the Triple-Confucian Sites

Qufu City 
 
　Qufu city in the southwest of Shandong province was the capital of the Lu State in the Spring-Autumn Period (770 B.C. – 476 B.C.) as well as the home town of Confucius , the founder of Confucianism , educationist and ideologist . Confucian Mansion , Confucian Temple and Confucian Grove in Qufu are known collectively as the “Triple Confucian Architectures”, a well known cultural relic in the world .

　Confucian Mansion has long been the residence of Confucius’ descendants (the eldest son and the eldest grandson of each generation) , known also as the Sage-Offspring Mansion . The Mansion occupies an area of 160,000 square meters , with 463 rooms and nine courts , which are arrayed on three routes : the east , west and middle routes . The middle route consists of the main architectures : the office , the residence and the garden . In the Confucian Mansion are stored over 9,000 dossiers from 1534 to 1948 and many historical cultural relics . In the mansion are stored also thousands of clothes , headdresses , footwear , robes of officials , tablets held by officials at court , etc ., which are valuable objects to researchers on the development of garments in China .

　Confucian Temple is the place for holding sacrificial rituals to worship Confucius . The temple was renovated and reconstructed by various emperors in all dynasties continually since the Western Han Dynasty . So , it has become a huge ancient architectural complex covering a total area of 2,218,000 sq.m. It is 1,120 m . long from north to south and has 9 courts . It has three routes : the left , middle and right routes , comprising altogether 466 rooms and halls . It is surrounded by a wall with turrets . There are plenty of old pines and cypresses . The main buildings on the middle route include Kuiwen Hall , Thirteen-Imperial Tablets Pavilion , Apricot Altar , dacheng Hall , Sleeping Hall , and Sacred Relic Hall , of which Dacheng Hall is the most famous . It is the main hall where sacrificial rituals worshipping Confucius are held .
Inside the Confucius Tempe are 17 Han Dynasty inscribed steles , the greatest in number of such steles at one spot . In the Exhibition Room of Han-Dynasty Calligraphy and Picture Stone Carvings are 100 pieces of such stone carvings . In the Jade Rainbow Hall are displayed 584 pieces of stone carvings of the handwriting of various calligraphists since the Jin and Tang Dynasties , a rare collection of calligraphic artworks in China .

　Confucian Grove , also called Supreme Sage Grove , lies 1.5 kilometers north of Qufu City , and is the exclusive cemetery of Confucius and his descendent . With a tract of 1,998,000 square meters , it is enclosed by a more than 7-kilometers long forest belt with over 20,000 towering old tress . It is an ancient wooded garden . In the depth of the woods are halls , arches , pavilions , steles and other stone sculptures , erected in various times . Beyond the Zhushui Bridge lies the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Cemetery with the tombs of Confucius , Kong Li and Kong Ji , the three generations of Confucius’ family . The tomb of Confucius is 6.20 meters high and 88-meters in perimeter . To the southeast of the tomb are three stop-over pavilions for Emperor Zheng of the Song Dynasty , and for Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty .