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Foreigners, Women, Muslims can be Part of Confucius Family Tree

Foreigners, Women, Muslims Can Be Part of Confucius Family Tree

Confucius lived and taught about 2,500 years ago. He now has more than 3 million descendants living around the world. But, previously, foreign Kong family members, women and members of ethnic minorities were not included in his family tree. Now, they can be with proof of their family ties.

The Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee, based in Jinan, capital of the philosopher and educator’s home province of Shandong, has asked all of them, irrespective of their citizenship, to contact it and prove their ancestry to help compile a comprehensive family tree.

This is the first time that overseas residents and those who have converted to Islam will be included in the family tree. Some of the philosopher’s descendants converted to Islam during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). The changes in the pedigree, especially the inclusion of women, are significant because Confucius considered women to be inferior to men, making it part of traditional Chinese belief. In a role reversal, the names of their husbands will be written in smaller characters. The last update showed the family tree had 560,000 members.