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Qufu holds 2009 memorial ceremony for Confucius

By Ji Yuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-09-28 22:59

A memorial ceremony for Confucius was held on September 28 in east China's Qufu city in Shangdong Province.

Photo by Ju Chuanjiang. [China Daily]

Tens of thousands of Confucianism scholars and Confucius' descendants from around the world took part in the commemorative ritual.

The ceremony held to commemorate the 2560th birthday of Confucius is the special highlight of the International Confucius Cultural Festival.

At 8:30 am, a phalanx consisted of tens of thousands of local people read Confucius classics to welcome visitors.

At 8:40 am, the memorial for Confucius was unveiled and a famous calligrapher Fan Zeng wrote lament for Confucius. Then the Temple of Confucius opened and Door of Great Perfection was unlocked.

At 9:00 am, Confucianist scholars and Confucius' descendants served flowers to Confucius at the Hall of Great Perfection. Jiang Daming, governor of Shandong Province, read the lament for Confucius written by Fan Zeng.

The memorial ended with a singing and dancing ceremony.