Masjid Menara Emin Turpan

Menara Emin terletak sedikit ke arah timur dari Turpan. Berdiri 44 meter (144 kaki gunung Tianshan) tinggi, Menara Emin adalah menara tertinggi di China. Menara Emin yang terbentuk dengan indah dengan puncak berbentuk helm adalah salah satu contoh arsitektur Muslim yang paling terkenal dan salah satu landmark paling menonjol di Daerah Otonomi Uygur Xinjiang.

Pembangunan Menara Emin dimulai pada 1777 masa pemerintahan Kaisar Qianlong dari Dinasti Qing dan selesai hanya satu tahun kemudian. Selama tahun 1750-an, a subgroup of Mongolian people known as the Dzungars occupied large parts of Xinjiang north of Mount Tianshan and decided to openly rebel against the Qing Empire (1644-1912). The Uyghurs living south of Mount Tianshan, under Emin Khoja, joined forces with the imperial Qing government and helped defeat the Dzungars. Emin Khoja was subsequently promoted to governor inheritable of Turpan as a reward for his allegiance. On his death, his son, Suleman succeeded him as governor and build the Emin Minaret in honor of his father. Construction of the tower was completed in 1778 and its Chinese name, Su Gong Tower, literally means “Duke Su’s Tower”. Su is an abbreviation of Suleman and Gong means duke in Chinese.

Emin Minaret was designed by the Uygur architect Ibrahim and constructed by local craftsmen using local materials. The structure itself is made of wood and brick. It is an elegant, circular, tapered Islamic dome, with a diameter over 14 meter (46 kaki) at its base and tapering to 2.8 meters at the top. The exterior is of sun-dried yellow bricks that narrow in shape as the tower rises. The richly textured bricks are carved into intricate, repetitive, geometric and floral mosaic patterns, such as stylized flowers and rhombuses. This mixture of Chinese and Islamic features is seen only in minarets in China. The unique geometric patterns are characteristic of Islamic architecture and have no counterparts in the architecture of China other than in Muslim structures. Positioned in the tower are several long, jendela sempit pada ketinggian yang berbeda dan menghadap ke arah yang berbeda yang menyediakan cahaya dan ventilasi. Menara ini tidak memiliki lantai. Di dalam, penyangga internal yang melingkar berfungsi sebagai tangga berputar 72 anak tangga ke puncak.

Turpan dulunya merupakan lokasi beberapa kota perdagangan besar sepanjang Jalur Sutra, kota ini juga berfungsi sebagai saluran antara budaya Asia Tengah dan Tiongkok. Dekorasi luar Menara Emin menggabungkan pola geometris, yang merupakan ciri khas arsitektur Islam Timur Tengah, tetapi juga mencakup pola bunga dan gelombang, yang umum digunakan dalam arsitektur Tiongkok. Orang Uyghur yang membangun struktur ini telah dipengaruhi oleh kedua budaya tersebut secara seimbang, itulah bagian dari apa yang membuat bangunan mereka begitu unik.

Pintu masuk Menara Emin diapit oleh dua prasasti: one with an inscription in Chinese that explains the purpose of the minaret and its connection to the Qing Dynasty, while the Uyghur inscription on the other side contains excerpts from the Quran.

The Emin Minaret is on the northeast corner of the Uyghur Mosque that seats 1,000 orang, a rectangular structure with an iwan or mihrab, a pointed-arch niche enclosed on three sides but open to a large covered courtyard on the fourth. The mosque is divided into an inner hall for use in colder months and larger outer halls for warmer months. The outer halls are built with elegant, tall, thin, wooden pillars and beams supporting its exposed timber frame, and are open and spacious, while the inner hall is small and enclosed.

Set against the azure sky, silvery Mount Tianshan, and the scarlet Flaming Mountain, Emin Minaret adalah salah satu contoh arsitektur Muslim yang paling mengesankan di Xinjiang.