Qinhuai River

賽項：2014年第四屆南京市導游大賽

選手：夏影（一等獎）

選送：中山陵園管理局

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I am Xia Ying, you can call me Joynes; and I hope you will enjoy the cruise on this pleasure boat.

Now the bridge over our head is Wende Bridge. There is a famous legend goes like this: at midnight on the 15th of the 11th lunar month, the bridge is flanked by half of the moon.

Now, the architecture on our left hand side, is the “All Scholars Gateway” which refers to Confucius as the hub of all articles and morality.

What you can see now on your right hand is a screen wall. It has a length of 110 meters, which is the longest of its kind in China! The function is to indicate Confucius' learning is too profound to be understood by common people.

Now, please look at the left side, this is Kuixing Pavilion which has 3 levels. It was used for sacrificing the God of Literature who controlled our literary fate. It was also the symbol of winning the first prize in the imperial examination.

Well, the Confucius temple was first built about 1,000 years ago, in the Northern Song Dynasty and rebuilt in 1986. The river flows through it is called the inner Qinhuai River. What's the meaning of “inner”?

Actually, when Qinhuai River reaches the city, it is divided into 2 streams. The one goes around the city walls is the outer Qinhuai River and the other one goes into the city is the inner Qinhuai River. The inner one is used to be a very important transport of grain and salt. So there were many restaurants and tea houses on both banks just because of its prosperity.

Now, please look forward. This is the Wenyuan Bridge, which means the source of articles.

And the area on our left hand side is Jiangnan Imperial Examination Center, where the imperial exams were held. The examination was the basic system for selecting officials in feudal China. It was initiated in the Sui Dynasty and established in the Tang Dynasty. Then flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and finally, abolished in 1905. Wow, a history of more than 1300 years.

The origin of the center can date back to the year of 1169. After several extensions, it was developed into the largest one in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During that period, the students of about 23 provinces needed to take the exams here.

The selecting system was very strict and complex. There were all together 4 levels, the county, provincial, national and palace examinations. Every candidate should spend nine days in a very small private room, and had no freedom to leave until the exam was over.

How hard it was? Only 1 out of the 100 candidates could pass. Wow, it was too hard! At least for me.

So before the exam, the candidates usually went to the Confucius temple and prayed: “Give me the power! Give me the encouragement,and let me pass the examination.” If he passed the exam, he surely went back to the temple to show his thankfulness.

Now, please look at on your left hand side. This is the Tao Ye Ferry. According to the legend, there was a famous calligrapher called Wang Xianzhi, who loved his wife Tao Ye very much. When Tao Ye boated across here, Wang Xianzhi was always worried about her. Every time, he would accompany Tao Ye to cross the river together. Sounds so romantic, isn't it? This ferry just drives its name from Tao Ye.

Now the area on our right hand is the Egret Islet Park or we can say Bailuzhou Park, which used to be a habitat of many egrets.

Now, please look forward, we can see a gate made of stone at the end of this river. We call it the East Sluice. The East Sluice was built more than 600 years ago in the Ming Dynasty, and Qinhuai River just separates from here. The function of the gate is to adjust the water level of the inner and outer Qinhuai River.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, our boat will return. You can take some photos of these unique architectures. I really wish you enjoy your stay in Nanjing.

Thanks for listening.

關鍵詞點擊

秦淮風光帶

夫子廟秦淮風光帶位于南京市秦淮區，以夫子廟為核心、十里秦淮為軸線、明城墻為紐帶，串聯起眾多全國重點文物保護單位、省級和市級文物保護單位，以儒家思想與科舉文化、民俗文化等為內涵，集旅游觀光、美食購物、科普教育、節慶文化等功能于一體，是南京歷史文化薈萃之地，也是著名的開放式國家5A級旅游景區。

秦淮河是南京古老文明的搖籃，南京的母親河，歷史上極富盛名。這里素為“六朝煙月之區，金粉薈萃之所”，更兼十代繁華之地，“衣冠文物，盛于江南；文采風流，甲于海內”，被稱為“中國第一歷史文化名河”。

知識拓展

欞星門

“欞星門”是文廟中軸線上的牌樓式木質或石質建筑。“欞星”即靈星，又名天田星。《后漢書》記載，漢高祖祭天祈年，命祀天田星。天田星是二十八宿之一“龍宿”的左角，因為角是天門，門形為窗欞，故而稱門為欞星門。皇帝祭天時，要先祭欞星。袁枚在《隨園隨筆》中說：“后人以漢靈星祈年與孔廟無涉，又見門形為窗靈，遂改為欞。”在宋代，欞星門又稱“烏頭門”，文廟修欞星門，象征祭孔如同尊天。文廟中的欞星門是在明太祖洪武十五年以后出現的，象征祭孔如同尊天。后來人們又將欞星解釋為天鎮星、文曲星、魁星。古人認為“天鎮星主得士之慶，其精下為靈星之神”，以欞星命名孔廟大門，象征著孔子可與天上施行教化、廣育英才的天鎮星相比，又意味著天下文人學士匯集于此，統一于儒學的門下。