Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province launches a set of Grandpa Nankong emojis on Oct 9 on Chinese social media platform WeChat. Grandpa Nankong is a carton version of Confucius. [Photo/qz828.com]

Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province launched a series of emojis of Grandpa Nankong, a cartoon version of Confucius, on Oct 9 on Chinese social media platform WeChat, according to local media reports.

The set, which includes 16 different emojis, was created for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 2,570th birthday of Confucius, an ancient Chinese educator and philosopher.

Xu Ming of Quzhou University, designer of the emojis, said that it took him about one month to conceive and produce the set.

Xu made a slight adjustment to the original look of Grandpa Nankong while retaining his primary features, such as the softness of the eyebrows and its bun color, to satisfy current aesthetic standard, according to Xu.

Quzhou's city mascot "Happy Deer" also appeared in the emoji set along with Grandpa Nankong.

Created in 2015, Grandpa Nankong represents the southern branch of Confucianism in Quzhou. His bun is shaped like a painting or calligraphy scroll and symbolizes the depth and profundity of Confucianism.

Grandpa Nankong's eyes are covered with thick eyebrows, which is a common way to represent profound knowledge in cartoons. His heart-shaped beard symbolizes the Confucian notion that every person has the right to go to school and receive an education.