Representatives from the Quzhou Municipal Government, the Kong family, Confucius Institutes, international friends and others from all walks of life present baskets of flowers to the Confucius statue as they participate in a sacrificial ceremony for its 2,570th birthday on Sept 28 in Quzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/qz96811.com]

Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province hosted a grand sacrificial ceremony on Sept 28, to commemorate the 2,570th birthday of Confucius at the city's Confucian Ancestral Temple, according to local media reports.

At nine o'clock, after nine strikes of a gong by its chief ritualist, Quzhou No1 Middle School teacher Zheng Gang, the commencement of the sacrificial ceremony was then signaled after he made three bows to the Confucius statue.

Twelve ritualists and 12 student representatives in two rows stepped slowly into Dacheng Hall, or the Hall of Great Achievements, to offer five cereals (rice, two kinds of millet, wheat and beans), four treasures of Chinese study (writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper), as well as incense to the Confucius statue and then lit candles.

Representatives of Quzhou Municipal Government, the Kong family, Confucius Institutes, international friends and others from all walks of life then took turns to present baskets of flowers to the Confucius statue.

The chief ritualist recited the Funeral Oration to Confucius and the whole ceremony concluded with a chorus of Ode to Harmony selected from the Book of Rites by Confucius.

Representatives from Confucius Institutes in 11 countries, including the United States, Germany and France, as well as more than 10 universities in China, Kong family members and Quzhou municipal authorities attended the ceremony.

Quzhou is home to Confucius's descendants. The Confucian Ancestral Temple for his descendants in the city is one of the only two Confucian temples in China with the other one in Qufu, Shandong province.

As the birthplace of Southern Confucius Culture and the communications center of Jiangnan Confucian culture, the sacrificial ceremony has become an important event for Quzhou to conduct exchanges and forge ties with friends from all over the world.