Crane Temple

The Xianhe Temple in Yangzhou is shaped like a crane and is well preserved. It is an ingenious blend of Chinese and Arab architectural styles. Xianhe Temple was founded in the first year of Song Deyou (1275), and there are still remains of Islamic culture in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. When building the mosque, Puhattin arranged the layout from the "mouth" to the "tail" according to the shape of the crane. Opposite the gate, the original screen wall was called "Hezui" (demolition in 1958); the temple gate is a horned archway, like a crane's head raised; Crane body. On the north and south sides of the main hall, there are half pavilions with upturned eaves, like crane wings (the half pavilion on the south side is the Moon-watching Pavilion, and the half pavilion on the north side has been encircled). The back of the hall was originally facing the river, and bamboo groves were planted everywhere, shaped like a crane tail (the bamboo groves did not exist after filling the Wen River to build a road); there are wells on the left and right sides in front of the hall, which are regarded as crane eyes. The vermilion horizontal plaque in the front of the Xianhe Temple is engraved with golden Arabic - Taismi (Great Mercy and Great Compassion), and a hundred circles are engraved on the horizontal plaque of the kiln gate in the middle of the rear hall, and each circle is engraved with gold-painted Arabic. arts.