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According to historical records, in 478 BC, the year after Confucius' death, Lord Ai of the State of Lu had Confucius' house in the center of Qufu altered into a temple in commemoration of the sage. After many restorations and expansions, it reached present scale in the Ming Dynasty. Covering 140,000 square meters of land, the compound consists of over a hundred halls, towers, pavilions and other buildings clustering around 9 courtyards, including Dacheng Hall -- the main hall -- the triple-roofed 23-meter-high Kuiwenge, and the Apricot Altar Pavillion where Confucius lectured his disciples surrounded by ancient cypress trees and over a thousand steles.
In December,1994 The Confucius Temple, Residence and Confucian Forest was listed in the Chronology of Recognition of World Heritages in China.
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