How many generations have the Confucius family had?
The Confucius family is now in its 80th generation. Confucius’ 77th generation legitimate grandson is Kong Decheng (1920-), while his 80th generation legitimate grandson Kong Youren was born on New Year’s Day in Taiwan in 2006. Each generation spans approximately 300 years, with the 10th generation spanning 266 years.
How many descendants of Confucius are there now?
According to Xinhua News Agency, after 10 years of continuous revision, the new version of the “Genealogy of Confucius Family” was awarded at the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong, where Confucius was born. This genealogy, which has been passed down for more than 2500 years, has finally completed its fifth major overhaul. The new version of the family genealogy extends the descendants of Confucius from one generation to 83 generations, and increases the number of registered descendants from 560000 to approximately 2 million.
What is the chronological order of Confucius’ family genealogy?
The chronological order of Confucius’ family genealogy was officially established starting from the Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang bestowed upon the Kong family eight generations of characters: Gong, Yan, Cheng, Hong, Wen, Zhen, Shang, and Yin. Later, the words “xi” and “yan” were added to form ten characters: xi, yan, gong, yan, cheng, hong, wen, zhen, shang, and yin. With the reproduction of the family, the number of hereditary characters continued to increase, such as the addition of “Xing, Yu, Chuan, Ji, Guang, Zhao, Xian, Qing, Fan, Xiang” during the Ming Chongzhen period,
In the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the phrase “to bestow blessings upon the people, to promote the virtues of Qin, Shao, and Nian” was added. In the eighth year of the Republic of China, the phrase “to establish a stable and stable road, to cultivate the Yi and Chang people, to promote the prosperity of culture and scenery, and to promote the prosperity of the world” was added. The current smallest generation is the “Qin” generation.