西安八大景点英文导游词-陕西历史博物馆TheGreatMosqueTheGreatMosqueislocatedinHuajueLane,whichbranchesofffromtheWestMainStreet.Itisthemajorspotforthereligiousactivitiesofover60,000MoslemsinXi’an.ItisalsoanimportanthistoricalmonumentinShaanxiProvince.UnlikeArabianmosqueswithsplendiddomes,skywardminarets,anddazzlingpatterns,thismosquepossessesmuchChinesetraditioninbothdesignandartisticoutlook.ItassumesthestrikingfeaturesofChinesePavilions,withpaintedbeamsandengravedridgepoles.However,itwouldbeuselesstotalkabouttheGreatMosquewithoutknowinghowIslamwasintroducedintoChina.Islam,asareligiousorder,wasfoundedintheearlyperiodofthe7thcenturyandwasintroducedtoChinainthemid-7thcentury.Atthattime,someArabianmerchantsandtravelerscametothenorthwesternregionbywayofPersiaandAfghanistantoestablishdiplomatic,trade,andmilitarycontactswithChina.OthersstartedtheirvoyagefromtheBangladeshBay,crossedtheStraitofMalacca,andarrivedatGuangzhou,Quanzhou,Hangzhou,YangzhouandotherChinesecities.Later,manyofthemsettleddownandmarriedthelocalwomen.TheirchildrenbecamethefirstgenerationofChineseMoslems.However,massiveimmigrationofMoslemstoChinadidnottakeplaceuntil,aslateas,theearlyperiodofthe13thcentury.AsaresultofhisWesternExpedition,GenghisKhanconqueredvastexpansesoflandfromCentralAsiatoEastEurope,includingthenorthernpartofIran.ManyoftheMoslemsintheseconqueredareaswereforcedtoenlistinthearmy.Later,theymadeChinatheirpermanenthome.Manyofthemweresoldiers;andsomeweresmithsandofficials.TheywerecalledtheHuipeopleinthehistorybooksoftheYuanDynasty.TheHuipeoplelaterfollowedKublaiKhandowntotheSouth,helpinghimunifyChinaandestablishtheYuanDynasty.Inthewakeofthisconquest,IslamspreadalloverChinaandmosquesbegantoappeareverywhere.ManyMoslemsheldpositionsbothinthemilitaryandcivilservicesintheYuanDynasty.AlotofMoslemstookpartinZhuYuanzhang’suprisingintheearly14thcenturyandmadegreatcontributionstothefoundingoftheMingDynasty.Therefore,alltheemperorsoftheMingDynastyissuedMoslemsfortheirgreatcontributions.Intheearly16thcentury,IslamdominatedXinjiangandspreaditsinfluencetopGansu,NingxiaandQinghai.ThereligionlaterwondominationoversuchminorityethnicgroupsastheHui,theUygur,theKazak,theKirgiz,theTajik,theTartar,theUzbek,theDongxiang,theSalarandtheBonan.TheMoslemsinXi’anaremainlytheHuipeople.Thereareapproximately17millionMoslemsinChina.TheGreatMosqueisthemostsizableofitskindinthecityofXi’an,andalsooneoftheoldestandbest-preservedmosquesinChina.TheStoneTabletotheBuildingoftheMosquesaysthatitwasbuiltintheTangDynasty.However,judgingfromitsarchitecturalstyle,itwasprobablybuiltintheMingDynasty.Itsfourcourtyardscoveranareaofmorethan12,000squaremeters,withabuildingareaof4,000squaremeters.Thestillintactwoodenmemorialarchinthefrontyardwasbuiltattheturnofthe17thcentury.Withglazedtiles,spectacularcorners,andupturnedeaves,itstandsaboutninemetershigh,andhasahistoryofabout360years.Thestonememorialgatewayinthecenterofthesecondcourtyardisflankedbytwotalltablets,withdragonscarvedoneach.TheyrecordthedetailsoftherepairworkeverconductedsincethebuildingofthemastercalligrapherMiFumosque.OnetabletbearsthecharactersbytheintheSongDynasty:“MayIslamFilltheUniverse.”TheotherbearsthecharactersbytheMingmastercalligrapherDongQichang,“RoyallyBestowed.”ThesecharactersaretypicalexamplesoftraditionalChinesecalligraphy.Attheentranceofthethirdcourtyardisahallbuiltb...
