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Statue of Confucius erected near Tian'anmen Square

Xinhua, January 13, 2011

A bronze statue of Confucius has been unveiled near the Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Wednesday was sunny in Beijing, and good for sightseeing. Several passers-by stopped to take photos of the statue.

Among them was 60-year-old Sun Qiqing, a retired official from the cultural bureau of Wuqi in northwest China' s Shaanxi Province, a small city where the Long March ends. Sun' s hometown was Tai' an in Shandong, about 80 kilometers away from Qufu, the hometown of Confucius.

"I saw news of the unveiling ceremony and came to take some photos," he said.

He noted that Confucius was an icon of Chinese culture. "His main thought was harmony," he said, adding that building such a statue showed China's attempt to improve social harmony in its peaceful era.

Manuel Pavon Belizon from Spain believed that Confucius was the "top representation" of Chinese culture. Having lived in China for five years, he loves Chinese culture. He found that some of Confucius' ideas, like forgiveness, were similar to some beliefs in Christianity.

He said the statue is "a combination of tradition and modernity." "Its bronze color was like the color of ancient cauldrons he saw in museums, he added.