In the summer of 2000 I traveled to Confucius hometown, Qu Fu,
Shandong
Province of China. In this small town, three most famous
attractions
include Confucius Temple, Confucius Family Complex, and Confucius
Family
Cemetory. It is such an interesting experience to tour places
like
this and revisit the long history of Chinese intellectual and social
roots.
The main street of Qu Fu. I took the long distance bus from Qi
Dao city to arrive Qu Fu after nearly 5 hours driving. I checked
in a hotel about two blocks away from here to the right side of the
road
for $35 per night.
1. I am in front of the
old city gate. The stone tablet
marks
2. Here is the road that connects the
the
name of
the town, Qu Fu. This place is about two
previous
and next pictures.
blocks away from my hotel.
1. Confucius Temple
3. The grand entrance of Confucius Temple.
8. More stone tablets. The cracks were caused by the same reason
stated above.
9. An imperial decree is ingraved in this stone
tablet
10. A sacred stone tablet.
tablet when the Chinese emperor visited the place
in the late 19th century.
15. The stone rail on the side of the Hall of Great
Accomplishment.
An interesting
sign here is that the hole for water release is used to hold the mop.
2. Confucius Family Complex
22. This
piece of stone is made in a shape of washing board with several
curves, which was a major
washing tool in the
old time. But the function
of this stone board is a tool of punishment of women
in the Confucius
family.
Women were to kneel down on this board for long hours. In
contemporary
Chinese society, "to kneel over a washing board" carries the meaning of
being punished inside the
household, especially for
husbands. It
looks like it is women's vengence now!
23 &
24. This is a performing procession inside Cconfucius
Family complex to show how the traditional
ritual ceromony used to be carried
out.
25. Here shows the emperor
leading the Confucius ritual to pay respect to the Heaven. The
person
playing the emperor is in yellow robe.
In all 3 photos actors are
in Manchu dress, indicating the time period to be in the Qing Dynasty,
1600-1911. It cost 5 Chinese Yuan to get
in this court yard to
watch
the show.
3. Confucius Family Cemetery
26. This is the entrance gate to the Confucius
Family
Cemetery. It took me about 25 minutes on a tricycle from my hotel
to the place.
The picture was taken by the tricycle man, who also
waited for me at the gate of the cemetery for nearly 2 hours in order
to
take me back.
I paid him 15 Chinese Yuan (ca. $2), already twice
the regular price.
27 & 28. On my way to the cemetery, I stopped in this open field
31 & 32. Two sacred animals of this kind guard the entrance to
Confucius
tomb.
33. Two officials, one intellectual
and another martial, are standing on guard beyond the animal position.
34 & 35. The intellectual official on the
left
with a tablet, the symbol of imperial knowledge, and
the martial offical
on the
right holding a sword.
36 & 37. More animals and
gates protect the entrance to Confucius
tomb. The photo on the
right show Confucius tomb to
the very right end. The hut further was built for Confucius
students
to stay mourning for months.
38 & 39. Confucius Tomb. The legend
goes
that when the tomb stone was made to have Confucius
name
and title
carved
on, it said "The Great Intelelctual King and Our Saint
Ancestor."
Imperial official
did not like the idea and were worried addressing
Confucius
"King." So when the tablet was erected,
the front stone rail was
positioned higher deliberately to fence part of the character "wang"
meaning
"king"
so it is not seen in full as "king." Without
getting very
close, the last character, missing one
horizen
stroke, is only seen as
"gan," meaning "dry" or "branch." The were trying to be
politically
correct.
40 & 41.
Leaving Confucius Tomb, I went on to
tour the entire cemetery, which took me over two
hours on foot.
The photo on the right is the 73rd generation of
Confucius family member. The rule
of burial is that only male
members
can be buried in the cemetery. Neither daughters
nor duaghter-
in-laws are allowed to be buried
here. The only
exception
is a daughter of the emperor who married
a Confucius member.
42. This is the tomb of Kong Lingyi
(1872-1919), who was the Prime Minister,
Foreign Minister, and
tax tsar of the
early Nationalist government. His son Kong Dequan, who
is in his early 80s, is still
alive in Taiwan.
43 & 44. Some of the tombs
are decorated better than others,
with paved road, stone pillars,
and animal guards.