Confucius' 2,572nd birthday marked in hometown Qufu with grand ceremony. Photo: Shan Jie/GT

Confucius' wisdom is still cherished by people from China and around the world after more than two millenniums as a grand ceremony to mark his 2,572nd birthday and show respect to the great ancient philosopher was held on Tuesday.

Hundreds of attendees took part in the ceremony on Tuesday morning at the Temple of Confucius in his hometown of Qufu, East China's Shandong Province, including local senior officials, envoys, scholars, and Confucius' relatives.

The ceremony also featured performances using ancient etiquette. Students from local colleges  served as actors.

Li Jiaming, a Qufu Fareast College, told the Global Times that he and his schoolmates rehearsed for a week for their performance. "It is a great way to get to know this great ancestor and his wisdom for us," Li said.

Similar ceremonies are also being held around China and in South Korea, where Confucius was highly influential.

The famous ancient Chinese philosopher whose legacy of wisdom remains influential worldwide today.

"The whole human development can be more enhanced by some of his philosophical writings," Martin Charles, Ambassador of Dominica in China, who attended the ceremony, told the Global Times.

Ratish Singh, counsellor of the Embassy of Fiji in China, told the Global Times that The Analects of Confucius are based on "strong values, discipline, and also a lot of peace and harmony."

Photo: Shan Jie/GT

Addressing current issues and challenges in the world, Singh said that trust, loyalty, sincerely belongings, these are the real values that we should take to all challenges.

As of the end of 2019, there were 550 Confucius Institutes and 1,172 Confucius Classrooms in 162 countries and regions, with the aim of deepening international understanding of the Chinese language and culture, and promoting inter-personal exchanges between China and other countries.

The 2021 International Confucius Cultural Festival was launched on Monday, featuring an international forum to discuss cultural civilizations and the Confucius Culture Week for Chinese and foreign students.

The 2021 festival includes both online and offline events aimed at embracing Confucian culture fans worldwide.

Founded in 1989, the International Confucius Cultural Festival is one of the largest nationally and internationally supported by tourism festivals integrating culture, tourism, and scholarly and scientific research with the aim of promoting ancient Chinese culture.

Photo: Shan Jie/GT