Duke Yansheng

Ceremonial Official to Confucius
Creation dateJuly 8, 1935
First holderKung Te-cheng (孔德成)
(Directly succeeded from Duke Yansheng)
Present holderKung Tsui-chang
Heir apparentKung Yu-jen (孔佑仁)
Seat(s)
Duke Yansheng[9]
Creation date1055[10]
Created byEmperors of the Song dynasty
Jin dynasty
Yuan dynasty
Ming dynasty
Qing dynasty
Empire of China
Republic of China (until 1935)
PeerageChinese nobility
First holderKong Zongyuan (孔宗願)
Last holderKung Te-cheng (孔德成)
(Peerage abolished;
directly succeeded by Ceremonial Official to Confucius)
Seat(s)
Kong or K'ung
孔
Parent houseShang dynasty, State of Song
CountryRepublic of China
Founded551 BC
FounderConfucius
Current headKung Tsui-chang (Northern branch), Kong Xiangkai (Southern branch), Gong Dae-sik (Branch in Korea, Gokbu Gong clan)
TitlesDuke Yansheng, Ceremonial Official to Confucius,[11] Wujing Boshi, Count of Changwon
Estate(s)Kong Family Mansion, Quzhou Mansion
Cadet branchesThe other main branch was the Southern branch at Quzhou, many other branches are scattered all over China, one branch in Korea.[12]
Duke Yansheng
Traditional Chinese衍聖公
Simplified Chinese衍圣公
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYǎnshèng Gōng
Wade–GilesYen-sheng Kung
The spirit way of Kong Yanjin, the 59th-generation senior-line direct descendant of Confucius and Duke Yansheng, in the Cemetery of Confucius, Qufu.

The Duke Yansheng, literally "Honorable Overflowing with Wisdom", sometimes translated as Holy Duke of Yen, was a Chinese title of nobility. It was originally created as a marquis title in the Western Han dynasty for a direct descendant of Confucius.[10]

From the Western Han dynasty to the mid-Northern Song dynasty, the title underwent several changes in its name, before it was finally settled as "Duke Yansheng" in 1005 by Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song dynasty. Kong Zongyuan, a 46th-generation descendant of Confucius, became the first person to hold the title "Duke Yansheng".[13] The dukes enjoyed privileges that other nobles were denied, such as the right to tax their domain in Qufu while being exempt from imperial taxes. Their dukedom had its own judicial system and the legal capacity to mete out capital punishment, although such sentences had to be ratified by the imperial court.

In 1935, the Nationalist government of the Republic of China converted the Duke Yansheng title to a political office, "Dacheng Zhisheng Xianshi Fengsi Guan" (大成至聖先師奉祀官), which simply means "Ceremonial Official to Confucius". This political office is not only hereditary, but also had the same ranking and remuneration as that of a cabinet minister in the government of the Republic of China. In 2008, with permission from the Kong family, the political office became an unpaid one which is purely ceremonial in nature. It is currently held by Kung Tsui-chang, a 79th-generation descendant of Confucius.

There are also similar political offices for the descendants of the other notable members of the Confucian school (the Four Sages), such as "Ceremonial Official to Mencius", "Ceremonial Official to Zengzi", and "Ceremonial Official to Yan Hui".[14][15][16][17] In the reformation of the law in 2009, "Ceremonial Official to Mencius" and "Ceremonial Official to Zengzi" would become unpaid honorable titles as well once the incumbent officials decease.[18]

The tombs of the Dukes Yansheng of the Ming and Qing dynasties are located at the Cemetery of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong.[19]

  1. ^ A History of Food Culture in China. World Scientific. 2015. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-938368-27-1.
  2. ^ Rongguang Zhao; Gangliu Wang; Aimee Yiran Wang (1 January 2015). A History of Food Culture in China. World Scientific. pp. 22–. ISBN 978-1-938368-28-8.
  3. ^ Maggie Keswick; Charles Jencks; Alison Hardie (2003). The Chinese Garden: History, Art and Architecture. Harvard University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-674-01086-4.
  4. ^ Jinfan Zhang (2014). The Tradition and Modern Transition of Chinese Law. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 194. ISBN 978-3-642-23266-4.
  5. ^ Mark P. McNicholas (2016). Forgery and Impersonation in Imperial China: Popular Deceptions and the High Qing State. University of Washington Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-295-80623-5.
  6. ^ Betty Peh-T'I Wei (2006). Ruan Yuan, 1764-1849: The Life and Work of a Major Scholar-Official in Nineteenth-Century China before the Opium War. Hong Kong University Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-962-209-785-8.
  7. ^ 王, 雯慧 (26 August 2009). "中國儒家文化的傳承──孔德成". Deer Cultural Heritage Center, National Chung Hsing University.
  8. ^ 汪, 士淳 (24 October 2013). 儒者行：孔德成先生傳. Linking Publishing Co., Ltd. pp. 167–168, 323–324. ISBN 9789570842760.
  9. ^ Marcia Reed; Paola Demattè (2011). China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century. Getty Publications. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-60606-068-1.
  10. ^ a b McNicholas, Mark Peter (2007). Forgery and Impersonation in Late Imperial China: Popular Appropriations of Official Authority, 1700--1820. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-549-52893-7.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ "life as the heir to Confucius". 14 November 2014.
  12. ^ "孔子备受韩国尊崇后代枝繁叶茂名人辈出" [Confucius is highly respected in Korea, and his descendants flourished and produced many celebrities] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 23 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Updated Confucius family tree has two million members". News.xinhuanet.com. 16 February 2008. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  14. ^ "感谢您的浏览！ - 新华网". Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  15. ^ "台湾儒家奉祀官将改为无给职 不排除由女子继任_新闻中心_新浪网". news.sina.com.cn.
  16. ^ "台湾拟减少儒家世袭奉祀官职位并取消俸禄". Radio France Internationale.
  17. ^ "【文史雜記】大成至聖先師奉祀官". Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
  18. ^ "制度變革／奉祀官改無給職 可有女官 - 民生戰線 - udn城市". city.udn.com.
  19. ^ 孔林: 墓葬 Archived 2013-12-21 at the Wayback Machine (Cemetery of Confucius: Burials)