A group of 20 students from a primary school in Shaoxing perform a special dance at the worship ceremony on Jan 9. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The date Jan 9 marked the 488th birthday of Wang Yangming, a Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, academic, and calligrapher who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

To commemorate the occasion the Zhejiang city of Shaoxing hosted its first worship ceremony for Wang. The event attracted more than 500 attendees with local residents and students from around Shaoxing arriving to learn and pay recognition to one of the Ming Dynasty's great minds.

The ceremony was led by Dong Ping, a man in charge of Wang Yangming's philosophical school of thought at Chinese Confucian Academy. The ceremony involved a range of rituals including a formal speech, the burning of incense, and ritual bows in the direction of Wang Yangming's Shaoxing tomb. The ceremony was capped by a charming dance performance by 20 pupils from Yangming Primary School.

After the ceremony, professor Dong gave a lecture on the Yangming School of Thought at an auditorium in Shaoxing's Lanting district. Attendees had further opportunity to learn about Confucian philosophy, with a particular focus on the crucial thinkers and aspects of Neo-Confucian thought.