Confucius' family tree digitalised

The lineage of Chinese philosopher Confucius, believed to be world's largest family tree, has been fully digitalised, officials said.

The digital version, based on the family tree revised in 2009, includes about two million of Confucius' descendants and contains more than 20 million characters.

The original paper collection of the family tree containing records of all 83 generations is 43,000 pages long and takes up 80 volumes, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The digitalised version makes revision, searching, verification and censuses easier," said Kong Xiangsheng, a 75th generation descendant of Confucius and curator of the philosopher's family archives.

Largescale revision of Confucius' family tree can be traced back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) when the family agreed to revise and update the name list every 30 years and overhaul it every 60 years.

However, for various reasons, the record has only been revised five times. The latest update, which for the first time includes ethnic minorities, women and overseas relatives, took 10 years and was completed in 2009.

--IANS

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