Anshun Confucian Temple |
The Confucian Temple has four terraces. Except for the fourth terrace, the other three terraces are well preserved. And every terrace is gradually become higher and higher for they are built according to the slope. The first terrace can be divided into the upper and the lower courtyard. There is a half-moon shaped pond called Panchi Pond (pàn chí 泮池). Upon the pond, there bestride an arched stone bridge with three holes. Above every holes, there inlaid the carved dragon head or lion head, overlooking the surface of the water. In old times, people who had pass the provincial civil service examination should go through the bridge, and this is called Youpan (yóu pàn 游泮). Going through the bridge, there is a stone archway called Lingxing Gate (棂星门). On both sides of which there are the Jiexiao Hall (jiē xiào cí 节孝祠) and Minghuan Hall (míng huàn cí 名宦祠). On the east and west ends of the second terrace, there built two pavilions, namely, Guixiang Pavilion (guì xiāng gé 桂香阁) and Zunjing Pavilion (zūn jīng gé 尊经阁). It was used for putting up the list of the officials who would attend the sacrifice of Confucius. At present, only the Guixiang Pavilion is preserved. Stepping up the nine stone stairs, you are entering the third terrace. There is an architecture with suspension roof, called Dacheng Hall (dà chéng diàn 大成殿). In front of the hall, there is a pair of pillars which is 3 meters high and two people can just get their arms around. The pillars are carved by a whole piece of stone. And there are the engravings of a dragon entwining around the stone pillar. On the foot of each pillar, there is a carved lion carrying the dragon on its back. Anshun Confucian Temple
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