Visiting Qufu

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Today was the first of our over-night trip to Qu Fu and Tai Shan. After a really long yet entertaining bus ride, we finally arrived at Qu Fu. The weather here was definitely hotter than Qing Dao, which made a lot of us appreciate the nice and cool weather at Qing Dao. After lunch, we could finally start our visit to 孔庙，孔府 and 孔林. 孔庙 was the first stop that we visited and it was the most important site because this was the place that ancient emperors visited when they wanted to show their appreciation towards Confucius.

There were many historical artifacts at 孔庙, as emperors from various dynasties all contributed their part in expanding the site. The majority of emperors left their mark by leaving beautiful calligraphy on the walls that described how they felt about Confucius and his ideology. We also learned that there were three pathways throughout 孔庙. The middle path was reserved for the emperor because they had the ultimate power. Most of us walked along the middle pathway because we wanted to feel like the ancient emperors.

The next destination was 孔府; this was the place that Confucius and his descents had once lived. The ancient structures were constructed with beautiful features that were suited for this scholarly family. After visiting Confucius’s home, we went over to the cemetery for himself and his descendents. This was probably the biggest cemetery ever because Confucius had many descendents. There were close to ten thousand tomb stones in the cemetery!

Throughout the trip, we were lucky enough to be driven around by the touristic cars; it sure saved us a lot of time and energy! When we got back to the hotel, we all rested early because we were having a really important trip the next day – the hike of Tai Shan.

By: Lui, Jiayun

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