Qufu in China
Rating: 7,8/10 (411 votes)  Qufu – it is a small town in Shandong province. It became known all over the world because the great Chinese thinker Confucius was born and died here. AttractionsTemple of Confucius. The temple was originally a small building of three rooms, built in 478, a year after the death of Confucius. Over the years of its existence, the temple has been repeatedly destroyed and restored, completing new premises. The main entrance to the temple – Stargate - facing south. The three main temple rooms are located one behind the other on a south-north axis. The rest of the rooms are located on either side of them. The main hall of the temple – Dachandian, which in Chinese means the Palace of the highest perfection. In its center is a statue of Confucius. The Thinker sits with folded hands, which contain a notepad. On both sides of the statue of Confucius, there are sculptures of his followers and students. In front of the statue there are sacrificial tables with candlesticks and incense burners. From the east, the reconstructed house of Confucius is attached to the temple. It is a small peasant estate and is located exactly where the house of the great thinker once was. The Temple of Confucius is surrounded by red brick walls, memorial arches and corner turrets. The structure of the temple includes the famous Lubi wall, from which only a fragment has survived to this day. Sacred Confucian texts were walled up in this wall, since during the persecution of the Confucians by Qin Shi-Huang, all Confucian books were burned. The temple also contains about two thousand stone steles with calligraphic inscriptions. Confucius Palace. In the east, the Temple of Confucius is bordered by another famous building of the city – Palace of Confucius. In fact, this building was the residence of his grandson. The palace is a huge architectural complex with an area of 16 hectares. It stretches from north to south for 2 kilometers. The complex includes 463 rooms. The palace has a library, which contains about 9 thousand volumes published from 1534 to 1948. Confucius Grove. This grove is located one kilometer from the Palace. This huge park is the cemetery for the entire Confucius family. Both the Teacher himself and many of his descendants are buried here. There are huge gates at the entrance to the park, on both sides of which there are stone lions. The park has many pavilions, pavilions, ritual arches. Various rare trees also grow here. By tradition, all the students of Confucius planted trees here, which they brought from their provinces. If you walk along the path and cross the stream over the bridge, you can get to the holy of holies of the cemetery – the grave of the Teacher himself, as well as his son and grandson. In front of the grave there is a slab with the inscription:"The Tomb of the Highest Sage, the Lord of the Enlightenment, who revealed the Realization."   
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