英文导游词夫子庙（孔庙+学宫） .doc

Confucius Temple & Scholastic PalaceLadies and Gentlemen, we will reach the Confucius Temple. Confucius Temple is located at the center of the old town of Nanjing. It is the ritual place of worshipping and offering sacrifices to Confucius. It can be also called Kong Temple or Wen Temple. Confucius was born 551 BC in Qufu, Shandong Province. He is the contemporary of Buddha in India and Pythagoras in ancient Greece, being regarded as a great philosopher, a great sage as well as a great educator of China. It was the Jesuit missionaries of the 17th century who called him Confucius, and this Latinate name has become know to the West. When he was 30 years old, he returned to Lu State from the Qi State where he was not put in an important position. The he accepted the disciples and gave them lectures. In his late years, he concentrate on compiling ancient and classics. Classic of Poetry、Spring and Autumn written by Confucius and known by all the Chinese have even influenced the Chinese attitude toward life. And he died 479 BC. Confucius Temple has been destroyed for 5 times and rebuilt after the ruins. In 1984, the government of Nanjing renovated its area. Now the area has become a tourist site of culture and commerce. It is an ideal place for tourists to understand traditional Chinese culture as well as shopping.Ok! Here we are! Please get off and follow me.My friends, we are in the Confucius Temple Square on the bank of the Qinhuai River. The Qinhuai River.is a branch of the Yangtze River totaling 110 kilometers long. It has nurtured the city of Nanjing and added on illustrious chapter to the local history. It finds its source in Mountain Baohua,Jurong County. When the water reaches the city, the river is divided into two streams. One goes around the city walls, which is Outer Qinhuai, and was exploited as part of the city moat. The other goes into the urban area of the city through East Sluice, and goes out of the city from the West Sluice ,then joins the Outer Qinhuai and empties into the Yangtze. This is the Inner Qinhuai or the well known Qinhuai River.The pool before us is called Pan Pool or Crescent Moon Pool. It is part of the natural stream of the Qinhuai. On the southern bank of the pool is Screen Wall, 110 meters long, 10 meters high, which was built in the Ming Dynasty and is the biggest still preserved in China. On the west of the pool, there is a bridge named Wen De Bridge. It came from Six Dynasty.The Gateway facing us is named the Memorial Archway. It is the first entrance to the Confucius Temple. The four Chinese character written by Yan Zhengqin, who is a famous calligrapher in the history of China ,means “The Source of The Chinese Classic is”. The archway is a commemorative building of Confucius for his great contribution to Chinese culture. At the eastern corner of the square in front of the temple is a three-storied building named Kuixing Pavilion. Kuixing means the top candidate in the imperial examination in Chinese. At the western corner lies the Juxing Pavilion. As all the men of letters or the literati were regarded as the stars in the sky, this Pavilion was specially built for their meetings.Now, we meet the first gate to the temple. It is Linxing Gate. The purpose of building the gate was to show the persons of virtue coming forth in large numbers, and the stability of the country.Going through the Lingxing Gate ,we can see the Dacheng Gate. It is the front gate of the temple. Walking ahead, we can see a bronze Confucius sculpture, which is the biggest one in China. It is 4.18 meters high,2500 kilogram weighty. After we pass the sculpture, we come to the Dacheng Hall. It was employed to enshrine and worship Confucius. In the middle of the hall is the figure of the Super Great Saint Confucius with 4 saints of Yan Hui、Zeng Shen、Meng Ke and Kong Ji on both sides. This figure, 6.5 meters high, 3.15 meters wide ,is also the largest one in China. It cost the painter two years to finish it. There are 38 huge picture which were in laid by jewelry or gemstone hung around the hall. They show the visitors the deeds happened in the Confucius whole life.Having visited the Dacheng Hall, We can see four tablets. “The Tablet of Confucius Social and Moral Stand” recorded the Confucius stand of administrating the country. Confucius proposed to the power of the ducal kings of the Lu State a number of policies and methods to stabilize the country and to consolidate the ducal power after he had made investigations on the system of the institutions in Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. “Jiqing Confucius Temple Tablet” was erected here in 1309,after the Yuan emperor had issued an imperial edict of “taking education as the state administration of the empire” in 1308. “Madame Super Great Saint Tablet” was erected in 1331,to commemorate the wife of Confucius. “Four Saint Tablet” was erected in 1331, when Emperor Weng Zong of the Yuan Dynasty granted four Confucius disciples Yan Hui 、Zeng Shen、Meng Ke and Kong Ji as four saints. we come to the Scholastic Palace. The Scholastic Palace is an architectural complex consisting of Mingde Hall, Zunjing Library, Qingyun Tower etc. Mingde Hall is the main building of it. In other Scholastic Palaces in China, the hall is called Minglun Hall. However, in Nanjing, the local people call it Mingde Hall to commemorate Wen Tianxiang, who is a famous hero in Southern Song Dynasty. At present, the Mingde Hall is use to be a Music Hall. You can enjoy the Chinese traditional music. Before the hall, there are two pavilion on each side. One is Drum Pavilion, because there is a sacred-sound drum in it. The other is Bell Pavilion, because there is a protocol bell in it. Zunjing Library (尊经阁) was a two-storied building with each having 5 rooms. The upstairs was used to collect the Chinese traditional learning of the Ming Dynasty. The downstairs was the lecture hall，where assistant instructors (训导师) used to give students lectures.Ladies and Gentlemen, besides sights we have visited in Confucius Temple, there are another sights we can see such as the Former Residence of Wangs and Xies at Wuyil Lane、the Former Residence of Li Xiangjun. Until now, all the narration are over. You all have 30 minutes to walk around as you like. We will meet at 16:00 in the No.1 Bus Park. Please remember our Bus No.12345 and be there on time .Thank you