They were formerly the site of the administration of the imperial examination in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam and often housed schools and other studying facilities.

The giant statue is located in Qufu, Shandong province, birthplace of the ancient Chinese educator and philosopher.

In Southern China, however, temples by that name generally honor Wenchang Wang, a separate deity associated with the scholar Zhang Yazi.

Sacrifices to the spirit of Confucius and that of Yan Hui, his most prominent disciple, began in the Imperial University (Biyong) as early as 241.

In 454, the Liu Song dynasty of southern China built a prominent state Confucian temple.

The Confucian Temple of old Tianjin is located on Dongmennei Dajie, a short distance west of Traditional Culture Street (Gu Wenhua Jie).

Occupying 32 acres of land, the Confucian Temple is the largest extant traditional architectural complex in Tianjin.

However, the complex in Qufu has nine courtyards containing scores of steles commemorating visits by an emperor or imperial grants of noble titles upon descendants of Confucius.

In the early years of the temple in Qufu, it appears that the spirits of Confucius and his disciples were represented with wall paintings and clay or wooden statues.

The lack of unity in likenesses in statues of Confucius first led Emperor Taizu of the Ming dynasty to decree that all new Confucian temples should contain only spirit tablets and no images.

Every year on September 28, the birthday of Confucius, city authorities hold the Shidian (Chinese: 釋奠) Ceremony here.

In addition, there is a Confucian temple located in Zuoying District of Kaohsiung that was completed in 1974 in the Northern Song architectural style.

Well-known Confucian temples were built in Huế, Tam Kỳ, Hội An, Hưng Yên, Hải Dương, Biên Hòa, Vĩnh Long and Bắc Ninh.

[6] Although Chinese models were followed, variations in layout and construction were common, such as the building of schools in front of temples.

After World War II and the division of the country, those in the North were converted to use as a center of traditional culture (see Gukjagam).

The most famous is the Yushima Seidō, built in 1630 during the Edo period as a private school connected with the Neo-Confucianist scholar Hayashi Razan.

Originally built in Shinobi-ga-oka in Ueno, it was moved at the end of the 18th century near present-day Ochanomizu by the Tokugawa Shogunate, and a major state-sponsored school, Shoheikō, was opened on its grounds.

The largest and oldest is the Boen Bio in Surabaya, originally built in the city's Chinatown in 1883 and moved to a new site in 1907.