Chinesebox in Beijing

Renovations on the 700-year-old Confucian Temple at the Guozijian Street in Dongcheng District drew to a close recently. The historic site will be ready to receive visitors in 2008.

The Confucian Temple is part of the Imperial College．Originally，it was called Confucian Temple of Imperial College or Capital Confucian Temple．Actually，the Beijing Confucius Temple is not the only Confucius Temple in China．There is one in Qufu，Shandong Province，which is Confucius’ hometown．The Confucius Temple in Qufu is much larger in size．yet the Social position of Confucius Temple in Beijing was much higher than the Confucius Temple in Qufu．This is because the Emperors of the Yuan，Ming and Qing Dynasties all came to Beijing Confucius Temple to pay homage to the ancient sage Confucius．So in hierarchal ancient feudal society，no other Confucius Temple could equal this one．

Construction of Beijing Confucius Temple started in 1302 and was completed in 1 306 during the Yuan Dynasty．The Imperial College was built to its west side where it was considered the highest educational college at that time．Later．it was rebuilt in 1411 during the Ming Dynasty，and in 1737，during the Qing Dynasty．From 1906 to 1916，ten years were spent to enlarge and renovate the temple to make it what we see today．The Confucius Temple houses many precious historical and cultural relics including the Qian Long stone drums，the inscribed boards，stone tablets inscribed with the full texts of the thirteen Confucian classics，and stone tablets bearing the names and origins of scholars who passed the palace examination．To better protect and utilize this historical site，in 1981，the Confucius Temple was turned into the Capital Museum，and in 1988，it was designated as one of the major national historical and cultural sites under the national protection of the State Council．