Temple of Confucius (Kong Miao), Peking: Hall of Great Accomplishment (or Great Perfection Hall, Dachengdian), interior with altar and tablet to Confucius. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.

A bench type altar in front of a decorated carved dark wood screen with large characters at the top. Large vases with dried flowers on either side

Situated next to the ancient National University, or Guozijian, the Temple of Confucius was a shrine where people paid homage to Confucius throughout the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Great Perfection Hall, situated in the centre of the Temple, is one of the most imposing examples of imperial architecture in Beijing. Both inside and outside the Hall, there are inscriptions by nine Qing emperors added since the time of Kangxi emperor. The large, gold-lettered inscription above the Hall, by Kangxi emperor, reads 'The teacher and example of ten thousand generations'

[1871]

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion

Confucian altar Bears Thomson's negative number: "638"

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

John Thomson, Illustrations of China and its people, 1873-4, vol. IV, pl. XIV, fig. 36, "The Great Confucian Altar, Peking"

Stephen W. Bushell, Chinese art, London 1904, vol. 1, pl. 33

Nick Pearce, Photographs of Peking, China 1861-1908: an inventory and description of the Yetts collection at the University of Durham: through Peking with a camera, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2005, no. 18, p. 88-89

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 63 (reproduced)

Wellcome Collection 19524i