Duke Yansheng
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".
The emperor also allowed Kong Ji to perform ritual sacrifices to Cheng Tang, the first king of the Shang dynasty, and granted him the èrwáng-sānkè [simple; zh] (二王三恪) ceremonial privilege.
During the reign of Emperor Ping (r. 1 BC – 6 AD), granted the title "Marquis Baocheng" (褒成侯) to Kong Jun (孔均), a 16th-generation descendant of Confucius.
Kong Duanyou (孔端友), who then held the Duke Yansheng title, also moved to the south and settled in Quzhou, Zhejiang, where the southern branch of Confucius's descendants was created.
The Kongs became ideological and political symbols and military assets and allies between the states as the Song warred with rival Jin and Yuan dynasties over northern China.
[51][77][78]: 14 [79] In 1307, shortly after his enthronement, Külüg Khan (r. 1307–1311) awarded the posthumous honorary title "Prince Dacheng Zhisheng Wenxuan" (大成至聖文宣王) to Confucius.
The Jin needed the Kongs as vital allies as they faced the Mongol threat from the north and therefore conceded to them their hereditary control over the office of magistrate of Qufu and made it official and institutionalized.
Yan Shi the Shandong warlord under the Yuan who had marriage ties to Kong Yuancuo, may have helped him get his ducal title in Qufu back.
[52][91][92] The Southern Branch of the Confucius family at Quzhou During the Yuan dynasty, one of Confucius' descendants, who claimed to be one of the Duke Yansheng Kong Huan's 孔浣 sons, named Kong Shao 孔紹, moved from China to Goryeo era Korea and established a branch of the family there after wedding a Korean woman (Jo Jin-gyeong's 曹晉慶 daughter) during Toghon Temür's rule.
[93][94][95][96][97] 曲阜孔氏 (朝鲜半岛) 곡부 공씨 The Liyang Kongs were descendants of Confucius who lived in southern China during the Yuan dynasty's final years.
Cao Yuanyong, a Yuan court official presented in Qufu for a sacrifice wrote an inscription in 1320 about the division between the ducal title and magistracy within the Kong family.
The Kong Dukes acquired economic power through gaining people and land personally, getting donations from private sources and imperial grants.
After dikes failed on the upstream Yellow river it shifted course changing its route from Xuzhou in the south towards north via the flat plains to exit into the Bohai Gulf in 1344.
He was then made into she Taichang Qing (Court of Imperial Sacrifices chief minister) some months after that meaning all state sacrificial ceremonies were under Kong Kejian's control.
In 1351 northern China started to get racked by the rebellions of the Red Turbans and in 1353 a new city wall was built and in 1358 a new local militia was mobilized by elites in Qufu as Yuan dynasty institutions collapsed.
Kong Kejian advised the Yuan court to stay and fight for Beijing instead of abandoning it for Shaanxi's Guanzhong when the capital was attacked by the rebels in 1358.
This happened as Yuan rule was starting to collapse as Chaghan Temur was hit by more defections to the rebels across northern china as non-Mongol military leaders joined the rebellion.
[108] In 1506, the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521) appointed Kong Yansheng (孔彥繩), a member of the southern branch, as a "Wujing Boshi" (五經博士; "Professor of the Five Classics") in the Hanlin Academy.
Zhou Xuejian accepted the need for reform but objected to the idea of removing Kongs from the office of magistrate which Wei Tingpu had suggested.
The memorial of Kong Zhaohuan said that its aim was to help the Qufu magistrate gain more households to extract labour from but the Qianlong Emperor accused him of having the aim of gaining official status for his manor's dependent servant households' tax exemptions and since the memorial was submitted to the Board of Ritual the emperor was angry since Grand Secretary Chen Shiguan on the Board of Ritual was the grandfather of Chen Zhu, wife of Kong Zhaohuan.
[124] Incense, candles, firewood, silk, fruit, grain and livestock for sacrificial goods were required for the rituals repeatedly carried at the Confucius temple and family shrine where Kong ancestors had offerings made to them besides the sacrifices for the four seasons.
Some Kongs, and some of them Dukes had no direct descendants since they passed on their title to nephews, cousins or other relatives leading to uncertainty as to who should maintain their graves and clean them.
Kong Sihui's branch seizing power as dukes in the late 13th and early 14th centuries lead to the renovation, expansion and rebuilding of the 4 academies.
They schooled people in helping the Duke Yansheng articulate Li and elite lineages political power was buttressed by these private academies.
[135] In 1913, the Beiyang government, led by Yuan Shikai, passed a law allowing the Duke Yansheng title to be retained and held by Kong Lingyi (孔令貽), a member of the northern branch.
The Wujing Boshi title, on the other hand, was renamed to "Dacheng Zhisheng Xianshi Nanzong Fengsi Guan" (大成至聖先師南宗奉祀官) and held by Kong Qingyi (孔慶儀), a member of the southern branch.
[140] In 1935, the Nationalist government abolished the hereditary peerage systems of the imperial era and converted the Duke Yansheng title into a political office, "Dacheng Zhisheng Xianshi Fengsi Guan" (大成至聖先師奉祀官), which simply means "Ceremonial Official to Confucius".
After the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, Kung Te-cheng evacuated with the Republic of China government to Taiwan where the current Ceremonial Official to Confucius is based.
The hostel of National Chung Hsing University along Guoguang Road in South District, Taichung is situated at the former location of the office building.
[166][167] The archives of the Duke Yansheng record the foods served at the various feasts and banquets at the Confucius mansion where many officials, international scholars and the emperor himself visited.
