| Confucian
Shrine (1302 AD, rebuilt 1411)
other
sites in Beijing |
Beijing, China |
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Imperial China was too large for the Emperor to rule alone. Large numbers of trained civil servants were required to run the country. As in Korea, Confucian academies prepared scholars for high office through a rigorous study of the Confucian classics. At this shrine, the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties kept a list of the candidates who successfully passed the Confucian examinations to become civil servants. The names are inscribed on 198 stone tablets that pepper the courtyard like gravestones. The 51,624 names provide information on the home district and rank of the civil servant.
The Hall of Great Achievements, the main building, was first built in 1302 during the Yuan dynasty. It was destroyed and rebuilt in 1411, soon after the Ming reconquest. Here the Emperor paid homage to the Confucian magnates of the past.
Visitors find the place a little drab. There is not much architecture and most of the buildings are closed. If you're in the neighborhood, drop on by. The Lamasery (Yong he Gong) is just a short distance away.
Bibliography:
All
images copyright 1998-2000 Abe Ahn and Tim Ciccone
Storey,
Robert Lonely Planet City Guide: Beijing
Lonely Planet Publications, Hong Kong 1996