Confucius Temple of Datong

Confucius Temple of Datong

The Confucius Temple of Datong is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Shanxi Province.

Confucius Temple (Third Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Ming and Qing

Address: Southeast corner of central Datong

According to the Datong Prefecture Records: “The former educational institute was located east of the prefectural office — that is, the middle school of the Yuan-Wei era, the national academy of the Liao Dynasty’s Western Capital, the Imperial College of the Jin Dynasty, and the Datong County School of the Yuan Dynasty. In the eighth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1375 AD), it was established as the prefectural school. In the twenty-ninth year (1396 AD), the prefectural school was designated as the educational institute of the fiefdom, and the Yunzhong Post Station was converted into the prefectural school — which is the current school.” The so-called prefectural school here refers to today’s Confucius Temple.

The Confucius Temple was originally a large architectural complex, but most of it has now collapsed. Only the Dacheng Hall, the passageway hall, the east side hall, and the west side hall remain.

The Dacheng Hall is the main structure of the Confucius Temple. Facing south and situated on a raised platform, it was built during the Ming Dynasty. The building is shaped like a “convex” character, with five bays in width and three in depth. It features a single-eave hip-and-gable roof supported by bracket sets, and has multiple layers of upturned eaves. The carvings on the brackets are intricate, and the painted decorations are rich and colorful.

The stone platform in front of the hall is encircled by a stone railing, with Xuanwu rock carvings embedded in the middle sections. The carvings depict various ancient Chinese myths, legends, and historical allusions. The tops of the railing pillars are adorned with round sculptures of lions in diverse and lively poses.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Protected Sites