To the right a lot of totally optional to view photos Mr. Bergh took while in the southern most temple to Confucius, Jianshui Confucius Temple, built during the Yuan Dynasty's conquests of what is now Yunnan Province.
Below is what I remember from my memory.
(That mean's I'm a secondary source!)
1st Photo - The entrance to the temple. There is only one entrance and one exit to the entire temple. It is surrounded by large walls on all sides to protect it and keep it separate from the modern city around it.
2nd & 3rd Photo - The first thing you see upon entering is a towering statue of Confucius standing before the lake that must be walked around to reach the temple itself.
4th & 5th Photo - In the center of the temple is a pagoda. This peaceful place is where many Confucius scholars would study for their imperial exams to join the scholar-official class and get government jobs around the empire.
6th & 7th Photo - The temple consists of several open roofed square parks, each with an archway to pass through. Very green and clean.
8th Photo - It is tradition for guests to the temple to lite incense and burn it to purify themselves before going far into the temple. It also honors the spirit of Confucius.
9th Photo - In the temple are several alters to Confucius and legendary Confucian scholars of the past. One would pray and study at each alter if they needed help being prepared for a particular part of the imperial exam that the scholar was good at. There is also a legend that professors would stand behind these alters, moving parts o the alters using levers to make the statues move, and speak answers to young students who prayed.
10th Photo - Behind this portal one was supposed to leave all their negative emotions behind them. Within the temple there is a dark room where students would take their imperial exams. The exams were so hard students would have to write using a ink pen on parchment without light, writing down word for word copies of ancient texts they had memorized. If they got even one part of the text wrong they'd fail the exam.
1st Video - Here a tour guide shows off the bells the temple would of used for songs, calling dinner, starting the school day, and closing the temple. While we don't know what songs they played and certainly the scholars used to play them better, he does his best. The bells are unique in the world, each part of the bell makes a different sound that vibrates for several minutes after being hit.
2nd & 3rd Video - After visiting the Confucius temple we visited some locals that knew the tour guide. While it was obvious that the event was staged, the tour guide and the performers made it to appear spontaneous. They started playing and singing old songs that they had known since they were young. While I'm sure they were being paid by the tour guide, it is lovely that traditional Chinese village music has survived as a result.
