2024 Self-Drive Tour of Shandong, Jiangsu, and Henan (6): Ancient Sage Shrine - Qufu Confucius Temple.

The Qufu Confucius Temple was established in 479 BC. After Confucius passed away, his disciples turned his residence into a temple with three rooms. The temple was expanded and renovated by various dynasties over more than 2,000 years, eventually forming the current scale. Famous architect Liang Sicheng described the Qufu Confucius Temple as a "unique example in the history of world architecture". Shan Jixiang, president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, said, "The scale of the Confucius Temple and the length of its existence, its unyielding spirit, is actually a large encyclopedia of ancient Chinese architecture." The Confucius Temple has preserved a variety of roof forms: the Chongshen Shrine and the Qisheng King Hall are Wu Dian roof buildings; the Dacheng Gate and the Shengshi Gate are single-eave Xie Shan roofs; the Dacheng Hall and the Kuiwen Pavilion are double-eave Xie Shan roofs; the Chengsheng Gate and the Jinsi Hall are Xuan Shan roofs; the family temple and the Hou Tu Shrine are Ying Shan roofs. The roof is curved and the eaves are raised, giving the roof a light and lively image. The main buildings of the Confucius Temple are mostly covered with yellow and green glazed tiles, which were second only to the palace in ancient times. Another major feature of Chinese wooden frame structures is the very prominent decorative effect of a bunch of bucket arches under the eaves of the hall building. The Jin Dynasty stele pavilion is the oldest existing building in the Confucius Temple. The main ridge of the large buildings in the Confucius Temple has a Chiwen. In addition to the main ridge on the top of the hall, there are also vertical ridges and Qiang ridges, with vertical ridge beasts and Qiang ridge beasts on them. The front end of the Qiang ridge has a "fairy riding a phoenix", and there are several beasts behind it. The number of beasts increases or decreases according to the rank. The highest rank, such as the Dacheng Hall, has nine beasts. The main buildings in the Confucius Temple have roofs mostly covered with yellow and green glazed tiles. The horizontal beams and bucket arches under the eaves are decorated with blue and green paintings. The red (or stone-colored) pillars and vermilion doors and windows are lined with one or two layers of stone bases or railings. The color effect is very moving. The Qufu Confucius Temple preserves a large number of stone carvings from the Han Dynasty: the Han Dynasty portrait stones in the Shenpu are the finest works of Han Dynasty stone carving art. At the same time, the Qufu Confucius Temple preserves a rich collection of stele carvings, which are listed as one of the "Four Great Stele Forests in China". They represent the peak of calligraphy art and carving style at that time. The diversity of the Bei Xia style under the stone stele of the Qufu Confucius Temple is unique in the country. The Bei Xia of the Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties each have their own characteristics. In addition, there are "Pixie" on the stone archways of "Jinsheng Yuzhen" and "Zhisheng Temple"; "Tianlu" under the archways of "Daoguan Gujin" and "Demu Tiandi"; the stone carving "Chishou" around the Xumi seat of the Dacheng Hall; the deep relief "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl" on the stone pillars of the Dacheng Hall. They have been organically combined with the architecture for hundreds of years, reflecting each other and demonstrating the artistic value of the perfect combination of practicality and aesthetics. The ancient cypresses in the Confucius Temple are over 2,000 years old. There are two trees between the Dacheng Hall and the Apricot Altar. They have withstood countless ice and snow, storms, and thunder and lightning, and still stand tall and lush. The Confucius Temple is planted with cypress and thuja, and there are no less than a hundred ancient trees and famous trees over 500 years old. The ancient cypresses in the Confucius Temple are tall and straight, solemn and solemn, like the sages and scholars of the past dynasties, dignified and majestic, each with its own charm, and they are undoubtedly adhering to the true nature and spirit of Confucian culture.