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 The Mansion, Temple and Cemetery of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province, are cultural sites that attract tourists from both China and abroad, In 1994, they were listed as UNESCO’s world cultural heritage sites.
The Mansion of Confucius is the living quarters of the first grandson of Confucius, a great philosopher, educator and founder of Confucianism. It is also known as Master Yansheng's Mansion because in 1055, or the second year of the reign of Song Dynasty Emperor Zhaozhen, Kong Zongyuan, the 46th generation male descendant of Confucius was given the title "Master Yansheng.” The title was passed down to Kong Decheng, the 77th generation male descendant of Confucius. Built on an area of 160,000 square meters, the mansion has nine courtyards with 463 rooms along the east, west and middle routes. The houses along the middle route are the main part of the mansion. The first four yards contain offices and the other five serve as residences. At the rear is a garden. The mansion stores more than 9,000 volumes of files from 1534 (the 13th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Jiaqing) to 1948 and great quantities of rare and precious cultural and historical relics. | |
