The ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Confucius Ceremony

Applicant: Qufu City, Shandong Province

Item No.: 483

Project No.: Ⅹ - 35

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Shandong Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Qufu City, Shandong Province

Protected by: Qufu Cultural Center

A brief introduction to the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius

Applicant: Qufu City, Shandong Province

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius is a large-scale temple music and dance activity in Qufu, Shandong Province. It is also called "Dingji music and dance" or "Dacheng music and dance". It is a comprehensive art performance form integrating music, song, dance and ceremony. It is held on the birthday of Confucius on August 27 of the lunar calendar every year. The present ceremony of offering sacrifices to Confucius lasts from September 26 to October 10.

The activities of offering sacrifices to Confucius can be traced back to 478 BC. In the second year after the death of Confucius, Duke AI of Lu opened Confucius' old residence as a hall of longevity to offer sacrifices to Confucius. Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, passed through Lu and offered sacrifices to Confucius with "Tai Lao", which was the first time for emperors to offer sacrifices to Confucius. With the emperors' commendation and conferment, the ceremonial ceremony became more and more grand, and the ritual instruments, musical instruments, movements and dance scores were mostly ordered by the emperor. The emperors of the past dynasties paid a total of 196 visits to the main sacrifice, or sent officials to pay sacrifices, or paid homage on the way. In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong alone visited Qufu eight times to visit Confucius. The government of the Republic of China ordered the whole country to offer sacrifices to Confucius, and its procedures and rituals were greatly changed. Offering nobility was changed to offering wreaths, classical sacrificial clothing was changed to long robes and Mandarin coats, and kneeling was changed to bowing. In 1986, the memorial ceremony for Confucius, which had been silent for half a century, was excavated and sorted out by the Cultural Department of Qufu City and reappeared at the opening ceremony of "Confucius' hometown Tour".

The ceremony mainly includes four forms: music, song, dance and ceremony. Music, song and dance are closely around the etiquette. All the etiquette requires "abundance, cleanness, sincerity and respect". With music and dance, the grand ceremony focuses on the expression of Confucian ideology and culture, embodies the high unity of artistic form and political content, vividly explains the meaning of "ceremony" in Confucius theory, and expresses the thoughts of "benevolent people love others" and "supporting people with ceremony". It has strong ideological affinity, spiritual cohesion and artistic appeal, and is of great significance to carry forward excellent traditional culture and create a harmonious atmosphere Encircling, building a harmonious society and condensing the national spirit play an irreplaceable social role.

Chinese PinYin : Ji Kong Da Dian