OLIMPIC 2008 drummers at the Opening Ceremony 1
Confucius ( 551 – 479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. His followers competed successfully with many other schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought era only to be suppressed in favor of the Legalists during the Qin Dynasty. Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism. Confucius is traditionally credited with having authored or edited many of the Chinese classic texts including all of the Five Classics, but modern scholars are cautious of attributing specific assertions to Confucius himself. Aphorisms concerning his teachings were compiled in the Analects, but only many years after his death.


Block Printing was a costly and time-consuming process, for each carved block could only be used for a specific page of a particular book, besides, a single mistake in carving could ruin the whole block. However movable type changed all of that. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a man named Bi Sheng carved individual characters on identical pieces of fine clay. Each piece of movable type had on it one Chinese character which was carved in relief on a small block of moistened clay. After the block had been hardened by fire, the type became hard and durable and could be used wherever required. The pieces of movable type could be glued to an iron plate and easily detached from the plate. Each piece of character could be assembled to print a page and then broken up and redistributed as needed. When the printing was finished, the pieces were put away for future use. By the year1000, paged books in the modern style had replaced scrolls. Two color printing (black and red) was seen as early as 1340.
This technology then spread to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Europe. Later, German Johann Gutenberg invented movable type made of metal in the 1440s. Movable Type Printing developed very fast. Based on clay type, type made of wood, lead, tin and copper gradually appeared.


Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and some other Asian languages. In Standard Chinese, and sometimes also in English, they are called Hanzi. They have been adapted to write a number of other languages including: Japanese, where they are known as kanji, Korean, where they are known as hanja, and Vietnamese in a system known as chữ Nôm. Collectively, they are known as CJK characters. In English, they are sometimes called Han characters. Chinese characters constitute the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world. By virtue of their widespread current use in East Asia, and historic use throughout the Sinosphere, Chinese characters are among the most widely adopted writing systems in the world.

Performers chanted those often quoted lines of the Analects of Confucius:
1. "In a party of three there must be one whom I can learn from.I will pick his merits to emulate them, and find his demerits to amend mine."

2. "All within the Four Seas are brothers."

3. "There were four things which the Master taught: Letters, Ethics, Devotion of soul, and Truthfulness."

4. "If I were told of the Truth in the morning, I would die willingly even in the evening."

5. "In the practice of the rules of propriety, harmony is most precious."

6. "To govern means to act rightly."

7. "Isn’t it a pleasure to learn and constantly practice what is learnt?"

8. "When you know a thing, say that you know it; when you don't know a thing, say that you don't know it. It is wise doing so."

9. "Enjoyment without being licentious, grief without being hurtfully excessive."

10. "Learning without thinking leads to puzzlement; thinking without learning is perilous.”

11. "Review what has been learned to learn what is new, and you can be a teacher."

12. "Study without satiety and teach without weariness."

13. "The wise won't get bewildered, the virtuous are not anxiety-ridden, and the courageous are dauntless."

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