| In the traditional era,the official has always regarded the Spring and Autumn sacrifical Rites for confucius as a ritual ceremony to Sacrifice Confucius.Although the civil society also has the tradition of commemorating Confucius on his birthday,the ancient people did not attach great importance to the birthday commemoration,so the attention and popularity of Confucius’ birthday commemoration is quite limited.It has always been carried out only within the clan of Confucius and among some scholars and gentry groups in the folk.It was not until the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty that the celebration of Confucius’ birthday was incorporated into official cultural activities.However,compared with the the Spring and Autumn sacrifical Rites for confucius,its memorial ceremony only has general fasting requirements,but has not yet stipulated any specific rituals.Therefore,on the whole,the commemoration of Confucius’ birthday before the Late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China has been in a rather awkward situation.Since the Republic of China,the feudal political system collapsed and the voice of the society to abolish rituals and Confucius rose.In 1912,Cai Yuanpei,who was then the chief of education,moved to abolish the Spring and Autumn sacrifical Rites for confucius on the grounds that "Sacrificing Confucius is incompatible with freedom of religious belief".It immediately triggered the strong dissatisfaction and opposition of the Confucians.Based on the dual consideration of following the tradition and catering to the realistic needs of the modernization and transformation of society,the Ministry of Education finally adopted Confucius’ birthday commemoration,which took into account the different demands of respecting Confucius and opposing feudalism,as a compromise,and asked all schools to hold commemorative meetings on Confucius’ birthday.The following year,the Ministry of Education officially issued a decree to designate Confucius’ birthday as a "holy day",requiring all schools to have a holiday on Confucius’ birthday and salute to celebrate it.This move immediately received a positive response from the educational circles and local political,agricultural and business circles,but because the Ministry of Education directly applied the Gregorian calendar on the date of Confucius’ birthday,and did not make clear provisions at the memorial ceremony.As a result,since then,there have been many disputes about Confucius’ birthday date,and the commemorative ceremonies in various places also showed a confusing mix of the old and the new for a long time.In 1918,Chen Huanzhang and others proposed the Confucius Christmas bill to the Congress was approved,Confucius’ birthday was determined as the "national Memorial day".After that,it became a rule to have a day off and hold a celebration on Confucius’ birthday.However,after 1920,due to the turbulence of the current situation and the impact of new culture and new thoughts,the effect of Confucius’ birthday commemoration in unifying people and stabilizing the society was quite limited.Thus,it gradually degenerated into a bureaucratic article and went into decline in the controversy.The ups and downs of the fate of Confucius’ birthday commemoration during the Beijing government of the Republic of China not only reflected the complex consideration of the state and society on respecting Confucius and worshipping Confucianism,but also the struggle and game between different political powers and cultural schools,and also reflected the deep dilemma of Confucius’ influence and its modern transformation after the New Culture Movement.The change of the value orientation of Confucius’ birthday commemoration and the rise and fall of its fate provide a significant historical reference for us to think about the value and function of traditional culture represented by Confucian culture in contemporary society and its modernization transformation. |
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