Xange Cultural Square

Distant View of Xange Platform Main Gate of Xange Platform Hall of Great Accomplishment Front Eight Stone Columns Xange Academy

Xange Platform stands on a lake in the southwestern corner of the county seat, rising 3 meters high. The entire complex perches atop an elevated stone terrace surrounded by water. It was originally the garden terrace of Liu Chong, Prince of Chen, during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Around 720 AD, in the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang Dynasty, a Confucian temple was relocated here to commemorate Confucius’ ordeal of running out of provisions while staying in Chen. Hence it is also known as the Temple of Food Shortage or Ordeal Platform. In April 1962, it was designated one of the first batch of County-level Major Cultural Relic Protection Sites by the Huaiyang County People’s Committee. In July 2006, the People’s Government of Henan Province listed it as a Provincial Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit.

Book of the Later Han · Biographies of the Eight Princes of Emperor Xiaoming records: Liu Chong, Prince of Chen, excelled at crossbow shooting. Around 180 AD during the Zhongping reign, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, and magistrates of prefectures and counties all fled their cities. Liu Chong possessed thousands of powerful crossbows and stationed troops at the capital pavilion. Local residents knew the prince’s extraordinary archery skill and dared not stage uprisings, so Chen Prefecture alone remained intact, drawing more than one hundred thousand refugees to seek shelter.

Universal Geography of the Taiping Era states: "This was once the crossbow terrace of the Prince of Chen; during the Kaiyuan reign, the Temple of Confucius was moved onto it."

Records of Chen Prefecture compiled in the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty documents: "Ordeal Platform lies in the southwestern outskirts of the prefecture city. Folklore identifies it as the place where Confucius suffered a seven-day food shortage. In the 6th year of the Chenghua reign of the Ming Dynasty (1470), Prefect Dai Xin expanded the foundation, built a temple compound enclosed by surrounding walls, and erected a wooden memorial tablet for Master Ni (Confucius) for worship, recording the project on a stone stele, naming the shrine the Temple of the Ordeal. In the 7th year of the Hongzhi reign (1494), Prefect Ni Gao reconstructed the shrine, placing a statue of Confucius in the central hall with statues of the Four Disciples of Distinguished Learning lined on both sides. In the 7th year of the Jiajing reign (1528), Tan Zuan, Censor-in-Chief for Circuit Inspection, expanded the shrine hall and hung a horizontal plaque inscribed "Temple of Food Shortage", while the rear hall was named the Academy of Virtuous Wisdom. In the 21st year of Jiajing’s reign, Circuit Censor Zhao Jiben renamed the entire complex Xange Platform. Its main hall spans seven bays, with two gate buildings standing atop lofty terraces and towering walls, magnificent and awe-inspiring. In the 29th year of the Wanli reign (1601), Prefect Xu Jideng built several lecture halls, hanging a plaque reading "Terrace of Admiration for Sages", renamed the rear hall the Academy of Upholding Orthodoxy, and titled the front gate "Gate of Abundant Virtue and Grace". At sunset, visitors overlook ancient dark cypresses, lush reeds and cattails, forming a breathtaking landscape."

In the 3rd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1664), an official post was assigned to oversee sacrificial rituals here. Renovations were carried out by Prefect Xiao Guobi in 1682 (the 21st Kangxi year), who refurbished statues of Confucius and the Ten Wise Disciples. Prefect Wang Qingyan conducted another restoration in 1690 (the 29th Kangxi year). In 1713 (the 52nd Kangxi year), Kuai Xu, Censor-General, replaced the roof tiles with green glazed ones, erected stone pillars, and recast statues of Confucius and his Ten Wise Disciples. Further restorations followed under Prefect Gao Shihuang and Magistrate Feng Yisu in 1754 (the 19th Qianlong year), and Prefect Li Zhenzhu and Magistrate Liu Guangshu in 1817 (the 22nd Jiaqing year).

The compound today has two successive gate buildings. Above the main gate hangs a stone horizontal plaque carved with three characters "Xange Platform", erected in 1711 (the 50th year of the Kangxi reign). The core structure is the main hall, seven bays wide and five bays deep, built in the single-eave hip-and-gable architectural style with green glazed tile roofing. A covered corridor encircles the hall, supported by 24 solid stone columns. A couplet is carved on the stone pillars flanking the main entrance:

On May 4, 1996, Dr. Tang Enjia, President of the Hong Kong Confucian Academy, donated a 3-meter-tall bronze statue of Confucius to be installed at Xange Platform.

In 1998, Wan Xiling, Chairman of Dengfeng Aluminum Industry Group and a native of Huaiyang, donated one million RMB for large-scale renovation, restoring six east and west side wing rooms. From 2006 to 2008, sixteen chambers of Xange Academy were reconstructed. A screen wall, stone memorial archway and public square were built in front of the main gate.

Wrapped in an elegant tranquil setting, the platform boasts emerald weeping willows and fragrant lotus blooms throughout summer and early autumn