Travel to Taiyuan, Shanxi, this Confucian Temple is worth a visit

✅️ I have to say that although Taiyuan is the capital of Shanxi Province, it is somewhat inferior in terms of tourism promotion and cityscape in the eyes of many. ✅️ However, for me, Taiyuan is ancient, a blend of old and new, and a treasure city full of national treasures and ancient relics. Perhaps many attractions here won't make you feel like they're internet-famous spots, but the original ecological atmosphere is something you won't see in many modern cities. ✅️ I have been to Taiyuan 5 times, visited Jinci Temple, Shanxi Museum, Chunyang Palace, and Yongzuo Temple, but I had always overlooked the Confucian Temple in the bustling downtown area until my trip to Taiyuan last month. 🚗 The Taiyuan Confucian Temple is easy to find by following the map navigation. It is located in front of Chongshan Temple, east of May Day Square, and just a ten-minute walk from Taiyuan Station. ✅️ Looking into the history of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple, we can learn that its predecessor was the Taiyuan Confucian Temple of Taiyuan Prefecture, built in the seventh year of Taiping Xingguo of the Northern Song Dynasty. According to the records of the "Taiyuan Prefecture Annals" of the Ming Wanli period and the "Yangqu County Annals" of the Qing Daoguang period, there were once two Confucian temples of the prefecture and county standing side by side in the west of Taiyuan County, with both temples having large scales. ✅️ The Taiyuan Prefecture Confucian Temple was built during the Jin Tianhui period, and the Taiyuan County Confucian Temple was built during the Jin Dading period. Both buildings were large in scale but were destroyed in the floods of the Fen River during the Qing Guangxu period. ✅️ The Taiyuan Confucian Temple we see today was rebuilt on the ruins of Chongshan Temple in the eighth year of Qing Guangxu under the initiative of Zhang Zhidong, the then governor of Shanxi. ✅️ In 1953, this place was still the location of the Shanxi Provincial Museum. Later, the Shanxi Museum moved to the west of the Fen River, and this place was turned into the Shanxi Provincial Folk Museum. ✅️ The existing Taiyuan Confucian Temple is not small in scale, mainly including the archway, screen wall, Lingxing Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, East and West Wing Rooms, and Chongsheng Shrine on the central axis, with the layout of four courtyards also including the east and west wings. ✅️ First, let's look at the archway. I think the archway of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple is quite special. It is not arranged in front and back with the Lingxing Gate but is separately on the side. It is a three-bay, four-pillar, three-story structure with the words "Confucian Temple" in gold on a blue background in the middle. The archway is decorated with gilded and painted double dragons playing with a pearl, which is rarely seen in similar Confucian temple archways in China, with only the archway of the Beijing Guozijian having similar patterns. ✅️ After entering from the ticket office, the first thing you see is the first courtyard. The southernmost side is the screen wall with blue bricks and blue tiles, also known as the "Ten Thousand Ren Palace Wall." The central part is carved with two dragons playing with a pearl in glazed tiles, and the four corners are decorated with cloud dragons. The peacock blue glazed tiles are very beautiful. ✅️ Directly opposite the screen wall is the Lingxing Gate, the main gate of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple. The Lingxing Gate is flanked by four glazed brick walls, with yellow, blue, and green glazed surfaces. ✅️ On the steps in front of the Lingxing Gate, there is a pair of bronze lions and iron lions. It can be seen that the bronze lions were cast earlier, preserved from the Ming Dynasty Jin Wangfu iron lions. ✅️ Passing through the Lingxing Gate, you enter the second courtyard, which has a crescent-shaped pool called the "Pan Pool." Behind the Pan Pool is the Dacheng Gate, the main north gate of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple, leading to the second gate of the Dacheng Hall courtyard. Mencius called Confucius "the great sage who achieved great success," hence the name Dacheng Gate. ✅️ Passing through the Dacheng Gate, you enter the Dacheng Hall courtyard, the central building of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty honored Confucius as "the great sage who achieved great success among ancient sages and worthies," hence renaming it Dacheng Hall. ✅️ The Dacheng Hall of the Taiyuan Confucian Temple is a single-eaved Xieshan roof building with seven bays in width and four bays in depth. The top features exquisite glazed components. Inside the hall, the most holy teacher Confucius and other Confucian sages are enshrined. ✅️ Besides the buildings, there is also a large number of outdoor cultural relics that can be viewed up close. These relics include statues from the Tang Dynasty and steles from various dynasties. ✅️ In addition to the outdoor cultural relics, there are three indoor exhibition halls. The "East and West" exhibition hall displays jade ritual vessels from the Linfen area; the "Temperature of Archaeology" exhibition hall features precious pottery figurines and bronzes; the "Seeing the Dragon in the Field" exhibition hall mainly displays dragon relics unearthed in Shanxi. ✅️ Although there are many highlights, even during the summer vacation, there are not many tourists here. Compared to the crowded Jinci Temple, this place has a more original ecological atmosphere.