Research On Confucius’ Descendants In The South

Early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the forty-eighth generation of Confucius Kong Duanyou led part of his people went to the south when Emperor Gao zong of Song did. They settled in Quzhou finally and established family temple with the support of government. Confucius’ descendants in the south experienced a hard time after "Kong Zhu make a concession ".They lost many privileges and people’s attention with the lower political status.Selecting this topic is out of reflection of the academic research in this field. Thanks to the historical reason, the historical data about Confucius’descendants in the south isn’t as much as Confucius’descendants’. But modern scholars still had carried on the research carefully, such as the family temple, genealogy, people’s life, regulations, and so on. All those achievements usually make a conclusion that how great the Confucius’descendants in the south. Actually some opinions about them are lack of identified sources. Why Confucius’descendants in the south become so quiet in the contemporary? Is my knowledge limited or the researchers failed to objective? This article is trying to restore a true story about the descendants in the south by collating the historical data.The main content of this paper is divided into three parts. The first part briefly outlines the history of the Confucius’ descendants in the south. Since the descendants been to Quzhou with Kong Duanyou, they built their own family temple. Before "Kong Zhu made a concession", the Confucius’ descendants in the south had got six generation Duke. Even though the Ming Dynasty awarded them the Doctor of the classics in Hanlin Academy hereditary, the decline of the Confucius’ descendants in the south can’t be stop. This part focus on the reasons of the Confucius’ descendants going to the south and "Kong Zhu make a concession".The second part discusses the patriarchal clan activities. On one hand, the emphasis is analyzing the activities of the Confucius’ descendants in the south by collecting historical data to understand their living conditions in Quzhou. On the other hand, do some research on the rules of the Confucius’ descendants in the south to know their family management. At the same time, we can’t ignore the influence from the Qufu descendants.The third part discusses the southern Confucianism cultural activities. In the Southern Song Dynasty, cultural exchanges became easily and frequently. But the Confucius’ descendants in the south rarely appeared in the tide of cultural exchange in Quzhou. They transfer their culture to other one in the family, which reflects the characteristics of family. To make a long story short, after losing their rank, the Confucius’ descendants in the south had been controlled strictly. Their status in politics and economy were declined. What’s more, the Confucius’descendants in the south are away from the local, the relationship with Qufu descendants aren’t close enough with time going by. The Confucius’descendants in the south fortunately found their own life finally, they become the model in Quzhou to promote the local humanistic spirit.