That structure wasn't very old, and yes the locals were furious, but there's extra background to Shadian: there was a locally famous event there where local armed resistance to the government continued successfully for an extended period. This is perhaps a kind of 'payback' from the government.

I visited some of the oldest mosques in China and documented them with photography. One that sticks out in my memory was in Qingzhou, the old capital of Shandong.

In the grand tradition of autocracy, like many other old things, many ancient structures will lose their battle to fate due to paranoid rulers. In the grand tradition of time, however, the rulers will surely lose their own. The difference is, nobody will weep for them.