The 2026 China International Confucius Cultural Festival exchange performance of ethnic instrumental music in cities along the Grand Canal was held in Jining

China News Service, Jining, September 29th (Chen Wanting) The 2026 China International Confucius Cultural Festival "Ritual and Music Harmonizes the World, Elegance Benefits Ten Thousand Families" Cultural Tourism Carnival - "Golden Sound and Jade Vibration" National Instrumental Music Exchange and Performance in Cities Along the Grand Canal was held on the evening of September 28th at the Liaohe Grand Theater in Jining. Literary troupes, university orchestras and folk music teams from Yingjisha County in Xinjiang gathered in the hometown of Confucius and Mencius from many cities along the Grand Canal to attend a folk music event that spanned mountains and rivers, using music as a bridge.

This exhibition takes the historical evolution of the Grand Canal's water transport as the main line, connecting a complete historical picture of the canal from the rise of the canal, the peak of water transport, to the contemporary rebirth. It integrates Confucian ritual and music culture, canal culture, and multi-ethnic culture into one performance, vividly interpreting the Eastern wisdom of "harmony in diversity, beauty and beauty shared".

Twelve ethnic instrumental music teams from Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces (cities) along the Grand Canal, as well as Yingisha County, Xinjiang, a counterpart support city of Jining City, took turns on the stage. Wu Yun, Yue Yin, and Qilu wind and percussion music took turns to bloom, and traditional ancient rhymes collided with the new sounds of the times. Music from the north and the south meet here, with both the gentleness and elegance of Jiangnan silk and bamboo music and the bold and sonorous music of northern wind and percussion music. Music and art from multiple regions and ethnic groups have a dialogue on the same stage, winning rounds of applause from the audience.

A grand canal connects the cultural context of the north and the south; a piece of national music sings the elegance of ancient and modern times. This exhibition is based on Jining's unique cultural endowment as "the hometown of Confucius and Mencius and the capital of the canal" and relies on the China International Confucius Cultural Festival platform to build an important platform for cultural exchanges and mutual learning among cities along the Grand Canal, and promote the living inheritance of canal culture and Confucian ritual and music culture.