Confucius (551-479BC), the world famous Chinese philosopher, born in Qufu, Shandong Province more than 2,500 years ago, has greatly influenced Chinese society with his ideas passed from generations to generations, till today. The feudal rulers of subsequent dynasties used Confucianism as a moral standard to consolidate theirs rule and constructed the town Qufu and the Confucian mansion as if it were a Mecca. The result is a remarkable group of ancient buildings with valuable art treasures.

In 1994, UNESCO had the Confucian Temple, residence and Tomb registered on the List of the World Cultural Heritage.The Confucian Temple, in the center of Qufu City, was built in 478 BC. There are still 466 halls, pavilions and other rooms intact, covering a total area of 21.8 hectares. Repeated improvement and expansion has turned the temple into a palatial complex with nine rows of courtyards. The Great Accomplishment Hall, the major structure of the temple, is 33 meters tall. It is roofed with yellow glazed tiles and has octagonal eaves. The front 10 stone columns are carved with dragons. In addition to a statue of Confucius, the hall also houses stone inscription of the Ming Dynasty, which tells the life story of Confucius in 120 pictures, as well as a great deal of stone tablets.The Mansion of Confucius lies next to the Temple of Confucius.

After several times of enlargement and renovation, now it covers more than 160,OOO square metres, with 463 halls, chambers and rooms. It is also known as Master Yansheng'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 mutes. 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 quantifies of rare and precious cultural and historical relics.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.

The Kong Family Mansion is the largest of its kind in Chinese history. In 1994, the Mansion, the Cemetery of Confucius and the Temple of Confucius were listed as World Cultural Heritage buildings.