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a. Brief Introduction
These sites, over 2,000 years old, are links with China's most famous sage and educator.
Covering 140,000 sq. m, the site boasts over a hundred halls, towers, pavilions and other buildings clustering around 9 courtyards. There are also the Apricot Altar on the spot where Confucius had his school, the famous cypress planted by him and over 1,000 stone tablets.
To the east of the temple is Confucius' house. During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu conferred official titles on all Confucius' descendants, and his ancestral home was honored. It has 480 rooms, which contain a large number of relics connected with the sage.
Located north of Qufu, the Confucius Forest is where the tombs of Confucius and many of his descendants are to be found. Zi Gong, one of Confucius' leading disciples, started planting trees at his master's tomb, and now there are over 10,000 trees here. Kong Shangren, author of the drama The Peach Blossom Fan, is buried here too.
b. Cultural Heritage
The Temple of Confucius in Qufu is the central temple for worshippers of Confucius all over the world and model to over 2000 Confucius temples distributed in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, the United States and other places. It has been in use for over 2,400 years.
The Cemetery of the Kong family, also with a history of over 2,400 years, is one of the oldest in the world.
The Family Mansion of Confucius is the largest, most typical and best-preserved special building complex for both official and private use still existent in China. Its owner, the Kong family, is the most time-honored noble family of China, with peerage titles dating back over 2,100 years.
The historic, scientific and artistic value of the Temple, Family Cemetery and Family Mansion of Confucius lie in their impressive collection of cultural relics. In the field of architecture, more than 300 buildings erected through the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties reflect the characteristics of those different eras. Over 1,000 Han Dynasty stone reliefs, inscribed figures of Confucius and dragon poles illustrate the evolution of the art of stone inscription. Over 5,000 inscribed tablets passed down since the Western Han Dynasty provide a precious showcase of Chinese calligraphy as well as valuable material for the study of ancient China's politics, ideology, economy, culture and arts. Some 100,000 tombs bear concrete testimony to the ancient burial customs of China. In addition, more than 17,000 ancient and precious trees stand here as living material for research into ancient phenology, meteorology and bionomics. There are also 100,000-plus items of collected relics, among which the most famous are rare genuine costumes of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, portraits of Confucius, Lord Yansheng and their wives, as well as original ceremonial utensils. Researchers into the study of history, especially the economic history of the Ming and Qing dynasties cannot miss the 300,000 original files and documents of those times, which comprise the largest private collection of ancient files in China.
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