Qufu Tourist Area Located in Qufu, Shandong Province, the tourist area, which includes the Mansion, Temple and Cemetery of Confucius (1), enjoys a worldwide fame as a traditional Chinese cultural site. They attract numerous tourists from both home and abroad annually.
In 1994, they were listed as world cultural heritage sites. The Mansion of Confucius is the living quarters of the first grandson of Confucius, a great philosopher, educator and a founder of Confucianism. It is also known as Master Yansheng's Mansion because in 1055, or the second year of the reign of Song Emperor Zhaozhen, Kong Zongyuan, the 46th generation male descendant of Confucius was given the title "Master Yansheng". The title was passed down to Kong Decheng, the 77th generation male descendant of Confucius. With an area of 160,000 square meters, the mansion has nine courtyards with 463 rooms along the east, west and middle routes. The main part of the mansion centers the houses along the middle route .
The first four yards contain offices and the other five serve as residences. At the rear it is a garden. The mansion stores more than 9,000 volumes of files from 1534 (the 13th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Jiaqing) to 1948 and great quantities of rare and precious cultural and historical relics. The Temple of Confucius served as a place for worshipping Confucius in various dynasties. In 478 B.C., the second year after Confucius' death, the ruler of the State of Lu converted Confucius' former residence, the three-room mansion, into a temple and made it a place for worshipping Confucius.
The temple was constantly renovated and expanded to its present size by emperors of the Western Han Dynasty and the following historical periods. It covers an area of 218,000 square meters and is 1,120 meters in length from south to north. There are nine courtyards and 466 rooms along three routes in the left, right and middle. The temple has an outer wall, with four corner towers, which shelters ancient pines. The main buildings along the middle route are Kuiwen Pavilion, Thirteen Stele Pavilion, Xingtan Pavilion, Dacheng Hall, Hall of Confucius' Wife and Shengji Hall. Dacheng Hall stands out and is the main hall where Confucius was worshipped.
The temple houses some 2,000 tablets dating from the Western Han Dynasty right up to the founding of New China. They are one of the largest collections of tablets in the country. There are now three exhibition halls displaying tablets from the Han dynasty and Six Kingdoms of Wei, stone statues from the Han Dynasty and calligraphic carvings on Yuhonglou tablets. The 17 tablets of Han Dynasty are the largest collection in the country in term of quantity reserved in one place. The Cemetery of Confucius is about 1.5 kilometers north of Qufu and is the Confucius family cemetery. It takes up 1.998 million square meters and around it there is a seven-kilometer-long hedge.
The pavilions, towers, halls and archways built in various historical periods are set in a forest. Behind the Zhushui Bridge is the graveyard, dating from the Eastern Zhou, which houses the tomb of Confucius, the tombs of his son Kong Li and grandson Kong Ji. The tomb of Confucius is 6.2 meters high and has a circumference of 88 meters. Notes 1. the Mansion, Temple and Cemetery of Confucius 孔府、孔庙、孔林 Taishan Mountain泰山 Taishan Mountain Scenic Area Taishan Mountain is located in the central of Shandong Province. In ancient time, it was called Mt. Daishan or Mt.Daizong and was renamed Taishan Mountain during the Spring and Autumn Period, that was 770-476B.C.. Taishan Mountain was included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1987. The total area of the mountain is 426 square kilometers with a circumference of 80 kilometers.
The main peak, Jade Emperor Peak, rising 1,545 meters above sea level, is at the north of Tai'an city. The mountain is an early birthplace of China's ancient civilization and the area around was one of ancient China's political, economic and cultural centers. In history, there were total 72 emperors from Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties who built temples on it. After Qin Shihuang (246-209 B.C.), numerous emperors and scholars from various historical periods went to Taishan Mountain, which accounts for the large quantity of precious cultural relics.
Taishan Mountain has 72 majestic peaks, magnificent waterfalls, centuries-old pines and cypresses and fascinating rocks. There are five tourist zones and two routes up the mountain-one in the east and one in the west. They meet at Zhongtian Gate and there are 6,293 steps in the nine kilometers leading to the top. Scenic spots include Longtan Reservoir, Zhongtian Gate, Five-Doctor Pine, Duansong Hill, 18 Turns, South Gate to Heaven, Bixia Tekmple, Zhanglu Terrace, Sun-Watching Peak, Moon-Watching Peak. The four wonders of the mountain are Sun Rises from the East, Golden Belt Along the Yellow River, Beautiful Sunset and the Sea of Clouds.
Other attractive spots are the Rare Rock Dock, Fan Cliff, Aolai Peak, Black Dragon Pool, Longevity Bridge, and the Dragon Pool Waterfall. Running from Songshan Valley to the South Gate to Heaven, on the top of Danshan Hill, is a path with 18 turns called Ladder to Heaven. Although the path is little more than one kilometer long it rises 400 meters. The steps along the path are made of Tianshan schist. There is now a cable car from Zhongtian Gate to the top of Wangfu Hill. Taishan Mountain is one of China's mountain parks and is a natural museum of history and art.
Along its axis there are 1,800 stone sculptures including famous ones such as the Carved Road from the Qin dynasty, the Buddhist Diamond Sutra in Sutra Stone Valley, the Wordless Stone Tablet and the Scripture of Taishan Mountain History carved on Tangmo Cliff. Tiankuang Hall in the Daimiao Temple which is also on Taishan Mountain is one of the three great halls of China (the other two are the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, Beijing , and Dacheng Hall in Qufu). The 40 statues of arhat in the Thousand-Buddha Hall of the Lingyan Temple date to the Song Dynasty and are prized for their individuality and expressiveness.
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