Longgang Mosque

History

In 1953, the UN General Assembly resolved to condemn the Taipei government for its actions and guerilla warfare inside Burma. Finally, an agreement was reached between Taipei, Rangoon, and Bangkok for evacuation of all Kuomintang Irregular forces under command of General Li Mi to Taiwan. Civil Air Transport transported 5,583 Kuomintang soldiers and 1,040 dependents to Taiwan. The majority of these guerrilla forces were Muslim and had no place to worship in their new Taiwan home and so they started to raise funds in 1964 to construct a mosque.

1967 structure

The original 1289 m2 mosque was built in 1967 by a group of 30 Muslims. After joining the Chinese Muslim Association in the early 1980s, the community raised money, including funds from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to build a larger mosque.

1989, current structure

To make a bigger mosque, the community purchased land on Longdong Road () in Zhongli. At the 312,000 initial development stage, only the main prayer hall and basement area of the mosque were built. The mosque building occupies an area of 1300 m2 and the mosque's main worship area can hold 150 worshippers.

At the 400,000 second development stage, the mosque's minarets, a kitchen, dormitory and shower room were added to the main building.

Due to the poor materials used to construct the building because of lack of funds, the mosque quickly deteriorated. After some discussion, a plan to reconstruct the mosque was finally put in place. With financial assistance from inside and outside Taiwan, the first reconstruction project for the mosque began in March 1988 and was completed in January 1989. The second reconstruction was completed in 1995; and on 15 November 2021, the opening ceremony of the new extension building of the Islamic-style mosque was held. The event was attended by Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan.

Architecture

The Longgang Mosque is a green structure that has one prayer hall and it can accommodate approximately 150 worshipers. The other features of the building include the imam office, staff office, reception room, children chanting room, etc.

Activities

By 2008, the population of Muslim faithful in Zhongli had reached 2,000. On weekends, and during winter and summer vacations, the mosque holds basic courses on Arabic and the Islamic faith to educate children about Islam.

Transportation

Longgang Mosque is southeast of Zhongli Station of Taiwan Railway. In the future, the mosque will be served by Longgang Station of the Taoyuan Metro.

References

References

1. No. 320, Longdong Rd, Zhongli City. (1 January 1970). "Longdong Road, 320 Zhongli City - Google Maps". Google Maps.
2. Loa, Iok-si. (6 September 2008). "FEATURE: Muslims learn to deal with hurdles living in Taiwan". Taipei Times.
3. "Practicing Islam in Taiwan; 美國商會". American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.
4. Taylor, Jay. "The Generalissimo's Son: Chiang Ching-Kuo and the Revolutions in China and Taiwan".
5. "(Tourist Attraction) Longgang Mosque — The One and Only Islamic Religious Centre in Taoyuan". Tranews.com.
6. (1 May 1992). "Building Faith". Taiwan Today.
7. (24 March 2020). "Longgang Mosque(龍岡清真寺)". Taoyuan, First Stop in Taiwan.
8. (10 January 2019). "Pork restaurant to change billboard for mosque goers". Taipei Times.
9. (15 November 2021). "The new building of Longgang Mosque, a new highlight of Taiwan's Islamic culture, was completed".
10. "Chungli Mosque children 2".