Hundreds of Nanjing school children were this week given a treat that was cunningly disguised as an encouraging way to remember Confucian values; they got to play dress up!
A total of 168 children from the Fuzimiao Primary School, all dressed as the great sage himself, attended the ceremony held on 31st August in what was a charming spectacle that attracted thousands of onlookers.
During the event, held annually at the Confucius Temple in Nanjing (Fuzimiao), the children showed off their calligraphy skills by simultaneously writing the character 人 (person) and reading the Analects of Confucius. Elsewhere, some lucky ones had the special privilege of banging the temple’s gong while others received painted on their forehead a red dot said to represent “opening the wisdom eye”.
Confucianism is one of the three main traditional tracts of religion in China, with the others being buddhism and taoism. Confucius himself was a Chinese scholar (551 – 479 BC) who taught the values of personal and governmental morality, along with strong and loyal family plus respect for elders by their children. His best known expression is “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself”.
