Confucius was a famous educator and politician in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He also created the Confucian school and became a representative figure of Chinese culture. Confucian culture still has a very important influence on China and the world.

Preface

Confucius was a famous educator and politician in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He also created Confucian school and became a representative figure of Chinese culture. Confucian culture still has a very important influence on China and the world. Therefore, Confucius is also known as the first of the "Top Ten Cultural Celebrities in the World".

Confucius' great contribution to education and culture is the greatest wealth he left to the world, and it is also the richest "legacy" he left to his descendants. This "legacy" remains until the birth of the 77th descendant Kong Decheng in 1920 - that is, the " Yanshenggong " that lasted for nearly a thousand years.

Kong Decheng was named "Yanshenggong" a hundred days after he was born. It can be said that he was the peak of his life since he was born. So what about his life experience?

The origin of "Yansheng Gong"

In fact, Confucius not only made outstanding contributions to my country's education, but also had a profound impact on the feudal imperial power in ancient times.

"Abolish all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone" I believe everyone knows that since Emperor Wu of Han , Dong Zhongshu proposed the concept of respecting Confucianism alone, and the Confucianism created by Confucius has been established as orthodox, and It lasted for thousands of years.

. Confucian culture also maintained feudal rule and imperial power in a certain sense. Therefore, Confucius and his descendants were increasingly valued by rulers of various periods.

Although Confucian culture replaced Taoist to become orthodox ideas during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, in fact, since Gaozu of Han and Liu Bang, the status of Confucius' descendants has gradually increased.

When Liu Bang was reigned, he had gone to sacrifice. Confucius, at that time, the descendants of Confucius had reached the ninth generation. In order to show his respect for Confucius, Liu Bang named Confucius' ninth descendants Kong Teng as " worshiping the king ". Since then, Liu Bang has set a precedent for commending Confucius' descendants.

Emperor Yuan of Han ascended the throne, he named Confucius' thirteenth grandson Kong Ba as Guanneihou , and during the reign of Emperor Ping of Han, the 16th descendants of Confucius, Kong Jun as "Baocheng Hou"... After that, Han Dynasty Many emperors have given different degrees of rewards to Confucius' descendants, and titles have emerged one after another.

It was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that the title of "Yansheng Gong" appeared.

Tang Xuanzong When Li Longji was reigned, he posthumously named Confucius as "King of Wenxuan", and at the same time, he named Confucius' thirty-ninth generation descendants Kong Yan's as Wenxuan Gong , and he continued to use it.

In the 4th year of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a doctor named Taichang from Jixian Academy named Zu Wuze . He thought that Confucius was the "King of Wenxuan", so if his descendants continued to use the word " Wenxuan ", it would not be appropriate, so it was recommended that Confucius, the 46th descendant of Confucius, be named "Yansheng Gong". In this way, it would not offend Confucius, but also reflect the love for Confucius' descendants.

Although this title also experienced some minor twists and turns later, it continued in the end. And this is "Yansheng Gong" The source of the title.

In fact, a long time ago, , Sima Qian, who wrote "Records of the Grand Historian", listed the Confucius family in Shandong as a noble family. The aristocratic family was hereditary kings and princes. When Sima Qian wrote the book, Confucius had not been awarded yet, but Sima Qian still saw the influence of Confucius on the imperial power, so he firmly called Kongfu aristocratic family.

Later facts also proved Sima Qian's keen eyes. In the thousands of years of history of China, no matter how dynasties change, Confucius' descendants could always inherit the duke. It is unique in Chinese history.

The last "Yansheng Gong" Kong Decheng

The seventy-sixth generation descendants of Confucius Kong Lingyi is the thirtieth generation "Yansheng Gong". He has no children with his original wife Sun. Sun also passed away early because of illness. Unfortunately, his concubine Feng did not have children either.

Kong Lingyi's only one generation, so later he married another wife Tao Wenpu. Tao Wenpu and him had a son, but he also died early.Seeing that he was middle-aged, Kong Lingyi still had no children, so he had to take Tao Wenpu's personal maid Wang as a side room.

Wang was very successful and gave birth to two daughters for Kong Lingyi. Until 1919, Wang became pregnant again, but unfortunately, Kong Lingyi himself was seriously ill at that time and he was not long.

Kong Lingyi has only two daughters and no son. The child in Wang's belly cannot be determined whether he is a man or a woman. So Kong Lingyi wrote a "resential presentation" to the then president of the Beiyang government, Xu Shichang, :

"If you can give birth to a boy, you should be the Lord Yansheng, and use the rules to determine the rules. Or if you give birth to a daughter, you should discuss the same inheritance by the clan members to value the ancestral sacrifice."

This shows how important this child is to the Kong family and Kong Lingyi. He is not only a continuation of the Kong family's incense, but also related to the ancestral temple sacrifices.

Unfortunately, Kong Lingyi died of illness before the child was born. Soon after, Wang gave birth to a son, the 77th generation descendant of Confucius. The Kong family named him Kong Decheng . Wang died of illness shortly after giving birth to Kong Decheng.

When Kong Decheng was a hundred years old, Xu Shichang ordered Kong Decheng to inherit the title of "Yansheng Gong". According to information, Kong Decheng was the first generation among all the descendants of the Confucius family to inherit this title. The ban on

brought great glory to Kong Decheng, and it also means that he needs to bear heavy responsibilities at a young age.

Xu Shichang gave a child such a huge halo, which shows how high he had expectations for Kong Decheng.

In order to make Kong Decheng become a talent earlier, the Kong family spent a lot of effort to cultivate Kong Decheng, teach him to read books of sages, learn the principles of saving the world, and cultivate his awareness of diligence and study hard. The Kong family put the "heavy burden" of shining the family on Kong Decheng's shoulders. Under the education of relatives, friends and teachers, Kong Decheng gradually developed some lofty ambitions.

It’s a pity that Kong Decheng caught up with an era of changing circumstances. With the rise of new culture, the influence of Confucian culture represented by Kong Decheng gradually weakened.

In January 1935, the Nanjing National Government decided to change Kong Decheng's "Yansheng Gong" to "the great sage master of the great sage". At this point, the era of "Yansheng Gong" officially ended, and Kong Decheng also became the last "Yansheng Gong".

Fate is rising and falling, and the times are also causing trouble. After the July 7 Incident in 21937, the Japanese army invaded China in full swing. Although Kong Decheng could not go into battle to kill the enemy, he also protected his motherland in his own way.

In October 1937, Qu Wanli , then director of the collection department of Shandong Provincial Library, asked Kong Decheng to keep it on his behalf. Kong Decheng agreed to Qu Wanli's request without saying a word.

Under Kong Decheng's protection, these books were finally preserved intact.

Qu Wanli later recorded in the book that when he first met Kong Decheng, he felt that this person was clear about his decision when encountering things and could be called a talented person. Later, Kong Decheng also used his influence to call on people from all walks of life to unite in anti-Japanese war, and his patriotic spirit was admirable. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the War of Liberation broke out. With the efforts of the Communist Party of , Chiang Kai-shek had to give up the mainland and retreat to Taiwan, but before going to Taiwan, he did not forget to take Kong Decheng away.

Chiang Kai-shek always regarded Kong Decheng as the "national treasure". In 1948, he also asked Kong Decheng to study in the United States and promote Confucian culture. On the eve of the Battle of Crossing the River, Kong Dechengcai returned from the United States and went to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek in 1949.

Kong Decheng doesn't like to participate in political affairs, so after going to Taiwan, he just took some false positions. His main job is still a professor. For him, teaching and educating talents is his job and something he loves.

However, because of Kong Decheng's special identity, he could not really stay away from the troubles, so Kong Decheng could only live his life with great caution.

966, Kong De became the ancestor's culture and joined hands with Chen Lifu, Sun Ke and others to jointly propose the establishment of the " Chinese Culture Revival Festival ", and obtained the consent of Chiang Kai-shek. After

, Kong Decheng continued to develop Confucian culture in Taiwan. He did not return to his hometown until his death in 2008.

Kong Decheng has two sisters - Kong Deqi and Kong Demao. Because of the premature death of their parents, the three siblings have been dependent on each other for their lives. Unfortunately, my elder sister Kong Deqi passed away early, and Kong Decheng later came to Taiwan, so the only one who stayed in the mainland was Kong Demao.

Although Kong Decheng has never returned to Qufu, he has always cared about his second sister in his heart. In 1990, the siblings who had been away for 40 years only met again.

That year, Kong Decheng went to Japan to give lectures. In order to see his younger brother, Kong Demao asked his friend for help and took her to Kong Decheng.

Kong Decheng was both surprised and happy when he saw his sister. No one expected that the siblings who had not seen each other for many years would meet in a foreign country in this way.

The only descendants of the Confucius Mansion of their generation were the two of them. After meeting, the two siblings looked at each other speechlessly. The vicissitudes of the years have made it hard for them to express, and only tears of excitement or sadness remain... After the meeting hurriedly, Kong Demao returned to Beijing. The second time the siblings met was in 1995. Kong Demao went to Taiwan to attend the meeting and went to see Kong Decheng by the way.

The siblings talked about their hometown Qufu many times. In Kong Decheng's heart, he was still very worried about his hometown. It was just because of some special reasons that he was unhappy and never went back.

But what made the siblings both were very pleased that with the development of the times, the mainland began to pay attention to Confucian culture again. The school began to open Chinese studies classes. Many people began to study Confucius' "The Analects of Confucius". Qufu Confucius Mansion became a key cultural relic, and people also attached more and more importance to Confucian culture. These changes in

made Kong Decheng feel deeply relieved. Kong Decheng himself is also working hard to promote Confucian culture. He still sticks to his original aspirations and strives to pass on the culture of his ancestors so that more people can know the charm of the culture that has been passed down for thousands of years in China.

Later, many scholars visited Kong Decheng, exchanged and discussed with him, and drank and talked happily.

Unfortunately, on October 28, 2008, Kong Decheng died of heart and lung failure in Taiwan at the age of 88.

kun Decheng was buried in the Three Gorges Cemetery in Taiwan after his death. This last generation of "Yan Shenggong" and propagandist of Confucian culture finally lived his ups and downs.

Kong Decheng's life is closely linked to changes in the world. Although he is the successor of Kong Saint , first of all, he is also an individual. He bears too much responsibility. His identity has brought him halo and glory, and also brought him pressure and burden.

can only say that Kong Decheng's fate has risen and fallen, and the times have been created.

Conclusion

Kong Decheng's life is a big opening and closing. He has been incredible since he was born, and countless people have stared at him. He was once a teenager with passion, but the changes in the times were too sudden. For him, perhaps this is the most difficult thing to accept calmly.

However, Kong Decheng was also lucky. During his lifetime, he saw the rise of Confucian culture. He personally experienced and heard the feelings that Confucius' thoughts were valued by the world, so he ended without regrets.

With the change of dynasties, Confucian culture has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people. Now we still respect Confucius, Confucian culture, and Confucianism. Now our country's comprehensive strength is gradually becoming stronger, and cultural soft power has also begun to appear on the world stage. There are Chinese studies classes held all over the country. As the song says, one day, the whole world will speak Chinese.