Confucian Temples In Beijing And Qufu

The Confucian Temple is a classic symbol of Confucianism.Previously,researchers have been devoted to historical development of the Confucian Temple,the protection,function,and the architectural features of the Confucian Temple,few scholars focus on the multimodal meanings of the Confucian Temple.The Confucian Temple is of typical architectural multimodal discourse,and various spatial relations exist.The present study targets are the Qufu and Beijing Confucian Temples.From the perspective of Spatial Metaphor,this article analyzes the three multimodal meanings(representational meaning,interactive meaning and compositional meaning)in the Qufu and Beijing Confucian Temples.Based on the Visual Grammar and Spatial Metaphor,the author proposes an architectural multimodal discourse analytical framework.In this framework,the author regards the architectural discourse as the dynamic discourse from the view of visitors.The study is carried out from three aspects.First,this study analyzes how the elements in the Qufu Confucian Temple construct the multimodal meanings through spatial metaphor.Second,how the buildings in the Beijing Confucian Temple construct the multimodal meanings by spatial metaphor.Third,what the similarities and differences are between the multimodal meanings in the Qufu and Beijing Confucian Temples,and the cultural and historical implications behind it.Four major findings are found from the research.First,there are visiting positioning,buildings height,location and other spatial relations in the Confucian Temple.Second,the structures and spatial relations of different buildings in the Qufu and Beijing Confucian Temples define the multimodal meanings.Third,there are similarities and differences between the Qufu and Beijing Confucian Temples in multimodal meanings.Same building has the same multimodal meaning in Qufu and Beijing Confucian Temples,but the degree of multimodal meaning it presents in these two Confucian Temples is different.In addition,representational meaning and compositional meaning reflect interactive meaning.Fourth,to better understand the multimodal meanings of the Confucian Temple,we must know more information about culture,history and architectures.This study enriches the theoretical and practical application of multimodal discourse analysis.Theoretically,this thesis blends the Visual Grammar and Spatial Metaphor,and applies it in the analysis of architectural discourse.Practically,this study discusses how spatial metaphor constructs the multimodal meanings in architectural multimodal discourse,which helps people better understand the structure of the Confucian Temple and applies the multimodal discourse analysis to the field of architecture.