The People’s Daily Online has news that an 86-generation family tree, that of the Confucius family, has been entered in the Guinness Book of World Records, 2005/2006. 2800 years, 86 generations.
No word on what kind of printer they used, or what genealogy program was used to track that far back (yes, some have definite limits). It would be a full-time job tracking such a tree by hand, for several individuals. I’d be curious to know the number of living descendants.
Twenty-five Chinese records went into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2005, sources with China’s submitting office said Monday.
“These new entries reflect China’s long history and rich culture, modern achievements in science and technology, as well as the lives of ordinary Chinese,” said Wu Xiaohong, a staff member with the Guinness submitting office of Liaoning Publishing Group, which is the only Guinness-authorized agency in China.
The Confucius family genealogy, one of the 25 records, is considered the longest of its kind in world records. Dating back 2,800 years, it clearly records the 86 generations of the Confucius family tree.
The Genealogue mentioned this as well.