Qufu Confucian Temple is located in Qufu, Shandong Province.
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| Apricot Altar |
The Confucian Temple is where Confucius, a famous thinker, educator and the founder of Confucian School in ancient China, is feted. There are many preserved Confucian temples of different dynasties all over China, among which the Qufu Confucian Temple is the largest and earliest one. The Confucian Temple, Confucian Mansion and Confucian Woods are called Three Confucians, which are now one of the four extant great architectural complexes in China.
Confucius (551-479BC), whose name is Qiu and courtesy name is Zhongni, lived in the Lu State of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476). One year after his death, Lu Ai King rebuilt his three old houses into a memorial temple and offered sacrifices to him in person. From then on, the temple was constantly extended every dynasty. By the 2nd year (1018) of the Tianyou reign of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), 360 halls, porches and side-rooms had been added to the temple, making it a vast architectural complex similar to an imperial palace in style. Emperors of different dynasties all held grand ceremonies to offer sacrifices to Confucius when they came to Qufu.
The Confucian Temple is rectangle in shape. It is 1120 meters long from south to north and occupies an area of 327.5 mu (15 mu is equal to 1 hectare). With an axis running through it, the architectural complex of Confucian Temple is symmetrical and compact in arrangement. In the front, there are Ling Star Gate, Shengshi Gate, Hongdao Gate, Dazhong Gate, Tongwen Gate, Kuiwen Pavilion, Thirteen Imperial Stele Pavilions. From Dasheng Gate, the complex is divided into three lines: the central line includes Dacheng Gate, Apricot Altar, Dacheng Palace, Qin Palace, Shengji Palace and two side-rooms, which are used for offering sacrifices to Confucius and other Confucians; the eastern line consists of Chongsheng Gate, Poem and Etiquette Hall, Gu Well, Lu Wall, Chongsheng Memorial Temple and Family Temple, most of which are used for offering sacrifices to Confucius’ last five generations of forebear; the western line consists of Qisheng Gate, Gold Silk Hall, Qisheng Palace and Qin Palace, which are used for offering sacrifices to Confucius’ parents. There are 5 palaces, one memorial temple, one pavilion, one altar, two halls, seventeen stele pavilions and fifty-three lanes; 466 palaces and side-rooms in all. They were built in Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties and the Republic of China. The most famous architectures of Confucian Temple are: Ling Star Gate, the Second Gate, Apricot Altar, Dacheng Palace, Qin Palace, Shengji Hall and Poem and Etiquette Hall.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
