Yong’an Confucius Temple

Yong’an Confucius Temple

Yong’an Confucius Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Yong’an Confucius Temple was first built in the sixth year of the Jingtai era of the Ming Dynasty (1455). For over four hundred years before the Qing Dynasty, it served as a sacred hall for worshipping Confucius and was the only official Confucian school in the county. In the early years of the Republic of China, the first modern public education school in Yong’an County was established here. During the War of Resistance against Japan, the provincial government office and the Provincial Yong’an Normal School were successively located here. From the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the early 1970s, the Confucius Temple served as the seat of the Yong’an Special District and the People’s Government of Yong’an County.

According to the Yong’an County Annals, after its construction, the Confucius Temple underwent seven recorded renovations between the eighth year of the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty (1472) and the fifty-eighth year of the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty (1719). With a history of 550 years, Yong’an Confucius Temple (the Dacheng Hall), having endured the trials of time, remains standing today as the only Ming Dynasty structure in the urban area of our city that has witnessed the entire historical development of Yong’an.

To fulfill the wishes of the people of Yong’an, in 2004, the Yong’an Municipal

The renovated Yong'an Confucius Temple has restored the statue of Confucius in the Dacheng Hall, along with the statues of the Four Disciples and Twelve Philosophers. It has also reinstated six plaques, including the imperial calligraphy of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, inscribed with "Model Teacher for All Ages," which had been lost for nearly 300 years, as well as three pairs of couplets written by Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong. The site is now equipped with ceremonial and musical instruments for Confucius worship, such as bronze ritual cauldrons, bronze bells, and stone chimes.

Confucius (551–479 BC), whose given name was Qiu and courtesy name Zhongni, was a native of Zouyi (present-day southeastern Qufu, Shandong Province) in the State of Lu. He was a philosopher, 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. His impact extends globally, particularly across Southeast Asian countries, making him one of the world’s cultural icons.

Confucius’s ancestors were of noble lineage, tracing back to Weizi Qi, the half-brother of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. Weizi Qi upheld the rites of the Shang and was enfeoffed in the State of Song. His sixth-generation descendant, Kong Fu Jia, was the first to adopt the surname Kong. His fifth-generation ancestor, Mukin Fu, fled to the State of Lu to escape turmoil and later settled in Zou... More details about Confucius ++