On September 6th, Confucius Museum opens in the city of Qufu - the birthplace of the Chinese philosopher, in the east of China's Shandong Province. Confucius was an educator and philosopher lived between 551 B.C. and 479 B.C., and has deeply influenced later Chinese generations.
Confucius Museum covers the area of 55,000 square meters and is opened for free to the public. The construction work starts on November 26th last year. More than 232,000 visitors have been received since its trial operation.
The museum currently has a collection of more than 700,000 cultural relics, including more than 300,000 files about the Confucius family and more than 40,000 classic books. The collection also includes more than 8,000 ancient costumes and a number of musical instruments used when paying tribute to Confucius.
Qufu City is the birthplace of Confucius, and it served as the capital of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Qufu contains numerous historic palaces, temples and cemeteries, and many of them are all associated with Confucius. The most famous sites are the Temple of Confucius, the Cemetery of Confucius, and the Kong Family Mansion.