Confucius descendant to donate family tree book to U.S. Library of Congress
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A descendant of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius will donate a copy of a collection of books that delineate Confucius's family tree to the U.S. Library of Congress in September.
Kong Deyong, a 77th-generation descendant of the revered Chinese philosopher, will donate the family tree books to the library on Sept.11, when he attends an international workshop on Confucianism in Washington D.C., the Beijing-based Culture and Literature Publishing House said Tuesday.
The publishing house is the publisher of Confucius's family tree.
"Sending the family tree abroad will increase the cohesion of overseas Chinese and promote Confucian ideas," Kong was quoted as saying.
Kong was the chief compiler of the family tree books.
The 80 family tree books have 43,000 pages. It records all 83 generations of Confucius's offspring -- more than 2 million people. It is believed to be the biggest family tree in the world.
Confucius, born in 551 B.C. in Qufu in eastern China's Shandong Province, was a great teacher and thinker whose theories were the orthodox ideology in China for more than 2,000 years.
His teachings, which advocate peace and social harmony, have enjoyed a renaissance in China in recent years.
