THE MING COURT AS PATRON OF THE CHINESE ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE: THE CASE STUDY OF THE DAXUEXI MOSQUE IN XI’AN

The Daxuexi Alley Mosque in Xi'an was rebuilt during the Yongle reign (1402-1424). The JiajingStela was erected in 1523 A.D. to record the architectural works that performed for the mosque through the ages the reconstruction of the mosque which dominated by Admiral Zheng He, who was an influential eunuch of the Ming court during the first half of the 15th century. The inscription itself was composed by another important Chinese Muslim, Hassan. The Jiajing Stele is an important document for the research of the architecture arts and history of Chinese Muslims. The author’s ongoing research project attempts to examine the architecture of the Mosque during the Ming period (1368-1644). As this field of historical study lacks effective extual sources, this study uses epigraphic sources to examine historical events within the text and explain its historical value.