The Three Kong Scenic Area is filled with the cultural heritage of Confucius’ Mansion
The success and failure of Qufu all depend on one Confucius
The hotel we stayed in near the Confucius Temple was very nice. It was an independent bungalow converted into a small courtyard. The entrance to the Confucius Temple was right outside. After sleeping a little longer in the morning, we saw autumn in the courtyard, which belonged to the north. The autumn was crisp and clear, and a osmanthus tree continued to emit fragrance. It was in this small courtyard in the north that we smelled the osmanthus fragrance. I pulled my dad and played a set of eight dan brocade in the morning, feeling full of happiness. Then I packed up and prepared to go out to visit the Confucius Temple.
Before strolling, we had breakfast at a nearby breakfast shop owned by the 76th generation descendant of Confucius. It was also our first time eating Shandong pancake rolls with scallions. Apart from the salty taste, we didn’t seem to have anything to eat. I even joked that we had Confucius’ grandchildren prepare breakfast for us first, and then went to visit Confucius’ house. We bought tickets for the Confucius Temple online and used our ID cards to enter. There were too many self proclaimed tour guides at the entrance to attract customers. The Confucius Temple is a place to commemorate Confucius and give lectures. In addition to Confucius’ apricot altar, there are also various inscriptions from later emperors to commemorate Confucius. We originally planned to hire a tour guide to explain it, but our parents thought it was not enough for children to learn, walk and take a look, so we gave up.
Unexpectedly, we were stopped by a tour guide who looked like a portrait of Confucius and offered tour guide services at half the price outside. We followed her all the way and saw that mature tour guides may have memorized countless words without thinking, but she was very down-to-earth. Apart from the “hook heart and fighting corner” of the architecture she talked about, we didn’t remember anything, and we were particularly curious why there was no obvious Analects in the place where Confucius gave lectures.
I had hoped that there would be various explanations of the Analects in the Confucian Temple, which would allow me to fully understand the various contents of the Analects. However, it seems that there are only the main hall, ancient trees, and inscriptions, and there is also a dedicated place to invite incense for worship. After visiting this temple, besides gaining a slight understanding of Confucius’ life, I didn’t have much experience.
But then we walked out along a small commercial street to the Kong Mansion, where we truly felt the profound influence that Confucius, as a sage, brought to his descendants. The so-called Kong Mansion was the place where Confucius’ grandson and descendants lived, also known as the Yan Sheng Kung. The Yan Sheng Kung is the hereditary title of Confucius’ eldest son, which was enjoyed from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. It is a feudal privileged noble from ancient times to the present day, and the Kong Mansion is the largest mansion after the Ming and Qing imperial palaces. This has led to almost everywhere in Qufu being the business of the so-called 7X generation descendants of Confucius, such as calligraphy and painting, naming, catering, clothing, and so on. According to the Kong Mansion, there were over 2 million registered members of the Confucius family in the genealogy established in 2009 alone, and over 100000 people were buried in the nearby Konglin (Confucius Family Tomb Group). I don’t know how Confucius, who said ‘ruler, minister, father, son, son’, would feel if he could see himself laying the foundation for the prosperity and wealth of the Confucius family for more than two thousand years. How can the ‘world’s first family’, which has been renowned for such a long time, be so prosperous and prominent? The front hall of the Yan Sheng Palace, which is located in the background of the educator, also has a government office in charge of political affairs. Now all of this has been turned into a museum for everyone to visit. There is a garden behind the Kong Mansion, which exists like the imperial garden of the Forbidden City. Various fruits, trees, flowers, and plants are still planted today. The pomelos and oranges in the pots are well grown, and the pond is slightly dilapidated. Compared to a hundred years ago, this is definitely not the case. It is Confucius and his culture that have nourished the Kong family for these two thousand years. When we got out of the Confucius Mansion, we were invited to take us to Konglin by the master of the cart. The master charged us 40 yuan for only 1.5 kilometers, and still took us to Konglin at half price. Then we took my electric tricycle across the city wall to Konglin. In the middle of the road, there were two rows of integrated ancient cypresses, the same as those in front of the Confucius Temple. My master called us down at the memorial archway of Konglin, about 3 or 4 hundred meters away from the gate of Konglin, and let us walk there.
It is still two rows of neat cypresses, and there are various food businesses on both sides. Although we are not too hungry, we want to sit down and have a rest and eat before entering, but we did not expect to eat the saltiest meal in my life. A bowl of Liangpi with no taste other than salt is hard to swallow. After eating Shandong cuisine for the past two days, I knew it was heavy, but I did not expect it to be so heavy. I picked it up a few mouthfuls and left. When we arrived at Konglin, it had to be said that this was the place where the management felt the most chaotic. There were no less than four or five tour guides pulling us, and even scenic area tour buses soliciting customers. I heard that Konglin was very big, and it took them one or two hours to walk around. At this point, I was a bit tired and thought to take a car. I never expected that this car would be fine if I didn’t take it. The so-called “taking a tour bus around” means being pulled around the entire huge Kong family tomb, and the tomb of Confucius that tourists want to visit is right at the entrance. This is really a high-end situation. We avoided the tour guide but did not avoid the tour bus. It’s okay to spend money, it’s mainly a waste of time. Why did I have to go around the gloomy tomb mound? Apart from various unknown tomb packages, there was nothing to see, which made my feeling very bad that day. Moreover, when I arrived near Confucius’ tombstone, there was even a tour guide soliciting customers. My dad was walking behind, and a middle-aged woman began to recite an introduction. My dad thought she had already come in for public welfare, so he followed along and listened. The person saw my dad listening and walked while talking. When I turned around and asked, my dad found out that it was a fee and had to refuse. Unexpectedly, the aunt started to break through the defense and said that my dad lacked quality. She had already followed me for more than 10 meters to explain and had to pay at least half of the money. I had to take my dad away and still left. The Kong family has a good ancestor who has enjoyed generations of prosperity and wealth. In modern times, they still want to use Confucius as a money tree to continue to make as much money as possible. However, they have lost some sense of propriety and made the area full of tour guides and Kong cuisine. Everyone can tell a few stories about Confucius, but I’m afraid few people can really recite the Analects of Confucius fluently. After worshiping in front of Confucius’ tomb, we planned to take a taxi back to the hotel to prepare to leave. As an experienced person, I would rather take a taxi than a so-called big man’s car. However, the taxi driver said he couldn’t reach the entrance of Konglin, so we walked 3-4 hundred meters and got on the bus. The master told us that Konglin belongs to a village, and only the people of this village can do business (catering, snacks, transportation, etc.) nearby. Even local people cannot enter.
My dad was walking behind, and a middle-aged woman began to recite an introduction. My dad thought she had already come in for public welfare, so he followed along and listened. The person saw my dad listening and walked while talking. When I turned around and asked, my dad found out that it was a fee and had to refuse. Unexpectedly, the aunt started to break through the defense and said that my dad lacked quality. She had already followed me for more than 10 meters to explain and had to pay at least half of the money. I had to take my dad away and still left. The Kong family has a good ancestor who has enjoyed generations of prosperity and wealth. In modern times, they still want to use Confucius as a money tree to continue to make as much money as possible. However, they have lost some sense of propriety and made the area full of tour guides and Kong cuisine. Everyone can tell a few stories about Confucius, but I’m afraid few people can really recite the Analects of Confucius fluently. After worshiping in front of Confucius’ tomb, we planned to take a taxi back to the hotel to prepare to leave. As an experienced person, I would rather take a taxi than a so-called big man’s car. However, the taxi driver said he couldn’t reach the entrance of Konglin, so we walked 3-4 hundred meters and got on the bus. The master told us that Konglin belongs to a village, and only the people of this village can do business (catering, snacks, transportation, etc.) nearby. Even local people cannot enter.
