Confucian Holy Places

By Umberto Bresciani

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Passerino
• Release date: Mar 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9791220285186

Book preview

Umberto Bresciani

Confucian Holy Places

UMBERTO BRESCIANI

Confucian Holy Places

Digital Edition 2021

Passerino Editore

Gaeta 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.

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.

Despite being overlooked or even fought against during the last century, and possessing unusual characteristics, Confucianism is still one of the major religions of the world. One of its peculiar characteristics was unveiled by Herbert Fingarette (1921-2018), when he wrote Confucianism: the Secular as Sacred. Due to such an unusual characteristic, someone has argued that Confucians experience the sacred when they visit the tombs of their ancestors; or when they pray at the family altar inside their houses. It is true also that the family home is perhaps Confucianisms’ most holy place of all, the place where humans develop family roles and relationships, as well as the place for practicing ancestor worship at their family altars. It is in the home that generations live together and grow physically and spiritually according to the decree of Heaven.

Nevertheless, there is a community dimension to the religion, so that Confucians can experience the sacred realm when visiting Qufu, or other temples of Confucius elsewhere, or places related to Confucian saints or sages. Same as the followers of any other respectable religion, Confucians have their holy places, and consider certain places as endowed with a special aura and meaning, so that when visiting them, they will experience an inner feeling of getting close to the sacred.

The purpose of this book is to offer an introduction to the holy places of the Confucian religion. For each place, my introduction will include a physical description of it, some historical information, and the plausible meaning for a visiting Confucian. The present book, however, is far from exhausting the topic. First of all because it is limited to China, while Confucianism concerns also other areas of the world, such as Korea, Japan, or Vietnam, where one can find quite a few meaningful and beautiful historic Confucian places to visit, which are not included here. In second place, considering that China is a large country, I will introduce only a certain number of places, those I consider most relevant, or else those I consider as typical of a whole group. Imagine how many Ancestral Temples, or how many Temples of Confucius there are spread throughout China! I will mention only a few of them, some which can be seen as typical, or which possess certain outstanding characteristics.

In third place, this book is a first attempt. Beside the listed places, there could be further research to define which other sites possess a holy aura to Confucian eyes. I am thinking, for instance, of museums, libraries, and archeological sites. These are places that in our western frame of mind are not considered sacred, unless it is the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or some other special site of Biblical archeology. On the contrary, according to the Confucian worldview, places such as museums or libraries are very special, recording the manifestations of the mysterious Dao 道throughout history, therefore places where the visitor comes in contact with a richness of manifestations of the eternal Dao.

As already mentioned, Confucianism can be viewed as a religion - the ancestral religion of the Chinese - and can be viewed as a philosophy. I had this in mind while choosing a list of the holy places. There are places which loom big in popular religion, such as, say, the countless temples of Guan Gong 關公 (aka Guandi miao 關帝廟), or the temples to Shennong. There are instead numerous places not connected to any large activity of worship, but dear to the memory of great philosophers, such as the birthplaces of Zhu Xi or Wang Yangming; not to mention the pure places of learning and reflection, such as the Confucian Academies of past centuries. One could object that an academy (shuyuan 書院) means pure philosophy, nothing sacred about it. Regarding Confucianism, however, the division is hard to sustain. In fact, every Confucian Academy of the past inevitably included a shrine to Confucius, where students and teachers were supposed to pray every day before class. Likewise, even today, in some faraway place in China or Taiwan you may venture in front of a humble shrine to the memory of Zhu Xi, the great philosopher, and find that there are people coming to pray and burn incense at his feet. The Confucian most holy place of all is Qufu, the city of Confucius, where too philosophy and religion - and often politics - are intertwined.

Beside Qufu, which is the Confucian Holy Land, there are other worthy places throughout China, such as the historic capital cities, especially Beijing, Xi’an, and Luoyang, so full of memories of the Confucian past. Then there are all the places so important in popular religion, those related to Huangdi, Shennong, Yu the Great, Zhou Gong or Guan Gong, and many other figures of the ancient past: ancestors, sages, heroes, and benefactors of humankind. Then there are all the places related to famous philosophers, such as Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming. Then we will visit at least some of the celebrated centers of learning of past centuries, the shuyuan (academies). Some of their buildings are still extant: their charm comes both from the quiet and beauty of the natural environment and from the surviving relics of high learning and spiritual values. Finally, I will mention the Five Sacred Mountains (wuyue), beginning with the most sacred, Taishan.

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