10 things you need to know about Confucius hometown. Part 2. Popularity 1Viewed 62 times 2014-12-14 22:44 |System category:News It is said that one day spent in a different place is of a greater value than a year spent at home. This saying especially applies to the hometown of Confucius. We all have heard a lot about this legendary figure of the Sprung and Autumn period, but 千闻不如一见. I am ready with the rest 5 things I learnt about this ancient with the scent of history town. 1. Qufu jianbing 煎饼. Being an anti-fan of all jianbings in the world, I, to my surprise, surrendered to my friend’s suggestion to have a jianbing as a snack. There are two types of jianbing: one, called 大葱煎饼, and another one with different fillings: 芝麻，peanuts, sweet, spicy. The last one captured my soul. It turned out, jianbing here is the local 特产, or specialty. I asked my friend to bring it for me next time she comes to Beijing. 2. Confucius Temple’s 奎文阁 (Kuiwen Hall). Kuiwen Hall, originally built in 1018, on the 2nd year of Tianxi of the Song Dynasty, and used to store books, is one of the three main buildings of the Confucius Temple. Amazingly, the building was not renovated as other buildings in the Temple. According to the historical fact, during the reign of Kang Xi (康熙) the great earthquake took place and the town was almost ruined, apart from Kui Wen Ge. The “burden” of knowledge didn’t let the disaster wipe it out. 3. Another curious building within the Confucius Temple ensemble is Lu Bi (鲁壁). During Qing Shihuang reign, scholars fell out of grace with the emperor, many of them were killed and their books destroyed. In order to save the most precious books from the fierce emperor, Confucius disciples hid the collection inside Lu Bi wall, so the books were saved, including 论语. Only one of the 六经 books was lost, 乐. 4. A saying 门当户对was not actually originated in Qufu but it would be suitable to mention it here. 门当户对 means “families of equal rank”, “well-matched”. In the ancient times, marriage meant the union of two families with equal social status, rank and financial background. The threshold and the beams above the door that separated male and female parts of the house indicated the wealth of the family. Confucius family was rather well off and their social status was high, and accordingly, the threshold was high and beams were painted in dark color. 5. Tablets in the Confucius Temple. There are 1,100 stone tablets housed in Confucius’ Temple. They date from the Western Han Dynasty up to the founding of New China. My friend didn’t tell me much about them. I was wondering what the content of the inscription is. She said it contained some historical facts about the temple and life of Confucius, as well as poems dedicated to him. According to an article on cctv, the tablets are of great value in the study of the politics, economy and art of medieval China. The Confucius Temple is also called the second greatest tablet garden, next to Xi’an Tablet Exhibition in the number of tablets. Nowadays, Confucius descendants live in Taiwan. The Qufu historical sites belong to the world heritage and guarded by UNESCO, so that we have an opportunity to walk the paths Confucius once walked, touch the stones that stayed there for centuries, and listen to the stories told by the locals about the great place. I would advise everyone visiting Qufu. The local cuisine will also not leave you disappointed. (Opinions of the writer in this blog dont represent those of China Daily.) . Passing Eggs Flowers Shake hands Ray Like 0 Share 0
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 03:07:32 +0000
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