16th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Worshipping Confucius

After taking the college entrance examination in June of 2018, my friends and I went to the Yuelu Academy (the predecessor of Hunan University), one of the four famous academies in China, where the statue of Confucius (the founder of Confucianism) was enshrined. Entering the courtyard, we saw a little boy who is six or seven years old with his hands folded, and eyes closed, piously telling Confucius about his expectations for his school life. As a person who is about to enter university, I looked at the little boy who might be about to enter primary school, I felt the profound influence of Chinese traditional education on both of us.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2018
Date Uploaded: 11.2018
Photo Location: Changsha, China
Camera: EML-AL00
Copyright: © Xinyiran Liu