Guizhou tour 4
Anshun Confucian Temple
Before going to check the information, it is said that there is a famous Confucian Temple in Anshun. Find a time to go and have a look. The driver in Guizhou didn't know the way, so he asked a motorcyclist, and he asked for 3 yuan before he would take us there. The road was not far, but it was hard to find, so I let him lead the way. Turned a few corners and came to the Confucian Temple. There are very few people who come to visit, and the ticket is 5 yuan. It is said that it will rise to 20 yuan when it is repaired.
Anshun Confucian Temple, also known as "Fuxue Palace", is located in Hongxueba in the northeast of Anshun City, covering an area of about 8,000 square meters. It is a large-scale, rigorous layout, solemn and elegant stone ancient building complex. The Confucian Temple was built in the early years of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (about 1368 A.D.), with a history of more than 600 years. It was once destroyed by Bingxian, but after it was added and repaired, it became complete. There are 22 existing buildings. There are countless Confucian temples across the country, but few are built with stones like this.
There is a square in front of the Confucian Temple, which is the so-called Hon (the word is read in red, the ancient name for the school) Xueba, where the sedan chairs and horses were parked. You can imagine the lively scene when people came here to offer sacrifices to Confucius. It is currently undergoing repairs. Outside the gate is probably the Xiuhua Square, and the antique buildings have begun to see their scale.
When you look up, you will see a screen wall in front of you, which is shaped like a huge door screen. The white gateposts, black tiles and eaves are magnificent, and this is the gate of the Confucian Temple. Stepping into the courtyard paved with bluestones, you can see that weeds are overgrown in the cracks between the bricks, and the bluestones are old-fashioned, which is a good place for nostalgia. There are two hanging flower gates at the entrance of the Confucian Temple, namely "Li Gate" and "Yi Road". Between "Limen" and "Yilu", you can see a white open-carved stone man and stone flower wall, which is called "Palace Wall". The panes are hollowed out with different stone patterns, the banner on the second floor is engraved with the four characters "Palace Wall Counting Ren", and the third floor is carved with Buddha statues and other figures. This wall alone is exquisite.
At the foot of the left side of the palace wall, there is a strip-shaped stone tablet, which is engraved with "civil and military officials, soldiers and civilians, etc. get off the sedan chair and horse here", which is called the "dismounting horse tablet". I studied in Beijing's "No. 3 Women's Middle School" in the Emperor's Temple of Baita Temple. I remember that there was also a huge dismounting tablet that read "Officials wait here to dismount." During the Cultural Revolution, I saw with my own eyes the Red Guards tearing it apart and destroying it, calling it a revolutionary act to destroy the Four Olds. When I look at it now, the stele is still there, but there is a seam in the middle. Too many cultural relics in China have been destroyed. Emperor Temples enshrine all emperors, so they naturally receive this kind of courtesy, and the Confucian Temple also has such rules, which shows the reverence for saints. China's imperial examination system has a long history. Many people hope to take the high school entrance examination, not only to honor their ancestors, but also for fame and fortune. In ancient times, one could gain "fame" and enter the class of scholar-bureaucrats in order to obtain a scholar. He had the privileges of being exempted from corvee, not kneeling when he met the magistrate, and not being able to use torture casually. Scholars are divided into three classes, and those with the best grades are called "innate students", and the government will distribute food on a monthly basis. Therefore, many people have spent ten years in a cold window just to obtain such status and privileges. Although the imperial examination system has selected many talents for the country, there are also many disadvantages. For the sake of official career, people spare no effort, so there will be disadvantages such as substituting exams, cheating, and bribing examiners. It is precisely because of the special status of official officials that many people have respect for Confucius and Mencius. And isn’t today’s college entrance examination a copy of the imperial examination system? Therefore, there are Confucian temples everywhere in our country, but the Confucian temple in Anshun is indeed very distinctive, especially the hollowed-out stone carvings are more exquisite and worth seeing.
There are four entrances to the Confucian Temple. The first entrance is divided into upper and lower houses. Except for the fourth entrance, which no longer exists, the other three entrances are basically intact. Since it is built on the slope, the four-entry buildings also rise accordingly. Entering the main entrance of the Confucian Temple, you enter the first courtyard, where there is a half-moon-shaped pool called Panchi (the pool in front of the school was called Panchi in the past). A small three-hole stone arch bridge spans across the pool, and each bridge hole is embedded with a stone dragon head or lion head, each overlooking the water. In ancient times, all scholars had to swim around bridges and ponds, which was called "You Pan", so the word "You Pan" became a synonym for scholar. Of course we also have to cross this stone bridge and travel around Panchi. The scholar is only a graduate of elementary school, so our education is naturally higher. It's really fun to be on a tour.
After crossing the Panchi Bridge, you will see a huge carved stone archway standing on a high stone foundation. Below the pillars of the archway is Xumizuo, before and after the pillars are drum-holding stones, and on the top of the pillars there is a hopeful lion. This is the "Lingxing Gate". There are two dragons playing with beads engraved on the square, and many stories of characters are engraved on the square railings, all of which encourage people to study and make progress. In this courtyard, on the left is the Temple of Filial Piety, and on the right is the building of the Temple of Fame. At the east and west ends of the second courtyard, a single-room pavilion with double eaves is built, and on the left is the "Guixiang Pavilion". , is the place where the list of officials offering sacrifices to Confucius is announced. On the right is "Zunjing Pavilion", which is used to collect Confucian classics. Along the nine-level stone steps, there is a mountain-top-style building with a width of five rooms, named "Dacheng Gate", also known as "Halberd Gate". After entering the gate, you will walk into the most sacred place. This is also the third-floor courtyard, which is a courtyard surrounded by the main hall (Dacheng Hall), two verandahs and Dacheng Gate.
After entering the door, the first thing you see is the two-meter-high Tianzitai. When you look carefully, you can see that the white marble railings are hollowed out and carved, and a golden osmanthus tree is waiting to be opened, bringing a little life to the slightly desolate hall. The Dacheng Hall is a stone-wood structure hall with a width of 20 meters and a length of five intermittent hilltops. The tablets of Confucius and his twelve disciples are enshrined in the hall. The front porch of Dacheng Hall is a row of carved French doors and windows, which are very exquisite. The most conspicuous ones are the two eaves pillars in front of the hall, which are large pillars carved out of two huge stones. The base of the pillars is a stone lion. The height of the pillars is nearly five meters, and the diameter is about 80 centimeters. Dragon scales, dragon heads, and dragon claws are all hollowed out, delicate and exquisite. From a distance, two stone dragons dance around and dance, as if descending from the sky, surrounded by auspicious clouds, and the dragon body appears and disappears from time to time. The dragon heads on the two pillars echo each other and are lifelike. . Its engineering is evident. It is said that "the pair of openworked dragon pillars in front of the Dacheng Hall are still the treasure of the town. It is said that the stonemason who chiseled this pillar was paid according to the weight of the chiseled stone chips and powder, one tael of stone chips and one tael of silver." The stone lions at the base of the pillar are male and female, the male is stepping on a hydrangea ball, and the female is breastfeeding a cub with a copper bell in her mouth. The two lions bear ten thousand weights on their backs, with their heads raised and roaring, their image is extremely fierce. There are two other stone dragon pillars outside Dacheng Gate, which are also lion heads facing each other. The dragon's body is leaping, with extraordinary momentum. But it doesn't seem to be as refined inside. These four Panlong stone pillars are known as the "Four Stone Carving Treasures of the Confucian Temple". There is a door on the left and right at the eaves wall in front of the Dacheng Hall, and the fourth entrance enters through it. The original "Chongsheng Temple" in the courtyard has been destroyed.
This stone Confucian Temple is an ancient building complex in Ming Dynasty style that is well maintained. It is the perfect combination of Guizhou stone culture and Central Plains culture. Although it is not very big, it embodies people's respect for Confucianism in various historical periods. So when you come to Anshun, the Confucian Temple is still worth seeing.
