The University’s International Students Attend Confucius’ 2,566 Anniversary Ceremony

         Today is the anniversary calibration of Confucius’ 2,566 birthday. On September 28th, at the Southern Confucius Ancestral Memorial Hall, they hold a remembrance ceremony. This ceremony’s themes include, Universal Philanthropy and Creating Harmony. The attendees include domestic and foreign people who come from all walks of life to attend this ceremony. A full 60 international students who receive the Confucius scholarship from our University’s College  of International Studies were invited to take part in this ceremony. 

           At the Southern Quzhou Confucius Ancestral Memorial Hall, they accept the notions of modern people, the people attending the ceremony wear modern dress in order to express an honest and sincere respect for the ancient sage. The ceremony is divided into four parts, first the opening, then the presentation of gifts, then songs of praise. During the ceremony, they give an offering of five verities of grain, the writers four essentials, which are, brush, ink stick, stone slab and paper. Then after they offer incense the participants bow to the idol of Confucius and present it with a basket of flowers. At the end all the participants sing The Great Harmony together. That song relates the participants grate respect to the ancient sage Confucius and ones emotional connection to the rich culture of the Confucius School of Philosophy.

             Chen Long, a Cameroonian student who just six months ago came to ZJNU as a new student to study Mandarin, is especially interested. He thinks that through this experience he can better understandChina. He believes that thorough the process of studying Chinese he can understand Confucius. “This is the first time I have attended a Chinese memorial ceremony,” he said, “it is really unbelievably amazing.”

          After the ceremony, the students visited the Confucius Ancestral Memorial Hall to understand the buildings architecture, carvings and sculptures and other goods on display. They also meet and talked with the 75 direct descendent grandchild of Confucius who is the Quzhou Confucius family clan patriarch and the director of the Southern Confucius Ancestral Memorial Hall committee. Mr. Confucius introduced them to the life and great accomplishments of his ancestor. He expounded upon the phrase “cultivate oneself and manage the family well.” Then he answered every student’s questions one by one. This really gave them a deep impression of traditional Chinese culture. Especially the influence that of the long standing and well established Confucianism tradition has had on that culture.