At home with the Kong family

Exhibition reveals the scholarly and revered descendants of Confucius lived their daily lives with solemnity as well as humor, Yang Feiyue reports.

For years, exhibitions about Confucius have focused on profound culture and grand rituals that exposed the audience to the philosopher's teachings enshrined as sacred texts.

But behind the towering legacy of China's prominent family, how did the Confucius descendants, also known as the Kong family, actually live?

At the Prince Kung's Palace Museum tucked away in the hutong alleys in downtown Beijing, visitors now can get a glimpse into the human side of the family at the ongoing thematic exhibition Ritual Integrity and Poetic Refinement, a collaboration between the museum and the Confucius Museum based in Qufu, East China's Shandong province.