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Confucius Day commemorated

The solemn, deep tolling of the Bozhong bell echoed through the Taipei Confucius Temple at 6am yesterday morning, as drum rolls and a series of classical rites followed as the 2,555 anniversary of the birth of Confucius was commemorated at Taipei Confucius Temple yesterday.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) presided over the ceremony as the principal consecration officer. Acting chief of the Civil Affairs Bureau Chong Ze-liang (鍾則良) served as the ceremonial supervisor, and Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), also attended the ceremony.

Eighty-six-year-old Kung Teh-cheng (孔德成), who claims to be a direct descendant of Confucius and who has been present at similar rituals over the past 55 years since Confucius was first commemorated officially in Taiwan in 1950, was absent from the ceremony due to health reasons.

The commemorative ritual yesterday strictly followed ancient rules with 37 steps in the ceremony sequence. A total of 36 elementary school boys, dressed in yellow silk clothes with a feather and a flute in their hands, performed a classical "Liu I" (六佾) dance, and 65 high school students played traditional harmonies, the oldest music in the palace having originated in the Song Dynasty.

About one thousand people, including the diplomatic corps, foreign guests and citizens attended, witnessing what the city government claims is "one of the most orthodox Confucius ceremony" remaining in the world.

Coming to the ceremony with dozens of friends for the first time, Margie Mackay from Australia said she enjoyed the "very beautiful" ceremony that paid tribute to "one of the most well-known philosophers" in history.

Also a first-time attendant, Mantine Hanse of the US, who came with Rotary International, was absorbed in all the rituals she had never seen.

"It's amazing and fantastic ... I am so pleased that while I am here, it's Confucius' birthday and I have the chance to attend this event," she told the Taipei Times.

After the one-hour ceremony, Ma gave away small gift parcels, including "wisdom cakes" and a mini copy of the Lun Yu (The Analects of Confucius), to spectators, including many expatriates and tourists. Representatives from the Japanese Confucian Analects Association, who have been traveling to Taipei every year to watch the ceremony, presented Ma with a Japanese-version of the Lun Yu.

Outside the temple, the "Saving Chinese Education Alliance" was gathering signatures to petition the Ministry of Education for taking Chinese education more seriously.

Ma later signed his name to support the alliance's appeal.

"Reading Chinese classics is basic education. The Lun Yu, for example, offers so many practical and ethical principals that we all should learn," Ma said as he also promised to spend NT$900 million to turn the temple into an international Confucianism center.

The roots of the Confucius Ceremony can be traced back to China's Zhou Dynasty. After Confucius died, his residence was converted to a temple in Qufu (曲阜), Shandong Province, China.

Worship at the time was limited to the Confucius Temple in Qufu. In the 13th year of his reign, while visiting the state of Lu, the Han Emperor Gaozu sacrificed a bull to Confucius, thus initiating the tradition of emperors worshipping Confucius.

In Taiwan, the first Confucius Ceremony was held in 1950, according to Taipei Confucius Temple Governing Board.
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