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Suzhou Confucian Temple

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Suzhou Confucian Temple

The Confucian Temple of Suzhou (Chinese: 苏州文庙) and also known as the Suzhou Stone Inscription Museum and Suzhou Prefecture School (Chinese: 苏州府学; a state-run school), is a Confucian temple located in the ancient city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, on the south bank of the Yangtze River. It was built by Fan Zhongyan, a famous state officer of the Song dynasty. It was the first temple school in China and is notable for containing the four greatest steles of the Song dynasty, of on which is the Map of Pingjiang. In 1961, the stone inscriptions in Suzhou Confucian Temple were listed among the first batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units by The State Council of the People's Republic of China. In 2001, together with the Confucian Temple, it was called Suzhou Confucian Temple and Stone inscription. Presently, it is known as new name as Suzhou Stone Inscription Museum.

Suzhou Confucian Temple is located in the central part of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. Built by the order of Fan Zhongyan, then the Prefect of Suzhou, it stands across from the street with Garden of Surging Wave Pavilion. In 1035, Fan Zhongyan was the Prefect of Suzhou. He combined the State School and the Confucian Temple, which began the State education. The system was imitated by other places, for which it got the saying "State education began from Wu County". Suzhou Temple School had been extended several times, so presently, it takes up a large area. According to the record of County Wu, it had 213 rooms during the Southern Song dynasty (in 1241). In its day, it had classrooms, dormitoroes, exam rooms and canteens, besides the hall and temple. Suzhou Temple School also had gardening architecture, for instance, rockery, pond, bridge and pavilion. Its scale is the biggest among schools in the southeast.

With the abolition of the imperial examination system, an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy, at the end of the Qing dynasty, the Confucian Temple was gradually abandoned.

At present, the temple only occupies 17,800 square metres, which is one sixth of the area when it was in the prime. However, the architectural layout remains, with the temple and the school. In the eastern temple area, only Ji Men, Dacheng Hall and Chongsheng Memorial Temple are left, and in the western school area, only Pan pond, Qixing pond and Minglun Hall are comparatively complete.

Except the Dacheng Hall and the Lingxing Men, most of the architectures we can see now were rebuilt in the Qing dynasty (1864).

Lingxing Men, built in 1373, Ming dynasty, is a huge limestone memorial archway with six columns, three doors and four door leaves.

Dacheng Hall, rebuilt in 1474, Ming dynasty, is 7 rooms wide, 13 purlins deep, Zhong Yan Dianding Veranda, and supported by 50 Nanmu columns.

Outside the hall are limestone platforms on which is a huge bronze statue of Confucius and inside the hall hangs a giant picture of Confucius, both of which are contemporary works.

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