Confucius & Confucius Mansion

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.

New Tourist Attractions in Qufu
Chinanew.cn March 30, 2005 - Qufu, Confucius' birthplace in east China's Shandong Province, has decided to enrich its cultural tourism programs and perform the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) ancient city gate opening ceremony and the Confucian Temple sacrifice rituals every week instead of once a year, to enable more visitors from home and abroad to appreciate the city's old world charms. Qufu used to perform the Ming Dynasty ancient city gate opening ceremony and the Confucian Temple sacrifice rituals once every year during the 15-day China Qufu International Confucius Culture Festival. With Confucius' hometown cultural tourism rising in popularity, these programs have gradually become favorites among visitors from home and abroad. Qufu has decided to perform these programs regularly, that is, at 9 o'clock every Saturday morning from Apr. 19 to Oct. 31 every year. More than 300 professional actors and actresses will take part. Tourists can also participate and gain first hand experience. Moreover, Qufu will also do a face-lift to the large-scale performance of "Xintanshengmeng," add Shanxi Luliang weifeng (powerful) gongs and drums as well as Russian and Korean actors and actresses.