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Jiading history set in stony steles
By Tao Jiming and Pan Zheng |
August 29, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
INSCRIBED steles enjoy a long history in Jiading District. According to a survey, there used to be more than 800 inscribed steles in Jiading. However, because of war, relocation and natural damage, over half of these commemorative slabs have disappeared in history, while others are still preserved in various parts of the district.
Most of Jiading's inscribed steles can be found in four places - Qiuxiapu Garden, Sixian Hall, Anting Middle School and Confucius Temple, which is ranked as the top site. In the early 1960s, when the Confucius Temple was under renovation, the local government designed a stele corridor of over 40 meters long. In the 1980s, another stele corridor of about 40 meters was built on the east side of Danghu Academy in the temple. These two stele corridors with large amounts of inscriptions have enriched the cultural aura of Jiading.
When you enter the Confucius Temple in Jiading, the first thing you see are seven huge Bixi, a kind of legendary animal that looks like turtle, six of them holding huge inscribed steles on their backs.
Most steles in the Confucius Temple record the educational policies and measures of ancient local governments and the reconstruction projects the temple went through. Many also record the construction of new schools and temples from the Song (960-1279) to Qing Dynasties (1644-1911).
The stele of "Jiading County School Document" was erected in 1229, recording the earliest school operated in Jiading's history. It was written by the county magistrate then named Shen Pu, who detailed the scale, the basic functions and the construction difficulties of the Confucius Temple when it was first put into operation. The stele also made a record of the first Jiading magistrate Gao Yansun, who called on the whole county to "educate people and cultivate talents," although at that time the county was very difficult in economy. To these days his farsighted call still inspires the local people to make more effort on education.
Support from local celebrities was also very important for running a school at that time. The stele called "Story of Mr Wang in the Song Dynasty" made a record that the poet Wang Zizhao at the end of the Song Dynasty twice donated his land to Confucius Temple.
On another stele "Donation for Danghu Academy" written in 1798, the famous local scholar Qian Daxin recorded the names of all the people who had given donations to the academy, including even those who had just donated a few copper coins, because Qian knew that those coins didn't come easily for common people and it was very laudable for them to support local education with their meager earnings.
Most of Jiading's inscribed steles can be found in four places - Qiuxiapu Garden, Sixian Hall, Anting Middle School and Confucius Temple, which is ranked as the top site. In the early 1960s, when the Confucius Temple was under renovation, the local government designed a stele corridor of over 40 meters long. In the 1980s, another stele corridor of about 40 meters was built on the east side of Danghu Academy in the temple. These two stele corridors with large amounts of inscriptions have enriched the cultural aura of Jiading.
When you enter the Confucius Temple in Jiading, the first thing you see are seven huge Bixi, a kind of legendary animal that looks like turtle, six of them holding huge inscribed steles on their backs.
Most steles in the Confucius Temple record the educational policies and measures of ancient local governments and the reconstruction projects the temple went through. Many also record the construction of new schools and temples from the Song (960-1279) to Qing Dynasties (1644-1911).
The stele of "Jiading County School Document" was erected in 1229, recording the earliest school operated in Jiading's history. It was written by the county magistrate then named Shen Pu, who detailed the scale, the basic functions and the construction difficulties of the Confucius Temple when it was first put into operation. The stele also made a record of the first Jiading magistrate Gao Yansun, who called on the whole county to "educate people and cultivate talents," although at that time the county was very difficult in economy. To these days his farsighted call still inspires the local people to make more effort on education.
Support from local celebrities was also very important for running a school at that time. The stele called "Story of Mr Wang in the Song Dynasty" made a record that the poet Wang Zizhao at the end of the Song Dynasty twice donated his land to Confucius Temple.
On another stele "Donation for Danghu Academy" written in 1798, the famous local scholar Qian Daxin recorded the names of all the people who had given donations to the academy, including even those who had just donated a few copper coins, because Qian knew that those coins didn't come easily for common people and it was very laudable for them to support local education with their meager earnings.
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