CONFUCIUS TEMPLE

Established under the Song, in 1034, the site, as its name indicates, was dedicated to Confucius. He was a school, rebuilt, renovated and enlarged over the centuries. The scholars came to pray, the building being only an annex to the Jiangnan exam School. The current buildings inspired by the Ming architecture, date from the period following the Japanese occupation. The imperial examination hall of the Qing dynasty was rebuilt in 1989 on the very site of the old school. This set allows to better understand the importance of the imperial system under the dynasty of the Sui (institution founded in 1168) and the end of the Qing (1911). The first emperor of the Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, moved this examination centre to national rank. The centre thus became the largest in the country. The officials monitored the candidates from the top of the mingyuanlou, a square block located in the center of the Ming period and reconstructed under the Qing. A specialized research centre on the study of the imperial examination system occupies the premises.