Wansong Academy, an ancient academy in eastern China, held a grand ceremony to commemorate the great sage Confucius on Sept. 24 and call on teenagers to learn rites, chinanews.com reported.

Wansong Academy, which is located near the West Lake, was one of the top four academies in Hangzhou during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is an ancient tradition to commemorate Confucius on the four seasons and on Sept. 28, the sage’s birthday, according to The Book of Rites, a Confucian classic.

September 28, 2017, is what would have been the 2,568th birthday of Confucius. Over a hundred primary school students gathered at the academy on Sept. 24, chanting selections from The Analects of Confucius, a collection of conversations between him and his disciples.

Ritual dance and music developed at Confucius Temple in Shandong, Confucius’ hometown, were also performed to show respect to Confucius at the ceremony.

“It’s my first time to know how ancient students commemorated the sage, and I’m interested in the ceremony to show respect to teachers,” said a primary school student.

After the ceremony, a local expert gave a lecture on Chinese poets and couplets at the academy. Young children can learn rites and love traditional Chinese culture after participating in the activities, said Gao Fei, a staff member at West Lake Resort.