Qufu

Author: Editorial Committee of "China Travel Guide"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-04-01
Features: Qufu, known as the "Holy City of the East," is listed as one of China's first batch of historical and cultural cities. It is the birthplace, teaching site, burial place, and site of posthumous worship of Confucius, the famous thinker, educator, and founder of Confucianism in the pre-Qin era. It is also the birthplace of Mencius, another great thinker and educator in China, a disciple of Confucius. Therefore, Qufu is considered the origin of Confucianism and the root of Confucianism, the birthplace of the Confucian tradition. Located in the southwestern part of Shandong Province, Qufu is north of Mount Tai, south of Mount Fuyin, east of the Yimeng Mountains, and west of the vast plains. It is bounded by the Si River to the north and the Yi River to the south, with fertile land and abundant produce. Qufu was the center of the ancient Dongyi tribal settlements and a major area of the Dawenkou and Longshan cultures. It was also a land of rites and music in the eastern Zhou Dynasty. Confucius was born on Mount Ni, grew up in Qili, taught on the Xingtan, served in the capital of Lu, and was buried by the Si River. He left behind numerous traces of his activities in Qufu. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the culture of the state of Lu flourished, producing many talented individuals, with its capital located in Qufu. Qufu was a land of rites and music in the eastern Zhou Dynasty, providing a rich foundation for the emergence of Confucianism. Under the nurturing of this exceptional environment of rites and music, Confucius grew up diligent in learning, thoughtful, tireless, rigorous in scholarship, and disciplined in practice. In the early years, he traveled to various states for 14 years, and later devoted himself to studying and teaching, compiling the "Book of Songs" and "Book of Documents," standardizing the "Rites" and "Music," and revising the "Spring and Autumn Annals." He comprehensively organized ancient Chinese literature and taught three thousand disciples, among whom seventy-two were proficient in the six arts (rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics). Through his life's efforts, he established and spread Confucianism in Qufu. The core of Confucius's thought is "benevolence," which means "loving others." He regarded "benevolence" as the norm and purpose of practicing benevolence, making it work in conjunction with "rites." He advocated that rulers should "lead the people with virtue and regulate them with rites" to recreate the prosperous era of the Western Zhou Dynasty, where "rites and music and military campaigns originated from the Son of Heaven." The main words and deeds of Confucius's life were compiled by his disciples and re-disciples into the "Analects," which became the classic of later Confucian schools. As the hometown of Confucius, Qufu is renowned worldwide for its long history, developed culture, rich cultural relics, and magnificent ancient architecture. The city now has more than 300 cultural relic protection units, with 112 key protection units. Among them, the "Three Kongs" (Kong Family Mansion, Kong Temple, and Kong Cemetery) are particularly famous and were listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994.