The Confucius Temple
( 2003-09-13 13:44) (chinadaily.com.cn)
Located in the center of the old city of Qufu, the Confucius Temple is a
p;ace for temple for people to offer scarifies to Confucius, the philosopher,
educator and politician in the Spring and Autumn Period. The temple used to be a
place of making sacrifices to Confucius, and now it became a historic site under
special protection by the government. Following the year after Confucius's
death, Lu Aigong, king of Zhou, changed three rooms of his residence into a
temple with the clothes and utensils on display in 478 B.C. and offered
scarifies to Confucius every yuar. After the Western Han Dynasty, the temple had
been rebuilt and renovated andexpanded many times, and has become a large
architectural complex.
Today's Confucius Temple was completed in Ming and Qing dynasties. The whole
complex was modeled on the imperial palace with many courtyards and on the north
-south axes. It is one kilometer long from north to south and the whole complex
covers an area of 9.6 hectares.
There are 54 archways, 466 rooms and many halls, pavilions and chambers.
Encircled the complex is the wall with watchtowers on each corner. Inside pine
trees lined, along with splendid halls, beautiful paintings, exquisite bridges
and chirping birds. There are more than 2,000 tablets of various kind. These
well-preserved tablets are rare ones in China and enjoy good fame at home and
abroad and attract thousands of tourists to visit and worship.
|
