Despite Confucius’ emphasis on ceremony, the tombs themselves are simple and humble, usually just unmarked mounds of earth that have become grassy domes. Confucius has a much larger one than most, but that is it. The stone that stands besides it is simple and modest, paying homage to the ‘teacher of ten thousand generations’.

This contrasts with the statue of Confucius near his reputed birth place in Nishan, 30 kilometres southeast of Qufu. This quiet place of learning and scholarship is dwarfed by the massive figure of the master that looks as though it has only just been built. It is curiously unmentioned online and in guidebooks. It is typical of modern China, where construction moves at a faster pace than the world can keep up with.

All three of the historical sites suffered a lot of damage during the Cultural Revolution, which sought to destroy the ‘Four Olds’: old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas. And yet in recent years the Chinese Communist Party has come to embrace Confucius – or Kongzi, ‘Master Kong’, as he is best known. In 2004 it established Confucius Institutes to promote the language and culture abroad. In China, where collective memory reaches back millennia, tradition can be razed to the ground but its roots are so deep, it always grows back.

Despite its significance, Qufu has only recently been promoted as a tourist destination. Its only luxury hotel, the Shangri-La, is just three years old. Here, they offer perhaps the most surprising Confucian experience in town: Kong family cuisine.

Last year, the government started work on an application to Unesco to have the cuisine recognised as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. This has raised eyebrows since it is not one of the ‘Eight Culinary Cuisines’ recognised in China. What’s more, Confucius never placed much emphasis on eating. ‘He
who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite,’ he said.

Nonetheless, the Analects of Confucius also tells us that the master demanded that food was served and prepared properly. ‘He did not eat meat which was not cut properly,’ we are told, ‘nor what was served without its proper sauce’. More peculiarly, ‘He was never without ginger when he ate.’