The IIIustrated Book of Confucius

Qufu in Shandong Province is bounded on the east by MountMeng, on the north by Mount Tai, on the south by Mount Yi and onthe west by the curving rivers Yi and Si. The land is fertile here,with bumper harvests. Richly endowed by Nature, Qufu was one of thecradles of the Chinese race. Because an emperor in ancient times,Shao Hao, was supposed to have built his capital at Qufu the areawas also known as The Shao Hao Site. Following the Xia (2070-1600BC) and Shang (1600-1046 BC) dynasties, Qufu was the capital of Lu,one of the feudal states under the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC). TheState of Lu had the function of protecting the royal House of Zhoufrom the Yi barbarians in the east.