Confucius Temple in Qixian County

Confucius Temple in Qixian County

The Confucius Temple in Qixian County is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Confucius Temple is located in the compound of the Imperial College (Huangxue), north of County Government Front Street, and is an important part of the college. Originally constructed in the third year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1370), it was renovated multiple times during the Yongle, Chenghua, Hongzhi, Jiajing, and Wanli periods. The front hall is the Dacheng Hall (originally called the Dasheng Hall, renamed by Magistrate Ma Yinglong in the 23rd year of the Wanli reign), serving as the main building of the temple. Its base platform measures 23.3 meters from east to west and 17.3 meters from north to south. The hall stands 13.4 meters high, with a width of five bays (21 meters) and a depth of four rafters (14.56 meters), covering a construction area of 305.76 square meters, and a total covered area including the outer eaves of 444 square meters.

The entire hall is built with wooden stacked frames, featuring nine ridges and four slopes. The roof is broad with gently sloping surfaces, adorned with glazed dragon ridge ornaments. A spired pagoda crowns the top, while the hip-and-gable roof extends with cantilevered corners, its eaves featuring seven tiers of stacked, double-curved and double-layered angles. The eaves are intricately carved with three-dimensional cloud-and-dragon designs, with 98 large and small dragon heads and 160 cloud motifs on the front, showcasing exquisite craftsmanship and bold lines. Beneath the eaves, five parallel wooden bas-reliefs are aligned side by side, depicting figures, birds and beasts, flowers and plants, as well as insects and fish, all lifelike. In the center of the main bay’s eaves hangs a vertical wooden plaque inscribed with “Dacheng Hall.” The interior is decorated with imperial-style carved beams entwined with dragons, nine purlins and eight crossbeams painted with cloud and dragon motifs, a floor paved with square bricks, and a caisson ceiling. Twenty-six red-painted pillars densely surround the beams below.

Toward the back of the central bay is a vermilion-lacquered wooden shrine housing the gilded, dragon-embossed spirit tablet inscribed “Supreme Sage and Exemplary Teacher Confucius.” Flanking it are two smaller shrines on each side. Above the central shrine door hangs a horizontal plaque reading “Model Teacher for Ten Thousand Generations,” copied from the handwriting of Song Dynasty scholar Zhu Xi. Higher up is another large plaque inscribed “Harmony and Nurture.” In front of the shrine is an offering table with candlesticks on either side and a central incense burner. The front of the hall features a terrace, measuring 13.32 meters from east to west and 11.78 meters from north to south, with a height of 1.2 meters, where an ancient locust tree and a verdant cypress are planted. On both sides of the hall are five-bay east and west side halls, used to store ritual vessels, ceremonial objects, and wooden plaques of Confucian scholars throughout history. To the south are two east and west stele corridors, each with two bays.

The Confucius Worship Ceremony was traditionally held on the first Ding day of the second and eighth lunar months. The ceremony began at midnight, with candles illuminating the scene like daylight, incense smoke lingering in the air, and the harmonious sounds of suona horns, bells, and chimes. In the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), when Feng Yuxiang governed Henan, temples were demolished and statues destroyed, and all spirit tablets in the temple were burned. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the site underwent repairs and was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit in 1959.

During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, the roof ridge ornaments, decorative horses, and eave decorations of the hall were destroyed, and the east and west side halls were damaged. The existing structures of the Confucius Temple include the five-bay Dacheng Hall, the surrounding east and west side hall courtyard, ancient cypresses, and locust trees. The Dacheng Hall has been repurposed as an exhibition room for the county cultural center, displaying cultural relics and calligraphy. Additionally, as the rear courtyard of the temple once housed the Minglun Hall, the former site of Qixian County’s private Datong Middle School, the site was designated as a key cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province in 1985.

- Travel Tips:

Admission: Free

Opening Hours: All day

Address: Huangxue Compound, North Side of County Government Front Street, Qixian County, Kaifeng

Confucius (551–479 BCE), whose given name was Qiu and courtesy name Zhongni, was a native of Zouyi (present-day southeastern Qufu, Shandong), Changping District, 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. His impact extends globally, especially across Southeast Asia, making him a renowned cultural figure worldwide.

Confucius’s ancestors were the younger half-brother of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty, Weizi Qi, who upheld 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, Shu Liangfu, fled to the State of Lu to escape turmoil and eventually settled in Zou, Lu... More detailed information about Confucius ++