Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, east China - Sept 28, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Statue of Confucius
2. Various of people playing ancient musical instruments, ceremony in progress
3. Various of participants reciting "The Analects"
4. Various of students from special school reciting "The Analects" with sign language
5. Various of ceremony in progress
6. Various of participants present bouquet, bowing to statue of Confucius
7. Aerial shot of performance at ceremony
8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Zhihuan, student (starting with shot 7):
"My school often hosts some events related to the Analects of Confucius, and I like them very much. In those activities, I can clearly feel the broad and profound content of the Analects of Confucius."
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Lv Lin, resident:
"I think that in the future, I'll learn the Analects of Confucius and relevant works together with my child or other children around me."

Qufu City, Shandong Province, east China - Sept 28, 2022 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of promotion video of ceremony
11. Quotes from Confucius's works
12. Various of dance performance at ceremony
13. Ceremony in progress

Ceremonies commemorating the 2,573rd birthday of renowned Chinese educator and thinker Confucius were held offline and online on Wednesday in some cities in east China.

Quzhou City in East China's Zhejiang province hosted a grand ceremony to commemorate the 2,573rd birthday of Confucius at the city's Confucian Ancestral Temple. People from all walks of life as well as representatives of local teachers and students attended the ceremony.

Confucius (551-479 B.C.) was an educator and philosopher who founded Confucianism, a school of thought deeply influential on later generations. He also set up the first private schools in China that enrolled students from different social classes.

Quzhou is home to Confucius's descendants. The Confucian Ancestral Temple for his descendants in the city is one of the only two Confucian temples in China with the other one in Qufu, Shandong province.

Participants recited classic quotes from "The Analects," a record of Confucius' ideas and sayings, in front of the temple.

"My school often hosts some events related to the Analects of Confucius, and I like them very much. In those activities, I can clearly feel the broad and profound content of the Analects of Confucius," said student Zhang Zhihuan.

Some students from a special school also recited the sentences with sign language, which reflects Confucius's thought of "making no social distinctions in teaching."

A dance performance was also given at the ceremony.

"It gives me a strong scene of ceremony. I think that in the future, I'll learn the Analects of Confucius and relevant works together with my child or children around me," said resident Lv Lin.

Qufu City in east China's Shandong is the hometown of Confucius. Each year, the Global Ceremony is held to commemorate the birth of the famed thinker.

With the theme of "benevolence, courtesy and harmony in the world," a webcast of the Confucian sacrificial rites was launched on Wednesday morning, gathering more than 60 Confucian temples, academies and cultural institutions from around the world.

The three-hour event featured an in-depth explanation of ritual music, etiquette and the values of Confucianism.

The combined online and offline activities include VR ritual experiences, flower offerings, funeral orations, prayers and dance performances.

People across the globe also paid tribute to the master by submitting their own short videos with the theme and hashtag "Confucius in My Heart."