Introduction

Hangzhou Confucian Temple was formerly the Lin’an Prefectural School in the Southern Song Dynasty. Built in the first year of Shaoxing (1131), it is now located at No.8, Fuxue Alley, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou. With an area of about 4400 square meters and an overall construction area of 1500 square meters, it is a majestic, elegant and pristine architectural style. Because it was the Confucian temple of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty, it now occupies extremely important status in the history of Hangzhou. It houses over 500 various inscriptions from the Tang to Qing Dynasty, for example the writings of emperors, local history biography, masterpieces of Chinese Calligraphy, figural representations, galaxy maps and water conservancy projects. Among them are the most well-known South Song Stone-Scripture created by Emperor Gaozong of Song, Inscriptions of Sixteen Arhats by Guanxiu, Inscription of Confucius and his 72 students by Ligonglin and Inscription of the Universe in the Five Dynasties. What’s more, in this temple there are imperial steles from the Southern Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty and inscriptions of handwritings of calligraphy masters such as Wangxizhi, Wangxianzhi, Sudongpo, Mifu, and Zhuyunming. It’s worth mentioning that it has collected a batch of historical monuments that have recorded historical facts about water conservancy, building a sea wall and the salt transportation in Hangzhou region. There is an abundance of precious information for experts to investigate Hangzhou’s water conservancy and promote economic development. Hence, it’s a “stony library,” which integrates history, science and art.