Hello,everyone!WelcometoNanjingConfuciusTemple.TheConfuciusTempleislocatedontheBankofQinhuaiRiverinthesouthofthecity.ItisahistoricsiteandtouristattractionthatNanjingpeopleareproudof.Itisaprosperousplacewhereculture,commerce,sightseeingcenterandTemplemarketareintegrated.
ConfuciusTemple,alsoknownasConfuciusTempleandConfuciantemple,isaplacetooffersacrificestoConfucius,afamouseducatorandthinkerinChina.ConfuciuswashonoredasConfuciusinancienttimes,sohistempleiscommonlyknownas"ConfuciusTemple".DuetotheorthodoxstatusofConfucianism,itsfounderConfuciuswashighlyrespectedbytherulersandscholarsoffeudalsociety.ThereweremorethanoneConfuciustemplesalloverthecountry.Asaplaceforfeudalscholarstoworship,ConfuciusTempleismostlyarrangedtogetherwitheducationalfacilities(suchasschoolpalace,GongYuan,etc.),thatis,theso-calledtempleisattachedtoschool,usuallyinfrontorononesideoftheschoolpalace.
Historically,therewerethreeConfuciustemplesintheurbanareaofNanjing,oneinthecompoundofthecurrentmunicipalgovernmentandtheotherintheChaotianPalace.Nowwearegoingtovisitthethirdandmostfamousplace.ItwasmovedfromChaotianPalaceinthefirstyearofJingyouofSongDynasty(1034).Atfirst,itwasJiankangschool,JiqingroadschoolinYuanDynasty,GuoxueinMingDynasty,yingtianfuschoolinQingDynasty,andJiangningschoolandShangyuanschoolinQingDynasty.ItwasdestroyedintheXianfengPeriod,rebuiltintheTongzhiperiod(1869),andburnedbytheJapaneseduringtheAntiJapanesewar.TheexistingConfuciusTemplewasrebuiltintheearly1980s.Itusestheformertempleandthelaterschool,ConfuciusTempleinthefrontandtheAcademyintheback,andthelaterGongYuanisarrangedontheleftsideoftheAcademy.Therefore,therelativelycompletepatternofConfuciusTempleinNanjingincludesthreeparts,namely,ConfuciusTemple,AcademyandGongyuan.TheNorth-SouthcentralaxiswithDachenghallasthecenterandthemainbuildingsonbothsidesandtheJiangnanGongyuanexhibitionhallwithMingyuanbuildingasthecenterhavebecomethemaintouristspotsintheConfuciusTemplearea.
Duetoitslonghistoryandconvenientwatertransportation,ConfuciusTempleareahasbecomeafamous"beautifulplace"andaplacewherecelebritiesliveinancientNanjingbeforetheappearanceofConfuciusTemple.Therefore,inadditiontothemainscenicspotsmentionedabove,therearealsoscenicspotssuchasWuJingzi'sformerresidence,ancienttaoyedu,Cuiyuan,onehundredyearoldshopStreet,wendeqiao,WangXie'sformerresidence,Wuyilane,meixianglou,etc.
NowwearestandingatthestartingpointofthecentralaxisoftheConfuciusTemple--thesquareoftheConfuciusTemple.Lookingaround,therearepanchi,Zhaobiandmufanginthesouth,JuxingPavilion,KuiGuangPavilionandbusinessdistrictintheEastandWest,DachenghallinthecentralaxisandtheEastandWestcitiesontheEastandwestsidesofConfuciusTempleinthenorth,whichformtheuniqueatmosphereofConfuciusTempleareadifferentfromothercities,thatis,thepatternofTemplemarketintegrationinhistory.
Lookattheriverinfrontofthesquare.It'scalledQinhuaiRiver.It'sthemotherriverofNanjingpeople.It's110kilometerslongandgavebirthtotheearlyNanjingcivilization.ThesectionthatflowsthroughthesquareisapartoftheInnerQinhuaiRiver.Whenthetemplewasbuilt,itwastransformedintopanchi,namedafterthewaterflowingthroughtheConfuciusTempleinQufu.AredwallonthesouthbankisalargescreenwallbuiltintheWanliperiodoftheMingDynasty(1575).Itis110meterslongandmajestic.ItisthelargestscreenwallinChina.Zhaobiplayedaroleofshelteranddecoration,whichwasthebeginningofthewholeConfuciusTemplecomplex.ThestonerailingontheNorthBankofpanchiwasbuiltintheZhengdeperiodoftheMingDynasty(1520__).ItistheonlybestpreservedancientarchitecturalsketchintheConfuciusTemplecomplexaftermanyvicissitudes.ItwasrepairedbeforetheAntiJapanesewar.Here,visitorstakearestonthefenceandenjoythebeautifulsceneryofQinhuai.
TheWendebridgeonthewestsideofpanchiisnowhanbaiyubridge.ItgotitsnamefromtheConfucianschool'sadvocacyofarticlemorality.Becausethedirectionofthebridgeisthesameasthatofthemeridian,everyNovember15ofthelunarcalendar,whenthebrightmoonisintheskyandyoulookdownfromtherailing,youcanseetheshadowofthebridgeonbothsidesofthebridge.Thebrightmoonintheriverisdividedintotwoandahalfmonths,whichiscalled"WendeFenYue".WuJingzirecordeditinhisbookscholars.Ifyouhaveachance,youmightaswellcometoWendebridgeonNovember15ofthelunarcalendartohavealook.
AgroupofHuistylebuildingsattheentranceofSouthWuyilaneofwendeqiaoiscalled"Wangxieancientresidence".AsthesettlementareaofWangXie,thetwopowerfulfamiliesintheEasternJinDynasty,ithasagreatinfluence,especiallytheversesofWuYiXiang,thefamousworkofLiuYuxiintheTangDynasty,whichmakesWuYiXiangandWangXie'sformerresidenceveryfamous.Nowitisthe"Nanjingsixdynastieshistoricalandculturalexhibitionhall"."Youcangoinandvisitwhenyouhavetime.