The Guinness Book of World Records says that the Confucius family genealogy is considered to be the longest documented genealogy in the world.
Confucius (pronounced K'ung Ch'iu in Mandarin) lived from 551 to 479 B.C. His great-great-great-great-grandfather, K'ung Chia, lived in the 8th century B.C. and is the earliest documented member of the family. Seven of Chia's documented 86th generation lineal descendants are still alive.
Since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Confucius family tree has undergone extensive revisions (updates) every 60 years and minor revisions every 30 years, and in 1999 Confucius' 82nd-generation lineal descendants embarked on the largest update so far.
