In the southof Nanjing, near a stretch of the Qinhuai River (located in the southwestern part of Jiangsu Province, and an 110-kilometre-long tributary of the Yangtze River), is a newly developed area with Qing-style buildings, house shops and restaurants and is also a tourist attraction. The city government has created the bustling bazaar that clustered round the Song-dynasty Confucius Temple standing here. The temple, destroyed by the Japanese aggressors in the 1940s,has been reconstructed. Imperial examinations were held at the capital every three years during the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) even when the capital was moved to Beijing in 1421,candidates for high office travelled to Nanjing from nearby provinces. The Examination Hall comprised 20,600 tiny cubicles in which candidates were locked and kept guarded during the three-day examinations. Food was passed in daily to sustain the candidates through the trying ordeal.
      A stone bridge and a square tower are all that remai of this huge establishment. Inside the tower are stelae inscribed with the rules of conduct for the examinations and the history of the hall itself.