Confucian Temple
Located on Guozijian Street inside
Anding Gate, the Temple of Confucius in Beijing is the
place where people paid homage to Confucius during the
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Now the temple houses the
Beijing Capital Museum.
The Temple of Confucius was initially
built in 1302 and additions were made during the Ming
and Qing dynasties. It has a total area of 22,000 square
meters (5.4 acres). It is the second largest temple
constructed for Confucius, the greatest thinker and
educationalist in ancient China, ranking only behind
the Temple of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province.
This temple consists of four courtyards.
The main structures include Xianshi Gate (Gate of the
First Teacher), Dacheng Gate (Gate of Great Accomplishment),
Dacheng Hall (Hall of Great Accomplishment) and Chongshengci
(Worship Hall). Dacheng Hall is the main building in
the temple, where the memorial ceremony for Confucius
was often held. Inside the temple one can see that 198
stone tablets are positioned on either side of the front
courtyard, containing 51,624 names of Jinshi (the advanced
scholars) of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Also
14 stone stele pavilions of the Ming and Qing dynasties
hold the precious historical information of ancient
China.
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