Museum sights in Qūfù
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Confucius Mansions
Adjacent to the Confucius Temple are the Confucius Mansions, a maze of 450 halls, rooms, buildings and side passages originally dating from the 16th century.
The mansions were the most sumptuous aristocratic lodgings in China, indicative of the Kong family's former power. From the Han to the Qing dynasties, the descendants of Confucius were ennobled and granted privileges by the emperors. They lived like kings themselves, with 180-course meals, servants and consorts.
Qūfù grew around the Confucius Mansions and was an autonomous estate administered by the Kongs, who had powers of taxation and execution. Emperors could drop in to visit; the Ceremonial Gate near the south entr…
reviewed
