In the Book of Rites Disciples, there is a record of the opening ceremony. First of all, "the beginning of courtesy lies in correct expression, unified color and smooth rhetoric." The first step of the "opening ceremony" is to dress appropriately. Reading is sacred in the minds of the ancients, so students who enter the school should clean up, don't giggle and stay serious. "Get dressed first, then be sensible." In the eyes of the ancients, children take care of their own clothes and dress appropriately, which is equivalent to clear thinking and expressing respect for sages and teachers.
The second step of the "opening ceremony" is "learning from the teacher". The teacher will check whether the students are properly dressed. After no problem, the students went into the school gate and kowtowed to Confucius nine times, then kowtowed to the teacher three times, and then presented six gifts to the teacher to show their respect for the teacher.
After "respecting teachers", it is "net palm". Students need to wash their hands before and after, and then dry them. In a sense, it is to purify your mind, that is, to let yourself have no distractions and study better.
Then there is "Zhu Sha Qi Zhi". In order to make students open their minds, make their eyes bright, and make their study easier in the future, the teacher will hold a brush dipped in cinnabar and point a red dot like a mole on the students' eyebrows. The meaning is to get wisdom from their eyebrows.
To sum up, the students dress up first, then clean their hands and hearts, and then teacher Zhu Sha enlighten their wisdom-the "master of ceremonies" is over. However, in some places, the "opening branches of cinnabar" will be put into the "pen worship ceremony", which usually includes the opening branches of cinnabar, drumming Zhi Ming, tracing the red pen, worshipping the master, etc., but they are all similar.