Qufu

Japanese: 曲阜 - きょくふ

A county-level city located in the south of the center of Shandong Province, China. It belongs to Jining prefecture-level cities. It has a population of 639,000 (2014). It has long been known as the capital of the Lu state during the Zhou dynasty, or as the birthplace of Confucius, the father of Confucianism. It is said that the city began when Zhou Gongdan's son Boqin was given a fief in the early Zhou dynasty as a defense against the strong influence of the old Yin dynasty to the east, but this is not certain. In any case, it was the center of traditional culture from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, as the capital of the Lu state, which best conveyed Zhou culture and whose ancestor was Zhou Gongdan. It was here that Confucius built and lectured at his private school, hoping to revive the cultural artifacts and systems of the Zhou dynasty, which were the product of traditional culture, during the turbulent times in which he lived. At the end of the Warring States period, it was destroyed by the Chu Dynasty (249 BC), and during the Qin Dynasty it was the administrative center of Xue Commandery, and during the Han Dynasty it became Lu County and was the administrative center of the King of Lu. The remains of the castle are in the southwestern part of the current city. During the Sui Dynasty, the prefecture's name became Qufu, and continued to exist until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The current city was built in the Ming dynasty, but it is a farming town with the Beijing-Shanghai railway line running through the northwestern part of the town, producing mainly wheat and sorghum. On the other hand, the city center is home to the Confucius Temple, Kong Mansion, the residence of Confucius' descendants, and the Kong Forest, the family tomb, in the northern suburbs, making it one of China's leading historical tourist cities.

[Akira Kasugai, Editorial Department, January 19, 2017]

World Heritage Registration

In 1994, the historical site in Qufu associated with Confucius was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as "The Confucius Temple, Confucius Forest and Confucius Mansion in Qufu" (World Cultural Heritage).

[Editorial Department, January 19, 2017]

[Reference items] | Jinghu Line | Confucius Temple | Jining

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、山東(さんとう)省中央部の南寄りに位置する県級市。済寧(さいねい)地級市に属する。人口63万9000（2014）。周代の魯(ろ)国の都、あるいは儒教の生みの親である孔子(こうし)の生地として古くから知られる。周代の初期に周公旦(たん)の子伯禽(はくきん)がこの地に封じられて、殷(いん)の旧勢力の影響が強い東方への備えとしたところから始まると伝えられるが、さだかではない。いずれにしても周公旦をその祖とし、周文化をもっともよく伝える魯国の国都として、春秋から戦国時代にかけては伝統文化の中心地であった。孔子が生きた激動の時代に、伝統文化の生んだ周代の文物、制度の再生を願って、彼が私塾を建てて講じたのもこの地である。戦国末、楚(そ)に滅ぼされ（前249）、秦(しん)代では薛(せつ)郡の治所、漢代は魯県となり魯王の治所であった。城の遺跡が現市街の南西部に存在する。隋(ずい)代から県名が曲阜となり清(しん)末に及んだ。

　現在の市街は明(みん)代の建設によるが、京滬(けいこ)線が町の北西部を走る一農村都市で、おもに小麦、コウリャンを産する。その一方で中心部には孔廟(こうびょう)（孔子廟）や孔子の子孫の住居である孔府、北郊には一族の墓所の孔林などがあり、中国有数の歴史的観光都市の一つである。

［春日井明・編集部　2017年1月19日］