Temple of Confucius
Lingxing Gate
The temple complex（Chinese:孔庙） is the second largest historical building complex in China (after the Forbidden City). It covers an area of 16,000 square meters and has a total of 460 rooms. Because the last major redesign following the fire in 1499 took place shortly after the building of the Forbidden City during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the architecture of the Temple of Confucius resembles that of the Forbidden City in many ways.
A selta in the Temple of Confucius
The main part of the temple consists of 9 courtyards arranged on a central axis, which is oriented in the north-south direction and is 1.3 kilometers in length. The first three courtyards have small gates and are planted with tall pine trees, serving as an introductory function. The first (southernmost) gate is named Lingxing Gate (棂星门) after a star in the Great Bear constellation; the name suggests Confucius is a star from heaven. The buildings in the remaining courtyards form the heart of the complex. They are impressive structures with yellow roof-tiles (otherwise reserved for the emperor) and red-painted walls; they are surrounded by dark-green pine trees to create a color contrast with complementary colors. The main buildings are the Stela Pavilions (e.g., Jin and Yuan Dynasties, 1115–1368), the Kuiwen Hall (奎文阁) (built in 1018, restored in 1504 during the Ming Dynasty and in 1985), the Xing Tan Pavilion (杏坛), the Dacheng Hall (大成殿) (built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)), and the Hall of Confucius' Wife.
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