History is made by people. One cannot talk about the Chinese civilization without mentioning Confucius (551-479 BC), whose legacy remains a resplendent pearl in the national spirit. If the best way to understand something is to start from its root, Quzhou is the place to be to find out more, for it hosts the ancestral temple of China’s most famous teacher and the founder of Confucianism.

Confucianism was so revered throughout most of the history of China that Confucius temples were all over the country in the Tang times; and by the late years of the Qing dynasty, the number had topped 6,000. The consensus has long been reached that Qufu and Quzhou, where the Ancestral Temple of Confucius is a must-visit for any tourist, are the two places that best represent the architectural heritage of Confucius.

It is interesting to notice the fact that the legacy of Confucius is the spiritual base of a city that is thousands of miles away from the man’s birthplace; and it is inspiring to see with one’s own eyes the active interaction between the teachings of a philosopher born about 2,500 years ago and the Quzhou locals today.

The centerpiece of the city’s Confucius Culture Park, seated on Xinqiao Street in the old town area, is a statue of Confucius, standing 9 meters high and weighing 13 tons. The statue is positioned to cast the gaze towards the ancestral temple, where the man’s descendents thrived for more than 900 years. The statue’s solemnity is a perfect match to Fushan Hill, another “time capsule” emblematic of the historic and cultural profundity of Quzhou.

The Confucius complex in Quzhou contains an ancestral temple, the family mansion and a garden, and is rich in life because of Kong Xiangkai, one of the descendents of Confucius. His childhood years were spent here. Quzhou joined the first-tier legion of China’s “most historically and culturally distinct cities” in 1994; and it has long been a consensus among all Quzhou people that the Confucius  estate is the biggest contributor to such a significant laurel.

Records of the time suggest that Kong Duanyou, the 48th-generation descendant of Confucius, was rewarded by Zhao Gou, the first emperor of Southern Song dynasty, with an ancestral temple built in Quzhou in 113 AD, after the emperor and his followers fled in the warring chaos to the south and settled down in present-day Hangzhou.

Kong Xiangkai, the eldest son of Kong Fanhao, former chief of Confucius sacrificial activities of Quzhou, took over the torch after his father died, in 1944, when he was only 7. Kong Xiangkai visited Quzhou in 1993.

Originally built for residential and administrative purposes, the family mansion that sits right next to the Confucius Temple is a remake of the archaeological remains excavated in 1998. The ancestral temple people see today is also a remake of the original structures, and the restoration of many elaborate architectural details took years to complete. The writings on an inscribed board that welcome the visitor into this hallowed ground suggest the Confucian traditions of Qufu and Quzhou share the same root. And a special zone in the Confucius Temple in Quzhou, named “Si Lu” to suggest homesickness, only adds to the genetic connection between the two ancestral sites.

For Quzhou people, the Confucius Temple is an integrac part of social and cultural life. It is a favorite destination of the spring outings of school kids, and is a must-visit for visiting friends and tourists. The ceremonial celebration of Confucius began in the Han times and culminated in the Ming and Qing years. In 2004, the Confucius  memorial ceremony was restored in Quzhou, after a hiatus of half a century, putting the Confucius cultural glory of Quzhou back into the limelight of the world.

The Dacheng Hall, the highest structure of the ancestral temple, serves as the main venue of the activities. The gingko trees outside the hall have been the witness of the enduring Confucius spirituality of Quzhou and how people today are still profoundly influenced by the philosophy of Confucius.

The devoted work of Kong Xiangkai injected new blood into the inheritance of Confucian culture in Quzhou. “It is time to take modernity into consideration by skipping some anachronic formalities in the celebration of Confucius,” he proposed in a visit to Quzhou in 2000.

The first major one of its kind crafted by Quzhou since 1949, the ceremony held on September 28, 2004 took on a new look, with many programs boldly re-designed and performers replaced with ordinary citizens, with the quintessence of Confucius culture beautifully maintained and interpreted at the same time. The celebration was shortened and took less than 40 minutes to complete. The reform also focused on expanding participation and was woven into a theme design that aimed to incorporate hot social issues into the activities.

“The changes are amazing, and we respect you for your courage to discard the old and decayed formalities and celebrates the human nature of Confucius,” an American scholar wrote a letter to Kong Xiangkai.

The Quzhou celebration became a state-level cultural heritage in 2011. By 2018, 270 representatives of 130 Confucius Institute in 57 countries had visited Quzhou for a better understanding of Confucius.

Today in Quzhou, the soul of the sage can be felt everywhere. The spirituality of Confucius has become part of the mentality of the locals, and is celebrated in the minutest details, including the elegant design of the tickets of the Confucius Temple.

The ideals of Confucius have become intrinsically entwined with the city’s identity. In his younger years in Quzhou, Kong Xiangkai was immersed in the Confucian belief that all people-and the society they live in-benefit from a lifetime of learning and a moral outlook.

Confucianism is now the core cultural competitiveness of Quzhou. The city’s Confucian Culture Park was unveiled in 2015 as a state-level cultural innovation unit. Located in the most historical block in Quzhou, it has become a bustling community rich in entrepreneurial passion interacting with the city’s proud Confucian core.

Confucian culture is not only a gem of the Chinese civilization; it is a cultural treasure open for sharing by the entire human world. The city logo, “Grandpa Confucius”, was featured on the big screen of Times Square in New York in 2018, showing to an international audience how a city embraces its history and culture in its own way.