People have been documenting their ancestors and descendants
throughout history. They enjoying learning more about where they
come from. Have you ever wondered about the oldest family tree?
It belongs to Confucius - the famous Chinese teacher, editor,
politician, and philosopher - who lived 551–479 BC. A descendant
of Emperor Tang (1675–1646 BC), his family tree contains
millions of descents and today is in the 83rd generation. In
1998, an international team began tracing and reviewing more
than 450 global branches. A new edition of the Confucius
genealogy book was printed in September 2009 by the Confucius
Genealogy Compilation Committee, in honor of the 2560th
anniversary of his birth. This latest edition is expected to
include some 1.3 million living members around the world today.
The family tree covers 43,000 pages in 80 volumes and, for the
first time, women, minorities and foreigners were included. The
family genealogy has been maintained for some 2,000 years. The
committee is headed by Kong Deyong (wh