Hall the Great Ensemble (picturefrom the Internet)

Plagueof Quan Tai Shou Xue (picture from the Internet)

The ConfucianTemple inTainan,Taiwan, also known as the Temple of Literature, was built during the Yongli reign of the Ming Dynasty, making it the earliest of its kindin Taiwan, and the first institution of higher learningafter Zheng Chenggong's recapture of Taiwan. Before that, Taiwan did not have any formal Chinese cultural education facilities, so the establishment of the Confucian Temple in Tainan marked the official entry of Confucianism into Taiwan, and became an important milestone in the history of Taiwan's educational development. It opened a brand new page and traditional Chinese culture and education thus spread across the island.

The Tainan Confucian Templeis the oldest and best-preserved onein Taiwan. Since its construction, it has undergone more than 10 repairs, but it has largely maintained its orignial structure. As a whole, the temple is modeled on the ancient palace architectural style, with typical southern Chinese features. Its roof, covered with stunning yellow glazed tiles and finished with attractive raised ridges, is in the traditional East Asian hip and gable style. Above the entrance gate of the temple hangs a plaque with 4 bold golden inscriptions of Quan Tai Shou Xue - meaning the first educational institution of Taiwan, illuminating the solemnity of the Confucius Temple.

Each year, on September 28th, the birthday of Confucius the Ultimate Sage, also the Teachers’Day in Taiwan, a grand Confucius Memorial Ceremony will be held by Tainan Municipal Government according to the ancient rituals, with thousands of worshipersattending, which is very solemn and exciting.