"Looking Up at Flying Eaves and Dougong + Close-up of Dragon Patterns, Qufu Three Confucian Sites Photo Guide"

🔥 When I touched the thousand-year-old dragon pillar at the Qufu Three Confucian Sites, I suddenly understood what "a presence even emperors envy" means!

Standing in front of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple, I looked up at the sunken carved dragon stone pillar covered with red cloth. The tour guide lowered their voice and said, "Even the emperor has to cover this pillar with cloth when he visits, or the dragon’s face will be furious..." Before the words finished, a gust of wind lifted a corner of the red cloth, revealing half of the coiled dragon pattern—scales as fine as hair, claws sharp as blades, as if it would break through the pillar the next second. At that moment, I suddenly realized: this is not an ordinary attraction, but a living museum of Confucian culture.

🏯 First Stop: Confucius Temple — Traveling Through Two Thousand Years of Morning Bells and Evening Drums

📍 Must-visit: Lingxing Gate → Apricot Altar → Dacheng Hall

Entering the vermilion gate of the Confucius Temple, the first sight that stunned me was Lingxing Gate. Six stone pillars are carved with cloud and dragon patterns, each seeming to tell the philosophy of "unity of heaven and man." Passing through the gate, ginkgo leaves fall gently at the Apricot Altar. The guide said this was where Confucius taught, and now every fallen leaf feels like half a volume of the Analects.

💡 Hidden Activities:

1. Touch the Dragon Pillars for Wisdom: In front of Dacheng Hall, ten dragon-carved stone pillars each depict dragons in different poses. Legend says touching the dragon’s claw brings exam success, touching the dragon’s whiskers inspires literary creativity (but don’t actually climb them!).

2. Morning Bell and Scripture Recitation Experience: Every day at 8 AM, the Analects are recited in Dacheng Hall. Recite a few lines of "To learn and to practice what is learned in due time" and instantly feel transported back to the private school era.

3. Find the Imperial Calligraphy: The Stele Forest hides inscriptions by emperors Qianlong and Kangxi. Among them, Kangxi’s plaque "Model Teacher for Ten Thousand Generations" even carries imperial aura in the signature.

📸 Photo Tips:

• Shoot upward at the flying eaves and dougong against the blue sky, using a wide-angle lens to capture the entire Dacheng Hall

• Capture the moment morning light filters through the Apricot Altar, turning ginkgo leaves into golden spots

• Close-up of inscriptions in the Stele Forest with the caption "Even Qianlong would give this a thumbs up"

🏡 Second Stop: Confucius Mansion — The Etiquette Code Hidden in Nine Courtyards

📍 Must-visit: Chongguang Gate → Tanbi → Rear Garden

If the Confucius Temple is the spiritual hall of Confucianism, the Confucius Mansion is a living etiquette textbook. The nine courtyards are like an open history book, with every door and brick holding stories.

💡 Fun Facts:

• On the "Tanbi" at Chongguang Gate is carved a mythical beast resembling an octopus, called "Quan Tan." Legend says it is insatiably greedy, even daring to swallow the sun. Confucius’s descendants use it to warn: don’t be greedy!

• In the Rear Garden, the "Five Cypresses Embrace the Locust Tree" features five cypress trees entwined with a locust tree, symbolizing the Confucian idea of "Five Relationships in Harmony."

• The Confucius Mansion kitchen’s "Poetry and Etiquette Ginkgo" is a dish stewed with ginkgo nuts and honey, said to be a must-serve for Confucius’s descendants when entertaining guests.

🎭 Immersive Experiences:

1. Wear Hanfu and Learn Etiquette: The mansion rents Hanfu; put on the deep robe with wide sleeves, learn the "bowing etiquette" and "ten thousand blessings" from a teacher, and your photos will definitely get tons of likes.

2. Find the "World’s Number One Family" Plaque: Look up in the main hall of the mansion to see the plaque "World’s Number One Family," personally bestowed by Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang, with a little secret in the signature (find it yourself!).

3. Eavesdrop on Tour Guide Jokes: One guide is great at storytelling, saying the fake mountain in the rear garden is "the mountain Confucius climbed," which is ridiculous but hilarious.

🌳 Third Stop: Confucius Cemetery — The Imperial Pilgrimage Path Among 100,000 Steles

📍 Must-visit: Sacred Way → Confucius’s Tomb → Zigong’s Hut Tomb Site

Entering the Confucius Cemetery is like opening a three-dimensional history book. Stone men and horses line the Sacred Way; some have been worn smooth by wind and rain, others still bear Qianlong-era paint.

💡 Spine-chilling Legends:

• At the "Zigong’s Hut Tomb Site" in front of Confucius’s tomb, legend says Zigong guarded the tomb by building a grass hut for six years. There is now an ancient tree with a hollow big enough to fit an adult (don’t actually try!).

• The cemetery has as many as 100,000 steles, among which the "Wordless Stele" is the most mysterious. Some say it was erected by Empress Wu Zetian, others say Confucius’s descendants deliberately left it blank—because "Confucius’s merits and faults need no commentary."

🍂 Seasonal Special Activities:

• Autumn: The paths in Confucius Cemetery are covered with golden ginkgo leaves, walking feels like stepping on a golden carpet

• Winter: After snow, the cemetery turns into an ink painting, with snow on the steles like a seal on history

• Spring: Apricot blossoms bloom like snow at Zigong’s Hut Tomb Site, perfect for "time-travel" style photos

🚗 Transportation + Accommodation + Food Guide

🚄 How to Get There:

• Take the high-speed train to Qufu East Station, then a 15-minute taxi to the Three Confucian Sites

• Drive and navigate to "Qufu Ming Ancient City," parking costs 5 RMB/hour

🏨 Where to Stay:

• Luxury option: Que Li Bin She (next to Confucius Mansion, antique style)

• Cost-effective option: Shangri-La Hotel (10-minute walk to Confucius Temple)

• Hostel option: Confucius International Youth Hostel (on the street behind Confucius Temple, you can listen to storytelling at night)

🍜 What to Eat:

• Must-try: Confucius Mansion Tofu (made with soy milk coagulated with brine, ten times softer than regular tofu)

• Hidden menu: "Officials Attending Court" (pork wrapped around quail eggs, shaped like officials at court)

• Snack street: "Kong Family Pancakes" on North Drum Tower Street, paper-thin and fragrant with scallions

• "Pick up half the Analects in the fallen leaves at the Apricot Altar, understand a thousand years of Confucian spirit beneath the towering palace walls"

• "The dragon pillar even emperors have to cover—I touched it, did you?"

• "Qufu Three Confucian Sites: History in your left hand, tofu in your right"

📍 Location: Eastern Holy City · Qufu

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