Suzhou Confucian Temple | |
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Geography | |
Location | Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China |
History | |
Creator | Fan Zhongyan |
The Confucian Temple of Suzhou (Chinese: 苏州文庙) and also known as the Suzhou Stone Inscription Museum and Suzhou Prefecture School (Chinese: 苏州府学; a state-run school), is a Confucian temple located in the ancient city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, on the south bank of the Yangtze River. It was built by Fan Zhongyan, a famous state officer in Song Dynasty. It was the first temple school in China and is notable for containing the four greatest steles of Song Dynasty, of on which is the Map of Pingjiang. In 1961, the stone inscriptions in Suzhou Confucian Temple were listed among the first batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units by The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. In 2001, together with the Confucian Temple, it was called Suzhou Confucian Temple and Stone inscription. Presently, it is known as new name as Suzhou Stone Inscription Museum.
Suzhou Confucian Temple is located in the central part of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. Built by the order of Fan Zhongyan, then the Prefect of Suzhou, it stands across from the street with Garden of Surging Wave Pavilion. In 1035, Fan Zhongyan was the Prefect of Suzhou. He combined the State School and the Confucian Temple, which began the State education. The system was imitated by other places, for which it got the saying "State education began from Wu County ". Suzhou Temple School had been extended several times, so presently, it takes up a large area. According to the record of County Wu, it had 213 rooms in Southern Song Dynasty (in 1241). In its day, it had classrooms, dormitoroes, exam rooms and canteens, besides the hall and temple. Suzhou Temple School also had gardening architecture, for instance, rockery, pond, bridge and pavilion. Its scale is the biggest among schools in the southeast.
With the abolition of the imperial examination system, an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy, at the end of Qing Dynasty, the Confucian Temple was gradually abandoned.