Duke Yansheng
| Kong or K'ung 孔 |
|
|---|---|
| Country | China |
| Estates | Kong Family Mansion (Qufu), Quzhou Mansion, |
| Parent house | Shang Dynasty, State of Song |
| Titles | Duke Yansheng, Sacrificial Official to Confucius, Wujing Boshi, Count of Changwon |
| Founded | 551 BCE |
| Founder | Confucius |
| Current head | Kung Tsui-chang (Northern Branch), Kong Xiangkai (Southern Branch), Gong Dae-sik (Branch in Korea) |
| Ethnicity | Han Chinese |
| Cadet branches | The other main branch was the Southern branch at Quzhou, many other branches are scattered all over China, one branch in Korea. |
| Duke Yansheng, Sacrificial Official to Confucius | |
|---|---|
| Creation date | 1055 |
| Monarch | Emperors of the Song dynasty, Jin dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty, Qing dynasty |
| Peerage | Chinese nobility |
| First holder | Kong Zongyuan(孔宗願) |
| Present holder | Kung Tsui-chang |
| Heir apparent | Kung Yu-jen(孔佑仁) Kong Weining(孔維寧)(Heir presumptive) |
| Seat(s) |
Kong Family Mansion another abode in Beijing |
| Duke Yansheng | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 衍聖公 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 衍圣公 | ||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Yǎnshèng Gōng |
| Wade–Giles | Yen-sheng Kung |
The Duke of Yansheng, literally "Duke Overflowing with Sagacity", sometimes translated as Holy Duke of Yen, was a Chinese title of nobility. It was originally created as a marquis title in the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE – 9 CE) for a direct descendant of Confucius.
From the Western Han dynasty to the mid-Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), the title undergone several changes in its name, before it was finally settled as "Duke Yansheng" in 1005 by Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song dynasty. Kong Zongyuan, a 46th-generation descendant of Confucius, became the first person to hold the title "Duke Yansheng". The dukes enjoyed privileges that other nobles were denied, such as the right to tax their domain in Qufu while being exempt from imperial taxes. Their dukedom had its own judicial system and the legal capacity to mete out capital punishment, although such sentences had to be ratified by the imperial court.
In 1935, the Nationalist government of the Republic of China converted the Duke Yansheng title to a political office, "Dacheng Zhisheng Xianshi Fengsi Guan" (大成至聖先師奉祀官), which simply means "Sacrificial Official to Confucius". This political office is not only hereditary, but also had the same ranking and remuneration as that of a cabinet minister in the government of the Republic of China. In 2008, with permission from the Kong family, the political office became an unpaid one which is purely ceremonial in nature. It is currently held by Kung Tsui-chang, a 79th-generation descendant of Confucius.
There are also similar political offices for the descendants of the other notable members of the Confucian school, (the Four Sages) such as "Sacrificial Official to Mencius", "Sacrificial Official to Zengzi", and "Sacrificial Official to Yan Hui".
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Wikipedia