his is a copper censer cast during the Zhengde reign (AD 1506 - 1521) of Ming Dynasty. On the belly of the censer, there are two Arabic inscriptions meaning "Allah, the only God" and "Mohammed is the messenger of God." The base is in the shape of lotus leaves, with a inscription of six Chinese characters written in regular scripts meaning that "Made during the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty." Due to the fact that the Ming Dynasty adopted a protection policy towards the Islam, numerous Muslims were able to participate in political activities and received many gifts and rewards from the Ming government. This copper censer was a gift given by the Ming government to a mosque.