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- Herausgeber: Passerino
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
A holy place is a place that the followers of a religion consider having a special religious significance. A holy place may be visited by the followers of a certain religion, who find inspiration by visiting it; it may be visited also by other people out of curiosity about that particular religion, or else attracted by its historical, artistic, or scenic value. The religion or philosophy, or better religion-and-philosophy, known as Confucianism is a kind of legendary phoenix; it has been periodically destroyed, just to rise again from its ashes. The last astonishing case has happened in modern times. After one century of destruction, culminating in the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism has been gradually making a comeback. It returned to life as a philosophy during the second half of the last century. In this century, a revival is in process also of the religious face of Confucianism. In any case, Confucianism is both a philosophy and a religion, the separation of the two is a Western concern.
We will divide our list of the main Confucian holy places in six groups or sections, as follows:
1st Group: The Qufu Area.
2nd Group: Beijing and Other Historic Cities.
3rd Group: Places Related to Confucian Saints.
4th Group: Places Related to Leading Scholars (Sages).
5th Group: Confucian Academies.
6th Group: Sacred Mountains.
Umberto Bresciani
1942 Born in Ca’d’Andrea, Cremona, Italy.
1962 High School Graduate (Maturità Classica), Liceo Ballerini, Seregno (MI), Italy.
1968 Licentiate of Philosophy & Theology, Studentato Teologico Saveriano, Parma, Italy.
1969 Entered Chinese Language Institute (Annexed to Fujen University, Taipei, Taiwan).
1973 B.A. (major: History; minor: Chinese Studies), University of Maryland (U.S.A.), Far East Division.
1975 M.A. Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
1983 Ph. D. Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Professor of Italian Language: National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei (since 1974).
Professor, Dept. of Italian Language & Culture, Fujen University, Xinzhuang, Taipei, Taiwan (since 2003).
Umberto Bresciani has lived in Taiwan for over 40 years.
His main interest is Chinese philosophical and religious thought and comparative theological studies.
Main publications
Books:
Xifang hanxuejia yanjiu wenshidongyi de shangdui (Evaluation of research by Western sinologists on the Wenshidongyi), dissertation for the Ph.D., Chinese Literature, Taipei: National Taiwan University, May 1983.
Reinventing Confucianism: The New Confucian Movement, Taipei: Ricci Institute, 2001.
La filosofia cinese nel ventesimo secolo – I nuovi confuciani, Roma: Urbaniana University Press, 2009.
Il primo principio della filosofia confuciana (Ebook), Gaeta: Passerino Editore, 2014.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
1. THE QUFU AREA
2. BEIJING AND OTHER HISTORIC CITIES
3. PLACES RELATED TO POPULAR SAINTS
4. PLACES RELATED TO GREAT SCHOLARS
5. CONFUCIAN ACADEMIES (Shuyuan)
6. THE FIVE SACRED MOUNTAINS (WUYUE)
APPENDIX - CHINESE DYNASTIES
Umberto Bresciani
Confucian Holy Places
Passerino Editore
Gaeta 2021
INTRODUCTION
A holy place is a place that the followers of a religion consider having a special religious significance. A holy place may be visited by the followers of a certain religion, who find inspiration by visiting it; it may be visited also by other people out of curiosity about that particular religion, or else attracted by its historical, artistic, or scenic value.
We will divide our list of the main Confucian holy places in six groups or sections, as follows:
1st Group: The Qufu Area.
Confucius Temple. Kong Family Mansion (Family Tree; Kong Family Cuisine). Cemetery of Confucius. Temple of Yan Hui. Shimen Mountain. Four Academies. Temple of Zhou Gong. Lianggonglin. Temple of Zengzi. Nishan Mountain. Zoucheng (Temple of Mencius; Mencius Mansion; Mencius Cemetery; Cemetery of Mencius’ Mother). Shouqiu and Mausoleum of Shao Hao.
2nd Group: Beijing and Other Historic Cities.
Beijing (Forbidden City; Temple of Heaven; Temple of Confucius; Guozijian; Wen Tianxiang Memorial Temple; Songyun An). Quzhou. Luoyang. Xi’an (Kaicheng Stone Classics). Nanjing Fuzimiao. Chengdu (Wuhousi; Du Fu Thatched Cottage). Haikou, Tomb of Hai Rui. Guangzhou, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall. Suzhou (Confucian Temple; The Confucian Gardens of Suzhou). Shanghai (Confucius Temple, The Kongzhai). Pingyao (Pingyao Ancient City; Pingyao Confucius Temple). Yueyang, Hunan. Huanggang, Hubei (Tomb of Xiong Shili; Tomb of Xu Fuguan).
3rd Group: Places Related to Confucian Saints.
Shennong (Shennongja, Hubei; Yanling, Changsha, Hunan). Huangdi (Huangdi’s Birthplace in Xinzheng, Huangdi Mausoleum in Huangling). Yao Temple, Linfen, Shanxi. Yu the Great (Yu’s Accomplishments, Mausoleum of Yu the Great in Shaoxing, The Dayu Festival). Guan Gong (Birthplace in Haizhou, Shanxi; Yuquan Temple in Dangyang, Hubei; Guanlin Temple in Luoyang). Bao Qingtian. Yue Fei’s Tomb and Mausoleum in Hangzhou.
4th Group: Places Related to Leading Scholars (Sages).
Sima Qian’s Tomb on the bank of the Yellow River. Cheng Brothers’ Tomb near Luoyang. Zhu Xi (Ancestral Home in Wuyuan County, Anhui; Birthplace in Youxi, Fujian; Lifelong Residence in Wuyishan, Fujian; the Jianyang Kaoting Shuyuan). Wang Yangming (Birthplace in Yuyao, Zhejiang; Longchang, Guizhou, Site of Wang Yangming’s Enlightenment; Wang Yangming’s Tomb in Lanting). Ma Yifu Memorial in Hangzhou.
5th Group: Confucian Academies.
White Deer Grotto Academy; Songyang Academy; Yingtian Academy; Yuelu Academy; Culai Academy; Donglin Academy; Hong Kong Confucian Academy; Hong Kong New Asia College.
6th Group: Sacred Mountains.
Taishan; Wuyue South Great Mountain (Hengshan, Hunan); Huashan, Shaanxi; Northern Hengshan; Songshan.
1. THE QUFU AREA
Qufu 曲阜 is a minor town of around 60,000 people in the southwestern corner of Shandong Province. The whole district has a population of around 650,000 inhabitants. Its location is at a distance of 45 km from the prefectural capital Jining; 130 km from the provincial capital Jinan; 500 km southeast of Beijing, and 650 km north of Shanghai. The Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway opened in 2011 passes through Qufu.
Qufu is the city where Confucius was born, lived most of his life, died, and was buried. Because of this, for the Confucians it is the “holy city” (shengcheng聖城), something like “Jerusalem” for the Abrahamic religions or Lumbini for the Buddhists. Qufu used to be called “the land of sages, the country of rituals.“ (聖賢之鄉，禮儀之邦). It was called the country of rituals, because of the cultural heritage of the Duque of Zhou (see below, “Temple of Zhou Gong”). It was called the land of sages, because numerous sages of the Confucian tradition were born in the area. Beside Zhou Gong - who lived and died in Shaanxi, but was the creator of the tradition of “rites and music” embraced by Confucius, and in Qufu has a large temple going back three thousand years - the Qufu area is the birthplace of Liuxia Hui, Confucius, Yan Hui, Zengzi, Lu Ban, Zi Si, and Mencius.
Qufu has been the holy city for over two thousand years, at least for the élite and cultured people. In his youth, the Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian 司馬遷 (ar. 145-90 BCE) visited Qufu and reported that the former residence of Confucius had been turned into a temple, where his clothing, zither, carriage, and writings were preserved. Sima’s description makes it clear that Qufu had become a place for a special kind of pilgrimage in the Han dynasty, for he notes that lesser nobles and ministers often travelled there before taking up posts in the region. In the postscript to his biography of Confucius, Sima wrote of his own visit, in terms that suggest a deep emotional connection: “The Classic of Poetry says, ‘The great mountain, I look up to it! The great road, I travel it!’ Although I cannot reach him, my heart goes out toward him. When I study Master Kong’s works, I imagine that I see the man himself. Going to Lu, I visited his temple hall and contemplated his carriage, clothes and sacrificial vessels. Scholars regularly go to study ritual there, and I found it hard to tear myself away. The world has known innumerable princes and worthies who enjoyed fame and honour in their day but were forgotten after death, while Confucius, a commoner, has been looked up to by scholars for more than ten generations. From the emperor, princes and barons on down, all in the Central Kingdom who study the “six arts” (liuyi 六藝) take the Master as their final authority. Rightly is he called the Ultimate Sage.” Sima Qian’s experience of visiting Qufu to pay homage to Confucius in turn became a model for educated men of later eras, who would have been well aware of it from studying his monumental history, Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji 史記). Moreover, his detailed chronology of Confucius’s life helped to confer special significance on the places where particular events happened or teachings were expounded. It is no coincidence that the 15th-century compiler of the first pictorial hagiography of Confucius (see here below in this chapter, Confucius Temple, the Shengjidian 聖機殿) used Sima’s text to order the scenes, and quoted excerpts from it to annotate them.
Qufu – where one fifth of the population bears the surname “Kong” - preserves numerous ancient relics, but primarily the “sankong” 三孔, i. e. “the three Kongs” (“Kong” is Confucius’ surname in Chinese): the Temple of Confucius, the Confucius Family Mansion, and the Cemetery of the Family of Confucius. These three places alone have earned for this town of inconspicuous size a place in the list of World Heritage Sites of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1994. In the overall Confucian revival going on in the last two-three decades among the people at large, especially among the intellectuals and the so-called rushang 儒商(Confucian enterpreneurs), there is a widespread desire to visit Qufu at least once a year, in order to pray at Confucius’ Temple and contribute in some way to the promotion of Confucianism.
In recent years, Qufu has become a tourist destination, visited not only by Confucians yearning to walk in Confucius’ steps, but also by tourists from all over the world. Where there was almost nothing to the purpose, by now the local government has developed fairly complete tourist facilities, and an increasing number of visitors every year visit Qufu. Beside offering the monuments and ancient sites, the city government of Qufu has been effective in developing in many ways its touristic and cultural potential.
Since 1989, one event of primary importance has been the Confucius Cultural Festival (Kongzi wenhuajie 孔子文化節), celebrated in style every year - it lasts ten days - from the end of September to early October. In 1990 it received an upgrade and became the International Confucius Culture Festival (Guoji kongzi wenhuajie 國際孔子文化節), passing under the protection of Unesco. The Festival coincides with Confucius’ Birthday (September 28), when among the many attendees of the ceremonies at the Temple of Confucius there are scholars, notable people and descendants of Confucius. The Festival is multidimensional, since it matches together an educational, touristic, cultural, economic, and technological aim. Tourist agencies highly recommend to visit Qufu during this period of time, when all kinds of cultural activities – from ancient dances to academic exchanges, to folk customs exhibitions, to archery contests and culinary initiatives – are on display.
The highpoint of the celebrations is the grand ceremony of worshiping Confucius on his birthday (see here below, the subchapter on “Confucius Temple”); but numerous other tourist-oriented performances are scheduled at the Temple of Confucius and the Cemetery of Confucius, and occasionally a gongfu 功夫 (or kung fu) competition will attract people. These performances are often accompanied by traditional music and dance, which are performed in an ornate manner. In the famous Yi 佾dance, the dancers wear clothes from the Song and Ming Dynasty, with yellow silk robes, blue waistbands, and black hats. The ceremonial music, played with traditional Chinese instruments, is known as ‘The Sound of Peace.’ The musicians wear the clothes of the Ming Dynasty, with red robes and black hats.
In addition to these performances, during the festival there are calligraphy demonstrations and exhibitions, with many people in traditional costumes. There are sacrificial ceremonies in honor of Confucius, conducted by Chinese adherents of Confucianism and guests, representing, in the genuine spirit of Confucius’ philosophy, individuals from all walks of life. There are large-scale theatrical performances, with an emphasis on the music and theater of Qufu. Local and regional political figures give speeches on economics and trade within the ethical framework of Confucianism. The primary aim of the festival is, of course, to preserve and promote the culture and philosophy handed down by Confucius and foster friendship among people.
Another accomplishment for the promotion of tourism has been the founding in Qufu in 1996 of a Confucius Research Institute 中國孔子研究院 financed by the Beijing central government. Inside its large premises, the institute trains specialized scholars in the study of Confucianism and organizes periodical congresses and other activities. Since 2008, every year it organizes a World Confucian Conference, during which there takes place the solemn award ceremony of a person distinguished worldwide for his/her contribution to Confucians studies. So far the recipients of the award have been Tu Weiming, Pang Pu, Tang Yijie, Tang Enjia, Li Xueqin, Mou Zhongjian, Roger T. Ames, Chen Lai, Dong Jinyu, Guo Qiyong, and Cai Renhou.
Beside the “Three Kongs,” there are numerous other historical sites in the Qufu area, including the Duke of Zhou Temple (Zhougongmiao), the Mencius Temple and Mansion complex, the Mother of Mencius Cemetery (Mengmulin), the Duke of the State of Liang Cemetery (Lianggonglin), the ruins of the old city of the State of Lu, and several others. After undergoing renovation, all of them are now open to visitors.
At the turn of this century, someone advocated the creation of a “culture area” to preserve the rapidly disappearing ancient culture. The city government in Qufu grasped the idea and in 2008 made a large investment project under the name of “Symbolic City of Chinese Culture” (Zhonghua wenhua biaozhicheng 中華文化標誌城). The project was later endorsed by the central government in Beijing. The goal was to create a grand tourist area including Qufu, Zoucheng and the Jiulongshan Mountain. It is a relatively small area of territory, but extremely suitable for the purpose. In fact, in the area one can find the relics of three prehistoric cultures - the “Dawenkou Culture” 大汶口文化from the New Stone Age; the Longshan Culture龍山文化from the New Stone Age, and the Yueshi Culture岳石文化, successive to the preceding two – plus the ruins of several ancient cities, such as Shang Yan商奄, from the Shang Dynasty, defeated by Zhou Gong; the ancient city of Zhuguo (Zhuguo gucheng邾國故城) from the Spring and Autumn Era; and the ruins of the ancient city of Qufu from the Spring and Autumn Period, when it was the capital city of the Lu state (魯故城); again the relics of Qufu from the Han Dynasty; Qufu from the Song Dynasty; Qufu from the Ming Dynasty; and then the ancient city of Zoucheng, the architectural complex of Nishan, the Shimen Park, and others more.
The special tourist area to be gradually developed is also called by some “the Holy City of Oriental Culture” (Dongfang zhonghua shengcheng 東方文化聖城), or also the “Common Spiritual Sanctuary of the Chinese Nation” (Zhonghua minzu gongyou jingshen jiayuan 中華民族共有精神家園), or again the “Cultural Second Capital of the country” (wenhua fudu 文化副都), the first being Beijing. Such a cultural area has the two historic cities of Qufu and Zoucheng as its base; the “Four Kongs” (Sikong 四孔) and the “Four Mengs” (Simeng 四孟) as its core content. The “Four Kongs” are Confucius Temple, Confucius Mansion, Confucius Forest, and Nishan; the “Four Mengs” are the Mencius Temple, Mencius Mansion, Mencius Forest, and the Cemetery of the Mother of Mencius.
In the city of Qufu, another interesting institution of high touristic value is the “ Confucius Six Arts City” 孔子六藝城, a theme park opened in 1993 in an easily accessible location in the new area of the city, not far from the Confucius Temple and Confucius Family Mansion. “Confucius Six Arts City” is an educational theme park show-casing the life and deeds of Confucius with the use of modern high-tech means and devices. “Six Arts City” takes its name from the six arts (liuyi六藝), which were the subjects of learning at the time of Confucius, namely music, mathematics, calligraphy, charioteering, archery and ancient rituals. In his time, Confucius mastered them and became a teacher of them.
Each of the arts is presented in separate settings in an area of 200,000 square meters of impressive architecture and décor, with very modern high-tech means. The park has both an educational and entertainment value, since it is divided in two parts: Confucius Six Arts City (six arts and cultural experience area) and the Park of Confucian Hometown (folk display area). Here, one can experience welcome ceremony and blessing ceremony rituals and get to learn interactively the Confucian six arts. To have a better understanding of Confucian culture, one can also participate in playing drum, carrying the sedan, spinning brocade and other folk performances. One of the buildings is the theater (Confucian Six Arts Grand Theatre), where special music performances are offered twice daily. Not to mention a large food section and souvenir market.
In Qufu, the last addition among the venues opened for tourists is the Confucius Museum. The large museum exhibits educational performances for students, together with the display of many cultural objects from the distant past. The museum covers an area of 57,000 square meters and brings together nearly 700,000 cultural relics, most of them coming from the collection once privately preserved in the Confucius Family Mansion. Children can learn to make the types of cakes and pastries that would have been served at the Confucius Family Mansion in the past, as well as take rubbings from a stone tablet and experience a ride in a horse-drawn wagon that was used to measure distance in ancient times. To better tap into traditional culture, the museum is working on restoring more than 30,000 files from the Confucius Family Mansion.
CONFUCIUS TEMPLE
The Confucius Temple (in Chinese, Kongmiao 孔廟, or Kongzimiao 孔子廟, or Fuzimiao 夫子廟) is undoubtedly the most important monument in Qufu. Its religious, historic, architectural, and artistic value has no equal in any other monument of the city. The Confucius Temple is the place where for 25 centuries Confucius has been commemorated. There are more than 2,000 Confucius temples in the area of the Far East. The Confucius Temple in Qufu is not only the principal one, but also the oldest, largest and most representative one in architectural format.
HISTORY
Since time immemorial, the real universal religion of the Chinese has been the so-called “ancestral religion,” consisting of giving worship to Heaven, to ancestors, and to heroes/sages/benefactors of the people. No wonder then that in the year 478 BCE, on the first anniversary of Confucius death (479 BCE), the Duque of Lu 魯 – the ancient state where Confucius lived – held a memorial worship (a sacrifice) to the spirit of Confucius. He felt the inner need to show his appreciation for the great teacher who honored his state and educated and spiritually enriched his people. The Duque held the sacrifice – the offering of a goat, a cow, and a pig – in the house where Confucius had lived his life. The house – a modest three-room dwelling – thus became a shrine, even though a humble one. Later in time, the shrine was enlarged and enriched, until it became the majestic building complex it is now.
In the year 611 CE, the three-room house was dismantled to make way for an expanding temple complex. During the 11th-century (Song Dynasty), the temple would be further extended, growing to incorporate four large courtyards surrounded by more than 400 rooms. The temple survived fire and vandalism in 1214 to be rebuilt in the style of an imperial palace during the 14th century (Yuan Dynasty). Further fires would cause large-scale damage to the temple in 1499 and again in 1724, but each time the site was restored and extended further, and by the time of Mao’s Cultural Revolution in 1966 the Temple of Confucius had already undergone 15 major renovation projects and 31 large repairs. The Cultural Revolution accomplished further destruction; but right afterwards it was restored as much as possible, and made into a world-class tourist site.
ARCHITECTURE
In the history of Chinese architecture, the temple of Confucius is the oldest building complex, the building with the longest history. Today it is the second largest architectural complex in China, after the Forbidden City of Beijing. To an untrained eye, it will look the same as the buildings of the Forbidden City. The reason is obvious: in Qufu, only very few buildings are remnants from earlier dynasties. In 1499, lightning struck the main hall and burned almost the whole temple to the ground. That is why most of the buildings are from the Ming Dynasty, and were built, same as the Forbidden City, in the style of an imperial palace and according to the top architectural standards of the Ming era. Add to this the fact that the last large renovation was done in the 18 th century, in the years 1724-1730, when the Yongzheng Emperor sent to Qufu the same team of architects and artesans who were renovating the Forbidden City. The similarity strikes particularly in terms of color, since both make full use of red walls, yellow roofs, and white marble stonework.
Today’s Confucius Temple in Qufu comprises 104 buildings, some large some small, spread out over an area of 130,000 square metres, one fifth of the total area of the walled city of Qufu. The temple area is a narrow rectangle, where the distance between the two sides is 200 m., from the entrance to the end is 1120 meters. The whole perimeter of the complex is surrounded by a high wall, with towers at the four angles. The towers were added in 1530, wishing to express the idea that Confucius was a person of imperial rank. Inside the complex, walls are red and roof tiles are yellow, the colors used in imperial palaces; beams are painted and pillars are carved.
The complex of the temple consists in the present form of a suite of nine gates accessing the nine courtyards in the temple. The main buildings are arranged in line along a central north-south axis. Another two shorter rows of buildings are parallel to the central line, on the eastern and western side of the main hall respectively. Buildings include five large halls (dian殿), one attic (ge閣), one altar ( tan坦), two corridors (liangwu兩廡), two halls (兩堂), and seventeen pavilions十七座碑亭. There are altogether 480 rooms. The buildings were designed and built with meticulous care according to the ideas of Confucianism regarding the hierarchy of disposition of the various components. In the Ming period many outstanding artists and craftsmen applied their skills in the adornment of the temple. During the Qing, there was again a large work of renovation, so much that these buildings – together with the main buildings of the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven in Beijing - have been considered to represent the pinnacle of Qing art and architecture.
The Temple houses 1,172 stelae with inscriptions from different ages, from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, in all kinds of calligraphic styles. Inside, one can see also precious objects such as Han stone reliefs, carved pictures depicting the life of Confucius, and stone dragon carvings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Temple is the prototype and model for all the Confucius temples widely distributed in countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly in terms of layout and style.
Ornating the spaces between the buildings, there are 1250 ancient trees, mostly pines and cypresses, some of them quite contorted. A small plaque on the trees indicates their age: a green plaque means 200-300 years old; a blue plaque, between 300 and 500 years old; a red plaque, over 500 years old.
ENTRANCE
In Chinese traditional architecture there is the habit of building a solemn monumental arch at the entrance of any important place – a tomb, a palace, a temple - to signal the beginning of a new space of high importance. Such a kind of decorative monument in the shape of a memorial arch or portal is called paifang 牌坊 or pailou 牌樓. It bears a horizontal inscription at the summit with the official name of the place. The side columns sometimes bear another two-line inscription suitable to the place. In Qufu, when nearing the temple of Confucius, one reaches such a monumental arch. It was built in 1538, Ming Dynasty. It bears the inscription “Jinsheng yuzhen” (金聲玉振), which could translate as “sound of brass and tinkling of jade.” It is a reference to the words of Mencius (5B, 1), when he defines the doctrine of Confucius as absolutely perfect, just like a complete concert: from the initial notes (of metal instruments) until the final notes (sound of jade tablets), perfect wisdom from beginning to end. Mencius’ sentence recalls the musical orchestras of his age, made up of many instruments, where the main players were two large symmetrical rows of instruments, on one side a row of bronze bells, on the other a row of music stones, both to be played by percussion. There is a set of such an an ancient ensemble in the temple in Qufu, and usually a reproduction of it in all the temples of Confucius.
After crossing the arch, you reach the access gate. It is called the Lingxing Gate, (欞星門). Some people translate it as “Star Gate.” In Chinese astrology, the Lingxing (also named Zhenxing 鎮星) is the name of a star, the star of literature, more or less like Saturn in Western astrology. There are those who explain the name as a way of saying for the ancient Chinese that a sacrifice to Confucius equaled a sacrifice to Heaven, given that in past centuries, when offering sacrifices to Heaven, people first offered sacrifices to Lingxing. Another explanation I heard is that Confucius was a star in heaven that came down to earth; or else that the Lingxing Gate is there to remind those students who cross it, that they are especially smart people, because they know to pay respect to Confucius; or again that Lingxing, a heavenly star, was the god in charge of choosing talented people in ancient China, therefore, a Lingxing Gate is usually set in front of Confucius Temple, to show that Confucius is the representative of Lingxing on earth.
After passing through the front gate, one is inside the space of the temple. Several gates will have to be crossed in order to reach the main hall. Each of the gates has a glorious name, always in tune with Confucius’ life or doctrine.
MAIN HALL
After going through six solemn gates and passing by several pavilions, one reaches the “Gate of Great Perfection” (Dachengmen大成門). Alternately, it is also called “Ceremonial Gate“ (Yimen儀門). It is the only gate outside the Forbidden City that is five bays across. The gate introduces into a large courtyard, where the “Hall of Great Perfection” (Dachengdian 大成殿) is located. The gate also adjoins two covered corridors that branch off to the north, forming an enclosed quadrangle that houses the Hall of Great Perfection. On the right side of the large courtyard – the largest in the temple - there is an ancient juniper tree, said to have been planted by Confucius himself.
The “Hall of Great Perfection” is the main hall of the whole temple complex, both in size and importance. It looks majestic in size: rectangular, 54 x 34 m., 32 m. high, built on a white marble base of 2.1 m.. The whole area of the base is 1836 sq.m. The Hall is marvelously decorated and looks splendid, with yellow-tile double-hipped roof, decorative painting and surrounding porch. In the overall scene of Chinese architecture, this hall stands as one of the three masterpieces of halls, the other two being the “Hall of Great Harmony” (Taihedian泰和殿) in Beijing Forbidden City, and the Tiankuangdian 天貺殿 (Hall of Celestial Blessings) in the Daimiao 岱廟Temple at the foot of Mt. Taishan.
After climbing the necessary few steps, you are on the terrace at the level of the hall, but the entrance is not right there; before the entrance there is a large space called “the Yi Platform” (Yitai 佾台). It is a space reserved for the performing of dances and choir-music during the rites of sacrifice to Confucius. Near the entrance to the Hall of Great Perfection, tourists light incense offerings for the sage. Evidently, Confucius is not just a dead teacher; in the eyes of many tourists, he is also a powerful spirit in heaven. The Dacheng Hall has been the temple’s principal venue for sacrificial offerings. Regarding the issue of “sacrifices to Confucius,” see here below, the section “Ceremonies.”
Inside the hall, the ceiling is supported by 32 wooden columns. In the center there is the altar to Confucius, where rites are performed. Above the altar, the statue of Confucius, 3.35 meters high. Confucius is sitting, dressed in ancient imperial garb, with the altar at his feet. In the past, emperors respected Confucius as a God. Quite a few emperors came down to Qufu to pay their respects to Confucius.
At the right and left of the statue of Confucius, there are the statues – two on each side, 2.6 m high – of the “Four Associates” (Sipei四配). They were the four closest disciples – except for Mencius, who lived one century later than Confucius – who cooperated in spreading Confucius’ doctrine. One is Yan Hui, Confucius’ favorite disciple, known to the Confucian tradition as the Fusheng 復聖 (Continuer of the Sage). In Qufu there is a large temple to Yan Hui (see here below). Another is Zengzi, the Zongsheng 宗聖 (Expounder of the Principles of the Sage). Not far from Qufu, there is a temple to Zengzi and his tomb in his native place (see here below). On the other side, Zi Si, the Shusheng 述聖 (Transmitter of the Doctrine of the Sage), who was Confucius’ grandson, and Mencius, the Yasheng 亞聖 (the Second Sage).
Along the flanks of the hall, six on the east side and six on the west side, there are the statues - 2 m high - of the “Twelve Philosophers” (Shierzhe 十二哲), those who illustrated and spread the doctrine of Confucius. They are Min Sun (Ziqian), Ran Yong (Zhonggong), Duanmu Ci (Zigong), Zhong You (Zilu), Bu Shang (Zixia), You Ruo (Ziruo), Zai Yu (Ziwo), Ran Geng (Boniu), Ran Qiu (Ran You), Yan Yan (Ziyou), Zhuansun Shi (Zizhang), and Zhu Xi. All these people were close disciples of Confucius, except for the last one, Zhu Xi (1130-1200), who lived 15 centuries after them, under the Song Dynasty. Palace craftsmen fashioned the over-lifesize statues and set them within elaborately decorated niches. Reflecting the successively higher posthumous titles and honours conferred on Confucius over the centuries, his statue wearing formal imperial garb sits facing south in front of an ornately carved screen, like a ruler holding audience in his palace.
During the Cultural Revolution, the statue of Confucius, dated 1730, together with the statues of his most devout disciples and worthies of the past, were smashed by the Red Guards. They were replaced with new statues in 1984.
To the sides and overhead, panels in the gilded calligraphy of Ming and Qing emperors pay homage to him with eulogistic quotations from the Classics, and coiling dragons on the coffered ceiling complete the imperial ambiance. Through the hall there are ten inscribed boards hung above near the ceiling. The one hanging highest over Confucius’ altar and statue is a huge four-characters inscription: “Model of teacher for all generations” (Wan shi shi biao 萬世師表), a gift from the Kangxi Emperor. He wrote it with his own hand in 1684, during the first of his six pilgrimages to Qufu. Later it was carved in stone and distributed all over the empire. Most of the other inscriptions, and the three couplets on the inside columns, were hand-written by the Qianlong Emperor.
The double roof of the main hall is supported on all four sides by 28 richly decorated pillars (“coiled-dragon columns”), each 5.98 m. high and 0.81 m. in diameter and carved in one piece of rock, ornated with a double lotus base. The octagonal 18 pillars supporting the lower roof (on three sides, except the façade) are lightly carved with cloud and dragon patterns, seventy-two dragons per column. The ten pillars of the façade are deep-relief carved with clouds and coiling dragons patterns, each column two dragons facing each other, as if to emerge from the stone. They are magnificent.
“Coiled dragon columns” (panlong shizhu 蟠龍石柱) are a characteristic of Chinese architecture. They can be found all over the country. In ancient times, they were seldom used, because they are expensive to carve. Here in Qufu there is this row of ten magnificent dragon-columns. Each column is different, even though all of them have a common subject: the carving of two dragons coiled around the column. The two dragons are powerfully flying among the clouds, chasing a pearl.
The use of this style of columns has a long history and is related with concepts of ancient mythology. Two dragons coiled around a column are a symbol of a universe in peace. A coiled dragon is a dragon that has not yet ascended to heaven. In the whole of China, the coiled dragon columns of the Temple of Confucius in Qufu are especially famous. They are there since the Ming Dynasty. They were carved in Anhui Province by the hands of skillful carvers; it took them twenty years of labor. They are more ancient than the columns of the Forbidden City in Beijing and of many others in China.
OTHER BUILDINGS
APRICOT PAVILION
In front of the main hall, right in the center of the main courtyard, there stands a nice, not very large, two-floor pavilion known as the “Apricot Pavilion” or “Apricot Altar or Platform” (Xintan 杏壇). In his old age, Confucius used to teach in his backyard, under an apricot tree. The pavilion is a memory of that tree. It recalls the actual place where the Master studied and taught. Devout Confucian visitors feel like they can still catch in the cosmic vibrations of the place the sound of Confucius’ voice talking to his disciples, or teaching them to play the guqin 古琴, of which he was a master player.
The altar in that spot was built in 1024 (Song Dynasty), and in memory of Confucius it was surrounded by a circle of apricot trees. In the Jin Dynasty the pavilion was built and the scholar Dang Huaiying党懷英wrote the two characters “Xintan” 杏壇. The pavilion was renovated in 1569, and this is the building that exists now. It is a square pavilion with double eaves, with a hip-and-gable roof (“Xieshan top” 歇山頂) on all sides, cross-shaped ridges, two-story yellow tiles and double arches. The caisson ceiling藻井in the pavilion has fine carvings, painted golden dragons and brilliant colors. The apricot trees around the pavilion are lush and full of vitality
Some scholars have objected to the name “apricot,” arguing that it is a mistaken interpretation of the ancient name of the tree, and that the tree under which Confucius was teaching was actually a jingko tree, not an apricot. No matter what, there is an “Apricot Pavilion” in each Temple of Confucius, no matter where in the world.
KUIWEN ATTIC (KUIWEN GE)
After entering the temple and crossing various gates, while proceeding on the central line, around the center of the temple area, before reaching the Gate of Great Perfection and the Hall of Great Perfection, one meets the Kuiwen Ge 奎文閣, or “Star of Literature Pavilion,” or “Kuiwen Attic,” which actually is one of the three main buildings of the whole temple. It is a magnificent wooden structure, an amazing masterpiece of ancient architecture, dating from 1018, rebuilt in 1190, restored and made into a three-layer building in 1504 and repaired in 1985. The original wooden structure is relatively well-preserved. Inside the building there are two stories plus a dark (windowless) mezzanine in the middle, with a unique structure and ingenious craftsmanship.. The attic size is 30 m. by 17.62 m., 24.35 m. high, covering an area of 850 sq.m.. The upper floor of the Kuiwen Ge was devoted to the safekeeping of the books and works of painting and calligraphy bestowed by the courts of the various dynasties to the temple; the mezzanine was a deposit for shelves and boards, and the downstairs space was a deposit for incense and silk items for the imperial sacrifice. In past centuries the hall used to contain a rich ancient library. Now, it is a souvenir shop for the many visitors.
THIRTEEN STELAE PAVILIONS (十三碑亭)
I already mentioned that spread throughout the temple area there are over one thousand stelae of different size and age, some small, some huge, written mostly in Chinese characters, some in Mongolian or Manchu language. Some of the most important stelae are concentrated in one area, the narrow courtyard between the Kuiwen Ge and the Gate of Great Perfection. Because they are especially important, the stelae are not in the open, but under beautiful pavilions, thirteen of them, known as the “Thirteen Stelae Pavilions” (Shisan Bei Ting十三碑亭).
The pavilions are arranged in two rows. The northern row consists of five pavilions, each of them houses one large stele carried by a bixi (a giant stone tortoise) and crowned with dragons. They were installed during the Qing Dynasty. These imperial stelae stand 3.8 to 4 m tall, their tortoises being up to 4.8 m long. Including the stele, the bixi turtle, and the plinth under it, they weigh up to 65 tons. The southern row consists of eight pavilions, housing smaller stelae, several stelae in each pavilion. Four of the stelae are from the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty; the others from the Qing Dynasty. A large number of smaller stelae and tablets from various eras, without bixi pedestal, are lined in the open air in annexes around the four corners of the Thirteen Stelae Pavilions area.
THE LIANGWU
The Liangwu 兩廡 (“Two corridors”) are a typical element of Chinese architecture in the architectural complex of a temple or a palace. They are two lateral corridors, external to the main hall, so as to enclose the courtyard in a way resembling a cloister. In the case of the temple in Qufu - and of most other Confucius temples - the two corridors enclose the main courtyard in front of the Main Hall, to make it look like a cloister. The two corridors are flanked by a row of rooms of various size, used for showing the funerary tablets of Confucian sages, presently 156 in all.
SHENGJI DIAN
The Shengji dian 聖跡殿 (”Hall of the Traces of the Sage.”) is at the end of the central axis of buildings of the Temple, facing the last courtyard. It is a single-storey building with a green-tiled roof, in contrast to the grander structures of other nearby halls. Inside it is a large hall containing 112 bas-reliefs illustrating episodes from the life of Confucius and milestones in the development of his posthumous cult. They were made in 1592. They are a high-class imitation of the drawings to be found in a book published in 1444, compiled by Zhang Kai 張楷 (1398-1460), with the title Kongzi shengjitu 孔子聖蹟圖 (Traces of the Sage Confucius). The book was a biography of Confucius through pictures. Zhang Kai had chosen 30 scenes from the life of Confucius, as reported by Sima Qian in the Shiji 史記 (Historical Records), while an anonymous artist made drawings of the scenes. Actually, a good part of the pictures can be ascertained to be reproductions of famous paintings like Gu Kaizhi's 顧愷之 (345-406) Kongzi xingjiao xiang 孔子行教像, Wu Daozi's 吳道子 (680-740) Kongzi wei Lu sikou xiang 孔子為魯司寇像, or Mi Fu's 米芾 (1051-1107) calligraphy Kongzi xiang zan 孔子像贊. For each scene, Zhang Kai composed a poetic eulogy (a zan贊). As an introduction to the book, he used the preface written by Zhu Xi for his own commentary to the Analects. The illustrated biography of Confucius compiled by Zhang Kai does not exist any more, but it was the base for several similar later books.
