The Confucius Temple complex has a long history, integrating the achievements of history, architecture, sculpture, painting and calligraphy. It is an ancient museum. It is not only a historical witness of the activities of the rulers of past dynasties to respect Confucianism and worship Confucius, but also a carrier that comprehensively embodies China's traditional ideology and culture, and it is also the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people. Since its foundation, the Confucius Temple has had a great and far-reaching impact on the development of China society.
1. Cultural inheritance and educational function. From the development history of Confucius Temple, we can see the track of Chinese cultural inheritance. At the beginning of Confucius Temple, the spread of Confucianism was still in its infancy. Although the cultural policy of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism exclusively" was established in the early Han Dynasty, it was difficult for Confucian academics to achieve the status of "respecting exclusively" because of the war between local religious Taoist culture and foreign Buddhist culture and the ideological confusion caused by the social division and turmoil that lasted for hundreds of years in the Three Kingdoms, Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. However, during this period, Confucianism absorbed elements from other schools to meet the needs of society. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the world was unified, and the spirit and academic thoughts expounded by Confucius and the Confucian school he founded stood the test of time, and the value of Confucian culture was widely recognized by the society, thus making it possible to build Confucius temples on a large scale and spread Confucian culture for a long time. The Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties followed the cultural policy of "respecting Confucianism alone", and constantly bestowed Confucius with the revered posthumous title, and repeatedly improved the specifications of the Confucius Temple building, all of which showed the affirmation of the cultural value of Confucianism.
In addition to the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Confucian temples have been set up in relevant counties and counties throughout the country since the Northern Dynasties, and the Confucian temples have had the function of "schools" since then. This important function played a connecting role in the imperial examination system from Sui and Tang Dynasties. Especially from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was no distinction between temple learning and learning, and there were three kinds of regulations, namely, learning before the temple, learning from the left temple and learning from the right temple, learning from the left temple and learning from the middle temple. The system of the integration of temple and learning has made Confucian scholars and scholars in the past dynasties accept the influence of Confucianism here, and respecting and reading classics has become an important part of school education, which has trained scholars at different levels for each period.
Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Confucianism has made great progress and gradually developed into the backbone of Chinese traditional culture, and Confucius Temple is an important carrier of this culture. The sacrifice of Confucius Temple is manipulated by the state, and its purpose is to enforce education, that is, "the temple worships the sages and learns the ethics of Ming Dynasty" [8]. The worship of Confucius shows that the fundamental connotation of the country's strict education is the way of Confucius, and it pursues the idealized ritual order of "Jun Jun, minister, father and son". "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety and music" is the way of Confucianism, and politics draws on Confucianism and Taoism in order to establish an orderly society and realize autocratic rule. "Confucius taught by Tao, and the world worshiped it, not the man, but also the religion and the Tao" [9]. Therefore, offering sacrifices to Confucius is to praise the ideology and theory he founded.
2. Promote the integration and unification of the Chinese nation. The establishment of Confucius temples in various places has contributed greatly to promoting the integration and unity of the Chinese nation. At the request of feudal state decrees, Confucius temples were once set up in both the central plains and the border areas. "Since the Tang Dynasty, every state and county has no school, so every school has a temple of the saints" [1]. In the Liao Dynasty, there were imperial academy in Shangjing (now south of Bahrain Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia), Zhongjing (now west Daming City, Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia) and Xijing (now Datong, Shanxi Province), and Confucius Temple was built next to it, offering sacrifices to the sages and teachers on time [11]. Its states and counties also have Confucius temples. The Jin Dynasty followed the previous dynasty, and besides the Confucius Temple in imperial academy, there were temples in prefectures and counties. Zhang Zong Taihe four years (124), "imperial edict to the secretariat, states and counties have no scholars to announce the Confucian temple and add it" [12]. After the Yuan Dynasty established a province in Yunnan, the Confucius Temple was built in Kunming in the 15th year from Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (1278). Since then, Dali, Jianshui, Tonghai, Shiping and other places have also established Confucius temples and institutionalized them. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were Confucius Temples in almost all counties except a few remote places in Yunnan Province. Known as the "First Temple in Hainan", Wenchang Confucius Temple was built in the Qing Dynasty of the Northern Song Dynasty, and moved to Wencheng Town in the eighth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1375). The Confucius Temple in Taiwan Province was first built in Tainan City today, and was built in the fifth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1666). Confucius Temple was built earlier in Taiwan Province, including Changhua County School (Yongzheng period), Fengshan County School (now Kaohsiung City) (Kangxi period) and Taibei Fuxue School (Guangxu period). The establishment of Confucius Temple in remote areas has greatly improved the backward situation of local education.
Confucian culture is the spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation, not just monopolized by the Han nationality. This is easy to see from the race of the builders of Confucius Temple: Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, a Xianbei nationality in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, carried out the policy of sinicization, and was the first emperor in history to build a "Xiansheng Temple" in towns outside Qufu to worship Confucius; After the Jurchen people entered the Central Plains and established the Jin Dynasty, emperors from generation to generation respected Confucius and built Confucius temples, such as the Confucian Temple in Pingyao, Shanxi, which still retains the pattern of Jin Dynasty architecture. The Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongols not only built the Confucius Temple in Dadu (now Beijing) for the first time, but also established the specifications of the Confucius Temple in Beijing, and named Confucius as the "King of Great Success and Holy Publicity", which was the highest posthumous title awarded to Confucius by emperors in previous dynasties. Manchu, on the other hand, pursued the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius before establishing the Qing Dynasty and entering the Central Plains, and established the Confucius Temple in Northeast China.
Fifty-six ethnic groups in China * * * regard Confucius as the "sage and teacher". In the long history of more than 2, years, it has eased ethnic conflicts and promoted the continuous reunification of all ethnic groups. Confucian culture has standardized the moral norms and codes of conduct of all classes of the Chinese nation, and has become an idea, which is the spiritual link to promote the unity and hand in hand of all ethnic groups in China.
3. artistic value. Confucius Temple is the concrete embodiment of oriental architectural style, which fully shows the high wisdom and creative ability of working people in ancient China and occupies an important position in the history of ancient architecture in China. Qufu Confucius Temple is one of the three existing ancient architectural complexes in China. The building of the Confucius Temple follows the principle of symmetry between the central axis and the left and right of the traditional buildings in China, and its layout is rigorous. As a sacrificial building, the particularity of Confucius Temple lies in its symbolic building: its main building, Dacheng Hall, mostly adopts lifting beam and bucket arch; Panchi has a long history and is unique to Confucius Temple. Lingxingmen is mainly used in Confucius Temple buildings except for some high-standard sacrificial buildings. The number of archways in front of the Confucius Temple is incomparable to other types of buildings.
The carving in the Confucius Temple is the top grade of China stone carving art, especially the stone pillar carving dragon in Dacheng Hall, which is a masterpiece of stone carving art.. For example, Dacheng Hall, the existing Confucian Temple of Ming Dynasty in Juye County, Shandong Province, is surrounded by 24 large stone pillars. Eight stone pillars under the front eaves and the end columns under the back eaves are high-relief Erlong play beads, decorated with clouds and waves, with vivid and exquisite shapes; Other stone pillars are flowers with shallow relief and tangled branches, with complicated composition and exquisite skills [13].
with the passage of time and the change of dynasties, many inscriptions and plaques have been left in the process of establishment, repair and sacrifice of Confucius temples in various places, which have high artistic value. According to statistics, there are more than 1, steles in the Confucius Temple in Qufu, including the steles for worshipping Confucius, worshiping Confucius, building Confucius Temple, and meritorious deeds. These steles are not only carved in Chinese, but also in some minority languages, such as Manchu and Mongolian. It is a valuable treasure house for studying the ancient history and culture of China, both in terms of time span and quantity. Judging from the calligraphy art of inscriptions and plaques, all kinds of fonts have different styles and characteristics, and they are also rare treasures. There are also many excellent inscriptions on local Confucian temples, such as the Confucius Temple Monument written in block letters by Yu Shinan, a famous calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. There are two existing engravings: one is in the forest of steles in Xi 'an, which is called "Shanben" or "West Temple Monument"; First, Chengwu in Shandong, known as "Chengwu Ben" or "East Temple Monument", is now collected by the county cultural relics room and has always been loved by calligraphers.
In the historical process of offering sacrifices to Confucius, a unique art of music and dance was formed. The content of music and dance to worship Confucius is mainly to praise Confucius' achievements before his death, and it is a comprehensive art of music, song and dance. The pleasure stems from the "Shao" advocated by Confucius; Dance is due to "summer"; Poetry comes from the creation of Niu Hong and Cai Hui in Sui Dynasty. The music is complete in eight tones, simple and pure, elegant and melodious, with golden sound and jade. The dancers use the shuttlecock as their dancing equipment, and their dancing posture is vigorous and stretching, which has the beauty of sculpture. Musical instruments played by Lesheng include guzheng, sheng, flute, Xiao, chime, chime and so on. The ritual scene of offering sacrifices to Confucius is grand, simple and quiet, and the solemn atmosphere of offering sacrifices to Confucius and the magnificent Dacheng Hall have formed a perfect artistic unity. With its peaceful tune, moderate rhythm, elegant lyrics and humble dance steps, the music and dance offering sacrifices to Confucius highlights the profound ideological implication of ancient China elegant music, its solemn and magnificent moving momentum, and its artistic style of being in harmony with Chiang Kai-shek, which shows the humanistic values of "benevolence", "harmony" and "comity" advocated by Confucius and Confucianism.
In addition, Confucius Temple has high historical value. Confucius Temple witnessed the development of feudal society in China for more than two thousand years. In the history of the development of Confucius temples in various places, rich remains and materials have been left. Through the study of the history of Confucius temples, we can understand the rise and fall of Confucius temple architecture and the activities of offering sacrifices to Confucius, see through the political and economic development in feudal China, and deeply discuss the evolution of Confucianism and even ancient China's ideology and culture.