A raft of characteristic cultures from Quzhou – a prefecture-level city in East China's Zhejiang province – were recently selected in the first list of 100 "Zhejiang cultural identification" cultivation projects, according to local media reports on Jan 11.

These include the culture of Southern Confucianism (city level), the Ritual for the Start of Spring (1st of the Chinese 24 solar terms) in Jiuhua Mountain, Kecheng district, the culture of the ancient country of Gumie in Qujiang district and the Mao family culture in ancient Qingyang village in the country level city of Jiangshan.

Southern Confucianism

In 1129, Kong Duanyou, an officially recognized as a direct descendant of the 48th generation of the Confucian family tree, moved most of his family members – along with the Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) – from Qufu from Shandong province while fleeing the invading Jin army. They headed south and finally resettled in Quzhou.

Since then, Quzhou has served as the second largest center for studying, interpreting and spreading Confucian concepts in southern China.

[Photo/WeChat account: quzhoufb]