Since the Han Dynasty, worship of Confucius has been common in Qufu or in the capital and local governments, and rituals have been established. With the evolution of the times, Confucius's title was gradually promoted from the title of Xuanni Gong in the first year of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty (1 AD) to the title of King Wenxuan in the 27th year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (739 AD). The ceremony became more and more complete and grand.
The music and dance students dressed in traditional Hanfu are particularly eye-catching. They wear red round-collar official uniforms and black gold-rimmed three-beam crowns on their heads. The music students showed the orthodox Chinese elegant music, with a variety of musical instruments such as harp, harp, qin, harp, xun, Xiao, drum, sheng, bell, chime, etc.; the dancers held the zither in the left hand and the zhai in the right hand, arranged neatly. The "Liuyi Dance" specially used for the release ceremony was danced. The deacons, wearing white dark clothes and "square scarves" on their heads, completed the main part of the sacrifice, including reading blessings and three offerings, together with the sacrificial officials.
In addition, since Confucius’s disciples and other Confucian scholars were later included in the sacrifices to Confucius, these worthy persons were also sacrificed at the same time when offering sacrifices to Confucius. The etiquette for worshiping Confucius is called Zhengti Li, and the etiquette for worshiping those who deserve it is called Fen Jilin. The music and dance performances in the Confucius Ceremony inherit the original dance form of the Han people in ancient times to worship heaven and earth and celebrate harvests and military exploits. It is a temple sacrificial music and dance that integrates music, song, dance and rituals. It is the only preserved Han nationality dance that has great cultural and artistic value since ancient times. Therefore, it was included in China's first batch of intangible cultural heritage list in 2005.
The Confucius Memorial Ceremony mainly includes four forms: music, song, dance, and etiquette. Music, song, and dance are all closely centered on etiquette. All etiquette requires "must be rich, must be clean, and must be sincere." , must respect”. The ceremony used music, dance, etc. to express Confucian thought and culture, embodying the high degree of unity between artistic form and political content. It vividly explained the meaning of "ritual" in Confucius' theory and expressed that "a benevolent person loves others" and "uses etiquette to establish people." The thought has strong ideological affinity, spiritual cohesion and artistic appeal, and plays an irreplaceable social role in carrying forward excellent traditional culture, creating a harmonious atmosphere, building a harmonious society and condensing the national spirit. The most important agenda of worshiping Confucius is the three offerings. The officiant must first dress and wash his hands before going to the Confucius incense table to offer incense and bow. When bowing, men should put their left hand in front and right hand behind, and women should put their right hand in front and left hand behind. . The so-called three offerings are divided into the first offering, the second offering and the final offering.
The silk jue is first presented, and the silk jue is made of yellow silk. The jue refers to an antique wine cup. After the official presenter enshrines the silk jue to the incense table, the officiant reads and offers the sacrificial text, and then all the participants pay tribute to Confucius. Like five bows, chant "Praise to Confucius" in unison. Both Yaxian and Zhongxian offer incense and wine. Yaxian and Zhongxian respectively offer incense and wine on the incense table. The procedures are similar to those of Chuxian.
Today's Qufu Confucius Ceremony*** is divided into four parts: the opening ceremony of the Ming Dynasty ancient city, the opening ceremony of the Confucius Temple, the modern public sacrifice and the traditional sacrifice. There have been new developments in music, dance and costumes. First of all, the music is new. On the basis of the original score, the music of Kaicheng and Confucius was remade, and the performance forms of symphony and chorus orchestra were introduced, aiming to achieve a majestic and shocking artistic effect. Secondly, there is a new dance. The ceremony reorganized the Confucius-worshiping music and dance with reference to relevant documents such as "The Music of Confucius Temples in Ancient China" to make it more contagious. Furthermore, the costumes are new. The costumes and props of the Ming Dynasty used in the performance have been redesigned and produced, accurately reflecting the scale and grand occasion of the Ming Dynasty's Confucius Festival. King" grand occasion.