In Qufu in September, the air is filled with the scent of sweet-scented osmanthus and ancient cypress. At the foot of the Nishan Mountain, the Confucius Cultural Festival and the Nishan World Civilization Forum, one focusing on experience and the other focusing on thought, will appear one after another, like the upstream and downstream of a river - the upstream is the solemn presentation of rituals and music, while the downstream is the in-depth questioning of civilizational propositions.
It's reminiscent of Surabaya. More than 2,000 years ago, when Confucius stood on the bank and said, "The dead are like a man", the river probably did not expect that the sound of its own flowing water would become the undertone of the entire nation's spiritual riverbed. Today, "Canal No. 1" sets sail from Nanyang Ancient Town, sailing on the water, carrying tourists through the mist of Weishan Lake. From Surabaya to the canal, from the river of philosophy to the river of culture and tourism, the shape of the water has changed, but the flow itself has not.
Li is not an immovable statue
Ceremonies to commemorate Confucius are held every year. Some people ask: What is the significance of the same ceremony every year?
This question itself just exposes a misunderstanding of tradition. Tradition is never a statue that never moves, but a river that always flows. Each generation pours its own living water into the river and draws water from the river to irrigate its fields.
This year's sixth chapter of "New Music and Dance to Commemorate Confucius" is "The Great Harmony of the World". Young dancers stand in the queue of the Eight Yi Dance. Under their feet are the 500-year-old Ming Dynasty bricks, and above their heads is the autumn sun of 2026. Ancient rituals and youth are in the same frame. This is not a violation, this is evidence that tradition is alive.
What deserves more attention are those "atypical" Confucian cultural scenes. In the rural Confucian lecture hall in Beidongye Village, Sishui County, volunteers used jingles to talk about filial piety and songs to spread virtues. The elders and ladies could listen, remember and use them. The "Yue Lai Yu Hao" reading club in Queli Community reads "The Analects of Confucius" as well as local prose, and talks about family traditions and local history. Confucius said that "benevolence is beauty within". The word "li" originally means neighborhood or village. If benevolence and virtue are to fall to the ground, it will fall to this ground. The rituals and music in temples are the height of culture, and the fireworks in the marketplace are the depth of culture. Without thickness, height hangs; without height, thickness spreads.
The eyes of others see oneself
This year’s Confucius Cultural Festival has an intriguing arrangement: foreign scholars are invited to talk about “As a foreigner, what did you discover in the hometown of Confucius that Chinese people themselves may overlook?” This question itself is very interesting.
When we look at ourselves, we often look at people under the lamp, and things up close are blurry. The "other perspective" of foreign scholars is like a tilted mirror, reflecting the outlines of ourselves that we have not noticed. This question is not only concerned with "what Confucius said", but "Why is Confucius still talking today?" This constitutes a conversation in itself.
Confucius traveled around the world for fourteen years, taking the road of "export". But looking back today, the essence of that path is "dialogue". He went to Wei, Chen, and Cai, not to preach, but to seek understanding and response. Today's Confucius Cultural Festival invites guests from 44 countries and regions to Qufu, which is essentially doing the same thing - not pushing Confucius out, but inviting the world in, allowing both sides to see more during the dialogue.
Technical questions, civilized answers
In the world of 2026, the confusion caused by artificial intelligence is much more complicated than in the era of Confucius. Algorithmic bias, the digital divide, and the twilight zone of technological ethics are all issues Confucius certainly had not seen. But the thinking coordinates left by Confucius can still provide us with a sense of direction.
"A gentleman does not have tools" means that people cannot be turned into tools. When machines start to think, human beings’ subjective status needs to be reaffirmed. For whom technology is developed, this question cannot be answered by technology itself. “Be careful of what you don’t see” refers to the fear of the unknown. When algorithms make decisions in milliseconds, there must be a traceable chain of responsibility within the black box. "The Tao is based on virtue, and the harmony is based on etiquette" refers to the cooperation of external constraints and internal self-discipline. Legislation draws the bottom line and industries set rules, so that the pace of governance can keep up with the rapid pace of technology.
These answers are not ready-made solutions, but a way of thinking. Examining technology from a civilized perspective is not to culturalize technical issues, but to retain a check and balance point of value logic outside of technical logic. This is precisely one of the most precious legacies left by Confucius.
From a person to a building
This year’s festival has a clear logic: starting from Confucius, but not ending with Confucius. If you only remember Confucius as a person, only as a school of thought as Confucianism, or even only as a place like Qufu, then you have only reached the door.
Confucius is the entrance, not the end. China’s excellent traditional culture is the foundation, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture are the branches. The combination of the three is the entire forest of Chinese culture. The value of the Confucius Cultural Festival is not to let the world remember the name of an ancient philosopher, but to use this entrance to bring Chinese and foreign guests into the entire edifice of Chinese culture. The eight words "Benevolence, Literacy, Harmony and Harmony" are the plaque on the lintel. Behind the plaque are the halls and corridors accumulated layer by layer by five thousand years of civilization.
In the whistle of the "Canal No. 1" maiden voyage, there is the flow of water; in the sound of the wheels of the "Qilu No. 1" tourist circuit, there is the pulsation of the land; in the sound of the waves of the "Peninsula No. 1" cruise ship, there is the breath of the sea. The three lines of river, land and sea are intertwined, weaving a network of cultural flows. On this web, Confucius is no longer a solidified symbol, but a growing tradition.
Remaining sounds and new life
Beyond the grand ceremony, what really deserves attention are the moments without the spotlight: a nod in a rural Confucian lecture hall, a stop at a temple fair, a contract signing with an inbound travel agent, and a smile from an overseas teenager while reciting the Analects of Confucius.
The vitality of culture is never found in the grandeur of the opening ceremony, but in the small details of daily life. The new force of civilization will not stop suddenly at the end of the world. It will grow and bloom quietly in a wider land and in more ordinary days.
Starting from Confucius, what we will eventually arrive at is not a statue of a person, but an entire civilized starry sky. Under this starry sky, every river is flowing, every mountain is watching, and everyone who is willing to talk is a person who carries on the fire of civilization. (Text/Chen Yizhao)
