Mencius Tourist site
Mencius tourist site is located in Zou cheng city in the south of Shan dong Province. It has a long history and culture- birth place of Confucius and Mencius, great thinkers of ancient China. In 1995, it was named one of the national historical and cultural cities by the State Council. The city has an enchanting scenery with over 300 historic sites that includes four famous sites associated with Mencius; Mencius Temple, Mencius Family Mansion, Mencius Forest and Mencius Mothers Forest.
These sites are named after a philosopher Mencius. He was born in Zou now a county-level city of Zou cheng (originally Zou xian). Mencius was brought up by his mother after his father died at a very young age. She changed location three times until she found a suitable location to bring up her son. She moved next to a school and Mencius was inspired by the scholars and students, and so he studied. His mother decided to remain, and Mencius became a scholar. Mencius was a famous thinker and educator in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and a disciple of Confucius. He gained the fame of being the “second sacred personage”. According to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. He took 3 years off duty to mourn his mother’s death. He retired from public life when because he was disappointed at his lack of influence.
Mencius Temple is south of Qufu. It was originally built beside Mencius tomb in the Northern Song Dynasty (1037 AD), the temple was moved to its present site and expanded to its present scale in 1121 AD, during the Ming Dynasty. The Temple is a complex of five courtyards with altogether 64 halls, 4 wooden houses and one stone house. All the buildings were designed with the south-north axis symmetrically and the Hall of the Second Sacred Personage at the center. The front part of the temple consists of 20 small courtyards. The Temple keeps over 350 stone inscriptions from various dynasties such as the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming. Among these two are striking, there were erected to remember and praise Mencius’ mother who played a great role in educating her son. This Temple is worthy of being called an art museum of ancient architecture, paintings and carvings.
The Mencius Family Mansion is a museum-which retains a large number of precious cultural relics-that reflects exquisite ancient architecture. It houses historical materials that relates to Chinas economic, political and historical development as a feudal society.
Admission fee: CNY 40 (Apr. 1st-Oct. 31st); CNY 30 (Nov. 1st-Mar. 31st)
Reference
http://www.topchinatravel.com/china-attractions/mencius-temple.htm
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/shandong/jining/mencius-mansion-temple.htm