The National Temple of Confucius in Beijing: A Structuralist Analysis of the Sacred Space
摘要
For some reason, Confucianism could be regarded as a religion. The Temples of Confucius have been a kind of important sacred space in traditional Chinese culture for more than 2000 years. The emperors of many Chinese dynasties revered Confucianism. Thus, there were officially established Temples of Confucius at all administrative levels in cities. In the long historical process, the Chinese gradually formed the construction pattern of the Temples of Confucius and passed it on. This chapter takes the National Temple of Confucius in Beijing as an example. A structuralist framework is made to show the ways that make the sacredness of this temple by unveiling the link between surface structure and deep structure. The first conclusion is that understanding the symbols, combined with the surface structure and the deep structure of this temple, is very important to understand the making of sacredness. These surface or deep structures are the same and different from other sacred spaces worldwide. The second conclusion is that in addition to the architectural techniques, the behaviour of people inside and outside the temple also creates the atmosphere of the sacred space.