Hangzhou holds ceremony to commemorate the 2577th anniversary of the birth of Confucius

China News Service, Hangzhou, September 29 (Cao Dan, Yan Jue, Xie Yaling) On September 28, the Hangzhou Confucius Ceremony in the Bingwu Year was held at the Confucius Temple on the bank of the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The ceremony is based on the ancient rituals of the Song Dynasty, inherits the traditional rituals and music, and integrates many agendas such as traditional sacrificial music, guqin elegant collection, and children's writing and enlightenment to commemorate the 2577th anniversary of the birth of Confucius.

On September 28, the ceremony to commemorate Confucius was held in Hangzhou. (Photo courtesy of the organizer)

At 9:08 on the same day, the master of ceremonies sang "Opening a Household", the etiquette personnel entered the temple first with flower baskets, and the attending guests entered the square in an orderly manner. After beating drums and ringing bells, the ceremony presented holy water taken from the West Lake and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The officiant poured water under the ginkgo tree in front of Dacheng Hall, which symbolizes that Confucianism permeates the fertile soil of the lake and mountains, and is endlessly prosperous.

As elegant music played, the officiant read the memorial text aloud in memory of Confucius's teachings. Then the music and dance ceremony came on stage: 36 dancers lined up in a formation of six hundred, wearing a crown with a broad belt, holding a feather in the right hand and a bow in the left hand. The Wende dance advanced and retreated in a measured way, and the bells and chimes sounded in unison to pay tribute to the eternal teacher.

After the completion of the ceremony, the Zhejiang Guqin performance "Ritual Music, String Songs, Thinking of the Worthy and Carrying the Rhyme" was held successively in the Dacheng Hall.

On September 28, the Zhejiang-yin guqin performance of "Ritual Music, String Songs and Thoughts on the Virtuous and the Successful Rhythm" was held. (Photo courtesy of the organizer)

Guqin is an important carrier of Confucian ritual and music culture, which fits the meaning of "prospering in poetry, establishing in rituals, and achieving in music". This exhibition was led by Zhang Yiwen, associate professor of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, who performed "Shen Ren Chang" adapted from ancient sacrificial qin music, "Crying Face Hui", a representative guqin of the Zhejiang School, a new guqin and piano work "Shi Yun Xiang Tang" and the earliest existing written qin music "Jieshi Diao·Youlan".

The ceremony of worshiping Confucius is not only a ceremony to admire the ancestors, but also to place hope on those who come after. Dressing up, paying homage to the teacher, dotting cinnabar, teaching pen, and paying tribute to the pen... On that day, 20 primary school students participated in the pen-opening ceremony at the Confucius Temple and wrote the first stroke of their lives under the guidance of Wu Zijian, a member of the Zhejiang Provincial Calligraphers Association. In the small calligraphy class after the ceremony, the teacher demonstrated how to use the pen step by step, and the children opened the door to study.

It is reported that on September 29, the "Hangyun Scholarly · Traces of Imperial Examination Culture" study and day study route will be launched to explore the road to Hangzhou's scholarly atmosphere. (over)