Taiyuan Confucius Temple

Taiyuan Confucius Temple

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

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

Era: Ming and Qing Dynasties

Address: No. 3 Wenmiao Lane, Yingze District, Taiyuan City

The Confucius Temple in Taiyuan Prefecture was originally situated in the western part of the city around Xianqian Street (now the western section of Fuxi Street). Although it was impressively large, it could not compare to the current temple in scale. In the seventh year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1881), after the Fen River flooded and destroyed the original temple, Shanxi Governor Zhang Zhidong initiated a major reconstruction on the ruins of the former Chongshan Temple (the current site of the Confucius Temple). It was at this time that Wenmiao Lane got its name. The newly built Confucius Temple covers an area of more than 13,000 square meters and consists of three courtyards with pavilions, halls, gates, side rooms, and shrines. Making use of some remaining structures from the former Chongshan Temple that had not been completely destroyed, the new temple is more magnificent, solemn, graceful, and elegant than the original.

Over time, the function of the Taiyuan Confucius Temple gradually evolved from worshiping Confucius. By 1920, it was repurposed as the “Shanxi Provincial Library and Museum.” After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in 1951, a large number of cultural relics that survived various upheavals were collected here, forming the early version of the “Shanxi Provincial Museum.” Today, it has grown into a large-scale museum housing over 90,000 cultural relics including pottery, bronzeware, sculptures, calligraphy, and paintings, with an exhibition area spanning more than 2,500 square meters.

According to preliminary assessments by experts, among the numerous relics in the collection, there are over 400 first-grade relics, over 600 second-grade relics, and more than 5,000 third-grade relics. Many of these artifacts are rare treasures that are among the last of their kind in China. These rich and valuable relics reflect, from various perspectives, the development of politics, economy, culture, science and technology, and art in the province across different historical periods. To make these relics relevant to modern times and serve contemporary needs, the main building of the Shanxi Provincial Museum has utilized the original structures of the Confucius Temple. Divided by historical periods, it has established three major exhibition halls: “Ancient History of Shanxi,” “Modern History of Shanxi,” and “Revolutionary History of Shanxi.” These galleries display various relics from primitive society, feudal society, to the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society of the province, revealing the long history and splendid culture of the Fen River basin.

In May 2013, the Taiyuan Confucius Temple was announced as part of the Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Shanxi Provincial-Level Protected Cultural Relics Sites

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units