Qufu Culture
Confucianism
Qufu is a traditional centre of Confucianism, being the area where Confucius was born. The city is home to the Temple of Confucius, to the Mausoleum of Confucius and to the Mansion of the Kong Family. Qufu has a branch of the Holy Church of Confucius (孔圣堂 Kongshengtang) as well and hosts the headquarters of the Federation of Confucian Culture.
Oriental Holy City
It is an oriental holy cit which enjoys a long history, lots of places of interests and tourism resources, and cultivated Confucius, Mencius and Yanzi as well as Chinese ancestors.
Home of Confucius
The fact that Qufu could be known at home and abroad is largely owing to is closely combined with the name of Confucius. Confucius is one of the greatest philosophers in the world and the founder of Confucianism in China. In more than two thousand years’ long history, Confucian culture had gradually become the orthodox culture of China, and influenced to the east and southeast Asia countries, and was to be the foundation of the Oriental culture.
Qufu "San Kong" ("the Three Confucian sites: the Temple of Confucius, the Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion), due to its significant status in the history of China and the oriental culture, it was listed as world cultural heritage by UNESCO. So Qufu is revered as one of the three most holy cities.
Confucius Memorial Ceremony
In ancient China, according to the lunar calendar, every August 27th was Confucius's birthday. On that day, a great Confucius memorial ceremony was held. Nowadays, the ceremony is still kept and it has been changed into the Confucius cultural festival.
The Benevolent Love
The core of Confucius is "benevolence", namely to love people. He took "benevolence" as the principle and purpose of practicing benevolence, and also, made "benevolence" and “the ritual” work together. He advocated the ruler to treat his people by “leading people by morality and assimilating them by ritual”. Confucius’s words and deeds were recorded by his disciples in The Analects of Confucius which is one of the classics of the Confucian school.
