Sacrificial Rite in the Confucian Temple

An eight minute documentary held in UNESCO's own Multimedia Archives, produced in 2009 to document the annual sacrificial rite held every 28 September at the Confucian Temple in Qufu, Shandong, Confucius's hometown, marking his birthday. The film follows participants as they enter the temple through its main gate, light incense and candles, bow three times and present offerings of wine and refined white silk while an address is read, before a feast is offered in his honour. UNESCO's own record describes the rite as embodying and promoting Confucian philosophy through verbal communication and practical demonstration, and it was inscribed as national intangible cultural heritage and, later, onto UNESCO's Representative List.