Yingli in Chinese means barracks. Yingli Mosque simply means barrack mosque. The earliest record of Xian Yingli mosques was in the Tang Dynasty. It is recorded that Persian and Arabian army invited by the Tang Dynasty emperor settled down in this part of Xian after the Anshi Rebellion was crushed down in 755. Therefore, it was named Yingli (barrack) in Chinese. Later, a mosque was built for the Arabian and Persian army named Yingli Mosque.