About 2 million people are now recognized as descendants of Confucius, more than tripling the size of the celebrated Chinese philosopher’s family tree, state media reported yesterday.
The new list, which includes ethnic minorities, women and overseas relatives for the first time, was unveiled on Thursday in the thinker’s hometown Qufu in Shandong Province to coincide with the 2,560th anniversary of his birth, the Global Times said.
The family tree — believed to be the biggest in the world — was last updated in 1937, and had only 560,000 members, according to the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee, the report said.
FAMILY BONDS
“It is not only important for academic research, but also valuable in helping Confucius descendants around the world discover their ancestors and strengthen family bonds,” said Kong Deyong, a 77th generation descendant of the philosopher who is known as Kong Fuzi in China.
Kong, who heads the International Confucius Association, said he was glad that gender, religion and nationality were no longer factors in determining which descendants were counted.
“Even if many descendants are no longer Han or without Chinese nationality, we should count them in because we are one big family,” the Global Times quoted him as saying.
EXCITING
Kong Dejun, a teacher at Cambridge University, said her inclusion in the family tree — which has 43,000 pages and is bound in 80 books — was the “most exciting moment” of her life.
“In terms of genes, Confucius’ blood is flowing in our body,” Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.
Extensive research was carried out in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and across Southeast Asia to find the descendants, Kong Deyong told the paper.
Previous reports said each person had paid a five-yuan (US$0.75) fee to register for inclusion in the family tree.
The ancient teachings of Confucius (551BC-479BC), centring on peace and social harmony, have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years, after being suppressed in Maoist China.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS