Zhangpu Confucius Temple

Zhangpu Confucius Temple

Zhangpu Confucius Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Zhangpu Confucius Temple (Confucius Temple) is located in Zhangpu County. Originally built in 1198 during the Southern Song Dynasty’s Qingyuan era, it was reconstructed in 1369 during the early Ming Dynasty under the Hongwu reign. Today, only the Dacheng Hall remains. The hall features a width of three bays and a depth of five bays, with a double-eaved hip-and-gable roof and a dougong-bracketed post-and-lintel structure. Inside the Dacheng Hall, there are five stone stelae from the Ming and Qing dynasties. During maintenance in 1964, the wooden pillars were replaced with stone ones, but the overall structure largely retains its original appearance.

Zhangpu Confucius Temple is one of the historic sites of the 1937 “Zhangpu Incident.”

Starting in February 1937, the Min-Yue Border Special Committee and the Red Army of the Min-Yue Border Region, for the sake of national survival and the greater good of the nation, voluntarily proposed to the Nationalist authorities to cease the civil war and cooperate in resisting Japan. On June 26, a political agreement was reached, and the Red Army of the Min-Yue Border Region was reorganized as the “Independent Security Battalion.” On July 13, 1937, the anti-Japanese Red Army of the Min-Yue Border Region descended from the mountains to accept reorganization and was stationed at the Confucius Temple (i.e., the Confucius Temple) in Zhangpu County. On July 16, the 157th Division of the Nationalist Army betrayed their promise and ambushed a large force at the sports field. Under the guise of military drills, they forcibly disarmed nearly a thousand Red Army soldiers who had gathered there. The site was later used as a detention facility. That night, over a hundred Red Army soldiers managed to escape and, with the support of the Zhangpu County Committee, regrouped at Qingquan Rock to rebuild the anti-Japanese armed forces of the Red Army. The Third Regiment was re-established, with Lu Sheng as its commander. This event became known as the “Zhangpu Incident.” With the attention of Comrade Mao Zedong and the efforts of the Party Central Committee, the “Zhangpu Incident” was eventually resolved amicably, paving the way for the formation of the anti-Japanese national united front in southern Fujian. The re-established Third Regiment was incorporated into the New Fourth Army and set off for the front lines in January 1938. The former site where the anti-Japanese Red Army of the Min-Yue Border Region was detained—the Zhangpu Confucius Temple in Suian Town—was originally quite large but gradually fell into disrepair after the Xinhai Revolution. In August 1979, the Zhangpu County People’s Government designated the Zhangpu Confucius Temple as a county-level cultural relics protection unit, and in May 2006, it was proclaimed a national-level cultural relics protection unit by the State Council.

------ Source: Zhangpu County Party History Research Office