Quzhou Confucius Temple

Quzhou Confucius Temple

The Quzhou Confucius Temple is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Quzhou Confucius Temple in Zhejiang is the site of the Southern Branch of the Kong Family. It is one of only two family temples of the Kong Clan in China.

This Confucius Temple in Quzhou, Zhejiang, was built over 800 years ago during the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, the Jin army launched a massive invasion into Central China, the capital Kaifeng fell, and Emperors Huizong and Qinzong were captured. The new emperor, Emperor Gaozong of Song, fled southward, and the 47th-generation descendant of Confucius, the Duke Yansheng, also escaped from his hometown in Shandong. He was taken under royal care and granted residence in Quzhou. The Duke Yansheng had originally hoped that the Zhao family emperors would win the war against the Jin and return north to the Central Plains, reclaiming their homeland. However, the Southern Song Dynasty chose to seek temporary peace and treated “Hangzhou as if it were Bianzhou (the old capital).” With no other choice, this humble ritual official sought assistance from the imperial court and local government to fund the construction of this family temple in Quzhou, modeled after the architectural style of the Qufu Confucius Temple.

On the morning of September 28, 2005, the Quzhou Municipal Government held a public worship ceremony at the Southern Branch of the Kong Family Temple. The participants were mainly newly appointed teachers, aiming to promote teacher ethics education and highlight the educational sector’s commemoration of Confucius. In addition, there were recitation competitions of The Analects among primary and secondary school students, as well as exhibitions of calligraphy competitions featuring selected verses from The Analects by elementary students.

Confucius (551–479 BC), whose given name was Qiu and courtesy name Zhongni, was a native of Zouyi (present-day southeastern Qufu, Shandong) in the State of Lu. He was a thinker, educator, and statesman in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the founder of Confucianism, and one of the most influential figures in Chinese history and culture. He also has had a significant impact worldwide, especially in Southeast Asian countries, and is recognized as one of the world’s cultural icons.

Confucius’s ancestors were the younger half-brother of King Zhou of Shang, Weizi Qi, who presided over the Shang ancestral rites and was enfeoffed in the State of Song. His sixth-generation ancestor, Kong Fu Jia, was the first to adopt the surname Kong. His fifth-generation ancestor, Kong Jiafu, fled to Lu for refuge and later settled in Zou, the State of Lu... More detailed information about Confucius ++