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The Mansion of Confucius is the living quarters
of the first grandson of Confucius, a great philosopher, educator
and a founder of Confucianism. It is also known as Master Yanshen's
Mansion because in 1055, or the second year of the reign of Song
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 7,000 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.
The Temple of Confucius was, in various dynasties,
a place for worshipping Confucius. In 478 B.C., the second year
after Confucius' death, the ruler of the State of Lu converted the
three-room Confucius' former mansion into a temple and this became
a place for worshipping Confucius. The temple was constantly renovated
and expanded to its present size by emperors of the Western Han
Dynasty and following historical periods. It covers an area of 218,000
square meters and is 1,129 meters in length from south to north.
There are nine courtyards and 466 rooms along three routes in the
left, right and middle. The temple has an outer wall, with four
corner towers, which shelters ancient pines. The main buildings
along the middle route are Kuiwen Pavilion, Thirteen Stele Pavilion,
Xingtan Pavilion, Dacheng Hall, Hall of Confucius' Wife and Shengji
Hall. Dacheng hall stands out and is the main hall where Confucius
was worshipped.
The temple houses some 2,000 tablets dating
from the Western Han Dynasty right up to the founding of New China;
they are one of the largest collections of tablets in the country.
There are now three exhibition halls displaying tablets from the
Han Dynasty and Six Kingdoms of Wei, stone statues from the Han
Dynasty and calligraphic carvings on Yuhonglou tablets. The 17 tablets
of Han Dynasty are the largest collection in the country by the
quantity reserved in one place.
The Cemetery of Confucius is about 1.5 kilometers
north of Qufu and is the Confucius family cemetery. It takes up
1.998 million square meters and around it there is a seven-kilometer-long
hedge. The pavilions, towers, halls and archways built in various
historical periods are set in a forest. Behind the Zhushui Bridge
is the graveyard, dating from the Eastern Zhou, which houses the
tomb of Confucius, the tombs of his son Kong Li and grandson Kong
Ji. The tomb of Confucius is 6.2 meters high and has a circumference
of 88 meters.
Included in the UNESCO world heritage list
in 1994.
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