陕西导游英语Text讲解词 (7).pdf

Genearl InformationFirst,lets go over some basic information about the Great Mosque in Xian.Covering over 13,000 square meters,the GreatMosque is located in Huajue Lane to the northwest of Drum Tower.Historians say that it was built in 742 AD in the Tang Dynasty.Yet judging from its architectural style,experts believe it was built in the Ming Dynasty,which means it has a history of at least600 years.Now the Mosque is not only a major spot for Islamic activities in the city,but also an important historical monument inShaanxi Province.To tourists,unlike the Arabic mosques with splendid domes,bright colors,and the minarets pointing high intothe clouds,the Great Mosque shows many beautiful traditional Chinese buildings,towers,platforms,pavilions and halls.Major PartsThere are four courtyards.In the first courtyard is the Wooden Memorial Archway.The archway stands about nine meters high,and has a history of nearly 400 years.Serving as a gate for the Mosque,the archway has upturned eaves,many layers ofbrackets and glazed roof-tiles.It certainly looks magnificent.On both sides of the archway,there are several wing rooms,inwhich there are old furniture made in the Ming and Qing Dynasties on display.Through Wujianlou,or the five-roomed hall,there stands a stone memorial gateway in the center of the second courtyard.On top1of the main gate of the gateway,there are four characters inscribed in Chinese calligraphy.It says,“the Court of Heaven”.Thegateway is flanked by two tall tablets,with dragons carved on each.Both tablets are carved with inscriptions about the repairingof the Mosque at the imperial order in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The inscribed characters were written by two famouscalligraphers.And the calligraphy is regarded as some of the best of art in China.In the third courtyard is the Imperial Hall.It is the oldest part of the buildings in the Mosque.There is a tablet called“the CrescentTablet”.The inscription on the tablet is in Arabic.It was written by a late famous imam.The content of the inscription was aboutthe way of the calculations of the Islamic Calendar.Now the stone tablet is a very valuable historical record about thedevelopment of Islam in Shaanxi Province.Another important building in this courtyard is called“the Introspection Tower”.Itserves as the minaret.It is also the tallest building in the whole mosque.There are two stories,three layers of eaves.On thesouthern side of the minaret is the Official Reception Hall.To the east of the Official Reception Hall,there is a bathing house forMoslems to wash their body before worship.And on the north side is the minaret is the Lecture Hall,in which a hand-writtencopy of“the Holy Koran”of the Ming Dynasty and the map of Mecca of the Qing Dynasty are well preserved.Through three connected doorways decorated with fine brick carvings,we enter the last courtyard.What we see first is“thePhoenix Pavilion”.It is a very special building with a combination of the Chinese traditional archway and pavilion.The pavilion,as the main body in the middle,is shaped in a hexagon with its eaves upturned and its top protruded.The whole architectureseems to be a beautiful phoenix spreading its wings and is about to fly.At the back of the pavilion,there is the 1,300-square-meter prayer hall.It can hold over 1,000 worshippers at a time.The ceiling of the hall is decorated with over 600 pieces ofclassical scriptures.The walls of the hall,the entrance as well as the panels,are decorated with patterns of trailing plants andArabic letters.Around the hall inside,all the pages of“the Holy Koran”are carved in the 60 pieces of huge wooden boards,30 ofthem are in Chinese,and others in Arabic.They are really marvelous carvings of art,and rarely seen in the other mosques of theworld.Value of the Great MosqueIn the year 1956,the Great Mosque was decreed as an important historical and cultural site under the protection of the ShaanxiProvincial Government.In 1988,it was further promoted to be one of the most important sites in China.Since we had the policyopening and reform to the outside world in 1978,the Mosque has received over 10 million visitors,including Moslem brotherswho came from over 100 countries and districts of the world,and many heads of the states and governments.After visiting theMosque,tourists would surely have a better understanding of the history of the Mosque and the religious life of Moslems in Xian.Moslems in ChinaActually,the Moslems in china share very much the same customs with their brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world.Theyworship five times a day:at dawn,at noon,in the afternoon,at dusk,and at night.Female worshipers attend their services in aseparated place from their brothers,usually at home.Moslems pay special attention to their health and see that they always wearclean clothes.They are teetotalers not only of wine,but also of pork and animal blood,for in Koran pigs have been mentionedfour times as being“unclean”.According to Koran,a man can have four wives and women should wear veils when they go out.However,the Chinese practice monogamy and women are free of veils when they go out.Upon their death,Moslems has to befirst“thoroughly cleaned”(which means thoroughly bathed),then has to be put on to be shrouded with a piece of white cloth andfinally has to be buried coffinless in the ground,with an imam reciting scriptures at the funeral.The Chinese constitution promulgates that freedom of religion of each citizen and freedom of preserving or reforming localcustoms for every nationality are permitted.And of course,the Moslems in china enjoy equal rights with peoples of othernationalities and their religious beliefs and customs are respected everywhere in the country.2