Taiyuan Confucian Temple, Confucian temple in Taiyuan, China

Taiyuan Confucian Temple is a religious and educational center in Shanxi Province featuring several interconnected courtyards and traditional halls. The complex displays classic Chinese architecture with stone decorations and ceremonial spaces arranged in orderly patterns.

The prefectural school and temple were founded under the Jin dynasty, in the Tianhui era of 1123–1137, west of the county seat alongside the Taiyuan county school. In 1881 the Fen River flooded and destroyed both compounds; the next year governor Zhang Zhidong had the temple rebuilt on the ruins of the burnt Chongshan Temple. In 1919 it became a provincial library and museum, and since 2003 it has housed the Shanxi Folk Museum.

The temple's name refers to the Taiyuan prefectural Confucian school, and its halls were dedicated to Confucius and local scholars. Since 2003 the complex has housed the Shanxi Folk Museum, so today's displays focus on provincial folk customs rather than Confucian rites.

The complex faces south and is entered from Shangguan Lane in Yingze District; the axis runs from the Wanren Gongqiang wall through Lingxing Gate and the Pan pond to Dacheng Hall and Chongsheng Shrine. Two walled courtyards cover 40,000 square metres, so allow time to cross the grounds on foot. The site is now the Shanxi Folk Museum, and the halls are visited on foot rather than by vehicle.

The temple stands on the site of Chongshan Temple, which burned down; in 1882 governor Zhang Zhidong proposed rebuilding the Confucian temple in its ruins. Since 2003 the complex has housed the Shanxi Folk Museum, and it became a national key cultural relic in 2013.