Friends, have you ever paid homage to the "Harbin Confucian Temple"? If you come to Harbin from a foreign country hundreds of miles away, or even thousands of miles away, and don't visit the European-style buildings on Central Street, you won't Understand the origin of Harbin’s reputation as “Oriental Moscow” and “Oriental Little Paris”. If you don't visit the "Harbin Confucian Temple" and experience the Confucian Temple, known as the "Harbin Forbidden City", and experience this majestic and splendid Qing Dynasty-style ancient building complex inscribed by the famous patriotic general Zhang Xueliang, it will be It's a pity. "Student" magazine published some color pictures of the Confucian Temple's landscape on the back cover and title page of its ninth issue this year. Now introduce its history and culture.
Confucius and his Confucian Temple in Harbin
I remember that two years ago, a friend composed a poem with seven rhymes in praise of the Confucian Temple. The first line of the poem was "Where can I find the Confucius Temple in the North? The hinterland of Harbin is densely populated. ". This sentence appropriately describes the geographical location of the Confucian Temple. "Harbin Confucian Temple" is located on the north side of Confucian Temple Street at the east end of the city center. With its grand scale, splendor, green pines and cypresses, and picturesque gardens, it is known as the Ice City in the North as a tourist attraction. The characteristics of Harbin Confucian Temple are reflected in three aspects. First, it is the last large-scale Confucius temple built in the country before the founding of New China; second, it is large in scale; and third, it has high cultural taste.
First of all, the "Harbin Confucian Temple" is the last Confucius temple built in the country. People who are familiar with Ice City summarize Harbin’s tourism landscape as “one island, one section, and one holy temple”. One island is the Sun Island, one section is the Ice and Snow Festival, and one holy temple refers to the Confucian Temple. The "Harbin Confucian Temple" was first built in the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926) and completed in the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929). It was initiated and implemented by the then Chief Executive of the Eastern Province Special Region Zhang Huanxiang and his successor Zhang Jinghui. At that time, Chinese and foreign people in Harbin and It was built with 730,000 silver coins raised from government donations. It is the only holy place in Bingcheng in the North that worships the Confucian philosopher Confucius and teaches Confucian culture.
The Confucian Temple, also known as the Confucius Temple, is a temple dedicated to worshiping Confucius. In the Dacheng Hall of the "Harbin Confucian Temple", there is a huge shrine carved with dragons and gilded. When the Confucian Temple was built, the Confucius tablet was placed in front of the shrine and there was no statue of Confucius. On September 28, 1989, to commemorate the 2540th anniversary of Confucius’ birth, an image of Confucius in civilian clothes was sculpted and placed in a shrine for future generations to pay homage to. Confucius, whose name was Qiu and whose courtesy name was Zhongni (551 BC - 479 BC). Confucius is one of the four world figures identified as heritage by UNESCO (the other three are Socrates in ancient Greece, Sakyamuni in ancient India, and Jesus Christ), and is an important world cultural celebrity. Confucius was a great thinker, politician, educator and founder of Confucianism in the late Spring and Autumn Period of my country. He was a historical figure who left a huge impact on Chinese history and even world history. The Confucianism he founded is an integral part of traditional Chinese culture and an important part of world culture. Confucius' thoughts not only had a huge impact on Chinese history, but also still have many influences in modern times. Especially today, when Eastern and Western cultures collide and blend, inheriting the essence of Confucian thought and Confucianism and carrying forward traditional Chinese culture still have practical significance for us to build a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.
The historical background of the construction of the Harbin Confucian Temple
The "Harbin Confucian Temple" is the last fully-regulated Confucius temple built in the country. It was first built after the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal "May 4th" student movement in Beijing in 1919 criticized the "Confucian Family Store". However, in the Northeast, it has just been freed from the rule of the remaining forces of Tsarist Russia and the control of European and American capital. Since the Chinese government took control of Harbin Railway Station in November 1917, it gradually took back the road protection rights, municipal power, education rights, etc. of the Zhonglong Railway. By March 1, 1923, the Chief Executive's Office of the Eastern Province Special Region was officially established in Harbin. This period of history is reflected in the "Harbin Confucian Temple Stele" written by General Zhang Xueliang.
It is recorded: "Since the resumption of political power, everything has been completely new, and those involved have used the school to undermine its prosperity. The ceremony of worshiping the ancestors must not be abolished." The extreme importance lies in Confucius' teachings that filial piety to younger brothers is the foundation of benevolence. "It is covered by the "Book of Filial Piety" "Teach the world to be obedient... and curb the world's rebellion", "make everyone be benevolent and filial to their hearts, and then turn them into good customs", so as to "connect with the gods and shine all over the world". The article also said that "sacrifice is the foundation of religion, so the construction of this Confucian Temple cannot be delayed." It can be seen from this that the construction of the "Harbin Confucian Temple" reflects the Northeast's recovery of political power from imperialist slavery. At that time, it was determined that the teachings of Confucius were the foundation of the imperial edict. In the pass, it was anti-imperialist and anti-feudal and criticized Confucius, while in the Northeast it was It is to oppose imperialism and respect Confucius and worship rituals, so as to promote Chinese national culture and invigorate the national spirit.
The large-scale Harbin Confucian Temple
The large-scale "Harbin Confucian Temple" is the only typical ancient building complex in Harbin that imitates the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty. Its architectural structure is a three-entry courtyard, covering an area of ??23,000 square meters and a construction area of ??5,674 square meters. Along the central axis, the main buildings from south to north are: Shadow Wall, Panchi Panqiao (Zhuangyuan Bridge), Lingxing Gate, Dacheng Gate, Dacheng Hall, and Chongsheng Temple. There are also left and right auxiliary halls on both sides of the main building, east and west verandahs, gates, archways, stone tablets, etc. It is surrounded by red walls topped with yellow glazed tiles. The layout is rigorous, well-proportioned, and the golden walls are in perfect harmony with nature. According to incomplete statistics, its overall size ranks third in the country (after the Confucius Temple in Beijing and Qufu, Shandong). It is the largest and best-preserved Confucius temple in Northeast my country.
According to the existing "Inscription on the Creation of the Confucian Temple in the Eastern Province Special Region": "The temple where Confucius was built in the past was the center of worship. Its hall has nine couplets, seven halls, and two mezzanine rooms. This is the old system. Since the 32nd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, Confucius has been promoted to the Great Sacrifice, but the academic officials outside Beijing have still continued to do so, and have not changed the regulations of the Eastern Province. "In the temple system, the Dacheng Hall is located in the middle and faces south, with nine halls and two rooms, all with eleven couplets." From this we can see that the Dacheng Hall, the main hall in the second courtyard, is used for the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius. Designed and built according to the specific specifications, this is the unique feature of the "Harbin Confucian Temple" architectural complex. It has a verandah-style roof with double eaves and a width of eleven bays (that is, the highest standard of nine halls and two rooms). Its layout is comparable to that of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Beijing and Qufu both has a wide face and nine openings. The main building of the "Harbin Confucian Temple" adopts my country's most noble "yellow glazed tiles", that is, the "Emperor's Top", which is the architectural specification used by the emperor. The color paintings also use the highest-grade "Golden Dragon and Seal" color paintings, so it can be called a "royal building". Because the "Harbin Confucian Temple" is different from ordinary Confucian temples, "the architectural regulations highlight the important position of the Harbin Confucian Temple in the national series of Confucian temples." Therefore, it is not surprising that tourists who are familiar with the history of the time and the architecture of the Confucian Temple praise the Harbin Confucian Temple as the "Forbidden City" of Harbin.
The tourist culture taste of Harbin Confucian Temple
The cultural taste of "Harbin Confucian Temple" is high. The ancient building complex of the Confucian Temple is magnificent and magnificent, with towering ancient pines in the courtyard and an elegant environment. Therefore, it attracts worshipers from home and abroad like clouds. Exhibitions such as "Exhibition of Confucius' Sacred Relics", "Exhibition of Cultural Relics of Heilongjiang Ethnic Minorities", and "Thematic Exhibition of Confucius Temple in China" have added to the cultural connotation of the Confucian Temple. In 1985, the country's first provincial ethnic museum was established with the approval of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government, using the ancient building of the Confucian Temple as the museum building, and it was opened to the public. In November 1996, the "Harbin Confucian Temple" was approved by the State Council as one of the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units, becoming a tourist attraction with not only historical cultural relic value but also high-grade cultural content.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a large number of modern buildings with reinforced concrete and steel structures appeared in European and American countries. Influenced by Western architecture, China has also seen some antique buildings that follow Chinese classical architectural techniques and some use reinforced concrete as the skeleton.
Such as the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Medical College designed and built in 1915, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum complex in Nanjing built from 1925 to 1929, as well as Nanjing Jinling University (1927), Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (1928), and Beijing Library (1929 ), Wuhan University (1929-1935) and a number of antique buildings. When the "Harbin Confucian Temple" was built, China was in the period of architectural reform in the 1920s and 1930s, and the "golden pillars inside and outside the main hall (Dacheng Hall) were transformed into reinforced concrete, and the top stones of the golden pillars were made of terrazzo." In terms of architectural style and material technology, the Confucian Temple not only reflects the continued development of traditional techniques and art of classical architecture in the Qing Dynasty, but also reflects the historical era when new technologies and materials were adopted in the early stages of China's architectural reform. Therefore, the "Harbin Confucian Temple" is an ancient building complex with historical value, as well as architectural technology and artistic value.
If you visit the "Harbin Confucian Temple" in late spring and early summer, this is an excellent season. In the gardens of the Confucian Temple, shrubs such as peach blossoms, lilacs, and honeysuckle vines are blooming with various red, white, and purple flowers. The orioles are singing and swallows are dancing in the forest, which is full of life. When visitors look up, their eyes are full of spring, and they feel that they are in a hundred gardens, enjoying themselves. The breeze blows, and the fragrance floats away, refreshing your heart and mind, and you feel refreshed and sweet. In this "land of black language and fragrance of flowers", people feel relaxed and happy, as if they have entered a "paradise", as if they have returned to the fresh enjoyment of nature.
Tourists and young students, the mystery of the "Harbin Confucian Temple" not having its main entrance opened, the legend of Wenquxing descending to earth, the majesty of Dacheng Hall, the elegance of Zhuangyuan Bridge, so many mysteries and allusions, as long as you are here Take time out of your busy schedule to visit the "Harbin Confucian Temple" and visit the "Forbidden City" in Harbin. These mysteries will be solved one by one! The solemn atmosphere and beautiful scenery in front of you will definitely make you linger. What you see on paper is always shallow, but if you want to appreciate the beautiful scenery, you must practice it. I hope all my friends can make the trip as soon as possible.
Confucius said: "It's great to have friends come from afar." The staff of "Harbin Confucian Temple" and the Ethnographic Museum sincerely welcome and await the arrival of guests and friends at home and abroad!