Cemetery of Confucius
Encyclopedia
Confucius
Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
) in Confucius' hometown Qufu
Qufu
Qufu is a city in southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is located at 35° 36′ northern latitude and 117° 02′ east, about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefecture seat at Jining...
. Confucius himself and some of his disciples are buried there, as well as many thousands of his descendants.
Since 1994, the Cemetery of Confucius has been part of the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
"Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu". The two other components of the site are the Temple of Confucius
Temple of Confucius, Qufu
The Temple of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province of China, is the "original", largest and most famous of the temples of Confucius in China and East Asia....
dedicated to the memory of the philosopher and the Kong Family Mansion , where his descendants lived. The three sites are collectively known in Qufu as San Kong (三孔), i.e. "The Three Confucian [sites]".
Layout
The Cemetery of Confucius is located north of the historic walled city of Qufu, about two kilometers north of the Temple and Mansion of Confucius (which are in the south-central part of the walled city), and 1.5 km north of the Temple of Yan HuiTemple of Yan Hui
The Temple of Yan Hui, more commonly known as simply the Temple of Yan or the Yan Temple , is a temple in Qufu, China, dedicated to the memory of Yan Hui , the favorite disciple of Confucius.-Location and layout:...
, dedicated to the sage's favorite student
Yan Hui (disciple of Confucius)
Yan Hui was one of the disciples of Confucius.-Life:Yan Hui was a native of State of Lu, the favorite of his master, whose junior he was by thirty years, and whose disciple he became when he was quite a youth...
(which is just inside the northern gates of the city wall). The main north-central axis of the walled city, Gulou Jie ("Drum Tower Avenue"), becomes Beiguan Jie ("North Gate Avenue") after passing through the north gate of the city wall. The avenue, which must have seen thousands of funeral processions over its history, runs north for is 1266 m
Metre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
as a wide boulevard decorated with the Wan gu chang chun (万古长春) memorial arch
Paifang
Paifang, also called pailou, is a traditional Chinese architectural gating style as an archway.The word paifang originally was a collective term used to describe the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese city. The largest division within a city in ancient...
and lined by cypress
Cupressaceae
The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...
es and pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees, finally arriving at the main (southern) gates of the cemetery.
The cemetery occupies 183.33 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s, and is surrounded by a perimeter wall 5,591 m long.
The oldest graves found in this location date back to the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
. The original tomb erected here in memory of Confucius on the bank of the Sishui River had the shape of an axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
. In addition, it had a brick platform for sacrifices. The present-day tomb is a cone-shaped hill. Tombs for the descendants of Confucius and additional stelae to commemorate him were soon added around Confucius' tomb.
Since Confucius' descendants were conferred noble titles (Duke Yansheng
Duke Yansheng
Duke Yansheng was a title of nobility in China. It was originally created as a marquisate for the direct descendent of Confucius during the Western Han dynasty. Then the Northern Song Dynasty Emperor Renzong of Song elevated the 46th generation descendants the current title of Duke...
) and were given imperial princesses as wives, many of the tombs in the cemetery show the status symbols of noblemen. Tombstones came in use during the Han Dynasty. Today, there are over three thousand stone tablets (mostly, tombstones) dating from China's imperial period still standing in the cemetery. According to an official count, among them there are 22 tablets from the Song
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
Dynasty, 6 from Jin, 45 from Yuan
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
, 506 from Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
and 2626 from Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
still standing in the cemetery. There are also 568 tablets from the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
period and 50 modern (PRC-era) tablets, as well as 180 tablets whose age cannot be determined; this brings the total to 4003.
The Ming burials are primarily found in the western part of the cemetery, and those from the Qing era, in the eastern part. In the Ming section, particularly notable is a comparatively small area located about 1 km to the northwest of the Tomb of Confucius, where about a dozen of Dukes of Yansheng, from the 55th to the 64th generation, have been buried. The dukes' tomb sites in this area are arranged more or less chronologically in rows from the south to the north, and, within each row, from the east of the west. Each duke has his own spirit way
Spirit way
A spirit way is the ornate road leading to a Chinese tomb of a major dignitary.The term is also sometimes translated as spirit road, spirit path or sacred way....
, oriented from the south to the north, which typically includes (in the south-to-north order) the following sculptures: three pairs of animals (felines, sometimes winged; rams; horses); a memorial arch; a bixi
Bixi (tortoise)
Bixi , also called guifu or baxia , is a stone tortoise, used as a pedestal for a stele or tablet. Tortoise-mounted stelae have been traditionally used in the funerary complexes of Chinese emperors and other dignitaries. Later, they have also been used to commemorate an important event, such as...
with a stele; two guardian figures (a warrior on the west side of the path, and a civil official on the east side); and a stele in front of the small tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
under which the duke is buried. A smaller subsidiary area with late Ming - early Qing spirit ways, is located about 500 m northeast of this main area.
More than 10,000 mature trees give the cemetery a forest-like appearance.
History
In 1331 construction work began on the wall and gate of the cemetery. In total, the cemetery has undergone 13 renovations and extensions. Eventually, by the late 18th century, the perimeter wall reached a length of 7.5 kmKilometre
The kilometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second...
, enclosing an area of 3.6 square kilometers. In this space, the tombs of more than 100,000 descendants of Confucius, who have been buried there over a period of about 2000 years, can be found. The oldest graves date back to the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
, the most recent of which belong to descendants in the 76th and 78th generation. The corpse of the 76th-generation Duke Yansheng
Duke Yansheng
Duke Yansheng was a title of nobility in China. It was originally created as a marquisate for the direct descendent of Confucius during the Western Han dynasty. Then the Northern Song Dynasty Emperor Renzong of Song elevated the 46th generation descendants the current title of Duke...
was removed from its grave and hung naked from a tree in front of the palace during the desecration of the cemetery in the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
.