Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple

Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple

Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

Situated in Miaqiaolong, Nanxin Street, Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple was constructed in the 60th year of the Qianlong reign (1795) to commemorate Zhou Yuanli, Minister of Works. Zhou Yuanli served the nation diligently and with integrity throughout his life. Following his death, Emperor Qianlong was deeply grieved and personally composed the “Imperial Eulogy Text.”

The main hall of Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple, which faces south, is stately and imposing, featuring exquisite wood carvings on its brackets, beams, column capitals, and hanging flower baskets. The massive wooden pillars rest on blue stone bases shaped like inverted lotuses, exuding an ancient charm. In front of its main entrance stands an elegant podocarpus tree, over 230 years old, still gracefully branching and leafy, regarded as an auspicious sign that locals delight in recounting as a marvel.

Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple consists of six courtyards in total. The first three are dedicated to commemorating Zhou Yuanli; the fourth courtyard was used by the Zhou family to honor their ancestors; the fifth and sixth courtyards were spaces for the public Confucius worship ceremonies during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republican era. Serving as a unified site for all three types of commemorations, Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple is relatively rare in the Jiangnan region.

When visiting Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple, you can see that the main hall remains largely intact, with placards such as “Avoidance” and “Silence” placed within the building. Originally, there were three more courtyards to the north of the main hall, but now only the last one remains. It has been restored to reflect the historical appearance of the Zhou family’s Confucius worship and private school during their heyday. A portrait of Zhou Dunyi, the founding ancestor of the Zhou family and a great master of Neo-Confucianism from the Song Dynasty, is hung in the private school. Zhou Dunyi is considered the founder of Neo-Confucianism in China, and the Zhou Yuanli family revered him as their progenitor, promoting his legacy to bring honor to future generations of the Zhou clan.

In the center of the hexagonal pavilion at the southern gate of Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple lies an imperial stele—this is the commemorative edict personally bestowed by Emperor Qianlong for Zhou Yuanli. This imperial stele has endured quite a bit of turmoil; during the Cultural Revolution, it was damaged, the turtle pedestal’s head was smashed, the body of the stele broke, and the top section went missing.

Eventually, during the restoration of the historic site, the stele’s top was unearthed beneath the cement in the southeast corner between the first and second courtyards. Today, the imperial edict stele has been pieced together from two broken sections. The inscriptions on the back have been worn smooth, but most of the text of the eulogy on the front can still be clearly read.

In 2019, Zhougongfu Ancestral Temple was included in the eighth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units