★ Tourist location: Confucius Temple in Changshu Confucian Temple, Suzhou

When I walked to the Confucian Temple, I thought that I was empty today because the main entrance was not open. Unwilling to give up, he walked forward again and realized that someone had opened a side door. That's right, we are not big shots, and the main entrance is generally closed.

The Confucian Temple is roughly built in accordance with the one in Qufu. There are several high-ranking Confucian temples in the country, but Changshu Confucian Temple is not among them. However, since it is not far away, I naturally have to come and take a look.

Changshu Confucian Temple is located on Xuejiao Street in Ancient City, with convenient transportation. It was built during the Northern Song Dynasty. Xueqian Street is also an ancient street. It has always been a street closely related to cultural context. It is located on the north bank of Qinchuan First String.

The main building is naturally on the central axis. The Confucian Temple is a place where Confucius is sacrificed, so the central axis is the real Confucian Temple. The east road is the Yanzi Temple, and the west road is the Yi School. So we abandoned the east and west roads and chose to start our tour from the central axis.

The gate is a Lingxing Gate, which is in the shape of the "Wuzi Gate" in the "Creation Style" of the Song Dynasty. Two wooden doors are sandwiched between two towering stone pillars. The three doors stand side by side. China is connected to the red palace wall. The so-called "lattice star" refers to the spiritual star, also known as the Tiantian star. It is a metaphor for Confucius being a star descending from the sky to carry out enlightenment in the world. Generally speaking, the Lingxing Gate is placed in front of the Confucian Temple, indicating that Confucius is honored with the highest etiquette of worshipping heaven. This door is very grand, but it looks very new. It is obvious that it was rebuilt later.

Entering the temple gate, the threshold looked quite high. After all, it is a sacred place for scholars. Since Dong Zhongshu, successive rulers have respected Confucianism, so the status of Confucian temples in various places is quite high. There is a bronze statue of Confucius in the courtyard. It is pure black and there is a bronze tripod in front of it, which is used by people to worship Confucius. In fact, some people are indeed burning incense and praying.

The east and west rooms are the Jinshi Hall and the Scholar Hall of the Changshu Science and Culture Exhibition. Of course, we chose to visit the Jinshi Hall first. After all, the gold content of scholars is much lower.

We expected that the number of scholars 'halls would be considerable, but we didn't expect that there were so many scholars in Changshu! Thinking that there were eight top scorers in Changshu's history alone, I was relieved. Changshu, a country with outstanding talents and earth, really produced many people during the imperial examination era. There were many officials and prime ministers, who were first-class officials in the court. In the light of the top scorer, Jinshi does not seem to be so popular anymore. The entire museum has a red background and looks very cheerful and eye-catching.

Relatively speaking, the Scholar Juren Hall seems much simpler. In terms of number, there are much more scholars and scholars. After all, you have to be a scholar before you can go for the examination. Only with the identity of a Juren can you pass the Jinshi. There are also some ancient papers on display in the window. Those who can win a scholar have good handwriting.

Dacheng Gate is three rooms wide and has a hard mountain top. The eaves are 4.45 meters high, the face width is 15.3 meters, the depth is 6.8 meters, and the building area is 200 square meters. The most distinctive thing is the beam frame at the top, and the front and rear two-step beams in the middle, shaped like the moon. It is said that this Dacheng Gate is a provincial cultural protection unit. The beams and frames are repaired using wooden components left over from ancient times. The earliest ones are Dougong from the Song Dynasty, and the Liang Fang are from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Walking through the Dacheng Gate, you will find a wide patio, followed by the Dacheng Hall. On the east and west corridors, you will find the Changshu Imperial Examination Cultural Exhibition No. 1 Hall and the Bancongyan Tanhua Chuanlu Hall.

Jiangnan has always been literary and elegant, but among the eight top scorers, there is actually a top scorer in martial arts. He is Zhou Hu, the hero of the Southern Song Dynasty who fought against the Jin Dynasty. The first champion was Lu Qi, who was named on the gold list in the fifth year of Kaicheng of Tang Dynasty. The other six champions were all from the Qing Dynasty. They were Sun Chengen from the 15th year of Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty. He was also the first champion in the Qing Dynasty in Suzhou Prefecture. Gui Yunsu, Wang Yi, and Wang Yingquan during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Weng Tonghe, the imperial teacher of the two dynasties during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, and Weng Zengyuan during the Tongzhi period.

Because there is the top pick who is the top pick, the second, third and fourth places behind him seem to be eclipsed. Although it is very remarkable to be able to finish in the top four in the country.

In addition to the introduction of characters, there are also some instruments in these halls, such as stele inscriptions, porcelain, etc., which also give us a general understanding of the ancient imperial examination system.

Dacheng Hall is the main building of the Confucian Temple and is used to worship and sacrifice Confucius. The most grand ceremony to worship Confucius was held here. The main hall is very majestic, with a width of 25.8 meters and a depth of 20.4 meters. It has double eaves and a ridge height of 19.3 meters.

The most eye-catching ones are the nine dragon-patterned plaques hanging on the beams. These plaques were personally inscribed by nine emperors from Kangxi to Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty. On the gold pillars and pillars in front of the palace, there are also dragon-patterned couplets, written by Yongzheng and Qianlong respectively.

The two gold pillars in the middle are made of camphor wood, 14.3 meters high and 0.9 meters in diameter. It is said that it took half a month to chop such a thick gold pillar with an axe. The entire hall looks very majestic and magnificent, and these two pillars are also indispensable.

The octagonal golden caisson mounted on the girders also makes the entire hall look magnificent. The top is a gold-covered lotus flower, making the overall appearance very complex. So this is how the so-called idiom "intrigue" came from! It is said that the caisson is made of imported teak, which can be regarded as meticulous work.

There was no statue of Confucius in the hall, but instead a tall portrait of Confucius was used. This portrait is created based on Wu Daozi's "Portrait of Confucius in the Tang Dynasty. It is 5.8 meters high and 3.8 meters wide. It was created by Hu Ningna, a national first-class artist and deputy director of the Academy of Traditional Chinese Painting of Jiangsu Province. It can be called the treasure of the Confucian Temple.

Surrounded by four portraits of Confucius sages and Confucian representatives are twelve philosophers. These portraits are made using Yangzhou lacquer painting technology. On the back and on the front wall, there are also ten hand-carved "Confucius Sacred Sites", introducing the main achievements of Confucius 'life. On the back of the portrait of Sixiu, there are also four classic excerpts from the Analects of Confucius.

The bronze chimes, chimes, sacrificial vessels, musical instruments, etc. arranged in the center of the hall are customized to the original utensils of the Confucian Temple in Qufu. The mahogany supply table uses Changshu traditional mahogany carving technology.

Poetry to remember:

The cloudy rain hangs and the red sun hides, and the screen windows are dim and the spring cold.

Hundreds of people are drunk in the sky, and the words are spread in Yucheng.