Kong Family Mansion (孔府)

The Kong Family Mansion (Kongfu) sits beside the Temple of Confucius on Queli Street in Qufu, Jining, Shandong, China. It was the residence and administrative office of the direct descendants of Confucius, who held hereditary titles for generations, and it is often ranked second only to the Forbidden City among aristocratic mansions in China. The compound has 463 rooms across nine courtyards and is divided into three sections: government offices at the front, family living quarters in the middle and a garden at the rear. Visitors pass through ceremonial gates, the main hall where the Duke Yansheng held court and received imperial edicts, and inner rooms furnished with period furniture, ritual vessels and portraits. The rear garden has rockeries, old trees and a pavilion, and a small exhibition displays clothing, documents and artefacts from the family. Because the mansion mixes public and private spaces, the route runs along a central axis before turning into more intimate courtyards. Most visitors spend one and a half to two hours, and the mansion pairs naturally with the Temple on the same morning. Crowds are heaviest from mid-morning to early afternoon and on holidays, while early opening hours and late afternoon are quieter. Photographic highlights include the stacked red gates, the roofed courtyards and the garden under old cypresses. The site is inside the old city and reachable on foot from the Temple, or by bus 1 from Qufu East station. The combined CNY 150 ticket covers the mansion, the Temple and the Cemetery of Confucius; a separate mansion-only ticket is also sold.