Confucius Temple, Beijing

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The Beijing Confucian Temple is the second largest Confucian Temple in China after the one in Confucius' hometown of Qufu (see more on my Qufu page). It was built in 1302, and imperial officials used it to pay their respects to Confucius until 1911. The compound was enlarged twice, during the Ming and Qing dynasties and now occupies some 20,000 square meters.

The complex includes four courtyards aligned along a central axis. From south to north, noteworthy structures includes the Xianshi Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall and Chongshengci. Inside the temple there are 198 stone tablets positioned on either side of the front courtyard, and they contain more than 51,624 names of Jinshi (the advanced scholars) of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and 14 stone stele pavilions of the Ming and Qing dynasties that hold the precious historical information of ancient China. Next door to the temple is the Imperial College which is also included in the entry price and well worth a look.

Open: 8.30am-5pm. Admission: RMB20.

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Inside the Confucius Temple are 198 stone tablets positioned on either side of the front courtyard, and they contain more than 51,624 names of Jinshi (the advanced scholars) of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and 14 stone stele pavilions of the Ming and Qing dynasties that hold the precious historical information of ancient China.

Open: 8.30am-5pm. Admission: RMB20.

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These stone tablets were engraved with thirteen Confucian classics during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The classics have more than 626,000 Chinese characters, all written in regular script by Jiang Hang, a Gong Sheng (scholar recommended by local government for further studies at the Imperial College, from Jintan, Jiangsu Province during the reign of Yongzheng. It took him 12 years to complete. In 1791, people started to engrave characters on the tablets and the work continued for three years before all the classics were engraved on 189 stone tablets.

Open: 8.30am-5pm. Admission: RMB20.

After visiting the Lama temple (Yonghegong), I also wanted to visit the Confucius temple.

On my Beijing map it seemed nearby.

And it was nearby, as I left the Lama temple I only had to cross the street, and a few hundred metres further was the entry to the Confucius temple.

At the entry of this side street there was also kind of a colourful gate (see picture), so in fact you can not miss it.

So the Confucius temple is located in a side street of Yonghegong Dajie (where the famous Lama temple is located).

When I visited these temples unfortunately it was raining and that makes it a bit less pleasant, as you have to carry an umbrella all the time, also in order to protect your camera.

In fact this Confucius temple was a temple, now it is kind of a museum.

As soon you have passed the ticket control, you enter the first courtyard, and there you can see the statue of Confucius, and a big series of steles.

So at the first courtyard you can see a big number of steles.

The sign board near the Steles said:
So on both sides of the gate of the ancient teacher, Confucius, and the gate of Great Achievements are found steles bearing the names. Native districts and positions on the list of successful candidates of 51.624 scholars who obtained the rank of Jinshi at the Imperial examinations during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, they furnish valuable data on the Imperial examination system of China

In one of the side buildings, which was named the Capital Library, you can see a big number of Steles. In fact it is a big hall (and it was a bit dark inside) filled with stone tablets.

Outside this hall there is a big wall with some explanation on these stone tablets. But I did not read it, as it was too much and it was raining and there was still a lot more to discover.

Qianlong sculptures: On the stone outside you could read a brief introduction of the forest of the Steles of the "Thirteen Classics" at the Confucius temple.

So once you have passed the gate with the statue of the ancient teacher Confucius, you come to the second courtyard.

At the back of this gate you find a souvenir shop where you can buy postcards and books.

This second courtyard is filled with many small pavilions.

But what was kind of funny on these pavilions, was the fact that almost each pavilions was supported by a bug turtle

Where these the ancestors of the famous ninja turtles? Who knows . . .