JINAN -- A Confucius museum designed to house 690,000 cultural relics of the Confucius Family Mansion opened to the public Monday in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius in East China's Shandong province.

The first 2,000 relics, including a set of bronze sacrificial utensils from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600-256 BC) and well-preserved imperial robes from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), went on public display for the first time during the trial operation of the museum.

The first group of relics has an estimated value of over 400 million yuan ($57.6 million). The rest of the relics will be transported to the museum and displayed there later.

Over the years, the Confucius Family Mansion, the historical residence of the direct descendants of Confucius since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), has received innumerable visits from home and abroad. But few people have gotten a glimpse of the treasures that have waited for centuries to tell the mysterious history of the family.

"This is the first move to a new home for the Confucius family relics and will also be the largest exhibition open to the public," said Kong Deyong, a 77th-generation descendant of the revered Chinese philosopher.

Through the exhibition, people will understand more about "the first family under heaven" in Chinese culture, said Kong.

It was impossible to keep the relics properly preserved in the small room they were stored in at the Confucius Family Mansion, and the much bigger and more modern museum will better meet the needs of protection, exhibition of and scientific research on the relics, said Kong Xiangjun, director of relics protection department of the Confucius Museum.

The museum employs technology in sound, light and electricity to strengthen interaction with the public. After several touches on a wall equipped with AR technology, classic words from the Analects will pop up with stories behind them being illustrated at the same time.

The museum, which took five years to build, covers an area of 55,000 square meters. The main museum complex consists of a 17,000-square-meter display area, 7,000 square meters of warehouses and a 1,000-square-meter cultural heritage restoration center.

Confucius (551-479 BC), an educator and philosopher, founded Confucianism, a school of thought that deeply influenced later generations. He was also the first Chinese person to set up private schools and enroll students from all walks of life.