Now THIS is a family tree! On New Year's day, the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee (CGCC) announced that it is "closing the book" and is now sending the fifth update of Confucius' family tree to the printers. The new publication will contain more than two million documented descendants of the Chinese philosopher who was born in 551 B.C.
The latest revision took 10 years to complete. It gives the most complete and systematic record of Confucius genealogy ever compiled. The previous revision in 1937 included 600,000 members.
The new list, which includes overseas and female descendants for the first time, is expected to be published sometime around Confucius' 2560th birthday, which falls on Sept. 28.
