Wanyuan | G8’Pursuing the Footprints of Saints

2019年12月22日，我们八年级的师生踏上了去往山东的“人文行走”之路。该次活动旨在“追寻圣人的足迹”，将高高在上的“至圣”孔子，内化为我们真正的精神上的收获。因此，我们将暂时离开父母，去近距离领略圣人风采，感受后世人对孔子及儒家的无上尊崇，在丰富多彩的实践活动中进一步接受文化的熏陶。

On December 22, 2019, all the students in Grade 8, together with some teachers, embarked on the road of “humanity walking” to Shandong Province. The purpose of this activity was to trace the footprints of saints and internalize Confucius as our real spiritual harvest. Therefore, we left our parents temporarily so that we would have a close look at Sage’s demeanor, feeling the supreme respect for Confucius and Confucianism by later generations, and accepting the further influence of culture in the rich and colorful practical activities.

By Peter from 8A

坐在长板凳上，一场皮影戏之旅便开始了 ! 主持人特殊介绍了泰山皮影戏的一个特点“十不闲”，演员在表演过程中他们的五官、四肢、头脑一刻都不得清闲。不愧是“脑中想着词，口中唱着曲，手里舞着人，脚下踩着槌”。午后的岱庙迎着夕阳闪闪发亮，在导游的带领下，我们一点一点地陷入文化古迹的漩涡，享受着被知识熏陶的每时每刻。我喜欢每座大门前的红蓝牌匾，上面的文字都是由最优秀的书法家所撰写，以至于它们的一撇一捺都记录着那个年代的点滴，承载的是年代不同的文化底蕴与历史事件。

As we sat on a long bench, a shadow puppetry journey began! The host specially introduced one of the characteristics of Taishan shadow puppetry, “no leisure at all”, that is, the actors have no leisure in their five senses, limbs and minds during the performance. It is worthy of being called “thinking of words in my head, singing songs in my mouth, dancing people in my hands and stomping on mallets at my feet”.In the afternoon, Dai Temple was shining in the sunset. With the guidance of the tour guide, we were immersed in the whirlpool of cultural relics bit by bit, enjoying the infection of knowledge at that moment. I like the red and blue signs in front of each gate. They are all very much the same, but the words on them were written by the best calligraphers, so much so that they all recorded the details of the era they lived through.

By Jane and Corrine from 8B

山东之旅的第二天，同学们前去参观了赫赫有名的“三孔”，感受了孔子及其儒家思想的魅力.孔庙里最为著名的就是大成殿。榫卯结构通过巧妙的拼接和嵌合，在不失美观的同时建造了一座座坚不可摧的宫殿，足以让世界惊叹。

孔府本名衍圣公府，有”天下第一家”之称。孔府内宅门内壁上画有一幅状似麒麟的动物，脚下和周围全是宝物，却还想吃掉太阳，名为”贪”。孔府将”贪”挂在此处，是告诫子孙不要贪脏，这是一条重要的家训。

孔林，亦称“至圣林”，是孔子及其家族的专用墓地，也是目前世界上延时最久，面积最大的氏族墓地。郭沫若曾说：“这是一个很好的自然博物馆，也是孔氏家族的一部编年史。

On the second day, we visited the famous “Three Kongs”, which are Kong Family Mansion, Kong Temple and Kong Family Grave and felt the charm of Confucius and his ConfucianismThe construction of the Confucius Temple is impressive. Both the style with Chinese ancient characteristics and the superb architectural skills are amazing.

The original name of the Kong Family Mansion is Duke Yansheng Mansion. It has been known as “the first house in the world”. There is a picture of an animal that looks like a kylin on the wall of the inner chambers. This creature has countless treasure around it, but it still wants to eat the sun. I think this picture was used to admonish people not to be greedy, which was one important Kong family motto.

Kong Family Grave is also called the holy forest. It is also the oldest and largest family grave in the world. Mr. Guo Moruo once said “This is not only a good natural museum, but also a chronicle of the Kongs.”

By Alina, Linda and Herman from 8C

我很喜欢三孔内的建筑，它们的美不是金碧辉煌的，看着让人刺眼，而是一砖一瓦，一草一木都透露着儒雅气息的美。那里的建筑树木讲究对称，常青的松柏整齐排列在房屋两侧，时不时还能看见一点鲜艳的颜色，或是银杏，或是枣树。走着走着，惊动树上的鸟群，看着它们飞过松柏，飞过朱红的砖墙，飞上房顶，喧闹着与好像在四处观望的脊兽作伴。身处其中，总能让人感到世人对圣人的尊敬之意。

I love these buildings for their connotative beauty. Instead of the resplendent and magnificent palaces that make people dazzled, everything inside or outside the buildings reveals the beauty of elegance, even just a single brick or a lonely plant. The buildings and trees there are exquisitely symmetrical. Evergreen pines and cypresses are neatly arranged on both sides of the house. From time to time, we could still see a bit of bright color of the ginkgo or jujube trees. We inadvertently startled the birds in the trees while walking. We watched them flying over the pines and cypresses, over the brick walls, up on the roofs, then noisily accompanied with the ridgebacks. While we were here, we felt a sense of respect for the saints all the time.

By Macy and Emily from 8D

上午，我们带着朝圣般的期望乘车前往了尼山圣境。在进去的那一刹那就被大学堂内部那富丽堂皇的装潢所震撼了。这个大厅的两侧排列整齐的蜡烛，中间是整整八十一个台阶，代表着“登堂入室”，寓意着只有经过艰苦卓绝的努力后学问才能由浅入深。

In the morning, we went to Mountain Ni. We were amazed by the beautiful decoration inside. We went through the hall lined with a lot of candles on both sides. In between, there are 81 stairs, which symbolize knowledge coming only through continuous effort and struggle

By Niki and Vivian from 8E

下午，我们来到最后一站：孟府。孟府是亚圣孟子的故居，在孟府印象最深刻的就是成人礼了。

我们于下午阳光正好的时候到达。女生黑衣红裙，黑色的衣服上镶着一条带金色花纹的红边；男生也同样的黑衣，不过则是黄裙。首先三拜孟子，再拜师长，然后由师长给男生戴帽子，给女生戴簪子，最后再拜师长，即礼成。

这次长达三天的修学之旅也在眨眼间结束了，经过三天的修炼大家也都收获了许多。我们需饱读诗书，方能气自芳华。

In the afternoon, we arrived at our last stop: Meng Family Mansion. It was the former residence of the sub-saint Mencius, where we conducted the traditional adult ceremony – Capping Ceremony for boys and Hair-pinning Ceremony for girls. The purpose of the ceremony was to put the ceremony receiver under various tribulations, and finally take them into the society of adults.The three-day study tour ended in the blink of an eye, from which we gained a lot – wisdom in shape and elegance in motion.

By Emma and Ella from 8F

在此对每一位八年级的同学说：“从现在开始，你们要穿成人服装，是时候停止幼稚的行为，理应像个成年人一样，牢记：维护尊严，成就美德。祝你们前途光明事业有成。

To every Grade 8 student – ‘From now on, you are granted adult attire. It is time for you to stop behaving like a child and to act as an adult. Keep in mind to maintain dignity and achieve moral excellence. Wish you a long life and a successful career.’

14/04/2020 Upcoming Events