Mount Ni () is a hill about to the southeast of the city of

Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...

Extension Project of Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu: Temple of Confucius at Nishan Mountain, Temple and Cemetery of Mencius and the Meng Family Mansion, Temple of Yanhui and Temple of Zeng Zi, Unesco World Heritage Tentative List
/ref> in

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, China. The hill is culturally significant because it is traditionally regarded as the birthplace of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

. It is also the site of a historical temple dedicated to Shuliang He, the father of Confucius, a Confucian academy (), and the Yusheng Memorial Temple (). In 2016, a statue of Confucius was completed on the Mount. Standing at 72 meters, it is the tallest statue of Confucius in the world."Confucius of Mount Ni," ''Megaconstructions.net'', September 4, 2016, https://megaconstrucciones.net/en/confucius-mount-ni/

Background

According to the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

historian

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

's parents-to-be, Shuliang He and Yan Zhengzai, went to pray at Mount Ni and Yan Zhengzai gave birth to Confucius afterwards.Ann-ping Chin: "The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought and Politics", Simon and Schuster, 2007, pg. 25
/ref> The existence of the Temple of Kong He can be traced back to the times of the

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an imperial dynasty of Chi ...

(386–535 CE). However, the temple was abandoned and restored repeatedly during the Later Tang, Later Zhou,

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, Jin, and Yuan dynasties. A major reconstruction was undertaken during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(in 1417 during the reign of the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzu of Ming, personal name Zhu Di, was the third List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 142 ...

). Further expansion of the temple followed during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. As a result, most of the extant structures of the temple date from either the Ming or the Qing era. The current architectural complex contains three sets of buildings, the Kong He Temple, the Confucian Academy, and the Yusheng Memorial Temple. The Kong He Temple consists of the following halls: the Dacheng Hall (literally "Hall of Great Achievement") dedicated to Confucius, a "Sleeping Palace" dedicated to his wife Qiguan, the Hall of Qi Shengwang and the Sleeping Palace of Qi Shengwang. The Yusheng Memorial Temple is dedicated to mountain spirit of Mount Ni. The Confucian academy contains a lecture hall as well as rooms that were used by the temple management staff. Other structures in the academy include the Erdai and Sandai Halls, the Liang Wu, the Lingxing Gate (), the Shen Bao, the Tudi Temple (dedicated to the local Earth Deity), and the Guan Chuan Pavilion. The entire complex on Mount Ni is walled in. Outside the eastern enclosure wall lies the Confucius Cave (). According to the legend, Confucius was abandoned by his mother in this cave after his birth because of his ugliness. The baby was then taken care of by a tiger and an eagle, which convinced his mother to take him back.Jun Jing: "The Temple of Memories: History, Power, and Morality in a Chinese Village", Stanford University Press, 1998
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References

{{commons category Qufu Confucian education Confucian temples Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shandong