Xingcheng Confucius Temple: A Historic Gem in the Ancient City

Xingcheng Confucius Temple is located in the southeast corner of Xingcheng Ancient City, sharing the same age with the city itself, and is also known as the Confucius Temple. It is divided into three courtyards, with high walls surrounding the temple. On the south ends of the east and west walls, there are respectively side doors, named Xi Cui Gate to the east and Guan De Gate to the west. In the center of the south wall, there is a screen wall standing in conjunction with the wall. Each corner of the east and west sides has a dismounting stele.
Upon entering through the corner door, one arrives at the first courtyard of the Confucius Temple, which is square in shape. There is a screen wall to the south and a Lingxing Gate to the north, which is a three-story, multi-eave wooden archway with four pillars and three intervals. The three large characters ‘Lingxing Gate’ on the middle architrave, with blue background and gold characters, are powerful and vigorous, making the characteristics of the Confucius Temple stand out prominently.


On both sides of the Lingxing Gate, there are peculiar round moon gates, with a pavilion on each side, each originally holding three steles. After passing through the Lingxing Gate, one enters the second courtyard. In the center of the courtyard, there is a Zhongyuan Bridge, with an arch-shaped bridge hole, arched over the pool water. The bridge has white marble railings on both sides, with exquisite shapes and fine craftsmanship, attracting visitors.


Slightly north of the bridge, there was originally an independent flower wall crossing the courtyard, with three rooms each facing north in both courtyards, the east being the Hometown Sage Temple and the west being the Eminent Official Temple. Behind the bridge, in the center of the courtyard, there is a halberd gate standing on a high platform. At the south end of the courtyard, there are east and west wing rooms, which are the changing room and the sacrificial utensil storage, respectively. The temple is open all year round from 08:00 to 16:00.



Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *