Emperor Zhenzong 真宗 of the Song Dynasty's Pavillion at the Confucius Forest 孔林
The emperors of China had tremendous respect for Confucius. As a result, they seem to frequent the province of Shandong quite often. Shandong is the home province of Confucius and it is where Mount Tai and the birthplace of Confucius are. It is little wonder then that these emperors are frequent visitors to Qufu. Emperors are known to visit Mount Tai every now and then and since Qufu is relatively close by, they also drop by to pay their respects to Confucius.
Emperor Kangxi's Pavillion at the Confucius Forest 孔林
There were a few significant visits by emperors here such that they are commemorated by building a small pavillion in honor of their visit. The earliest one I saw as from Zhenzong 真宗 of the Song dynasty during the early 11th century. The more notable emperor were quite recent ones Qianlong 乾隆 and Kangxi 康熙 both paid their respects here at the tomb of Confucius. There wasn’t really anything special about the pavillions they were red traditional looking Chinese pavillions. It was interesting to note that considering the pavillions are all several hundred years old apart and yet they look the same.
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