The jewel-temple of farthest China
هيكل الجوهرة بأقاصي الصين
The seven-gated round temple of farthest China whose dome shelters a jewel larger than a bull's head lighting the whole — kings' tools snapping within ten cubits of it by the magnet-stones' repulsion — and a seven-mouthed well whose Musnad inscription promises the storehouse of books, the world's history and its rarest treasures to the man whose power equals the builders' 1.
At a glance
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Overview
The Temple of the Jewel is a round temple at the far end of the land of China, with seven doors. Inside it is a great dome, and at its top is something like a jewel that lights up the regions of the temple. So al-Mas'udi describes it. 2
He reports that kings tried to take it, but no one could come within ten cubits of it. In it is a well with a seven-sided mouth, and on its collar, in the Musnad script, is written what connects to a store of books and the history of the world. 2
This is al-Mas'udi's account alone, and it needs an additional source.
Sources
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p. 548
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p.548
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The jewel-temple of farthest China”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/haykal-al-jawhara/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.