On March 30th, with the warm spring sun, under the leadership of Mr.Yau, more than 200 teachers and students of Qiuzhen College went to the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong province to visit Confucius. With the support of the Shandong Overseas Chinese Federation and Jining Municipal Government, a special ceremony for "Overseas Chinese students at home and abroad" was held. Also invited to attend the ceremony were Caucher Birkar, Fields Prize winner, professor of Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, member of Tsinghua University of the European Academy of Sciences, Nicolai Reshetikhin, Professor of Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Tsinghua University and fellow of the American Mathematical Society, Vladimir Markovic, professor of Oxford University and academician of the Royal Academy, and the nation-wide representatives of the teachers and students from Yau Mathematical Sciences Talents Program of 19 middle schools, Mathematical Science Center of Tsinghua University, BIMSA, etc. Also present at the ceremony were Li Xingyu, part-time vice chairman of Chinese Federation of Overseas Chinese, Party secretary and chairman of Shandong Federation of Overseas Chinese, Lu Wenpeng, member of the Party group and vice chairman of Shandong Federation of Overseas Chinese, Zhang Maorui, deputy director of the Standing Committee of Jining Municipal People's Congress, Wang Xinyan, chairman of Jining Federation of Overseas Chinese, and other leaders and guests of Shandong Province and Jining City.
The Confucius sacrifice ceremony of Qiuzhen College
Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius and the birthplace of Confucian culture. For thousands of years, the Confucian culture founded by Confucius has had a profound influence on the Chinese nation. Confucius was deeply respected and loved by the world, and was known as the "most holy teacher" and "eternal teacher". According to the data, the Confucius memorial activity has a long history, which can be traced back to 478 BC. In the second year after Confucius died, Duke Ai of Lu opened Confucius' old house as a longevity hall to offer sacrifices to Confucius. The real sacrifice of Confucius began in 195 BC. Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, passed Lu and offered sacrifices to Confucius through the "Tai prison", which was the first time emperors worshiped Confucius. Subsequently, the emperors of the praise and seal, the ceremony is becoming grand and grand. The current Confucius activities began in 2004 when Qufu City held a government memorial ceremony for Confucius. The activity shows the fine tradition of the Chinese nation of respecting teachers and valuing education and the development concept of harmony, which can enhance people's understanding of the excellent Chinese etiquette culture, and is an important content and way to strengthen the confidence of the national culture.
Music dance sacrifice
Send a flower basket with respect
After the music and dance, Bai Mingyu, a 2023 student of the College read the offerings as the representative of the College. The sacrifice was written by Mr.Yau himself to express his respect for the first master of Confucius.
Bai Mingyu read the sacrificial texts with respect
Sacrifice Confucius in Qufu
In the early spring of the 75th year of the Republic of China, teachers and students of Qiuzhen College of Tsinghua University and distant scholars visited the Confucius Temple in Qufu.
Master Confucius, lived in the Spring and Autumn period, as a Lu area person. When the Zhou royal family declined, he began to lobby the countries. He met barriers, and returned and taught students, opening the wind of civilian education in China. The master taught the six arts, advocated human ethics, followed the rites and music, followed the gentleman's benevolence, established a hundred generations of track models, and opened the peace. The Confucian tradition, went through the dynasties to the modern world, through 2,500 years without decline, with dripping but it is still endless. The mountain is high, so the shadow went with it. Today I stand here with a respectful heart, and pray in the master's spirit, my words said:
Confucius was born beside a hill, and the great way thus appeared here,
He was both good at literature and martial learning, and well all respect for the Zhou dynasty and the Lu Kingdom,
He advocated loyalty, forgiveness, mercy, and love, following the order of the king to the officer, father to son, with the way of The Doctrine of the Mean, and till the best level he can stop,
He deleted the useless books and made rules of words, so Chinese literature could follow its way like its jade and pottery,
He sacrificed himself to education, spread knowledge, and tried to inspire his students,
He wrote Spring and Autumn to tell the good and bad natures of humans, and he wrote I-Ching to calculate the world, so he kept the ancient cultures and we can still find them,
I was astonished by Confucius’s influences even after 2400 years later,
Confucius’s way had gone so far, and he taught us to keep peaceful with neighboring countries,
After the dark ages of our modern history, we will gain new trends today,
Within these teachers, we can know the ethics so clearly,
If the Wen and Xuan Emperor of Zhou can hear my words, please protect our students and our people,
I bow to pray with the highest respect.
After reading the memorial, the teachers and students of Qiuzhen College sang the song of Qiuzhen College together. The song was written by Mr.Yau himself and composed by Mr.Hu Tingjiang from the China Conservatory of Music. Its words are as follows:
We Qiuzhen teachers and students are visiting the Confucius Temple,
Confucius was born on a hill but led the civilization of China,
The great way thus opened and spread with the wind,
He taught us to follow loyalty, forgiveness, mercy, and love, and follow the order of the king to the officer, father to son,
He inspired us to learn with the way of The Doctrine of the Mean, and till the best level he can stop,
He kept the six arts and five ethics, so we can follow the rite and love people widely,
He wrote Spring and Autumn to tell the good and bad natures of humans, he wrote I-Ching to calculate the world, what he kept is both beneficial for the East and West world,
He is like a mountain with the fame of hundreds of generations, so we later intellectuals can follow him today and keep the peace in the future,
The way of Confucianism shapes the discipline of China，
We Qiuzhen people will not forget it!
Then, the teachers and students went to the hall one by one to present flowers, and bowed to Confucius three times, to this ceremony. The whole ceremony was solemn and solemn. The teachers and students deeply felt the charm of the excellent traditional Chinese culture from the ceremony and also enhanced their understanding, identification, and pride in the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
Qiuzhen College students presented flowers
Mr.Yau said that the teachers of Tsinghua University, students of Qiuzhen College, and teachers of BIMSA came to Qufu to offer sacrifices to the eternal teacher Confucius and see the essence of traditional culture, which broadened their horizons and enhanced their understanding of traditional Chinese etiquette culture. He encouraged the students to set up lofty aspirations, become a great cause, carry on the past, open the future, and live up to the high expectations of the nation!
The main guest took a group photo in front of the Dacheng Hall
The ceremony was presided over by Kong Lingkai, the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Memorial Ceremony, and received the guidance of Jining Cultural Inheritance and Development Center and the assistance of Qufu Sankong Cultural Tourism Service Co., LTD. Ltd. Nearly 600 people attended the ceremony.
Writing | Xie Lufang
Typography | Cui Jingning
Proofread | Guo Youran
Review | Wang Xiaofang
Translation | Gao Xudong
