Cemetery of Confucius (孔林)

The Cemetery of Confucius, known as Konglin, lies north of Qufu's old town on Lindao Road in Shandong, China, and is the family burial ground of the Kong clan. Burials began with Confucius himself, who died in 479 BC, and continued for more than 2,000 years, so the grounds now hold the tomb of Confucius and the graves of about 100,000 of his descendants. The cemetery covers roughly 200 hectares, enclosed by a wall about seven kilometres long that was built in the Ming period and rebuilt in later reigns. What began as a modest plot beside the Si River was enlarged repeatedly by dynasties that honoured the philosopher, with successive rulers planting trees, adding gates and setting up stone monuments. Within the grounds, more than 10,000 trees, including ancient cypress, pine and oak, are recorded, and several were said to have been planted by disciples or by later officials. The central sequence begins at the Forest Gate and continues along a long spirit way lined with stone figures, leading to the tomb mound of Confucius. Beside it are the smaller tombs of his son Kong Li and his grandson Kong Ji, arranged in the pattern known as the son carrying the father and the grandson beside them. Nearby stands the Hut of the Mourning Disciple, commemorating Zigong, who according to tradition stayed beside the grave for six years. The grounds contain thousands of stone steles and inscribed pillars from the Han dynasty to the present day, and the range of tomb styles across two millennia gives the cemetery an archaeological value for studying burial customs and calligraphy. The site is walked in an unhurried loop, and distances are long, so some visitors use the electric carts or bicycles offered near the entrance. It was repaired after damage during the twentieth century and is protected as part of the 1994 UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Qufu monuments. It is a working cemetery in principle, with descendants still buried in designated areas.