Confucius was born, by traditional reckoning, in 551 BCE in or near Qufu, then the capital of the small state of Lu during the late Spring and Autumn period, and he lived, taught and eventually died there around 479 BCE. Shortly after his death his home was reportedly kept by his family as a modest memorial site, and the veneration grew steadily more formal over the following centuries.
The Temple of Confucius, or Kong Miao, was first established on the site of his residence and has been rebuilt, expanded and embellished by successive dynasties for over two thousand years, growing into one of the largest temple complexes in China, comparable in scale to the Forbidden City, with more than one hundred halls, pavilions and gates spread across a sequence of nine courtyards.
Adjoining it stands the Kong Family Mansion, the residence of Confucius's direct lineal descendants, who were granted noble titles and tax privileges by successive emperors specifically for maintaining his cult, an arrangement that made the Kong family one of the longest continuously documented aristocratic lineages in world history. A short distance away lies the Cemetery of Confucius, a large forested burial ground holding his own tomb and those of tens of thousands of his descendants across more than two millennia.