The Principles of Islamic Architecture Time Analysis

Islamic architecture in China:

Our group has chose to present the analysis of how islamic architecture was introduced and influenced in China. Therefore, I was in charge of presenting the analysis of the first islamic building, which is The Great Mosque of Xi'an.

Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Tang Dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an (present day Xi'an), which at the time was the most populous city in the world, as it is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization, surpassing the earlier Han Dynasty, a golden age of cosmopolitan culture.

The Great Mosque of Xi'an
The Great Mosque of Xi'an is located in Shaanxi province, China, which is one of the oldest and most re-known mosques in the country. It was first built in the Tang Dynasty, and renovated in the later periods especially during the Ming Dynasty. It remains as a popular tourist site of Xi'an, and is still used by Chinese Muslims (Hui people) today as a place of worship. Unlike most mosque in the Middle East or Arabian countries, the mosque is completely Chinese in its construction and architectural style with a touch of Islamic adaptation and influence of Quranic inscriptions and decorations, for the mosques has neither domes or traditional style minarets.

Architectural Layout
The layout of a Chinese temple has successive courtyards on a single axis with pavilions and pagodas adapted to suit Islamic function, where the grand axis of the Great Mosque of Xi'an is aligned from the east to the west, facing Mecca.

Image above illustrates the layout of the Mosque with an arrow indicating the location of
Mecca where the prayers usually perform their prayers facing that direction.

Five successive courtyards , each with a signature pavilion, screen or free standing gateway, lead to prayer hall located at the western end of the axis.

Diagram above indicates the location of 5 courtyards and the arrow direction point to Mecca. 

Image on the right is where the entrance of the first gateway leading to the first courtyard,
where the image on the left is the second gateway leading to the second courtyard. 

Xing Xin Lou is the third pavilion leading to the third courtyard.

Yi Zhen pavilion is the fourth pavilion leading to the fourth courtyard.

Lastly, the fifth gateway leading to the fifth courtyard, and the entrance of
the main space of a prayer hall where all the prayers usually perform their daily prayers. 

Considerations of comparisons between the plan of this mosque and the plan of a normal chinese courtyard house were taken into account for easier identification of the spaces layout in terms of similarity and differences. 

The main elements of typical Chinese architecture style that were applied in this mosque :

Chinese Construction Style
(Dougong bracket system)

Ornamentation and detailing 

Courtyards and gateways

Pagodas instead of minarets