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Temple & Cemetery of Confucius & the Kong Family Mansion  |
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 Confucianism embodies the Chinese spirit and is one of the world's classic and most widespread philosophies. Confucius (551-479 B. C.), the founder of the thought, went under the name Kongzi in Chinese, and is regarded as the greatest thinker and educationalist ever to come out of ancient China.
Confucius is remembered by Chinese of all levels of life for various reasons. A noticeable one is his approach to education. He stimulated his students to think by posing questions. He also maintained that the molding of the personality was of prime importance in education, and everything else followed this.
Qufu in Shandong Province is the birthplace of Confucius. It is a famous historic and cultural city as well. The Temple & Cemetery of Confucius & the Kong Family Mansion are the must-see spots for visitors and Confucius' adorers.
The Kong Family Mansion is where Confucius' oldest direct descendant lived from generation to generation to sacrifice, guard and maintain the Cemetery of Confucius. It covers 16 hectares with 463 rooms, which consists three parts—the Oiantang Tower, Houtang Tower and the garden.
The Oiantang Tower is where the offices located. The Houtang Tower, which is in the same structure with Qiantang Tower, was where Kong Decheng, Confucius' 77th generation, and his wife lived. All the furniture and other things were laid out as they were when the couple got married. The east room was "guest receiving room." The inner room was the sitting room of Kong Decheng and his wife. A photograph of Kong Decheng's family has been displayed here.
Confucius Temple was built to sacrifice to Confucius, covering 9.6 hectares with 466 rooms. And Dacheng Hall is the center and main building of the Confucius Temple. Altar of Apricot is said to be the place where Confucius once delivered lectures to his disciples. Pavilion was first built on altar in the Jin Dynasty. There are two stone tablets in pavilion: one of them was written by Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. The present building was built in the Ming Dynasty.
The Cemetery of Confucius, also called Zhisheng woods, is located at the 1.1 kilometers north to the Qufu City. After Confucius passed away at the age of 73 in B.C. 479, his disciples buried him in the place. With the time running on, Confucius’ offspring were buried here too. By and by the cemetery became bigger and bigger. By now it covers 1.83 square-kilometers with over 100,000 tombs in it.
When Confucius died, some of his disciples put up huts beside his grave and lived in them for three years in mourning. One by the name of Zi Gong did not feel this was enough, so he stayed on for three more years. Today visitors to Confucius see a small cottage standing to the right of it, which, rebuilt many times in after years, stand on the site of Zi Gong's hut.
Shandong Province held a celebration of the great man's works at the International Confucian Cultural Festival, which opened in Confucius' hometown, Qufu City in September 2002.
Centered on a theme of "the culture and integrity of the Confucian School," the East Asia Culture Forum got underway in Qufu city. Confucian experts from all over the world had made the trip to Shandong province to discuss ways of integrating the essence of Confucian thought into everyday life as to benefit modern society.
A grand ceremony to commemorate Confucius and a tourist promotion fair were held during the festival. The Confucian cultural festival has become the world's largest international gathering to commemorate the great thinker. It hopes to communicate the culture of Confucianism and market the ancient philosopher as a tourist attraction.
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