The Apricot Platform is the legendary place where Confucius gathered his disciples to give lectures. It is located in the middle of the corridor in front of the Dacheng Hall. Legend has it that there is an ancient juniper tree beside the platform. It is said to be the ‘juniper tree planted by the Master himself’. According to ‘Zapian · The Fisherman, Thirty-First’ in Zhuangzi, ‘Confucius wandered in the forest of black silk, and rested on the Apricot Platform. The disciples read books while Confucius played stringed instruments and sang and drummed.’ Originally, according to the annotation by Sima Biao of the Jin Dynasty, the Apricot Platform only referred to ‘a high place in the marsh’. Gu Yanwu of the Qing Dynasty also believed that all the passages about Confucius in the book Zhuangzi were written in allegorical ways, and the Apricot Platform did not necessarily have a real location. However, a popular far-fetched theory holds that the Apricot Platform is in front of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong. In the Song Dynasty, Kong Daofu, the forty-fifth generation grandson of Confucius, renovated the ancestral temple. ‘He built a platform with stones on the old foundation of the lecture hall and planted apricot trees around it, naming it after the name of the Apricot Platform.’ Therefore, there is actually an Apricot Platform in the Confucius Temple in Qufu now. Thus, the ‘Apricot Platform’ actually refers to ‘the place where Confucius gave lectures’, and now it also mostly refers to the place where people teach and educate. The Apricot Platform is surrounded by vermilion railings. It has a four-sided hip roof, a cross-shaped ridge, a double-layer yellow glazed tile cornice, and double semi-arches. Inside the pavilion, there are finely carved caisson ceilings and painted golden coiled dragons. There is also the imperial stele of ‘Praise of the Apricot Platform’ by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The stone incense burner in front of the pavilion is about 1 meter high. It has a simple shape and is a relic of the Jin Dynasty.
Opening hours: Open all day throughout the year. The specific business status is subject to the opening situation on that day.Apricot Platform
The Apricot Platform is the legendary place where Confucius gathered his disciples to give lectures.[...]
