Domes, minarets disappear from China’s last Arabic-style mosque, replaced by pagoda rooftop, towers

After radical modification and what isbeing calledas“sinicisation", China's lastmajormosque - which once had Arabic-style architectural features- has now lost its domes and minarets, according to a report published in The Guardian.

China’sgrandest mosque, the Grand Mosque of Shadian, islocatedin a small town in southwestern Yunnan province.

Till last year, the 21,000 square metre complex was a large building with a tiled green dome at the top which was adorned with a crescent moon. Four long minarets and two small domesflanked the big dome.

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However, in the latest photographs, the dome appears to have been replaced with a Han Chinese-style pagoda rooftop, as per the report.

Also, the heights of minarets have been decreased and they have been converted into pagoda towers. It has also been reported that there is a faint trace of the crescent moon and star tiles.

China's 'Sinification of Islam'

Nearly 100 miles from Shadian,another landmark mosque of Yunnan was also renovated recently and its Arabic features were removed.

The Chinese government in 2018 publisheda five-year plan on the “sinification of Islam”.

A part of the plan was to resist “foreign architectural styles” and to promote “Islamic architecture … that is full of Chinese characteristics”.

In a leakedmemo of the Chinese Communist party, it was seen that local authorities were asked to “adhere to the principle of demolishing more and building less”.

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Speaking to The Guardian, Anthropologist at Cornell University Ruslan Yusupov said, “Sinification of these two landmark mosques marks the success of the campaign. Even if there are small mosques left of Arab style in villages, it will be difficult for local communities to contest their sinicisation”.

Meanwhile, a historian of Islam in China at the University of Plymouth Hannah Theaker said that themosque sinicisation campaign was moved ahead “province by province”, with Yunnan being the farthest province from the capital.

“By 2023, there was a sense among communities that architectural sinicisation would reach the famous Yunnanese mosques, as the last majorunsinicisedmosques in China," Theakersaid.

The Grand Mosque of Shadian was first built in the Ming dynasty and destroyed amid the cultural revolution in an uprising which was called the Shadian incident.

(With inputs from agencies)