What does the Qufu Confucius Temple look like?

Qufu is the hometown of Confucius. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius edited poems and books here, revised the Spring and Autumn Annals, and began to give private lectures. According to historical records, in the second year after Confucius' death (478 BC), Duke Ai of Lu converted Confucius' former residence into a temple to worship Confucius. Confucius's clothes, harp, chariot and books are hidden and offered as sacrifices every year. Ever since Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, used the Tailao ceremony to worship Confucius in 195 BC, emperors of all dynasties have come here to worship the sage. The Qufu Confucius Temple is the earliest extant ancient ancestral temple complex dedicated to Confucius in China. It has a history of more than 2,400 years. After continuous expansion by successive dynasties, it gradually formed its current scale during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is now the same size as the Forbidden City in Beijing and Chengde Summer Resort. The villa is also known as the three major ancient building complexes in China. In 1994, Confucius Temple, Confucius Mansion and Confucius Forest were included in the World Heritage List as cultural heritage by UNESCO.

The Confucius Temple is located in the middle of Qufu City. It is a group of large-scale and majestic ancient buildings with oriental architectural characteristics. It is called an "isolated example" in the history of world architecture by experts in ancient architecture. Its building is the Imperial Palace. According to the system, there are nine courtyards, three-way layout, and symmetrical arrangement. The Confucius Temple covers an area of ??about 4.6 hectares, with a width of 141 to 153 meters from east to west, and a length of 637 to 651 meters from north to south. It has 466 houses, including 5 main halls, 53 gates, 13 stele pavilions, and other temples, altars, The pavilions, halls, etc. are large in scale and majestic and were built in the Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China periods. The first three courtyards are guided courtyard buildings, mainly composed of a 400-meter-long corridor and five gates including the Lingxing Gate. The other four gates are Shengshi Gate, Hongdao Gate, Dazhong Gate, and Tongwen Gate. To enter the Confucius Temple, you must first pass through these five gates, and before entering the gate, you must first experience the "dismounting of power". Since the specifications of the sacrifices in the Confucius Temple are equivalent to offering sacrifices to heaven, there is a dismounting stone in front of the door. All civil and military officials, regardless of their rank, must dismount here. Starting from the fourth courtyard, the layout of Qufu Confucius Temple is divided into left, middle and right roads. The middle road is Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, Dormitory Hall, Shengyi Hall and two verandas, which are places to worship Confucius, Confucian scholars and sages respectively; the left road is Chongsheng Gate, Poetry Auditorium, Gujing, Lubi, Chongsheng Temple and Home. Temples, etc., are mostly places for worshiping the ancestors of Confucius's ancestors in the five generations; on the right are buildings such as Qisheng Gate, Jinsi Hall, Qisheng King Hall, and Dormitory Hall, which are places for worshiping Confucius' parents. The most famous buildings in the Confucius Temple include: Lingxing Gate, Shengshi Gate, Kuiwen Pavilion, Xingtan, Dacheng Hall, Poetry Auditorium, Forest of Steles, etc.

Lingxing Gate is the gate of the Confucius Temple. It was built in the 19th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1754). It has six couplets and four pillars, iron beams and stone pillars. Four stone statues of heavenly generals stand on the top of the pillars. The Shengshi Gate, also known as the Second Gate, was built in the Ming Dynasty. It has three door openings, with cornices and brackets, and a green glazed roof. There are wooden squares on the east and west sides of the door. Kuiwen Pavilion is located in the middle of the Confucius Temple. It was first built in the second year of Tianxi in the Song Dynasty (1018) and rebuilt in the 19th year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty (1483). It is a pavilion with a collection of books. There are two floors of pavilions inside the pavilion, with a dark layer in the middle. The upper layer is dedicated to the scriptures and ink inscriptions given by the emperors of the past dynasties.

The Apricot Altar is located in the middle of the corridor in front of Dacheng Hall. In the second year of Tiansheng's reign (1024) in the Northern Song Dynasty, an altar was built here. Apricots were planted around the altar, and it was named the Apricot Altar to commemorate Confucius's Xingtan lectures. There is a relevant record in "Zhuangzi Fisherman": "Confucius wandered in the forest of curtains and rested on the apricot altar. His disciples studied. Confucius sang on strings, played drums and harps." There is a square pavilion building with double eaves and cross ridges in the apricot altar. It is surrounded by red railings and hills on all sides, with yellow glazed tiles, two-story cornices and double brackets. There is a vivid golden dragon painted on the caisson inside the caisson. There is an imperial stele of Qianlong's "Ode to the Apricot Altar" in the middle. There is a cypress tree in front, which is said to have been planted by Confucius. The stone incense burner in front of the pavilion is about 1 meter high and simple in shape. It is a relic of the Jin Dynasty and has become a scene in the Confucius Temple.

The main building of the Confucius Temple is the Dacheng Hall. To a certain extent, it can be said that the Dacheng Hall is the symbol of the Confucius Temple. It is also known as the Three Great Halls of China along with the Taihe Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Tiankuang Hall of the Dai Temple in Tai'an. . Dacheng Hall is taken from Mencius's words "Confucius called it "the greatest success". It was built in the second year of Tianxi in the Song Dynasty (1018). It was originally named Wenxuan Palace and Xuansheng Palace. It was changed to the current name during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was destroyed by thunder and fire. It was burned down and rebuilt immediately. During the Yongzheng period, Dacheng Hall was even designed and rebuilt according to the form of a royal palace. Dacheng Hall is the shrine of Confucius and fourteen important Confucian figures and the place where ceremonies to worship Confucius are held.

The palace is built on the base of Xumi Zuo, which is more than 2 meters high. It is 32 meters high, 34 meters from north to south, and 54 meters from east to west. It is nine rooms wide and five rooms deep. It has 40 corridors on both sides and houses more than a hundred outstanding Confucians. The character’s god. It has double eaves and nine ridges, and staggered brackets. The roof was originally covered with green glazed tiles, but in the late Qing Dynasty it was changed to yellow glazed tiles, with a brilliant golden light. The entire hall resembles a royal palace, magnificent, and the shrines and dragon-carved stone pillars are undoubtedly the most refreshing in the hall.

The shrine with a carved dragon and gilding in the middle enshrines the tablet of the Holy Master. There is a plaque hanging above the shrine with the four words "The Holy Master" written on it. There is a huge statue of Confucius in the hall, 3.3 meters high, full of energy, mighty but not fierce. On both sides of the statue of Confucius are the "four spouses" Yan Hui, Zeng Shen, Kong Ji, and Meng Ke. They can be called the best inheritors and propagandists of Confucius' thoughts. On both sides are 12 philosophers. In addition to Confucius's 11 proud disciples, Zhu Xi, the acting scholar of the Song Dynasty, was also placed here. The grand occasion of "three thousand disciples and seventy-two sages" seems to have reappeared.

In the corridors surrounding Dacheng Hall, 28 giant stone pillars carved with dragons stand erect, all carved from solid stone. They are the originals from the 13th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1500). Each column is 5.98 meters high and 0.81 meters in diameter, and is cushioned by a raspberry lotus throne base. There are 10 pillars on the front eaves. Two giant dragons are carved on the pillars, soaring in the clouds. There is a pearl between the two dragons, which is called "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls". The waves of mountains and seas are supported below, and auspicious clouds are adorned above. It is magnificent. There are 18 eaves columns on both sides and under the eaves of the back corridor. Each column has eight sides and 9 dragons are lightly carved on each side. The total number of columns is 72. On all the eaves and pillars of Dacheng Hall, there are 1,316 carved dragons and coiled dragons. The large number of carved dragons, the exquisite craftsmanship, and the vivid and natural artistic conception are unique in the world. According to legend, even Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty had to wrap stone pillars in red silk when he offered sacrifices to Confucius to avoid offending Long Yan. Because there are no such ingenious stone pillars in the palace.

The most famous building on Zuo Road is the Poetry Auditorium. The Poetry Auditorium was the place where Emperor Kangxi made a special trip to Qufu to visit Confucius to listen to Kong Shangren, a descendant of Confucius, promote Confucius' theories. Its name comes from a short story in "The Analects": Once Confucius was standing alone, his son Kong Li "crossed the court", Confucius taught him: "If you don't learn poetry, you can't speak... If you don't learn etiquette, you can't speak." , There is no way to stand." So Kong Li retreated to study poetry and etiquette. In order to commemorate Confucius, later generations built this hall as a place to study poetry and etiquette.

The Confucius Temple Forest of Steles, the Forest of Steles in Xi'an, the Earthquake Forest of Steles in Xichang, Sichuan, and the South Gate Forest of Steles in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan are also known as the four major forest of steles in China. There are more than 2,200 large and small inscriptions in the veranda, all in cursive, cursive, official and seal script. There are many treasures in the inscriptions of the past dynasties. In particular, the number of Han steles preserved here is the largest in the country, and it can be called a treasure house of stone carving art.

The Confucius Mansion, located to the east of the Confucius Temple, is the residence of Confucius' eldest grandson. After Confucius's death, his descendants lived in the former residence for generations, which is called the temple residence. In the second year of Zhihe in the Song Dynasty (1055), Kong Zongyuan, the 46th generation grandson of Confucius, was granted the title Yanshenggong. From then on, the succession continued from generation to generation. When Kong Xi, the 56th generation Yanshenggong, was studying, he was ordered to create an independent Yanshenggong Mansion. Known as "the first house in the world", the Kongfu Mansion is the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient building complex in China that combines government offices and residences. The existing buildings were built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with as many as 463 buildings, pavilions, halls and halls. The front and rear are divided into nine courtyards, with three roads in the middle, west and east. In the past, West Road was where Confucius received dignitaries, East Road was the family temple, and the two areas before and after the Middle Road were the government offices, inner residences and gardens. Every brick and tile in the mansion embodies the essence of national culture.