City’s 10th Confucius festival gets underway

Ran Tao and Zhang Xiaobo

The the 10th Shanghai Confucius Cultural Festival has opened in Jiading Confucius Temple. It will go through January as part of the activities marking the 800th anniversary of the founding of Jiading.

Classical dance and music featured at the ceremony, showcasing core parts of traditional Chinese culture. 

A performance depicting the 800-year history of Jiading was staged at the opening ceremony held at Jiading Confucius Temple. 

Zhang Jinsong, the chief of the United Front Work Department, said that in recent years, various themed activities have been hosted around the Confucius Festival to display traditional Chinese culture and drive social development. 

The activities have already become a signature program to showcase Shanghai’s charm. 
Cultural soft power

Jiading will focus more on cultural elements to develop the city and boost its cultural soft power and core competitiveness, according to Zhang. 

Jiading artist Xu Ying, a member of the China Artist Association, released his latest painting album “Jiading Memory.”  
The album consists of over 80 landscape paintings depicting scenery in Jiading. Xu incorporates natural scenery, poetry and literature in his work. 

The festival will run through January 2018 with 14 themed activities. 

Activities that impressed the visitors in previous years will also be staged, including Chinese weddings, coming-of-age ceremonies and sacrificial rites.  

Since the first festival in 2008, Jiading has strived to ensure visitors can both appreciate the ancient Confucius culture and experience the modern cultural charm of Jiading.