Qufu and the Great Confucious Pt. 1 (26/39)

It is estimated that he was born 2,500 years ago and since 2,200 years his birthday is befittingly celebrated annualy: Confucious, the "Teacher of 10,000 Generations".  He is not only one of the most famous chinese, but at the same time one of humanity's most important teachers altogether.  No other person made such a lasting impression on his countrymen's way of thinking.  Everybody knows of his maxims and wise sayings.  Even so, little is known about him. Some scientists believe that he was only a mythological figure. In Confucius' home town Qufu, in the province of Shandong, the film follows the trail of the historical figure Confucius and his former sphere of activity.


Vor 2.500 Jahren soll er geboren worden sein und seit über 2.200 Jahren feiert man alljährlich am 27. August seinen Geburtstag gebührend: Konfuzius, der "Lehrer der 10.000 Generationen". Er ist nicht nur einer der berühmtesten Chinesen, sondern zugleich einer der bedeutendsten Lehrer der Menschheit überhaupt. Wie kein anderer hat er das Denken seines Volkes geprägt. Seine Sprüche und Weisheiten kennt jeder. Und dennoch weiß man kaum etwas über ihn. Einige Wissenschaftler glauben sogar, er wäre nur eine mythologische Gestalt gewesen. In der Heimatstadt des Konfuzius, in Qufu, in der chinesischen Provinz Shandong, folgt der Film den Spuren der historischen Person Konfuzius und seines einstigen Wirkungskreises.

This series portrays landscapes, metropoles, sacred sites and monuments, all of which have made a unique contribution to the cultural heritage of mankind. Each episode breathes life into civilizations which thrived in the past ten thousand years, some of them then vanishing without a trace into the shadows of history. The films describe epochs whose legacy lingers in the perceptions and ideas of our own age, and cult sites which have managed to preserve their religious and cultural power up to the present day.