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Posted On Sunday, June 6, 2010 at
at
9:06 PM
by Alvin
有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎 ? We came to the organised city of Qu Fu (曲阜) - the home town of Confucius (孔子), to pay our respects to arguably the most important person to have shaped the psyche and outlook of the Chinese in its history. The reasons why Chinese paid so much emphasis on education (讀書) to their offspring, was a direct result of this great scholar. Confucius championed Confucianism (儒家) and was known as 萬世師表. The philosophies that he taught had a timeless-ness and applicability, regardless of dynasties, generations, war or peace times; and that was why Confucianism had endured till this very day, and was treasured as a founding cornerstone of the Chinese psyche. The fact that his teachings some 2,500 years ago had current and immediate applications in our daily lives was a true reflection of his insights and understanding of Human behaviour. 
We visited the temple dedicated to him, his mansion and his place of burial (孔廟,孔府,孔林) where remarkably, more than seventy generations of his offspring were also buried. Arguably, Mencius (孟子) was Confucianism's true heir who further consolidated the way his Master's philosophies applied to the Chinese as well as adding valuable insights of his own. We took a local bus and travelled about an hour to the city of Zou Cheng (鄒城) where we visited the peaceful and solemn Mencius Temple and Mansion (孟廟, 孟府). The Mansion showcased the famous story of 孟母三遷 - how Mencius' mother moved their home three times (first away from a cemetery where Mencius imitated mourners, secondly away from the market where Mencius imitated shouting merchants and finally settled near a school where Mencius followed the behaviour of scholars).
有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎 ? We came to the organised city of Qu Fu (曲阜) - the home town of Confucius (孔子), to pay our respects to arguably the most important person to have shaped the psyche and outlook of the Chinese in its history. The reasons why Chinese paid so much emphasis on education (讀書) to their offspring, was a direct result of this great scholar. Confucius championed Confucianism (儒家) and was known as 萬世師表. The philosophies that he taught had a timeless-ness and applicability, regardless of dynasties, generations, war or peace times; and that was why Confucianism had endured till this very day, and was treasured as a founding cornerstone of the Chinese psyche. The fact that his teachings some 2,500 years ago had current and immediate applications in our daily lives was a true reflection of his insights and understanding of Human behaviour. 
We visited the temple dedicated to him, his mansion and his place of burial (孔廟,孔府,孔林) where remarkably, more than seventy generations of his offspring were also buried. Arguably, Mencius (孟子) was Confucianism's true heir who further consolidated the way his Master's philosophies applied to the Chinese as well as adding valuable insights of his own. We took a local bus and travelled about an hour to the city of Zou Cheng (鄒城) where we visited the peaceful and solemn Mencius Temple and Mansion (孟廟, 孟府). The Mansion showcased the famous story of 孟母三遷 - how Mencius' mother moved their home three times (first away from a cemetery where Mencius imitated mourners, secondly away from the market where Mencius imitated shouting merchants and finally settled near a school where Mencius followed the behaviour of scholars).
