3] Same as above.

[4] Cheng Tong: 'Persian and Arabic Inscriptions at Hangzhou Fenghuang Mosque - Also Discussing the Footsteps of Muslims in Hangzhou During the Yuan Dynasty', published in 'Shanghai Cultural Heritage', Issue 1, 2006.

[5] Tian Rucheng: 'Travels and Sights of the West Lake', Volume 18, 'Scenic Spots in the City Along the Southern Mountain Branch: Zhenjiao Mosque', Chinese Local Gazetteers Series edition.

[6] Chenghua 'Hangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer', 'Siku Quanshu Cunmu Congshu - Historical Works Collection', Qilu Publishing House, 1996 edition.



[7] Yongzheng 'Zhejiang General Gazetteer', Zhejiang Publishing House block-printed edition, 25th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1899).

[8] 'Xianchun Lin'an Gazetteer', included in 'Song and Yuan Local Gazetteers Collection', Zhonghua Book Company, 1990 edition.

[9] Zhong Yulong: 'Tales of Hangzhou', found in 'West Lake Historical Documents Integration' (Vol. 11), Hangzhou Publishing House, 2004 edition.

[10] 'Xianchun Lin'an Gazetteer', included in 'Song and Yuan Local Gazetteers Collection', Zhonghua Book Company, 1990 edition.

[11] Chenghua 'Hangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer', 'Siku Quanshu Cunmu Congshu - Historical Works Collection', Qilu Publishing House, 1996 edition.

[12] 'Gujin Tushu Jicheng - Economic Compilation, Electoral Canon', Volume 26, 'School Section Historical Events Part 2', Shanghai Zhonghua Book Company, 1934 edition.

[13] Guo Chengmei: 'The Hui Clan Masjid - Another Yuan Dynasty Masjid in Hangzhou', published in 'Islamic Culture Studies' (Xi'an), Issue 3, 2008.

Selected from 'History of Islam in Hangzhou'

Authored by Ma Jianchun view all

[Internet Repost]

A Historical Study of Hui Muslim Diet and Customs in Late Qing Hangzhou: Traditional Halal Spiritual Dining and Changes in Everyday Hui Life

Abstract:

Based on late Qing and Republican-era historical documents and folkloric records, this study examines the characteristics of Halal cuisine and the spiritual lifestyle of Hangzhou's Hui Muslim community. It explores how Hangzhou's Halal dining scene persevered and evolved while blending into Jiangnan local culture, showcasing a unique Hui culinary tradition.

A Muslim's everyday life is intimately connected to their religious faith, meaning many Hui customs reflect both daily routines and religious practices. We previously touched upon the Hui customs in Hangzhou recorded by Yuan dynasty scholars (click to view details), though unfortunately, such records became quite scarce after the Yuan dynasty. By the late Qing dynasty, however, relevant documents increased once again. Works specifically chronicling Hangzhou customs—such as *Hangsu Yifeng* (Remnants of Hangzhou Customs), *Wulin Zashi Shi* (Miscellaneous Poetry on Wulin), and *Shuo Hangzhou* (Talking About Hangzhou)—contain varying degrees of documentation. We will cite and discuss these one by one, comparing them briefly with Yuan dynasty records where possible.



▲ *Hangsu Yifeng* (Remnants of Hangzhou Customs)

*Hangsu Yifeng* is a collection of notes written during the Tongzhi era of the late Qing dynasty. It features a dedicated section on "Dietary Categories," which records "lamb soup and rice":

"Lamb soup and rice restaurants sell exclusively lamb products and rice, priced at six or four wen per bowl. There are also lamb soup noodles starting at six or eight wen per bowl, depending on the diner's preference. The lamb is skinned, deboned, stewed until tender, and chopped into chunks, priced at four wen per piece, available in salted-and-peppered or plain styles. Additionally, offal such as intestines, lungs, and hearts are chopped, mixed with broth, and served in a bowl, known as *zashui* (mixed offal soup)—six wen for a single bowl, fourteen wen for a double bowl. Small bites like kidneys, livers, spines, brains, intestines, stomachs, trotters, tongue, and *taijitu* (lamb brain shaped like a Taiji symbol) cost twenty-eight wen per plate; fourteen wen is also accepted for a single diner. Meat pieces: if eating two pieces, it costs only six cash. Dried sliced meat can be ordered by the plate in any amount, or put into broth to make sliced meat soup. Major dishes like braised meat and *zashui* all center around lamb. The only alcohol served is *gaoliang* (sorghum liquor). Dim sum options include shredded pork, spring pancakes, water dumplings, and *shaomai* (steamed lamb dumplings), all available. Side dishes and noodle broth cost two cash per plate or basin. These shops do not open in the summer because of the heat."

This book also has a supplementary edition compiled by the Liuyi Bookstore in Hangzhou in 1928, with slightly different wording and an added paragraph:



"Lamb soup and rice restaurants are Hui Muslim eateries specializing exclusively in lamb products. Rice is six or four wen per bowl. There are also lamb soup noodles starting at a minimum of six or eight wen per bowl, at the diner's convenience. The lamb is skinned, deboned, stewed until tender, and chopped into pieces, priced at four wen per piece, with options for salt-and-pepper or plain. Furthermore, intestines, lungs, hearts, and other offal are chopped, added to broth, and served in a bowl called *zashui* (mixed offal soup)—six wen for a single bowl, fourteen wen for a double bowl. Small plates of kidneys, liver, spine, brain, intestines, stomach, trotters, tongue, *taijitu*, etc., cost twenty-eight cash per plate; fourteen cash is also sold for a single person. Piece meat: eating two pieces costs only six cash. Dried sliced meat can be ordered by the plate in any quantity, or added to soup to make sliced meat soup. Their main dishes, such as braised meat and *zashui*, never stray from the lamb. The only wine is *gaoliang*. Dim sum includes shredded pork, spring pancakes, boiled dumplings, and *shaomai*, all available. Side dishes per plate and noodle broth per basin are two cash each. They simply do not open in the summer due to the heat."

Note that there were no more than two or three such lamb soup and rice restaurants within the city walls, and none outside. Those who loved the taste of lamb flocked to them. However, in recent years, prices have risen to more than ten times their former levels. I recall in my youth, I entered and took a seat accompanying my late father; there were five of us in total, and the cost was a mere four hundred cash, while our table was already littered with cups and plates in disarray, showing just how cheap the cost of living was back then. From January to March, business stops, known as 'resting for the summer.' This is because little lambs are just conceiving around this time, and incoming goods are scarce. By June, business resumes because the hotter the weather gets, the more delicious the lamb soup tastes; it never stops because of the heat, leaving not a single empty seat. As the autumn winds begin to blow, business gradually cools down. People in this trade have a saying: 'Work for one summer, eat for the whole winter,' meaning their profits are so hefty that winter is nothing to worry about.

The added phrase "Hui Muslim eatery" explicitly points out that this was Hui cuisine. *Hangsu Yifeng* records classic Hui dining—all kinds of dishes related to lamb. However, using a large amount of sheep offal such as intestines, lungs, hearts, livers, stomachs, and brains as ingredients seems somewhat different from strict Islamic dietary requirements. Mr. He Hong, drawing on Republican-era literature, textualized that "taijitu" refers to sheep brain.

The late Qing work *Hangsu Yiqing Suijin* also contains records regarding lamb soup and rice:



"Lamb meat is not sold in the summer. At the Hui mosque and Western region eateries, people eat chicken wontons and lamb meatballs in the summer; shrimp, vinegar fish, and quick-fried dishes are all available. People of the faith go to eat them, while most people of the greater faith do not go."

"People of the greater faith" refers to Han Chinese; this is spoken from the perspective of the Hui people.

Both *Hangsu Yifeng* and *Hangsu Yiqing Suijin* state that lamb was not sold in the summer, whereas the supplementary section of the 1926 *Hangsu Yifeng* emphasizes that summer was actually the prime season for selling lamb soup and rice. So, was lamb food sold in the summer or not? Mr. He Hong has discussed this question. Based on the recollections of Gao Yang and Yu Pingbo, they did eat it, suggesting that habits had changed. While people did not eat it during the late Qing and early Republic, eating lamb in the summer became the norm by the Republican era.

There are quite a few records concerning Hangzhou lamb soup and rice from the Republican era, such as *Xihu Mingsheng Kuailan* (Quick Tour of West Lake Scenic Spots) and *Shuo Hangzhou*, while *Zengding Xihu Youlan Zhinan* (Expanded Guide to Touring West Lake) records lamb stall rice. Lamb stall rice and lamb soup rice were presumably the same thing.



Regarding late Qing Hui cuisine in Hangzhou, local poets also described it in their verses. For instance, the famous bibliophile Ding Bing included a poem titled *Huihui Tang Jiansu* (Pan-Fried Pastry at the Hui Mosque) in his *Wulin Zashi Shi*:

"Offering flour to the heavens, pan-fried to make pastries; the religion of Tianfang is unlike all others.
Facing west in the grand hall, they share in prayer; dying and receiving thin burials, they follow its precepts.
Anointing the crown with ghee is a place for choosing Buddha; Roman Catholicism became the starting point.
Laughing that few people enter my gate, *bopan* and *xuanhuang* interpret the *Erya* dictionary."

This poem describes *youxiang* (fried Hui pastry), but also records other Hui customs. Ding Bing's son, Ding Lizhong, wrote *Wulin Shishi Yin* (Chants on the Markets of Wulin), which includes the poem *Huihui Tang Qian Ye Shouhe Chaoshi* (Ye Shouhe Confectionery in Front of the Hui Mosque):

"Pearls of flour ground to a jade-like polish, outshining frost and snow, newly kneaded by hand.
If you ask whose dim sum is the most refined, it is Ye Shouhe in front of the mosque."

This also describes Hui pastries. Hangzhou still has a Halal food shop named "Ye Shouhe" to this day.

Editors | Wu Yiquan, Liu Junping

- Article Source -

"Research on the Islamic History and Culture of Hangzhou" view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly Hangzhou: Historic Mosques, Halal Food and Local Travel Guide is presented here as a clear English travel account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: I have been to Hangzhou many times. This city in the south of the Yangtze River has left a very good impression on me. The citizens are polite and courteous, the girls are nice to talk to, and the vehicles. The article keeps the original place names, food details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Hangzhou Mosques, Halal Food, Muslim Travel.

I have been to Hangzhou many times. This city in the south of the Yangtze River has left a very good impression on me. The citizens are polite and courteous, the girls are nice to talk to, and the vehicles will actively yield to pedestrians. This has only been experienced abroad before. Hangzhou is the first city in China to implement "cars to let people". As early as 2010, Hangzhou included "cars to let people" into traffic regulations for mandatory promotion. Vehicles that violate the rules will be deducted 3 points and fined 100 yuan.

As a pedestrian, of course I feel that this measure is very popular with me, but after listening to the complaints from several drivers in Hangzhou, I realized that the force is not sweet. The drivers believe that some pedestrians are unscrupulous when crossing the road because they are protected by traffic regulations. They lower their heads, play with their mobile phones, and cross the road slowly, making passing vehicles angry and afraid to speak. In fact, the improvement of quality should be from the inside out. Vehicles should give way to pedestrians out of courtesy, and pedestrians should also express their gratitude. This is a naturally civilized behavior. If it is forced to give way, it seems that the quality has been rapidly improved, but it is unwilling to do so. Instead, it will lead to resentment. Once there is no supervision, it will immediately return to its original shape.

None of the above is the reason why I like Hangzhou the most. What attracts me most about Hangzhou is that it has the Phoenix Mosque, one of the four ancient mosques in the south of the Yangtze River, a mosque that can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty, and several ancient tombs of Hui sages close to the West Lake. These extremely precious ancient cultural relics silently record the glorious history of Islam in Hangzhou.

1. Halal snacks



The name of this shop is "Halal Snacks". Halal Snacks have been operating in Hangzhou for at least 7 years. It is located at the back door of the Phoenix Mosque. The owner is a local Hui in Hangzhou, and I heard from the village elders in the mosque that he has a good religious background. The shop is non-smoking and alcohol-free. It specializes in various Jiangnan specialty snacks and some northwest delicacies, because most of the shop staff are from the northwest, and the waitresses also wear headscarves.







The beef fried buns in Hangzhou are relatively large and have thick skin, and are not as small as the fried buns in Henan and Shandong.



I recommend trying the steamed beef dumplings, which are more delicate than the fried dumplings.



Casserole comes in many flavors and tastes good.



Beef vermicelli soup, this is closer to Nanjing’s beef vermicelli soup.



The mutton siomai is my favorite snack in this store. It has a nice shape and the meat is fresh and tender. It should be the mutton purchased from the northwest.

2. Northwest people



If you want to eat authentic Halal Hangzhou cuisine, I recommend you to go to Northwest Restaurant by the West Lake. Although it is owned by Northwest, this restaurant opened in Hangzhou in 1992. It has been deeply rooted in Hangzhou for more than 20 years, and the Hangzhou cuisine they make is really delicious.



West Lake Fish in Vinegar is a famous dish in Hangzhou, and it is quite satisfying to be able to eat the halal version next to the West Lake.



West Lake Beef Soup is one of the must-try dishes in Hangzhou. Although I have had it in restaurants in Beijing since I was a child, when I drink it in Hangzhou, it feels thicker.



Blanched chicken is also one of the common dishes in the south. The chicken in the south is more delicious than the chicken in the north.



Fruit shrimp

3. Gulanxuan



Gulanxuan is a halal Northeastern restaurant in Hangzhou. The owner is a Hui from Qiqihar. The store is relatively large and specializes in Northeastern-style stir-fries, hot pot, and seafood. It ranks first in Northeastern cuisine in Jianggan District on Dianping.com.





When eating shredded sweet potatoes, the shreds will come out. Dip them in the water on the side. The shreds will break. Eat them while they are hot.



Braised beef, with pancakes wrapped around various side dishes like roast duck, very fragrant.





Sticky bean buns are a Northeastern home-cooked snack that is always mentioned by actors in Northeastern film and television dramas.

4. Maizhou·Yilongxuan



This restaurant is also a Northeastern restaurant opened by the Hui Muslims of Qiqihar. After asking, I found out that this restaurant is related to Gulanxuan.





This store is located on the Wen 1st Road of Gaoxin Cultural and Educational District, far away from the West Lake. The store often receives African students, as you can tell by looking at the event photos on the wall.





The roasted lamb trotters have received good reviews. Northeastern barbecue has never let me down.



The leek box is also one of the more popular staple foods in the store.



Guobaorou, a famous Northeastern dish, is made in almost every Northeastern restaurant. However, the meat slices in the Guobaorou here are too thin, making it unsatisfying and tastes sour and sweet.

5. Huaidian Wangpo prawns



The owner of Huaidian Wangpo Prawns in Hangzhou is a Hui nationality in Sanmenxia, ​​Henan. It is a chain brand with its head office in Huaidian Hui Town, Shenqiu, Zhoukou, Henan. The shrimp frying technique there has also been registered as an intangible cultural heritage.



Brown sugar glutinous rice cake



It is served in a small pot, and the amount is very sufficient. You can eat the shrimp directly and rinse the vegetables after eating.

6. Majia Shaomai·Xiaoshan Airport Store



If you are flying from Hangzhou, you can go to Majia Shaomai near Gate 14 on the domestic arrivals floor of Xiaoshan International Airport. It tastes pretty good and is the same as the Majia Shaomai in Capital Airport T3. A set meal of 48 yuan includes two drawers of Shaomai, one meat and one vegetarian, and a bowl of beef offal soup.







The above is the information on the more distinctive halal restaurants in Hangzhou. It should also be emphasized that some Xinjiang restaurants in Hangzhou are not halal. Although these restaurants do not sell large amounts of meat, the sources of ingredients are questionable. I know of Beijiang Restaurant and Seven Guests. More and more Xinjiang restaurants are opening now, but there are fewer and fewer halal restaurants. For example, the Quality Yili Xinjiang Restaurant in Beijing does not have halal certification, and according to their chef, they will add some halal things when grilling, so be careful when eating.

7. Phoenix Mosque





The location of Phoenix Mosque is very advantageous. It is the first ancient building at the north entrance of Nansong Royal Street, a famous pedestrian street in Hangzhou. There are currently two mosques in Hangzhou, and the other newly built one is called Hangzhou Mosque, located on Yunhe East Road, Jianggan District. To the northeast of Phoenix Mosque, there was a mosque called Huihui Worship Hall in history. The original site of Huihui Worship Hall was next to Huihui New Bridge. Now the mosque has been demolished, and only the place name "Huihui New Bridge" remains.















The back hall of Fenghuang Mosque is the essence of the mosque. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty and was built using the beamless hall technique and has a West Asian architectural style.





Phoenix Mosque is currently not open to tourists. It is only used for daily worship by Dosti. It is closed on Fridays. It is arranged to gather at the newly built Hangzhou Mosque for worship. Friends traveling to Hangzhou must pay attention to the time.







8. Tomb of Buhe Tiar, the sage of heaven



There are two ancient tombs on the edge of the West Lake in Hangzhou. One of them is that of a Persian named Bhotiyar. He came to China to practice medicine and preach in the Southern Song Dynasty. He returned to life here and his two followers were also buried with him.

Bukhtiyar, whose full name is Emil Bukhtiyar Selonia Naronik, died in 1329 (the second year of the Yuan Dynasty). He was a native of Bukhara, located in present-day Uzbekistan. The epitaph records that his family had been officials for generations and had a prominent status.



The cemetery is usually closed, but there is a contact number at the door. The administrator lives nearby and is not a Muslim. He will open the door soon.













9. Ding Henian’s Tomb Pavilion



Another Huihui ancient tomb beside the West Lake is the tomb of Ding Henian. Ding Henian (1335-1424) was a very famous Huihui poet in the Yuan Dynasty and the founder of Heniantang Pharmacy in Beijing. Heniantang was founded in 1405-1408, more than 200 years earlier than Tongrentang, and even earlier than the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.



Ding Henian also came from a wealthy family and had been officials for generations. His father was Wuchang Daru Huachi. The Ding family had spent huge sums of money to support the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, so he was entrusted with important tasks. Ding He settled in Hangzhou in his later years and studied the teachings until his death at the age of 89.













Heniantang is located in Caishikou, Beijing, where beheadings were done in ancient times. According to legend, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, before the execution, some family members of the prisoners bribed the executioner in advance and asked him to stuff the deceased with steamed buns when the head fell to the ground. This may be the origin of what Lu Xun said about "human blood steamed buns". He Niantang first provided human blood steamed buns, but they were not for eating. Later, it was said that human blood steamed buns can cure diseases, and people started to snatch them. He Niantang will also provide funds for the burial of prisoners who have no family members, which is of a charitable nature.

When I was a child, I heard an old man tell another legend about Heniantang. Someone knocked on the door in the middle of the night and asked for medicine for a knife wound. The clerk found out the next day that he was given a ghost coin, and then he realized that he had seen a ghost last night. Therefore, there is a saying in old Beijing: "Go to Heniantang to ask for medicine for a knife wound - death is imminent." If it is explained from the Islamic point of view, what the clerk saw may not be a ghost, but may be a nun... view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Muslim Friendly Hangzhou: Historic Mosques, Halal Food and Local Travel Guide is presented here as a clear English travel account for Muslim readers, beginning with this scene: I have been to Hangzhou many times. This city in the south of the Yangtze River has left a very good impression on me. The citizens are polite and courteous, the girls are nice to talk to, and the vehicles. The article keeps the original place names, food details, photographs, and cultural context while focusing on Hangzhou Mosques, Halal Food, Muslim Travel.

I have been to Hangzhou many times. This city in the south of the Yangtze River has left a very good impression on me. The citizens are polite and courteous, the girls are nice to talk to, and the vehicles will actively yield to pedestrians. This has only been experienced abroad before. Hangzhou is the first city in China to implement "cars to let people". As early as 2010, Hangzhou included "cars to let people" into traffic regulations for mandatory promotion. Vehicles that violate the rules will be deducted 3 points and fined 100 yuan.

As a pedestrian, of course I feel that this measure is very popular with me, but after listening to the complaints from several drivers in Hangzhou, I realized that the force is not sweet. The drivers believe that some pedestrians are unscrupulous when crossing the road because they are protected by traffic regulations. They lower their heads, play with their mobile phones, and cross the road slowly, making passing vehicles angry and afraid to speak. In fact, the improvement of quality should be from the inside out. Vehicles should give way to pedestrians out of courtesy, and pedestrians should also express their gratitude. This is a naturally civilized behavior. If it is forced to give way, it seems that the quality has been rapidly improved, but it is unwilling to do so. Instead, it will lead to resentment. Once there is no supervision, it will immediately return to its original shape.

None of the above is the reason why I like Hangzhou the most. What attracts me most about Hangzhou is that it has the Phoenix Mosque, one of the four ancient mosques in the south of the Yangtze River, a mosque that can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty, and several ancient tombs of Hui sages close to the West Lake. These extremely precious ancient cultural relics silently record the glorious history of Islam in Hangzhou.

1. Halal snacks



The name of this shop is "Halal Snacks". Halal Snacks have been operating in Hangzhou for at least 7 years. It is located at the back door of the Phoenix Mosque. The owner is a local Hui in Hangzhou, and I heard from the village elders in the mosque that he has a good religious background. The shop is non-smoking and alcohol-free. It specializes in various Jiangnan specialty snacks and some northwest delicacies, because most of the shop staff are from the northwest, and the waitresses also wear headscarves.







The beef fried buns in Hangzhou are relatively large and have thick skin, and are not as small as the fried buns in Henan and Shandong.



I recommend trying the steamed beef dumplings, which are more delicate than the fried dumplings.



Casserole comes in many flavors and tastes good.



Beef vermicelli soup, this is closer to Nanjing’s beef vermicelli soup.



The mutton siomai is my favorite snack in this store. It has a nice shape and the meat is fresh and tender. It should be the mutton purchased from the northwest.

2. Northwest people



If you want to eat authentic Halal Hangzhou cuisine, I recommend you to go to Northwest Restaurant by the West Lake. Although it is owned by Northwest, this restaurant opened in Hangzhou in 1992. It has been deeply rooted in Hangzhou for more than 20 years, and the Hangzhou cuisine they make is really delicious.



West Lake Fish in Vinegar is a famous dish in Hangzhou, and it is quite satisfying to be able to eat the halal version next to the West Lake.



West Lake Beef Soup is one of the must-try dishes in Hangzhou. Although I have had it in restaurants in Beijing since I was a child, when I drink it in Hangzhou, it feels thicker.



Blanched chicken is also one of the common dishes in the south. The chicken in the south is more delicious than the chicken in the north.



Fruit shrimp

3. Gulanxuan



Gulanxuan is a halal Northeastern restaurant in Hangzhou. The owner is a Hui from Qiqihar. The store is relatively large and specializes in Northeastern-style stir-fries, hot pot, and seafood. It ranks first in Northeastern cuisine in Jianggan District on Dianping.com.





When eating shredded sweet potatoes, the shreds will come out. Dip them in the water on the side. The shreds will break. Eat them while they are hot.



Braised beef, with pancakes wrapped around various side dishes like roast duck, very fragrant.





Sticky bean buns are a Northeastern home-cooked snack that is always mentioned by actors in Northeastern film and television dramas.

4. Maizhou·Yilongxuan



This restaurant is also a Northeastern restaurant opened by the Hui Muslims of Qiqihar. After asking, I found out that this restaurant is related to Gulanxuan.





This store is located on the Wen 1st Road of Gaoxin Cultural and Educational District, far away from the West Lake. The store often receives African students, as you can tell by looking at the event photos on the wall.





The roasted lamb trotters have received good reviews. Northeastern barbecue has never let me down.



The leek box is also one of the more popular staple foods in the store.



Guobaorou, a famous Northeastern dish, is made in almost every Northeastern restaurant. However, the meat slices in the Guobaorou here are too thin, making it unsatisfying and tastes sour and sweet.

5. Huaidian Wangpo prawns



The owner of Huaidian Wangpo Prawns in Hangzhou is a Hui nationality in Sanmenxia, ​​Henan. It is a chain brand with its head office in Huaidian Hui Town, Shenqiu, Zhoukou, Henan. The shrimp frying technique there has also been registered as an intangible cultural heritage.



Brown sugar glutinous rice cake



It is served in a small pot, and the amount is very sufficient. You can eat the shrimp directly and rinse the vegetables after eating.

6. Majia Shaomai·Xiaoshan Airport Store



If you are flying from Hangzhou, you can go to Majia Shaomai near Gate 14 on the domestic arrivals floor of Xiaoshan International Airport. It tastes pretty good and is the same as the Majia Shaomai in Capital Airport T3. A set meal of 48 yuan includes two drawers of Shaomai, one meat and one vegetarian, and a bowl of beef offal soup.







The above is the information on the more distinctive halal restaurants in Hangzhou. It should also be emphasized that some Xinjiang restaurants in Hangzhou are not halal. Although these restaurants do not sell large amounts of meat, the sources of ingredients are questionable. I know of Beijiang Restaurant and Seven Guests. More and more Xinjiang restaurants are opening now, but there are fewer and fewer halal restaurants. For example, the Quality Yili Xinjiang Restaurant in Beijing does not have halal certification, and according to their chef, they will add some halal things when grilling, so be careful when eating.

7. Phoenix Mosque





The location of Phoenix Mosque is very advantageous. It is the first ancient building at the north entrance of Nansong Royal Street, a famous pedestrian street in Hangzhou. There are currently two mosques in Hangzhou, and the other newly built one is called Hangzhou Mosque, located on Yunhe East Road, Jianggan District. To the northeast of Phoenix Mosque, there was a mosque called Huihui Worship Hall in history. The original site of Huihui Worship Hall was next to Huihui New Bridge. Now the mosque has been demolished, and only the place name "Huihui New Bridge" remains.















The back hall of Fenghuang Mosque is the essence of the mosque. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty and was built using the beamless hall technique and has a West Asian architectural style.





Phoenix Mosque is currently not open to tourists. It is only used for daily worship by Dosti. It is closed on Fridays. It is arranged to gather at the newly built Hangzhou Mosque for worship. Friends traveling to Hangzhou must pay attention to the time.







8. Tomb of Buhe Tiar, the sage of heaven



There are two ancient tombs on the edge of the West Lake in Hangzhou. One of them is that of a Persian named Bhotiyar. He came to China to practice medicine and preach in the Southern Song Dynasty. He returned to life here and his two followers were also buried with him.

Bukhtiyar, whose full name is Emil Bukhtiyar Selonia Naronik, died in 1329 (the second year of the Yuan Dynasty). He was a native of Bukhara, located in present-day Uzbekistan. The epitaph records that his family had been officials for generations and had a prominent status.



The cemetery is usually closed, but there is a contact number at the door. The administrator lives nearby and is not a Muslim. He will open the door soon.













9. Ding Henian’s Tomb Pavilion



Another Huihui ancient tomb beside the West Lake is the tomb of Ding Henian. Ding Henian (1335-1424) was a very famous Huihui poet in the Yuan Dynasty and the founder of Heniantang Pharmacy in Beijing. Heniantang was founded in 1405-1408, more than 200 years earlier than Tongrentang, and even earlier than the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.



Ding Henian also came from a wealthy family and had been officials for generations. His father was Wuchang Daru Huachi. The Ding family had spent huge sums of money to support the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, so he was entrusted with important tasks. Ding He settled in Hangzhou in his later years and studied the teachings until his death at the age of 89.













Heniantang is located in Caishikou, Beijing, where beheadings were done in ancient times. According to legend, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, before the execution, some family members of the prisoners bribed the executioner in advance and asked him to stuff the deceased with steamed buns when the head fell to the ground. This may be the origin of what Lu Xun said about "human blood steamed buns". He Niantang first provided human blood steamed buns, but they were not for eating. Later, it was said that human blood steamed buns can cure diseases, and people started to snatch them. He Niantang will also provide funds for the burial of prisoners who have no family members, which is of a charitable nature.

When I was a child, I heard an old man tell another legend about Heniantang. Someone knocked on the door in the middle of the night and asked for medicine for a knife wound. The clerk found out the next day that he was given a ghost coin, and then he realized that he had seen a ghost last night. Therefore, there is a saying in old Beijing: "Go to Heniantang to ask for medicine for a knife wound - death is imminent." If it is explained from the Islamic point of view, what the clerk saw may not be a ghost, but may be a nun... view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Hangzhou — Ancient Mosques and the Arrival of Muslims is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Hello everyone, I am the Canteen Master. Last week I put together a list of halal food in Hangzhou, and it just so happens that my Douban friend Wang Dongsi. The account keeps its focus on Hangzhou Mosques, Chinese Islam, Muslim History while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.



Hello everyone, I am the Canteen Master. Last week I put together a list of halal food in Hangzhou, and it just so happens that my Douban friend Wang Dongsi

wrote an article introducing the history and culture of Islam in Hangzhou, so I am sharing it with you all.



Historical articles like this might not be as catchy as food guides, but the history of Islam in China and how it constantly blended into and localized within Chinese culture is really interesting.

Why the sudden update today? Because I still have to organize and share a food article with you on Thursday.

Hangzhou's former Muslim community

The information in this article about the history of Islam in Hangzhou is mostly compiled from the book A History of Islam in Hangzhou by Ma Jianchun.



Let's start with a brief look at the history of the halal community in Hangzhou.

The prosperity of Muslims in Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty

Although Muslim merchants were granted official titles and settled in Hangzhou as tribute envoys starting in the Southern Song Dynasty, there are still no credible documents or unearthed artifacts recording the lives of Muslims in Hangzhou during the Song Dynasty.

Starting in the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Muslims began to come to Hangzhou to settle. They were mainly Persians, along with Persianized Central Asian Turks. Among them were Semu military and political officials serving in the Jiangzhe Province, Muslim merchants who arrived in Hangzhou via the Maritime Silk Road and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and purely religious figures. They held high social status and lived wealthy lives.

In the 1320s, the Italian Franciscan friar Odoric came to China. The Travels of Friar Odoric wrote: Hangzhou is the largest city in the world. At that time, Hangzhou had 850,000 registered households, and the Saracens (a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages to refer to Muslims) accounted for 40,000 of them.

Unlike the Muslims of the Tang and Song periods, the Muslims in Hangzhou during the Yuan Dynasty formed a bustling Muslim community in the city center due to their large numbers. The Yuan Dynasty Muslim community in Hangzhou was located west of Jianqiao and south of Wenjin Lane, inside the current Qingtai Gate. The late Yuan Dynasty writer Tao Zongyi wrote in his book Records of Stopping the Plow at Nancun: Beside Jianqiao in Hangzhou, there are eight tall buildings, commonly known as the Eight-Room Buildings, all inhabited by wealthy Hui Muslims.



The 1867 map of the city of Hangzhou shows the streets with west at the top and east at the bottom. Jianqiao Bridge is in the bottom right corner, and the Hui Muslim hall (Huihuitang) at the top is Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuangsi).

In 1346 (the sixth year of the Zhizheng era), the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta arrived in Hangzhou. His book, The Travels of Ibn Battuta, mentions the Hangzhou Muslim community: 'The Muslims live in the city, which is beautiful, and the streets are laid out just like those in Islamic regions.' There is a mosque and a muezzin inside. We arrived in the city just at the time for the noon prayer (namaz), and the call could be heard far and wide. In this city, we stayed at the home of the descendants of Othman ibn Affan, an Egyptian. He was a great local merchant who liked this place very much and settled here. They have a lodge (daotang) also named after Othman, which is beautifully built and has many charitable endowments, with a group of Sufi practitioners inside. Othman also built a large mosque in the city and donated a large amount of charitable funds to the mosque and the lodge. There are many Muslims in the city. We lived in this city for fifteen days, and we were invited out every day and every night.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Hangzhou had three mosques: True Religion Mosque (Zhenjiaosi), Hui Muslim Prayer Hall (Huihui Baifotang), and Hui mosque (Huihuishi Libaisi). True Religion Mosque (Zhenjiaosi)

This is Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuangsi). Its original construction date is uncertain, but it was rebuilt in 1281 (the 18th year of the Yuan Zhiyuan era) and has continued to the present day. Hui Muslim Prayer Hall (Huihui Baifotang)

It was northeast of True Religion Mosque, next to Hui Muslim New Bridge (Huihui Xinqiao). The place name Hui Muslim New Bridge still exists today. Hui mosque (Huihuishi Libaisi)

It was west of True Religion Mosque, on what is now Laodong Road. It was destroyed during the wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the original site was turned into a prefectural school.



The 1914 map of Hangzhou city and West Lake shows Phoenix Mosque at Yangbatou in the bottom left corner, Hui Muslim New Bridge in the top right, and Jewelry Lane (Zhubaoxiang) in the bottom right.

Jujing Garden, located by West Lake outside Qingbo Gate in Hangzhou, was once a place for the Song Dynasty royal family to tour. After the Yuan Dynasty, it was purchased by Muslims to be used as a cemetery. In 1291 (the 28th year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan Dynasty), the Song and Yuan poet Zhou Mi saw a Muslim cemetery at Jujing Garden. In his book Guixin Zashi, he wrote: 'According to the customs of the Hui Muslims, when someone dies... they are buried in Jujing Garden, which is also managed by the Hui Muslims.' This was only 15 years after the Yuan army entered Hangzhou. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, this place was called the 'Foreigner's Grave' (fanhui jiamu) or 'Hui Muslim Grave' (huihui fen). During the Republic of China era, it was known as the 'South Garden Islamic Cemetery' (nanyuan huijiao gongmu) or 'Islamic Public Cemetery' (huijiao yizhong), and it remained there until it was moved in 1953.



The 1929 survey map of West Lake in Hangzhou shows the Islamic Public Cemetery at the bottom.

The settling of Muslims in Hangzhou during the Ming Dynasty.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Muslims in Hangzhou did not yet consider this place their home. Many Muslim tombstones from the Yuan period feature a Hadith saying, 'To die in a foreign land is to be a martyr.' After entering the Ming Dynasty, maritime trade stopped, and Muslims who had lived in Hangzhou for generations gradually began to settle down and integrate into local life.

The number of Muslims in Hangzhou continued to grow during the Ming Dynasty. Between the Zhengtong and Hongzhi years (1436-1505), Hami in the Western Regions was attacked by the Oirat Mongols many times. Many Hui Muslims moved to Hangzhou as entire families, and many were settled there. Two Hui Muslims from the Western Regions who arrived in the early Ming Dynasty, Shabasi and Mardin, worked for a long time in the salt and grain transport business along the Grand Canal and became wealthy merchants. Their descendants took the surnames Sha and Ma, becoming major Hui Muslim family names in Hangzhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

During the Ming Dynasty, the True Religion Mosque (Zhenjiao Si), also known as Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si), remained the largest mosque in Hangzhou and underwent major renovations in 1453 (the fourth year of the Jingtai era).

As the population grew, three new mosques were built in Hangzhou at the end of the Ming Dynasty: Vinegar Workshop Lane Mosque (Cufang Xiang Si, or North Mosque), Board Lane Mosque (Ban'er Xiang Si, or East Mosque), and Bingxiang Lane Mosque. All were founded by a local wealthy Hui Muslim merchant named Ding Dashou. Vinegar Workshop Lane Mosque was later called the Hangzhou North Mosque. It was located on what is now Chufei Lane in the Xiacheng District. It was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, and in 1870 (the ninth year of the Tongzhi era), the Phoenix Mosque built houses on the original site to rent out. Board Lane Mosque, also known as the Small Mosque (xiao libai si) or Hangzhou East Mosque, was located on what is now South Jianguo Road. It was the second most important mosque in Hangzhou after the Phoenix Mosque. Many believers came there for Friday prayers (Jumu'ah), and it was also the place where animal sacrifices and funeral rites were usually held. In 1965, part of the building was taken over by the neighborhood committee for a senior citizens' club, and after 1966, it was converted into a neighborhood office building. Bingxiang Lane Mosque was in the northern suburbs of Hangzhou. There are very few historical records about it, and most local Hui Muslims do not know about it, so it likely fell into ruin many years ago.

Besides the three mosques founded by Ding Dashou, there were several other mosques in Hangzhou during the Ming Dynasty. There was a mosque built during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty at Huihui New Bridge, which featured a moon-sighting tower (wangyuelou) and a scripture school (jingwen xuetang), though it is unclear if it had any connection to the Huihui Buddha-worship hall from the Yuan Dynasty. There was also the West Lake Guo Family Bridge Mosque, known as the West Mosque. The West Lake Mosque, also called the West Lake Small Mosque and the Hangzhou West Mosque, was located north of the previously mentioned Hui Muslim cemetery. It was used for handling funeral arrangements for Hui Muslims. In 1954, it was moved along with the Hui Muslim cemetery to Jingshan Ridge in Liuxia Town, and it stopped being used after 1966.

The stable development of Hangzhou Muslims during the Qing Dynasty.

After the Qing Dynasty began, the Muslim community in Hangzhou was relatively stable. The True Religion Mosque (Zhenjiao Si) underwent repairs during the reigns of the Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, and Guangxu emperors. the Hangzhou South Mosque was built on Wukui Lane. After the 1950s, the South Mosque on Wukui Lane was converted into housing for Muslims. It was closed in 1958 and handed over to the housing management department for leasing. By this time, Qing Dynasty Hangzhou had five mosques: East, West, South, North, and Central (the Central one being Phoenix Mosque). Phoenix Mosque was the main mosque, while the others were smaller mosques subordinate to it. The leaders and imams of the smaller mosques were appointed by the main mosque. The smaller mosques were for the convenience of the community to perform their five daily namaz prayers, while Friday congregational prayers, festival prayers, and other major religious ceremonies had to be held at the main mosque.

The biggest change for Hui Muslims in Hangzhou during the Qing Dynasty was their shift from wealthy merchants involved in overseas and canal trade during the Yuan and Ming dynasties to ordinary people running small businesses. Their business scope changed from jewelry, spices, silk, and porcelain to halal food. Many people worked full-time in beef and mutton slaughtering, pastry making, running restaurants, and selling snacks. The Qing Dynasty collection of poems, Wulin Zashi Shi, praised Hangzhou Hui Muslim snacks: 'The flour is so fine it rivals pearls and jade, kneaded by hand to look whiter than frost and snow.' If you ask whose snacks are the most delicate, they are the ones made by Ye Shouhe in front of the mosque.

Additionally, the 1863 (second year of the Tongzhi reign) book Hangsu Yifeng, in the food section, wrote: 'Mutton soup restaurants are Muslim eateries.' They specialize in selling mutton products. The sheep are skinned and deboned, then stewed until tender and cut into pieces. Each piece costs four wen, and they are divided into pepper-salt style and plain style. There are also intestines, lungs, and hearts, which are chopped up and served in a bowl with broth, known as 'mixed offal soup' (zashui). A single bowl costs six wen, and a double bowl costs fourteen wen. Snacks like kidneys and liver, spinal cord and brains, intestines and tripe, trotters, tongue, and taiji-shaped cakes (taijitu) cost twenty-eight wen per plate; for meat pieces, eating two pieces only costs six wen. You can order any amount of dried meat slices (ganpianer) per plate, or put them in broth to make sliced meat soup (pianzi tang). The main dishes like braised meat and mixed offal soup always come from the sheep. The liquor is sorghum wine, and snacks include shredded meat, spring pancakes (chunbing), boiled dumplings (shuijiao), and steamed dumplings (shaomai).

Besides mutton, there are small stalls selling spiced beef, beef heart, beef liver, beef trotters, and beef vermicelli (niurou fenxian), carried on shoulder poles with a sign hanging that reads 'Halal Faith' (Qingzhen Jiaomen).

The final prosperity of Muslims in Hangzhou during the Republic of China era.

During the Republic of China era, there were four or five hundred Hui Muslim households in Hangzhou, scattered throughout the city. Besides the common people who mostly ran halal food businesses and sold daily necessities, there were also some wealthy merchants, such as the Jin family who dealt in jewelry, the Zhang family in sericulture and silk, the Feng family who ran a match factory, and the Xuan family who ran a soy sauce shop.

Except for the North Mosque (Qingzhen Beisi) which was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion, there were four mosques in Hangzhou during the Republic of China era: the Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si) and three smaller mosques in the east, west, and south. In 1928, the main hall and the Moon-Watching Tower (Wangyue Lou) of the Phoenix Mosque were destroyed due to road construction. In the same year, when the city wall was demolished to build the lakeside road, some ancient graves in the Nanyuan Hui Muslim cemetery were forced to relocate, and the Yong'an Hui Muslim cemetery was newly built at Lingfeng, Yuquan, West Lake in 1934.

In 1914, the modern 'Hangzhou Muxing Primary School' was founded inside the Phoenix Mosque. It taught cultural subjects according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China, and held an Arabic religious class every afternoon, taught by the imam and the head of the Phoenix Mosque. Muxing Primary School accepted students regardless of whether they were Hui or Han, or their gender, as long as they were of school age, but it stipulated that Hui Muslims were exempt from tuition and miscellaneous fees.

In 1928, the Muxing Junior High School was founded inside the Phoenix Mosque, and it later moved to the Chouye Guild Hall at Yintong Bridge. The school had three junior high classes divided into spring and autumn groups, and Hui Muslims were also exempt from tuition and miscellaneous fees. Muxing Middle School has eight full-time teachers. They teach Chinese, math, science, history, geography, art, physical education, and general knowledge. They also regularly offer Hui Muslim students classes on basic Islamic teachings and introductory Arabic.

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, more and more Hui Muslims moved to Hangzhou from northern provinces like Shandong, Henan, and Hebei. Most left their hometowns and brought their wives and children to Hangzhou to make a living because they had no other choice. Because they lacked capital, most worked as small vendors selling halal food and daily necessities. At that time, you could often see stalls on the streets of Hangzhou with wooden signs saying "Halal" selling flatbread (dabing), fried dough sticks (youtiao), tea eggs, smoked chicken, braised duck, steamed buns (mantou), and dumplings (shuijiao). Some people grew their small stalls into snack shops and later into restaurants, which helped the halal food industry in Hangzhou thrive during the Republic of China era.

Famous halal restaurants in Hangzhou during the Republic of China period included Chunhuayuan, Xileyuan, Zheyi Guan, Xiyue Guan, and Xiyi Guan. Most focused on lamb, braised duck, and vegetarian dishes. Zhong Yulong, a Hangzhou native, was raised in a Hui Muslim family and knew a lot about the Muslims in Hangzhou during the Republic of China. In his book "Speaking of Hangzhou," he wrote: "Xileyuan and Chunhuayuan near Yangbatou are old-fashioned lamb soup restaurants. When customers sit down, they are first served lamb offal soup (yangzasui tang), which is made by chopping up lamb intestines, lungs, and hearts and serving them in a bowl with broth." Depending on the portion size, there are single bowls and double bowls. If you want the full set, you get a small plate each of lamb liver, kidney, eye, tongue, tripe, testicle, brain, and marrow. Otherwise, you can order whatever you like. Regulars use code names for these dishes. For example, lamb testicle is called 'fengtiaoyu,' lamb eye is 'liangdong'r,' lamb brain is 'taijitu,' lamb tongue is 'koutiao,' and fatty lamb meat is 'tuobai,' and so on. After the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, each plate cost 2,000 yuan in legal tender, with lamb testicle costing double that. Staple foods included steamed buns (mantou) served with lamb soup, as well as small lamb noodles and lamb steamed dumplings (shaomai). "Speaking of Hangzhou" also records the fried dough (youxiang) of Hangzhou Muslims: "There are two types of fried dough. One is made by grinding sugar and flour into a thin, plate-sized pancake and deep-frying it in oil." The other is made by shaping flour into small cakes with filling inside, pressing them with a mold, and then deep-frying them. Both taste excellent.

Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si)

Phoenix Mosque is located on Zhongshan Middle Road, at the north end of what is now the Southern Song Imperial Street. Historically, it was called the Mosque (libaisi), True Religion Mosque (zhenjiaosi), Huihui Hall (huihuitang), and Orthodox Mosque (zhengjiaosi). The name Phoenix Mosque first appeared on the 1892 (18th year of the Guangxu reign) "Stele Record of the Renovation of the True Religion Mosque."



There is currently a lot of debate about when Phoenix Mosque was built. The direct evidence comes from three Ming and Qing dynasty renovation steles and two Ming dynasty books. A stele from 1493 (the 6th year of the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty) records: The mosque was founded in 1281 (the Xinsi year of the Zhiyuan reign of the Yuan Dynasty). The Hui Muslims have guarded it for generations.

A stone tablet from 1648 (the fifth year of the Shunzhi reign) records that the True Teaching Mosque (Zhenjiao Si) in Wulin was founded in the Tang Dynasty and has lasted for several hundred years through the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.

A stone tablet from 1670 (the ninth year of the Kangxi reign) records that it was founded in the Tang Dynasty and destroyed at the end of the Song Dynasty. In 1281 (the Xinsi year of the Yuan Dynasty), a master named Alaoding came from the Western Regions, stopped in Hangzhou, saw the ruins, felt moved, and donated gold to rebuild it.

The Records of West Lake Travels (Xihu Youlan Zhi), printed in 1547 (the 26th year of the Jiajing reign), records that the True Teaching Mosque (Zhenjiao Si) is south of Wenjin Lane and was built by the Hui Muslim master Alaoding during the Yanyou period (1314-1320) of the Yuan Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty book Wulin Buddhist Records (Wulin Fanzhi) records that the True Teaching Mosque (Zhenjiao Si) is south of Wenjin Lane and was built by the Hui Muslim master Alabudan during the Yanyou period (1314-1320) of the Yuan Dynasty.

Looking at these five documents, the Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si) was likely built between the Southern Song Dynasty and 1281. Very few Muslims who came to Hangzhou during the Tang and Five Dynasties periods settled there, and no reliable historical records have been found to date. Therefore, the claim that it dates back to the Tang Dynasty is too early and likely a later fabrication. During the Yanyou period, the number of Muslims living in Hangzhou was already high. They had formed a sizable Muslim community and had their own cemetery, so saying the mosque was built at this time is a bit too late.







According to Ji Si in The Islamic Architecture of Hangzhou: Phoenix Mosque, the main gate of the Phoenix Mosque was originally over 10 meters high. The lintel was inlaid with Arabic brick carvings, the sides of the pointed arch gate were covered with decorative tiles, and there were two lotus-shaped columns.

In 1929, Hangzhou demolished the main gate, the Moon-Watching Tower (Wangyue Lou), the stone-carved corridor leading to the front hall, and the pair of stone birds in front of the gate to renovate Zhongshan Middle Road.



The old photo of the original Phoenix Mosque main gate shared on the Zhejiang Islamic Association website has been carefully preserved for generations by elders like Zhang Wenlie in Hangzhou.



Moon-Watching Tower (Wangyue Lou)





The old photo of the original Phoenix Mosque Moon-Watching Tower (Wangyue Lou) shared on the Zhejiang Islamic Association website has also been carefully preserved for generations by elders like Zhang Wenlie in Hangzhou.



During the 1953 renovation of the main hall, the front hall was demolished and rebuilt with a concrete structure and red brick walls.









The rear main hall is the only remaining Yuan Dynasty structure of the Phoenix Mosque. It is narrow from east to west and wide from north to south, maintaining the traditions of early West Asian mosques. The entire hall is a brick structure without wooden beams, so it is also called the Beamless Hall (Wuliang Dian).











Professor Liu Zhiping took this photo of Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si) in 1960, as featured in the book Islamic Architecture in China.



The Foreigner's Return Cemetery (Fanhuijia Mu).

As mentioned at the start of this article, the Jujing Garden by West Lake outside Hangzhou was once a place for the Song Dynasty royal family to tour. During the Yuan Dynasty, Muslims bought it to use as a cemetery. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was called the Foreigner's Return Cemetery (Fanhuijia Mu) or the Hui Muslim Cemetery (Huihui Fen). During the Republic of China era, it was known as the South Garden Muslim Cemetery (Nanyuan Huijiao Gongmu) or the Muslim Public Graveyard (Huijiao Yizhong).

According to the preface titled A Witness to the Times in the book Interpretation and Translation of Arabic and Persian Inscriptions in Hangzhou Phoenix Mosque by Liu Yingsheng, the Hangzhou municipal government moved the cemetery in May 1953 to develop the West Lake scenic area. Since many of these were ancient graves from before the Qing Dynasty with no one to claim them, Phoenix Mosque took charge of collecting and handling the remains and tombstones. The remains were wrapped in white cloth and placed in wooden boxes one meter long and half a meter wide. For those with names, a wooden sign was written and attached to the box, and they were all buried together in the Hui Muslim cemetery at Jingshan Ridge in Liuxia Town. The unearthed stone tablets were categorized and numbered based on their stone type and content. After moving the graves from the higher ground, workers found layer upon layer of ancient graves while digging soil to raise the embankments for Mid-Lake Pavilion (Huxin Ting), Ruandun, and Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake (Pinghu Qiuyue). Later, more graves were discovered in other places beneath the soil layers where the relocation had already been completed. Before the relocation, it was estimated that the Hui Muslim Cemetery (Huihui Fen) held over 2,000 graves, but in reality, there were often more graves buried underneath them. Due to budget limits, these deeper ancient graves were not moved and remain buried deep within the West Lake scenic area.

During the relocation of the Hui Muslim Cemetery (Huihui Fen) from May to October 1953, fifty or sixty Arabic and Persian tombstones were found and transported to Phoenix Mosque for safekeeping, though many were lost later. A stone tablet gallery was built inside Phoenix Mosque in 1977, and it currently houses 20 Arabic and Persian tombstones and one mosque tablet.







The book Interpretation and Translation of Arabic and Persian Inscriptions in Hangzhou Phoenix Mosque provides detailed readings of these 20 tombstones. The author of this book, Alexander Morton, is a lecturer in the Department of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He grew up in Iran, loves Persian culture and history, has long studied Islamic inscriptions in the Middle and Near East, and is an expert on Islamic inscriptions.







The basic information for the owners of 11 of these tombstones is summarized below.

The owner of stone tablet No. 1 is named Khawaja Husam al-Din, who passed away on October 28, 1307 (the 11th year of the Dade era of the Yuan Dynasty). He traveled to many countries and was in the prime of his life when he died. Khawaja is a title often used by high-ranking merchants, ministers, and dignitaries in Islamic society. Husam al-Din means 'Sword of the Faith,' where al-Din means 'religion' or 'faith'.

The owner of stone tablet No. 2 is named Shams al-Din Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Abi Nasr al-Isfahani, who passed away on September 24, 1316 (the 3rd year of the Yanyou era of the Yuan Dynasty). The name Isfahani in the History of Yuan refers to the famous ancient Iranian city of Isfahan. Shams al-Din was a great merchant from Isfahan who engaged in maritime trade between Persia and China, and his name was known to the khans of the Ilkhanate who ruled Iran at that time.

The owner of stone tablet No. 3 is named Khawaja Muhammad, who passed away on March 20, 1317 (the 4th year of the Yanyou era of the Yuan Dynasty). Muhammad is the modern spelling of the name. His father was named Arsalan Khanbaliqi. Arsalan translates to 'lion' in Turkic, so his family likely originated from a Turkic background. Khanbaliqi was the name used by Turkic people for the Yuan capital, Dadu. Construction of Dadu began in 1267 and was completed in 1284, which indicates his family settled there after that time.

The owner of tombstone No. 4 is named Khawaja Ala al-Din bin Khawaja Shams al-Din al-Isfahani, who passed away on May 16, 1327 (the 4th year of the Taiding era of the Yuan Dynasty). Ala al-Din is the modern spelling of the name.

The owner of stone tablet No. 5 is named Amir Bakhtiyar bin Abu Bakr bin Umar al-Bukhari, who passed away on August 7, 1330 (the 1st year of the Zhishun era of the Yuan Dynasty). Amir is a title for a military officer. Bukhara in the History of Yuan refers to the ancient city of Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan.

The owner of stone tablet No. 6 is named Mahmud bin Muhammad bin Jamal al-Din al-Khorasani, who passed away in 1351 (the 11th year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty). Jamal al-Din means 'Beauty of the Faith.' He was an Islamic scholar (alim) from Khorasan in northeastern Iran, was well-versed in Islamic law, and both his parents were descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.

The owner of stone tablet No. 7 is named Mahmud bin Mahma bin Ahma Simnani. He was a Sufi merchant who traveled widely. He visited Syria (Scham) and Iraq (which covered a much larger area then and could also refer to coastal regions), and he reached the area near Mecca. Simnan is located east of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and is the hometown of the famous Persian Sufi Sheikh Ala al-Dawla Simnani.

The owner of stone tablet No. 8 is named Emir Badr al-Din. Badr al-Din means 'full moon of the religion'. His father was named al-Sadr, which is usually an honorific title given to civil officials or other secular dignitaries.

The owner of stone tablet No. 9 is named Khwaja Jalili. Jalili is later translated as Jalal, which originally means 'glory' or 'prominence'.

The owner of stone tablet No. 10 is named Shihab al-Din Ahma bin Abdullah Halabi. Shihab al-Din appears frequently in Yuan Dynasty historical records and means 'star of the religion'. Halabi refers to the ancient city of Aleppo (Halab) in modern-day Syria, a city that has suffered severe damage in the recent Syrian civil war.

The owner of stone tablet No. 11 is named Taj al-Din Yahya, who died at the age of 41. His father was named Mullah Burhan al-Milla wa al-Din, an outstanding imam. Taj al-Din means 'crown of the faith', and Yahya is the Arabic form of John the Baptist from the New Testament as it appears in the Quran. Burhan means 'witness', and al-Milla wa al-Din means 'the community and the faith'.

The tomb of the Hui Muslim sage Bakhtiyar.

On the site of the Fan Hui Jia tomb, there is another Muslim relic, the tomb of the Hui Muslim sage Buhetiyaer. On March 12, 1924, the Shanghai newspaper Shen Bao reported a story titled Police Chief Preserves Ancient Tombs.



The original text says: When the Hangzhou Public Works Department tore down the city wall to build a road around the lake, they dug up three ancient tombs and seven stone tablets under the Qingbo Gate wall, all engraved with Arabic script. The carvings are very old and hard to read. According to a Muslim imam who translated the text, these are the tombs of sages from the Tang and Song dynasties, including Oumoliri and his sons Emili and Ebubokeliri (transliterated names). It was no accident that these tombs, which have stood for a thousand years, were discovered during the demolition of the city wall. I heard that Police Chief Xia wanted to protect these tombs, but because of the road construction, he had to move them slightly. He notified the leaders of the Muslim community to find a suitable piece of land, build a shrine, and move the ancient tombs there so they can be preserved and visited by future generations. Beyond preserving the historical site, this also adds to the local scenery, making the tombs a grand sight that adds to the charm of the lake and mountains for travelers.

Before this, in 1921, the famous Muslim scholar Yang Zhongming (courtesy name Jingxiu) translated the Epitaph of the Traveler Buhetiyaer, which was included in the August 1921 volume of the Shanghai Muslim Board of Directors records.



Buhetiyaer is now translated as Bahtiyar. His full name was Amir Buhetiyaer Seluoniya Naluonike, and he died in 1329 (the second year of the Tianli era of the Yuan Dynasty). He was from Bukhara in Central Asia. Bukhara (Bokhara) is in modern-day Uzbekistan. At that time, it was ruled by the Chagatai Khanate and was a center of Islamic culture in Central Asia. Amir is also translated as Emir, which is a title for a military officer. The epitaph shows that Buhetiyaer came from a family of officials.

Interestingly, the owner of the number 5 stone tablet among the Yuan Dynasty tombstones kept at the Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si) in Hangzhou, which we mentioned earlier, is also named Amir Buhetiyaer and also came from Bukhara. However, his full name was Emir bin Abubieker bin Umaer Buhala, and he died on August 7, 1330 (the first year of the Zhishun era of the Yuan Dynasty), which was one year after Buhetiyaer died. The two of them likely had a close relationship.

Volume 23 of Hangzhou Cultural and Historical Materials contains an article titled The Full Story of the Changes to the Ancient Cemetery of the Hui Muslim Sage Buhatia. The following details about the cemetery's history are all taken from this article.

In 1927, the Buhatia Cemetery was completed outside Qingbo Gate. General Ma Fuxiang, the father of Ningxia warlord Ma Hongkui, attended the opening ceremony and erected a memorial tablet in front of the grave. According to the memories of Zhu Jingfen, the daughter of the cemetery caretaker Zhu Awei (who died in 1967): My father started managing the Hui Muslim cemetery at age 13. Times were hard then, and Zhang Shoubo, the former chairman of Phoenix Mosque (Fenghuang Si), or the Feng and Ding families would provide three or four dou of rice each month to help us get by.

In May 1953, the Hangzhou municipal government moved the Muslim cemetery to Jingshan Ridge in Liuxia Town to develop the West Lake scenic area. At that time, the stone slabs for the Buhatia grave were carried up the mountain in layers. Two teams of 16 people carried them, as each slab weighed about 1,200 jin. Because of this, only the top four layers were moved up, reaching a total height of about 0.6 meters.

After 1966, the Buhatia grave cover stones were smashed. Because they were so heavy and the cemetery guards opposed it, only part of them were broken, and the rest were scattered at the foot of the mountain. One grave slab was stolen, and the head and foot slabs of another grave were also taken. The central Buhatia grave was pried open, and the words Red Guard Seal were painted in red on the inside of the cover slab. Ma Fuxiang's memorial tablet was buried in an air-raid shelter, and the Arabic inscription tablet is still missing.

In December 1986, the smashed Buhatia grave cover stones were unearthed again at the Liuxia Hui Muslim Cemetery. Historical Materials compiled by the Fujian Academy of Social Sciences records that the structure was built with multiple layers of stone steps, with the stone surfaces fully carved with delicate and beautiful patterns like scrolling grass.

In 1989, the Buhatia Cemetery was rebuilt on its original site. The restored stone tablets were copied from rubbings of the originals. Each grave cover is four layers high, about 0.6 meters, which is actually just the top crown portion of the original Buhatia grave cover.

In 2006, the Hangzhou Municipal People's Government built a new stone pavilion at the Buhatia Cemetery, which is its current form.













Grave of Ding Henian

Ding Henian (1335-1424) was a famous Hui Muslim poet during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. His great-grandfather was named Alaoding, his grandfather was named Shansiding, and his father was named Zhimaluding, so he took Ding as his surname. Ding (al-Din) means religion or faith in Arabic and is often placed at the end of a person's name.

The History of Ming: Biographies of Literati contains a short biography of Ding Henian. It writes that Ding's great-grandfather Alaoding and his younger brother Umar were both big merchants. When Yuan Emperor Shizu Kublai Khan conquered the Western Regions and lacked supplies, Alaoding donated his own goods in time. Because of this, Kublai Khan rewarded him with land in the Yuan capital, Dadu, and gave him very generous treatment. Umar also served as an official, eventually reaching the position of Left Chancellor of the Gansu Province.

Ding Henian's grandfather Shansiding served as a daruqachi of Linjiang Circuit, and his father Zhimaluding also served as a daruqachi of Wuchang County due to his family's status. Daruqachi (daruqai) originally meant seal holder. They held the actual administrative and military power in local governments at the circuit, prefecture, department, and county levels during the Yuan Dynasty and were the highest-ranking local officials. Daruqachi were generally Mongolians, and only Semu people with noble family backgrounds could hold the position. Ding Henian's family belonged to these noble Semu people.

As the son of the highest official in Wuchang, Ding Henian read many books from a young age and studied at the famous Nanhu Academy in Wuchang. He also had a talented older sister named Yue'e who taught him classics and history.

In 1352 (the 12th year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty), the Red Turban Army captured Wuchang. Ding Henian was 18 that year. After settling his biological mother in the suburbs of Wuchang, he escorted his father's primary wife to Zhenjiang to take refuge. After his father's primary wife passed away, Ding Henian had to continue his flight. He went to Zhoushan Island in Zhejiang to seek refuge with his cousin Jiyamuding, who was the magistrate of Dinghai County, but his cousin passed away shortly after. At that time, the eastern part of Zhejiang was occupied by the peasant uprising leader Fang Guozhen, who was most suspicious of Semu people. Ding Henian had to wander around Siming Mountain in Ningbo and the islands of eastern Zhejiang, working as a tutor for children, staying in monks' quarters, and making a living by selling tea and drinks.

Ding Henian described his mood while living in seclusion in the second of his four poems titled 'Sent to Master Jiuling':

Flowers and willows in every village meet the seaside, I take my family wherever I go to avoid the chaos of war.

The clothing and grain still preserve the style of the Jin Dynasty, the chickens and dogs in this peach blossom spring have long been cut off from the Qin.

Sitting facing the green mountains, I never tire of them, forgetting my worldly schemes, the white birds are naturally close to me.

I also know that coming out or staying in depends on the times, I do not just escape my name to imitate a hermit.

In 1366 (the 26th year of the Zhizheng era), Zhu Yuanzhang attacked the Jiangnan region. Hangzhou and Huzhou surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang one after another, and the flames of war approached Zhejiang. While fleeing and suffering from illness, Ding Henian could not sleep at night and wrote the poem Night Dream of Returning Home on the 24th Day of the 11th Month of the Bingwu Year.

I have been sick for a long time and do not go out, thinking of my brothers one by one, wondering who is alive and who is dead.

War has cut off all news everywhere, and the wind and rain haunt my dreams all night long.

I write poems under the bamboo as clouds rise over my inkstone, and I sing songs before the flowers with the moon shining on my wine cup.

Old memories always bring new feelings, and I sit alone by the cold lamp wiping away my tears.

In 1368 (the first year of the Hongwu reign), Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Fang Guozhen, who occupied eastern Zhejiang, and declared himself emperor in Nanjing. The situation in Zhejiang gradually stabilized, and Ding Henian ended his life of fleeing. He built a house by the sea on Zhoushan Island to settle down and named it Sea Nest (Haichao).

In 1379 (the 12th year of the Hongwu reign), 44-year-old Ding Henian returned to his hometown of Wuchang to rebury his mother's remains and wrote Two Poems on Returning to Wuchang After the War. The second poem says:

The chaos has settled and I return home with graying temples, saddened by the changes in people and things.

In the west wind, foxes and rabbits roam the ancient graves, and in the setting sun, wolves lie in the desolate countryside.

The five willow trees are no longer the home of Tao Yuanming, and the hundred flowers are not what they were at Duling Manor.

My old haunts have all become dreams, and I sit alone counting the hours through the long night.

In his later years, Ding Henian moved to Hangzhou to live in seclusion and returned to Islam. According to the Qing dynasty record Notes on Qingbo (Qingbo Xiaozhi), he spent his late years practicing the laws of Allah and lived in a hut by his ancestors' graves. Ding Henian likely lived near the grave of his great-grandfather, Aladdin, at the Foreigner's Grave (Fanhuijia Mu) outside Qingbo Gate.

In 1424 (the 22nd year of the Yongle reign), 89-year-old Ding Henian passed away and was buried next to Aladdin's grave. This place was later called the Ding Family Mound (Ding Shi Long). When the cemetery was moved in 1953 to build West Lake Park, only Ding Henian's Ming dynasty tomb pavilion and tomb cover stone remained, serving as a relic of the Hui Muslims' cemetery.

During the transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties, wealthy Semu merchants and officials along the southeast coast fell from the upper class to the bottom of society, leading to all sorts of stories. In Quanzhou, the once-prosperous Pu family was banned from studying or holding government office. Many Semu people died, left, or fled, and the Guo and Ding families moved from Quanzhou city to the countryside. Ding Henian was part of this great upheaval. In his poem "To My Cousin Sai Jingchu," written to the famous Hui Muslim calligrapher Sai Jingchu who was also living in seclusion in Hangzhou, he wrote:

The noble descendant lives in a desolate alley, writing calligraphy to trade for wine.

Wealth comes and goes on its own, leaving only a pure spirit in the world.

















Muslim tombstone covers in the southeast during the early Ming dynasty still kept their Yuan dynasty style, which is very precious. Below, I will share some photos I took of Muslim tombstone covers in Quanzhou and Yangzhou for comparison.



Tomb of a Persian person from the Yuan dynasty at the Quanzhou Maritime Museum.



Tomb of Guo Zhongyuan in Baiqi Township, Quanzhou, dated 1422 (the 20th year of the Yongle reign).



A Muslim tomb from the early Ming dynasty next to the Lingshan Holy Tomb in Quanzhou.



Tomb of Ding Fubao, the fourth-generation ancestor of the Ding family of Chendai, at the Lingshan Holy Tomb in Quanzhou, dated 1436 (the first year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty).



Ming and Qing dynasty tombstone covers at the Puhading Cemetery in Yangzhou.



A Ming dynasty tomb in the Puhading Cemetery in Yangzhou; the one on the left is from 1501 (the 14th year of the Hongzhi reign of the Ming dynasty).

Author of this article: Douban user @Amateur Enthusiast Wang Dongsi.



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