[Wanyuan] G8’Pursuing the Footprints of Saints

On December 22, 2019, all the students in Grade 8, together with some teachers, embarked on the road of “humanity walking” to Shandong Province. The purpose of this activity was to trace the footprints of saints and internalize Confucius as our real spiritual harvest. Therefore, we left our parents temporarily so that we would have a close look at Sage’s demeanor, feeling the supreme respect for Confucius and Confucianism by later generations, and accepting the further influence of culture in the rich and colorful practical activities.

By Peter from 8A

As we sat on a long bench, a shadow puppetry journey began! The host specially introduced one of the characteristics of Taishan shadow puppetry, “no leisure at all”, that is, the actors have no leisure in their five senses, limbs and minds during the performance. It is worthy of being called “thinking of words in my head, singing songs in my mouth, dancing people in my hands and stomping on mallets at my feet”.In the afternoon, Dai Temple was shining in the sunset. With the guidance of the tour guide, we were immersed in the whirlpool of cultural relics bit by bit, enjoying the infection of knowledge at that moment. I like the red and blue signs in front of each gate. They are all very much the same, but the words on them were written by the best calligraphers, so much so that they all recorded the details of the era they lived through.

By Jane and Corrine from 8B

On the second day, we visited the famous “Three Kongs”, which are Kong Family Mansion, Kong Temple and Kong Family Grave and felt the charm of Confucius and his ConfucianismThe construction of the Confucius Temple is impressive. Both the style with Chinese ancient characteristics and the superb architectural skills are amazing.The original name of the Kong Family Mansion is Duke Yansheng Mansion. It has been known as “the first house in the world”. There is a picture of an animal that looks like a kylin on the wall of the inner chambers. This creature has countless treasure around it, but it still wants to eat the sun. I think this picture was used to admonish people not to be greedy, which was one important Kong family motto.

Kong Family Grave is also called the holy forest. It is also the oldest and largest family grave in the world. Mr. Guo Moruo once said “This is not only a good natural museum, but also a chronicle of the Kongs.”

By Alina, Linda and Herman from 8C

I love these buildings for their connotative beauty. Instead of the resplendent and magnificent palaces that make people dazzled, everything inside or outside the buildings reveals the beauty of elegance, even just a single brick or a lonely plant. The buildings and trees there are exquisitely symmetrical. Evergreen pines and cypresses are neatly arranged on both sides of the house. From time to time, we could still see a bit of bright color of the ginkgo or jujube trees. We inadvertently startled the birds in the trees while walking. We watched them flying over the pines and cypresses, over the brick walls, up on the roofs, then noisily accompanied with the ridgebacks. While we were here, we felt a sense of respect for the saints all the time.

By Macy and Emily from 8D

In the morning, we went to Mountain Ni. We were amazed by the beautiful decoration inside. We went through the hall lined with a lot of candles on both sides. In between, there are 81 stairs, which symbolize knowledge coming only through continuous effort and struggle

By Niki and Vivian from 8E

In the afternoon, we arrived at our last stop: Meng Family Mansion. It was the former residence of the sub-saint Mencius, where we conducted the traditional adult ceremony – Capping Ceremony for boys and Hair-pinning Ceremony for girls. The purpose of the ceremony was to put the ceremony receiver under various tribulations, and finally take them into the society of adults.The three-day study tour ended in the blink of an eye, from which we gained a lot – wisdom in shape and elegance in motion.

By Emma and Ella from 8F

To every Grade 8 student – ‘From now on, you are granted adult attire. It is time for you to stop behaving like a child and to act as an adult. Keep in mind to maintain dignity and achieve moral excellence. Wish you a long life and a successful career.’