Nanjing Confucius Temple was built in the first year of Song Jingyiu (1034). It was expanded from Gong Xue in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and was restored and expanded in later generations. Since ancient times, Nanjing has been a place where talents and businessmen gather, and is known as the "hometown of beauty in the south of the Yangtze River".
The buildings of Confucius Temple are full of Ming and Qing colors. It takes Dacheng Hall as the center and forms a central axis from Zhaobi to the north and south of Weishan. The left and right buildings are symmetrically arranged, covering an area of about 26,300 square meters. Surrounded by high walls, there are gates and watchtowers. There are "Li Zhong" and "Shen Gu" in the Xili Pavilion and Yang Shengting Pavilion of Nanjing Confucius Temple.
Zhong is a unique cultural image of China, ranking first among the eight-tone musical instruments in ancient China. The bell of Nanjing Confucius Temple "Li Yunzhong" is rich and melodious, similar to the bell of Suzhou Hanshan Temple "Midnight Bell to Passenger Ship".
This "gift clock" was specially cast to commemorate the 2550th anniversary of Confucius' birth. The first half of the clock depicts the scene of Confucius traveling around the world, with the inscription in Confucius' gift in the middle and the auspicious pattern of Kirin in the second half. The word "Li Zhong" was inscribed by Kong Demao, the 77th granddaughter of Confucius.
In ancient times, there was a ritual system of "morning bell and evening drum", and the "holy drum" in Nanjing Confucius Temple was also cast to commemorate the 2550th anniversary of Confucius' birth, and it was made of bronze like the "ritual bell". The bronze drum was also an instrument for holding elegant music activities in the Spring and Autumn Period. The drums are vigorous and powerful.
In ancient times, the Confucius Temple in Gong Xue was a place for students and scholars to learn Confucian classics, a preparatory place for scientific research, and a place for students to study and live. Living here needs domestic water, and "Yutu Spring" is the only place for students to use water. Spring water gushes out, clear and transparent, and the water quality is excellent.
According to the Records of Zheng Zhi Jinling New Records, the origin of Yutu Spring is also related to Qin Gui, a great scholar in the Song Dynasty.
According to legend, when Qin Gui was studying in Confucius Temple, he saw a white rabbit drilling into the ground one night and sent someone to dig in the place where Jade Rabbit guided him. He just dug 1 ft and found a spring here, which is clear.
After Qin Gui was admitted to the top scholar, he sent someone to dig a well and wrote the seal script "Jade Rabbit Spring" by himself.
Liu Bowen, the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, was called the first person of "Li San" in the Ming Dynasty. "Li San" means "Li De, Jian Gong, Li Yan". Liu Bowen specially wrote the article "Yutu Spring", which recorded the story of Qin Gui's discovery and digging well at night and wrote an inscription for Yutu Spring:
When juniper dies like a maggot, spring is clean and free;
I write poems, and people are confused.
Alas! Ancient Oracle.
It means that Qin Gui is a traitor, but he can't slander and wronged the Jade Rabbit Spring itself. Yutu spring water is clear water and wisdom water. I want to write an inscription as evidence to inform the public.
Later, because Yutu Spring is clear and transparent, and its water quality is excellent, Gong Xue has trained and brought up a large number of literati. According to the saying that "the wise enjoy water and the benevolent enjoy Leshan", Yutu Spring was changed to "the fountain of wisdom", also known as "the fountain of wisdom".
The monument next to Yutu Spring, named "Raising Examination Fees for Youba", was erected in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, which recorded the process that Li Hongzhang, Zuo and others donated more than 10,000 taels of silver as bus funds for candidates from seven counties.
The architectural regulations of Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple in Nanjing also follow the ninth five-year building code specially approved by the ancient emperor. In the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Wang Wenxuan Temple", and in the Northern Song Dynasty (1 104), in order to celebrate the profoundness of Confucius' thought and integrate the achievements of ancient and modern times, Song Huizong issued a decree to change the name of the temple to "Dacheng Hall".
Dacheng Hall of Confucius Temple in Nanjing is a double-eaves, resting on the top of the mountain, with a small roof and blue tiles, which is light and easy-going. On the roof, the Shuanglong Opera carved pearls, which is known as "the first art dragon in the south of the Yangtze River". This architectural style is the first in China, with exquisite shape.
The three golden characters "Dacheng Hall" were inscribed by Yong Zhengdi in Qing Dynasty, and huge couplets were hung on the left and right sides of the hall:
Delete the six classics, and hang the constitution for generations;
Virtue, heaven and earth and Taoism run through ancient and modern times.
It brilliantly summarizes the life of Confucius. The whole building has double eaves and staggered arches, which is magnificent.
Dacheng Hall is five rooms wide from east to west and nine rooms wide from north to south. It is the main building of the Confucius Temple in Nanjing and a shrine dedicated to Confucius. In the center of the terrace in front of the temple is a bronze statue of Confucius, which is 4. 18 meters high and weighs 2.5 tons. This is the largest bronze statue of Confucius in China.
There are many legends about this bronze statue of Confucius. For example, touching Confucius' feet and clothes can make him a champion and have a successful career, so the feet of Confucius' bronze statue are polished.
There is also a huge portrait of Confucius in the center of the temple, 6.5 meters high and 3. 1 meter wide. It was painted by Wang Hongxi, a famous painter, referring to the portrait of Confucius painted by Wu Daozi, a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty. Wu Daozi was called the "First Master of Danqing". This is the largest portrait of Confucius in China.
Confucius in the painting, dressed in a cloth and with his hands folded up and down, seems to be listening with joy and wants to talk about what to write in detail.
On both sides of the portrait are couplets inscribed by Wei Tianchi, a famous calligrapher in modern times, and handwritten by Emperor Qianlong:
When the gas is prepared for four seasons, it is in harmony with heaven, earth, ghosts, the sun and the moon;
Teaching is eternal, follow Tang as a teacher.
The first couplet means that Confucius has the spirit of four seasons, which can be matched with heaven, earth, sun, moon and ghosts and gods to praise Confucius' virtue of the earth. The second couplet means that at the beginning of enlightenment, Confucius' literary faithfulness can be juxtaposed with Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen and Wu, and he is another master after saints.
In the middle of the temple, there is a sign of "Lord Confucius" for future generations to pay homage to. On both sides of Confucius' memorial tablet, there are "four sages", Yan Hui and Ceng Zi in the east, Kong Ji and Mencius in the west, all of which are statues carved out of white marble.
Yan Hui is the most proud disciple of Confucius, ranking first in virtue and the first among 72 sages. He put forward that "self-denial is benevolence." The thought of "self-denial, self-denial and benevolence in the world" is respected as "restoring holiness"
Zeng Shen 16 years old studied under Confucius. He was one of the main disseminators of Confucius' theory, the author of Four Books and Universities, and the main editor of The Analects of Confucius, and was later named a "saint".
Kong Ji, the grandson of Confucius, was the author of The Doctrine of the Mean, and he was later honored. Monk, that is, Mencius, put forward the theory of benevolence, advocated "convincing people with morality", and put forward the important idea of "helping those who gain the Tao more, and helping those who lose it less"
Later generations also called the Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius "the way of Confucius and Mencius" and later named it "Yasheng". At the same time, the classic story of "Three Major Movements in Meng Mu" is also a household name in China, which has been passed down through the ages.
Above the main hall, there are eight plaques inscribed by the Qing emperors, namely, Emperor Kangxi's "Being a teacher for all generations", Yong Zhengdi's "Living without the people", Emperor Qianlong's "Going to heaven", Emperor Jiaqing's "Mastering the Holy Spirit", Daoguang's "Living with the Holy Spirit in time", Emperor Xianfeng's "Moral Enlightenment" and Emperor Tongzhi's "Holy Spirit".
These plaques confirm the reverence and worship of Confucius by emperors of past dynasties. The plaque of "a model for all generations" was inscribed by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. The whole plaque is carved with dragons and plated with gold, which is very temperament. "Model for all generations" means that Confucius and his moral knowledge are our teachers and role models for future generations.
Ancient musical instruments, such as chime, chime, harp, etc. It was also placed in the sacrificial area.
Nanjing Confucius Temple's "Zunjing Pavilion" is a three-story ancient building with double eaves and a T-shaped ridge resting on the top of the mountain. It is tall and straight, dignified, exquisite and gorgeous. The plaque was inscribed by Xiao Xian, a woman in contemporary China book circle.
The name of Nanjing Confucius Temple Jingjing Pavilion means "Jingjing". There are books such as Thirteen Classics and Twenty-first History in the ancient lecture hall, which are used to teach Oracle Bone Inscriptions.
In ancient times, the collection of books has always been the spiritual sustenance of literati, and the library is the temple in the eyes of literati. Zunjing Pavilion was built in the middle of Ming Dynasty, and was destroyed by war in Xianfeng period. Later, during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan, the first-class righteous governor and the governor of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, successively expanded and rebuilt.
In the Qing dynasty, the "Zunjing Academy" was also opened in Zunjing Pavilion. Academy is a place where local gentry teach Confucianism, and it is also one of the ways to train talents in the imperial examination era. Zunjing Academy is one of the eight academies in ancient Nanjing, and it was famous for a while.
Wendeqiao was originally one of the twenty-four rows of Jinling in the Six Dynasties. It was built as a wooden bridge during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and was later converted into a stone bridge by Qian Hongye. The name of the bridge means "showing the world by virtue" in Confucianism.
After the restoration, it was converted into a white marble bridge fence and a blue stone bridge surface. Because Wende Bridge is located on the meridian, the moon approaches the meridian every November 15th of the lunar calendar, and the shadow of the bridge can divide the bright moon in the river into two halves.
At this time, people standing on the bridge can see that there are two "half moons" under the bridge, which is called "Wende divides the moon". Standing where there is no shadow is the wonder of "taking the lead in the moon". On this day, the bridge was crowded with people, and the moon watchers often broke the bridge railing in the water, so there was another two-part allegorical saying that the railing of Wende Bridge was unreliable.
Wuding Bridge, also known as Shangpontoon Bridge, was originally named "Jiarui Pontoon Bridge", opposite to Suzaku Bridge. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Wudingqiao, which means "Wen can prosper the country and can prosper the country". This name echoes Wende Bridge, which is often called the second bridge in Wu Wen.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing was a gathering place of folk culture in Nanjing. Nanjing's storytelling, cross talk, Yangju opera, Kunqu opera, guqin, etc. All settled here, and various mass cultural activities were very active, which made Nanjing Confucius Temple as famous as Beijing Tianqiao and Tianjin Quanyechang, and became one of the three cradles of China Quyi.