Due to the current pandemic regulations, everyone attending wore a mask during the whole ceremony.

On the morning of March 15th, Confucius Temple at Foshan Ancestral Temple welcomed 80 kids from Tongji Kindergarten in its first writing ceremony, which marks an important step in their lives before entering into primary school. As narrator Chen Yixi wrote down “Progress at Studies” (“学业进步”), these young children are blessed with knowledge and growth by ringing “the bell of wisdom”.

In order to ensure the ceremony proceeded in a traditional way, this year the Ancestral Temple has replaced the Doctors Gown with Han-style clothing. Many parents came here with their kids to witness to this very moment.

Mr.Li proceeding the rituals with a kid

First, kids will be asked to put their palms together and bowed three times to the statue of Confucius. Then, kids were listening attentively when Mr. Chen introduced the three important thinkings of Confucius – propriety (礼), filial piety (孝) and diligence (勤). The narrator taught them to respect their teacher and study hard. After that, everyone started to read along some extracts from "The Analects".

Mr.Li guiding the kid to write calligraphy

After the ceremony, Mr. Chen taught the children to write a piece of calligraphy that said “Progress at Studies” (“学业进步”), and used cinnabar to dip a red mole on their foreheads – wishes for “a clear mind, sharp eyes and good performance at studies”.

A "dancing lion" leads the school children from the Sanyuan Pavilion to Wenkui Pavilion.

Reportedly, Chen Yixi is a famous folklore historian in Foshan. He told us that there will be 11 more first writing ceremonies in Foshan Ancestral Temple till March 31st. Due to the ongoing pandemic, visitors are required to make an online reservation.