Confucius Memorial Ceremony (Nan Kong Memorial Ceremony)

Zhejiang
🎧  Listen to Introduction

The Confucius Temple in Quzhou is one of the two major Confucius temples in northern and southern China. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin army invaded the south, and Song Gaozong fled south in a hurry and settled in Hangzhou. In the second year of Jianyan (1128 AD), Kong Duanyou, the 48th descendant of Confucius who inherited the title of "Yanshenggong", carried the wooden statues of Confucius and his wife on his back and was granted by Gaozong to live in Quzhou, becoming the ancestor of the Southern School of Confucius. In 1253, Song Lizong ordered the construction of the Confucius Temple, and the Southern School of Confucius was established. Quzhou also became the place where the main branch of the Confucius family lived and worshipped for generations, and was known as the "Southeast Queli". Over the years, the Northern School of Confucius Qufu Temple and the Southern School of Confucius Quzhou Temple have often joined hands to contribute to the promotion of Confucius' Confucianism. The Confucius Ceremony is a traditional sacrificial ceremony for the descendants of the Kong family to worship their ancestor Confucius and for the emperors of all dynasties to perform the ritual of respecting the saint. It has a significant impact at home and abroad. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the sacrificial ceremony of the Southern School has been enduring. In the eighth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1743), it reached 0. There have been major events in every dynasty. The Southern Clan Confucius Sacrifice refers to the routine sacrificial ceremony held by the Kong clan members living in the south at the Kong clan temple in Quzhou. In the second year of Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty (1128), Kong Duanyou, the 48th-generation eldest grandson of Confucius and Duke of Yansheng, was ordered by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou, to go to Yangzhou to accompany the emperor in the suburban sacrifice. After that, he followed the emperor to the south and arrived in Quzhou, Zhejiang in the third year of Jianyan (1129). He was ordered to "temporarily use the state school as a temple" to sacrifice to Confucius. Thus began the unique activity of sacrificing Confucius in Quzhou, the Southern Clan Confucius Sacrifice. The Southern Clan Confucius Sacrifice activity is centered in Quzhou, the "Southeast Queli", and is widely distributed in various places where the Southern Clan of Kong clan lives in the south. The sacrificial activities include the four major sacrifices (the first Ding day of the middle month of the four seasons), the four middle Ding days (ten days after the big sacrifice), the eight minor sacrifices, the solar term sacrifices, as well as the special sacrifices on birthdays and memorial days, and the general worship on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, etc. In a broad sense, it also includes the Confucius worship activities in the academies under the jurisdiction of the Southern School, as well as the enlightenment ceremonies of the Southern School private schools and scripture reading classes, etc. The Southern School's worship of Confucius has been going on for more than 800 years in Quzhou, and was interrupted after liberation. In 2004, it was resumed at the initiative of Mr. Kong Xiangkai, the eldest grandson of the Southern School. The sacrificial ceremony of the Southern School of Confucius is a unique Confucius worship activity that combines national sacrifice (official sacrifice), family sacrifice and folk sacrifice. It is of great significance to inherit the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and enhance the cohesion of the descendants of Yan and Huang at home and abroad.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage

World heritage related to the heritage