Situated in the center of Qufu City, Shandong Province, the Qufu Confucian Temple is a group of magnificent ancient buildings with Oriental architectural features.
Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), who lived in the State of the Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC), was a great philosopher, litterateur, politician and educator, and the founder of Confucianism. His work in the area of morality, ethics and education have had a tremendous influence on Chinese culture and education over the millennia in China. Confucius was honored by generations of feudal rulers and literati. The Temple of Confucius was built to commemorate him. It is also called the Fuzi Temple or the Temple of Literature. There are all kinds of different styles of temples to commemorate Confucius all over the country, even all over the world. However, the Qufu Confucian Temple is the most famous and imposing and has exerted the greatest influence.
The Qufu Confucian Temple is the original place of commemoration of Confucius. The construction of the Temple was started in the year 478 BC, the second year after the death of Confucius, when his former residence in Qufu was consecrated as a temple by the then King of the Lu State. From then on, the ruling classes of succeeding dynasties have all successively elevated the status of Confucius. Renovations were also ordered to the Confucius Family Mansion for his offspring and the Cemetery of Confucius.
Sacrificial activities have been held each year at this place for over 2,400 uninterrupted years, which shows that the Temple has been kept in use for an extremely long time in China. At the same time, the Cemetery of Confucius is the largest clan graveyard with the longest usage history in the world, and the Confucius Family Mansion is the largest, best preserved and most typical still existing complex combining offices and mansions together in China. In 1994, the Temple of Confucius, the Cemetery of Confucius and the Confucius Family Mansion were incorporated onto the World Heritage List.
In front of the Dacheng Hall (Dachengdian), the architectural center of the Temple of Confucius stands a toweringly tall and straight Chinese juniper, which is said to be planted by Confucius himself. To the north of the tree, there is a small and exquisite building with yellow tiles and red poles. Surrounded by apricots, this place is called the Apricot Altar said to be where Confucius gave lectures. Today, the Chinese term “apricot altar” (Xingtan) has become a synonym for education, and it is also used to refer to a location where people assemble and listen to lectures in general.
