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