Located 300 meters west of the Drum Tower in the center of Qufu, it is a temple dedicated to Confucius, a famous thinker and educator in ancient China. Founded in Lu Aigong in the 17th year (478 BC), it has been expanded and repaired in past dynasties. The Confucius Temple in Qufu is dedicated to the former residence of Confucius at the age of 18. Since the Western Han Dynasty, emperors of past dynasties have continuously sealed posthumous title for Confucius, and the scale of Confucius Temple has become larger and larger, becoming the largest Confucius Temple in China.
Most of the existing buildings were completed in the Ming and Qing dynasties, covering an area of 327 mu, with 9 courtyards before and after. There are 464 halls, altars and gates in the temple. Surrounded by red walls and turrets at four corners, it is modeled after the Forbidden City in Beijing. Together with the neighboring Confucius House and Kong Lin in the north of the city, it is called "Three Holes".
The main pattern of Confucius Temple:
The plane of Confucius Temple is rectangular, with an area of 6.5438+0.4 million square meters and a length of 0.7 kilometers from north to south. The Confucius Temple is arranged along a north-south central axis, which is symmetrical from left to right and has a rigorous layout. There are nine courtyards in total, in front of which are Xingxingmen, Shengshimen, Hongdongmen, Dazhongmen, Wentongmen, Kuiwenge and Ming Tombs Pavilion.
Starting from the Great Sage Gate, the building is divided into three roads: the middle road is the Dacheng Gate, Xingtan, Dacheng Hall, Bedroom Hall, Monument Hall and two temples, which are places for offering sacrifices to Confucius, Confucianism and sages respectively.
East Road is the Holy Gate, Poetry Auditorium, Laojing, Ruby, Shengyan, Family Temple, etc. Most of them were places where Confucius ancestors were sacrificed in the last five generations; On the west road, there are buildings such as Shengkaimen, Jinsitang, Shengkaiwangdian and Bedroom, which are places where Confucius' parents are sacrificed.
There are five temples, one temple, one pavilion, one altar, two halls, seventeen stone pavilions and fifty tripartite halls in the whole temple, with a total of 466 halls, which were built in the Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China periods respectively. The most famous buildings of Confucius Temple are Lingxing Gate, Gate No.2, Kuiwen Pavilion, Xingtan, Dacheng Hall, Sleeping Hall, Monument Hall and Poetry Auditorium.