Suyang Confucius Temple

Suyang Confucius Temple

Suyang Confucius Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Suyang Confucius Temple has two peculiarities: first, unlike Confucius Temples in other places which are located within cities, Suyang’s stands alone over thirty li north of the county seat, on Yanjia Gang; second, while most Confucius Temples enshrine only a wooden memorial tablet of Confucius, Suyang’s uniquely houses a gilded statue of the sage.

It turns out that the Suyang Confucius Temple was originally built within the county as well. In the ninth year of the Jiajing reign during the Ming Dynasty (1530), the emperor, acting on a memorial submitted by Zhang Cong, Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, issued an imperial edict mandating that all statues of Confucius in temples across the land be removed and replaced with wooden tablets — even those in academies and private schools were not allowed to retain holy images. The reasoning given was that the statues were non-standardized, easily damaged, prone to glaze loss, and thus disrespectful to the sacred visage.

At that time, there was an elderly scholar named Zhu Xun living on Yanjia Gang who ran a private school. He was a most reverent old master when it came to Confucius. That evening, as he lit the oil lamp and approached the statue before his desk, just as he was about to light incense and candles to pay homage, he was startled: “Which mischievous student has smeared ink on the sacred face?” Looking more closely, he noticed that sweat was actually dripping from Confucius’s face. “Ah, that explains it — I haven’t paid my respects in the city for ages, could it be that the sage himself is displeased with me?...”

Early the next morning, Zhu Xun rode his donkey into town. Once in the county seat, he learned that Tao Yuan County Magistrate Guangze had received orders to destroy the sacred images. Zhu Xun immediately went to see Guangze and requested permission to take the statue home for veneration. The magistrate, who also deeply respected Confucius and was troubled by the imperial decree, readily agreed when Zhu Xun offered to enshrine the statue at home.

The very next dawn, Zhu Xun had an oxcart prepared and hurried into town to fetch the statue. His home was over forty li from the county, and the oxcart moved slowly — they didn’t arrive at Yanjia Gang until dusk. Eager to get home before dark, he was astonished when the cart suddenly stopped dead at the top of the ridge. The ox strained with all its might but couldn’t move it an inch. Zhu Xun quickly burned incense and prayed, but the wheels just spun in place without advancing. Then he noticed that the statue on the cart was facing due north-south, a serene smile upon its face. Zhu Xun thought: Aha, Confucius once traveled through this region on his way from Shandong to the regions of Wu and Chu, spreading his teachings — he even lectured at Xuecheng (today’s Baji Township) southeast of here. Moreover, Yanjia Gang features Lingdun, Qiaodun, Chengdun, Wudun, Daqingdun, Fenghuangdun, Huangnidun… large, medium, and small, totaling five, known as the “Five Stars in Alignment” and “Sun and Moon in Conjunction,” surrounded by 49 smaller mounds, like stars encircling the moon. Perhaps Confucius had taken a liking to this auspicious land. Very well, let’s build the Confucius Temple right here.

Zhu Xun went home, hired masons, carpenters, and clay workers, and constructed a Confucius Temple right among the mounds of Yanjia Gang. Once it was completed, he brought the gilded statue of Confucius into the main hall and had it refurbished with fresh gold leaf. This is what sets Suyang’s Confucius Temple apart from others. (Source: People’s Government of Suyang County, Jiangsu Province)

Location of the Attraction

County Road 107