Until 1949 the mansion on the northeast side of the Confucius Temple had been home to 77 generations of Confucius's direct descendants, although the mansion's present location dates only from the end of the 14th century and the complex really grew to its current size (with a total of 463 halls) only in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Here lived the Yansheng ("Continuing the Line of the Sage") duke, a title first conferred upon the 46th-generation descendant of Confucius by the Song Renzong emperor in 1055, and subsequently passed down. During the Ming dynasty, the duke's stature grew, and by the time of the Qing, he and the Kong family had attained a status equivalent to that of the imperial family. He was exempted from taxes, given power over his own court of law and subjects, and was the only one besides the emperor who could ride his horse within the Forbidden City. The Qing Qianlong emperor (reigned 1736-96) even married his daughter to a Yansheng duke in 1772, because only marriage to someone from a family equal in stature could dispel the misfortune that had been predicted for her by fortunetellers on account of the mole on her face. To circumvent the law that prohibited Manchus from marrying the Chinese, Qianlong first gave her to a Chinese official, Yu Minzhong, for adoption, and her name was changed from Aixin Jueluo to Lady Yu.
The mansion is divided into three sections. The front part is reserved for formal and public business, the second serves as private family quarters, and the third is a garden. Inside the main gate is a large courtyard with the free-standingChongguang Men,a gate built on eight stone drums that was only opened when emperors or imperial edicts arrived. In the three halls to the north, starting with the main hall,Da Tang,the Yansheng duke proclaimed imperial edicts, received visitors, and tended to business. In the second hall, where the duke received high-ranking officials, are seven tablets inscribed by various emperors, including one with the charactershou(longevity) inscribed by the empress dowager Cixi. Northeast of the third hall is a small alley leading to a four-storyBinan Lou (Tower of Refuge),which was meant to shelter the duke in case of attack. It was never used.
Behind the third hall, theNeizhai Men (Gate to the Inner Apartments)marks the beginning of the private quarters restricted to family members and a handful of trusted, mostly female servants. Even the water carrier had to pour his well water through a tiny trough in the wall just west of the gate. Behind the Front Reception Hall used for family banquets, weddings, and funeral ceremonies, the two-storyQiantang Louwas where the 76th duke, Kong Lingyi, lived with his wife, Madame Tao, his two concubines, and his two daughters from Concubine Wang. After the 76th duke's death, one concubine gave birth to the 77th duke, Kong Decheng. It is widely held that Madame Tao, who produced no surviving heirs herself, poisoned his mother 17 days after she gave birth. The boy was to grow up with his sisters in relative isolation under the tyrannical Madame Tao, Qufu's equivalent of the powerful and manipulative empress dowager Cixi. As depicted inThe House of Confuciusby Decheng's sister Kong Demao and Ke Lan, life in the Confucian Mansion in those days was full of intrigue and betrayal for the adults and loneliness and sadness for the children. Decheng married and lived here until 1940, when he fled the Japanese invasion and then the Communists, ending up in Taiwan; he was the last of Confucius's descendants to occupy the mansion.
A large garden in the rear occupies the rest of the mansion grounds. A complete tour of the mansion will take 2 hours. Budget another 1 to 2 hours if you want to tour Kong Miao. It's best to do both in the morning hours, as there are fewer tourists.