Quanzhou Confucian Temple and Xuegong: Blooming ideological light in the development of marine trade in the Song and Yuan dynasties

Source: Quanzhou Network

According to the Report of Quanzhou Network on April 12, even in the long history of China's five thousand years, the Quanzhou Confucian Temple and the Xuegong Are a special existence worth remembering.

It was founded in the Tang Dynasty, moved to the current site during the Northern Song Dynasty 976-984, the main pattern was formed in 1137, the construction area of more than 5,000 square meters, the scale of the building is magnificent, can be called the crown of the seven southeast provinces of China.

Its main building, Dacheng Hall, has a typical Song Dynasty heavy eaves hall structure, the hall body is supported by 48 white cobblestone columns, the front eaves of the front hall have two relief panlong gold pillars and 6 relief panlong cornices, and the roof of the hall is paved with yellow glazed tiles... This form is the highest architectural specification in ancient China and is also rare in the national temple of literature.

In Confucius's hometown of Qufu, Shandong, outside the Confucius Temple in Beijing, the capital of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, such a temple of literature appeared, making the Quanzhou Temple of Literature and the Palace of Learning a unique landscape for thousands of years.

A combination of Central Plains culture and Southern Fujian art in the Song Dynasty

Panoramic view of Quanzhou Confucian Temple and Xuegong Palace

Stepping into Quanzhou Fuwenmiao Square, you will be greeted by ancient buildings full of southern Fujian characteristics. This is the largest surviving temple complex in southeast China that includes the architectural forms of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

He Zhenliang, head of the Cultural Relics Protection and Management Office of quanzhou Fuwen Temple, introduced that the Quanzhou Confucian Temple and the Xuegong were built in accordance with China's unique "temple and learning integration" system, and the basic form was "left learning right temple". It is composed of confucian sacrificial architecture confucian temple groups located on the west side (including the ruins of The Lingxing Gate, Dacheng Gate, Panchi, Pangong, Dacheng Hall, etc.), and the state-level local education architecture palace group on the east side (including Yuying Gate, Xuechi, Minglun Hall, etc.). The surrounding areas are distributed cai qing ancestral hall, Li Wenjie ancestral hall and Zhuang JiChang Zhuangyuan ancestral hall that have sacrificed historical celebrities in Quanzhou since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Ancient buildings are precipitated with traces of history. Looking closely at the Quanzhou Confucian Temple and the Xuegong, whether it is the red tile slope roof, the dragon's back swallowtail, or the brick wall, all reflect the organic combination of the Central Plains culture of the Song Dynasty and the ancient construction art of southern Fujian.

Dacheng Hall is the main building of the Fuwen Temple, which was built in the Northern Song Dynasty. Under the guidance of He Zhenliang, the reporter found vivid bluestone reliefs at the waist of the Sumi seat on the platform in front of the temple; these Bluestone reliefs of the Song Dynasty were composed of Yanglian, Fulian, Fusang, Camellia, Peony, Hibiscus and so on. The column network in the hall is composed of two rows of columns inside and outside, which is the "double groove" in the Song Dynasty's "Building the French Style", and the deputy step Zhou Za. The hall is supported by 48 white cobblestone columns, and there are two relief dragon gold pillars and 6 relief dragon cornices under the front eaves of the front hall. The temple beam frame is a wooden frame of the bucket lifting beam, the horizontal frame and the vertical frame are made of logs, also known as the "round hall", the total height of the paving is 34% of the column height, the inner and outer eaves maintain a real high shape system, the eaves are far-reaching and soothing, for the typical heavy eaves hall structure, is the most honorable form of palace architecture, basically preserving the original appearance of the Song Dynasty to create the French style, the height of the specification is rare in the national Confucius Temple.

The product of the great development of politics, economy and culture

Why was it that in the southeast coastal areas of Song and Yuan China, such a high level of regulation could be produced? This may be related to the political and economic status of Quanzhou during the Song and Yuan dynasties.

During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Quanzhou had strong economic strength and developed overseas trade, and was known as "the largest port in the East" in history. He Zhenliang introduced that during the Southern Song Dynasty, the Nanwai Emperor Zhengji was set up in Quanzhou and became an institution to manage the Nanwai Emperor's ethnic group that moved to Quanzhou. As an important political force, the arrival of the Nanwai royal family group has enhanced Quanzhou's consumption capacity and brought advanced science and technology, humanities and arts to the Central Plains. They also actively participated in the maritime trade, and traces of the Zhao clan could be found in the stone carvings of the Nine Days Mountain. The imperial family attaches great importance to education, and the ruins of the Nanwai Sect Zhengsi Sect in the Ancient Rong Lane of quanzhou ancient city show that there was once a sectarian school to educate the children of the imperial family.

The improvement of political status and economic and social prosperity have promoted the great development of culture and education. Since the Song Dynasty, the local government of Quanzhou has established the Prefecture School, and the county school has also been generally established, and the regulations have tended to be perfected, with the study of Confucian classics as the main course, integrating the sacrifice of the Confucian Temple and daily teaching.

Symbol of Quanzhou's elite

The Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi praised Quanzhou as "full of saints in the streets." Quanzhou Confucian Temple and Xuegong Temple are not only a place of worship for Confucius, but also a center for humanistic education and the dissemination of Confucianism, and a concentrated representative and ideological presentation of the history and culture of ancient Quanzhou.

Historical records record that in the more than 1100 years from the eighth year of Tang Zhenyuan to the 30th year of Qing Guangxu, a total of 2454 Quanzhou people entered the high school, many of whom made outstanding achievements in literature and art, historical economy, scientific and technological invention, military, and academics, among whom there were Ouyang Zhan, Zeng Gongliang, Su Song, Cai Xiang, Liang Kejia, etc. who were familiar to everyone. These outstanding figures stand out and are closely related to the cultural influence of the Temple of Literature.

Chen Pengpeng, former director of the Quanzhou City Cultural Relics Protection and Research Center, said that in the Song Dynasty, Quanzhou set up a special tribute temple, and in 1168, Wang Shipeng appointed Quanzhou Taishou and converted the Ministry Of Envoy Hall located near the ancient city of Suqing Gate into a tribute courtyard, planted with laurel trees everywhere, and the inscription "Wan Gui Tang" was written. The newly completed Gongyuan can accommodate more than 3,000 children to take the exam every year, and he personally held a banquet in the Gongyuan to send the disciples to Beijing to take the exam. Later Zhizhou NiSi, Zhen Dexiu and others expanded the gongyuan many times, making the Quanzhou gongyuan the largest gongyuan in Fujian. The Song dynasty scholars Zhu Song and Zhu Xi successively founded academies in the Quanzhou area, disseminated theoretical ideas, and opened up a position for free lectures and academic research.

In the Song Dynasty, Quanzhou's education was developed, a large family of families appeared, a large number of outstanding figures were trained, and many good stories were born that have been passed down to this day.

"Father and son a list, Kunji in the same year", it is said that in the first year of the Southern Song Dynasty Shaoxing (1190), Quanzhou juzi went to Rufang and his father Zhao Shanxin and uncle Zhao Shanqi were on the list at the same time. "One Gate Three Dynasties and Five Jinshi" refers to The Hui'an people Cui Gong, his sons Cui Zhengze and Cui Lize, who are also Jinshi, and Cui Lize's two sons, Cui Shouchen and Huang Chen, are all jushi. In the Song Dynasty, there were "one door and four phases", and Zeng Gongliang, an important supporter of Wang Anshi's transformation of the law, served for 15 years in the three dynasties; the second son, Zeng Xiaokuan, was made the official Shangshu and the right chancellor of the Senior Government Hall University; Zeng Gongliang's great-grandson Zeng Huai, who was named Right Chancellor, was the same dynasty as the Famous Minister of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Quanzhou Liang Kejia; Zeng Gongliang IV was from Sun Zeng from the Dragon Lineage, and Song Ningzong gave the name conglong and was made a privy envoy.

The Quanzhou Confucian Temple and the Xuegong Are symbols of Quanzhou's elite. This group played an important role in the promotion and management of maritime trade in the Song and Yuan dynasties. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Lingzhen presided over the construction of the Anping Bridge and the East Bridge, which were built in Jianghai Wharf to promote the development of Quanzhou's overseas trade.

The carrier of Confucianism spread far and wide

At that time, Quanzhou, where academies were popular and humanities gathered, won the reputation of "Zoulu on the Seashore", and Confucian culture also spread to all directions through here.

Quanzhou is the main ancestral hometown of Taiwan compatriots. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a large number of Quanzhou people went to Taiwan to serve as professors and scholars, presided over the teaching affairs of Confucianism in Taiwan, and participated in the creation and maintenance of the Taiwan Confucian Temple. The architectural form of the Taipei Confucius Temple adopts the style of Qufu Confucius Temple, modeled on the Quanzhou Fuwen Temple, and is designed and built by Wang Yishun, a famous craftsman in Quanzhou. During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, when Jiang Yuying knew quanzhou prefecture, he presided over the reconstruction of the Quanzhou Fuwen Temple, and when he was transferred to the Taiwan Prefecture, he actively expanded the Taiwan Academic Palace, set up righteous studies, taught children, and spread Confucian culture.

Historically, Confucianism has had a profound impact on Korea, Vietnam, Japan and other countries. Through maritime transportation and trade, and the emigration of overseas Chinese, Quanzhou established close ties with East and Southeast Asian countries very early. As an important carrier of Chinese Confucianism, Quanzhou Fuwen Temple actively participated in the historical process of dissemination and became an important channel for Chinese Confucianism, especially Zhuzi Theory, to spread to these countries.

Nowadays, strictly adhering to the principle of "not changing the original state of cultural relics" and "minimal intervention", the Dacheng Hall repair project has been included in the list of outstanding monuments and sites protection projects in 2020, becoming an excellent project recommended to the whole industry. "This ancient complex without walls combines the material protection of the cultural relics body with the non-material protection of mass cultural activities, inherits the cultural and educational functions in the sense of Confucianism in the Confucian sense of the Temple of Literature and the Palace of Learning, and expands the social function of integration into the present." He Zhenliang told reporters that in the Minglun Hall, there is a normalized exhibition "The First State of Humanities in the Four Seas -- Quanzhou Education History", which, together with the special exhibitions of "Thorn Tong Wind Objects -- Quanzhou City Conditions Exhibition" and "Sven Sacred Land -- Quanzhou Fuwen Temple History and Culture Exhibition" in the East and West Halls, has become a window for people to understand the history and culture of Quanzhou.

Name Film

Quanzhou Confucian Temple and Xuegong are representative elements of heritage that embody the diverse communities of the World Maritime Trade Center. The Temple of Literature is the place where the ancient official memorial and worship of Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, the Xuegong is the highest level of educational institution in ancient Quanzhou, as the center of the spread of Confucianism, quanzhou Confucian Temple and Xuegong is a symbol of Quanzhou's elite group including government officials and high-ranking intellectuals, these social elites played an important role in the promotion and management of the Song and Yuan maritime trade.

(Reporter Cai Zimin/Wen Lin Jinfeng/Photo)