Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius
The Temple and Cemetery of Confucius, and the Kong Family Mansion are three important sites in Confucianism. They are located in Qufu, Shandong Province. Together with the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Mountain Resort of Chengde, the Temple of Confucius in Qufu is one of the three largest ancient architectural complexes in China. East of the Temple of Confucius, is the Kong Family Mansion. Kong is the family surname of Confucius and his descendants.
Confucianism has had the most enduring and profound effect over Chinese culture. As time went on, Confucius became respected as a sage, and the temples to Confucius were built as a landmark for all of China. Among them, the Temple in Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, is the most famous and the largest.
Visit October 2007
Getting to the little town of Qufu is quite a trek into the countryside for what is only a mildly interesting WHS. Visiting is pretty organized here, as the temple, family mansion and cemetery of Confucius are conveniently lined up after each other and share one entry ticket. I decided to go my own way, and started at the middle (at the mansion) and skip the cemetery.
The grounds of the temple and mansion are full of ‘Chinese things’. I bought a booklet about those traditional Chinese culture items a few weeks ago, and could tick off quite a number here: door studs, scenic openings (jingdong), stone turtles burdened with stone tablets, zoomorphic ornaments, glazed tiles and a strange ornament that might be Taihu rockery.
The best sight of them all is at the rear of the Confucian Temple. The 18th century Dacheng Hall has ten wonderfully decorated columns, ornamented with dragons.
Although I do not contest its place on the World Heritage List (it certainly has invaluable historic value for northeast Asia), there’s not much here which can’t be seen elsewhere in China. I can only recommend a visit for those with plenty of time on their hands or studying Chinese culture.
More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery
Reviews
Shakd (Spain):
The Temple of Confucius is one of the most renowned Confucius temples in China, and certainly among the most important.
To the users below, there are about thousands of descendants of Confucius lives today. Some of them may still be in mainland China, some lives oversea, and from what I've heard, the annual ceremony in Qufu are conducted by some of them. Anyway, its hard to tell how many of his descendants still lives today because Confucicus existed about 500 years before Christ. |
| Date posted: August 2006 |
Al (Sweden):
For anyone coming from the West, this would be a place of little interest, except s/he has stong interest in Oriental culture. Confucious, arch-man of the Kong Family, is an anicent philosophy who contributed tremendeously to the Chinese culture, evening including cultures of Korea & Japan. That's the tip!
Little to do with Communist. |
| Date posted: October 2005 |
Mary McGreevy (USA):
I and a friend stayed at the Kong Famly Mansion in 1990, when it was a reasonably-priced hotel for foreigners. We were two American women, surrounded by Japanese men visiting then for the Confucius Ceremony. We were travelling independently, using the LET'S GO series book, and it told us to go there. We needed no special permission. I remember distinctly how yellow the water was in the bathtub when it came out, and we decided against having a bath. The foot-high room dividers were a major problem because we also climbed up Mount Tai, slept overnight there, then hiked back down the trails on its opposite, well, back side. We could barely move our legs at all!!! The Japanese just laughed at our stiff, awkward attempts to get over these dividers. I still wonder what the point of such divisions between the rooms was.
We were lucky to find a busload of Canadian seniors, to join them for two days of meals and sightseeing, and also to attend the Confucian festival with them. We saw the ancient dancing, and we visited a carpet-making village (girls and women in dim, dusty rooms weaving by hand...)
Qufu was packed with visitors. Mount Tai was quiet in terms of foreigners... we were the only ones climbing up.
I am happy that we did it then, when I see that it is now a museum. No mention of what happened to the Kong family? Murdered by the Communists? Fled? Flied? |
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