First day tour at the Temple of Literature

I have to admit that this is the first time I ever got interested the Temple of Literature. Having grown up in China, I have been to numerous temples as such. As a kid, I was not amazed by them because all the people look similar inside the temple. But for the first time, I realized how culture and history could shape our attitude toward education. Though called the Temple of "Literature", it is not in the sense that our modern day people see as literature in ancient asian culture. Literature, as I explained to my colleagues, is some sort of generic term referring to literature, history, polity, and other knowledge and virtue one needs to rule a kingdom. In some sense, the literature here is ultimate form of knowledge that embodies the view of world of people at that time. The Mandarins, or Confusions, should excel in interpreting the ancient text written by Confucius and his students but not just mechanically remember all these works. It is through constant debating and re-interpreting the old texts according to the new times that makes the Confucius teaching a century long ideology. But even that I know all these things through textbooks when I grow up, I was never aware of the importance of these traditions on me. It is through this trip that gives me the opportunity to stare at my own civilization at a distance that I began to understand how much I am still a student of Confucius after 2000 years.