Zizhong Confucian Temple and Martial Temple 资中文庙与武庙

About Zizhong Confucian Temple and Martial Temple

During the Cultural Revolution, local heritage workers saved the Confucius Temple's holdings — including a Confucius statue, Kangxi-era calligraphy and a Ming Chenghua-era stele — by hiding or burying artifacts, covering carvings with mud, and having carpenters stage the partial dismantling of plaques and tablets in front of Red Guards before secretly reassembling the salvaged pieces; this work, recounted by a retired county heritage-preservation worker, is credited with keeping the temple largely intact.

After the reform and opening-up period the Confucius Temple was for a time left derelict and overgrown, while the Martial Temple was in use by Zhonglong Middle School, which repeatedly proposed demolishing part of it to convert into classrooms; the conversion was halted after the account's author reported the Martial Temple's situation to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in Beijing in 1981, though a shortage of funds left both temples unrepaired. In July 1996, reports in China Culture News and Sichuan Daily on the temple's neglected condition prompted provincial and local officials to convene and draft a rescue plan, covering the relocation of resident households and phased repairs to the Dacheng Hall, palace wall, worship platform, corridors and interior fittings. From December 1998 to 2003, the county cultural-heritage office carried out further repairs: replacing weathered stonework at the Lingxing Gate and Pan Pond, restoring the Li Men and Yi Lu gates, repairing the damaged screen wall, rebuilding the retaining wall behind the Dacheng Hall, and renovating the inner and outer moon ponds.

The Martial Temple's Chongning Hall was repaired at the same time, with funding from the county cultural-heritage office and jointly from the county education committee and Zhonglong Middle School, covering the hall's lower eaves, its bell and drum towers, corridor roofing, decayed timber components, and the towers' broken corner eaves. Following this restoration work, the Confucius Temple and Martial Temple were together designated a national key cultural-relics protection unit.

What to look for

• the Dacheng Hall (大成殿) of the Confucius Temple, along with its palace wall and worship platform
• the Lingxing Gate and Pan Pond, and the Li Men and Yi Lu gates, of the Confucius Temple
• the Confucius Temple's Chongsheng, Mingguan and Xiangxian shrine halls
• the Martial Temple's Chongning Hall and its bell and drum towers

Location & getting there

Getting to Zizhong Confucian Temple and Martial Temple

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 资中文庙与武庙 with 内江市 and 资中县.