An aerial view of Qufu in Jining, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2021 China (Qufu) International Confucius Cultural Festival and the 7th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations will take place in Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province, from Sept 27 to 28.

This year's cultural festival is themed around the celebration of the 2,572nd anniversary of the birth of Confucius, a great ancient Chinese philosopher and educator.

The Confucius Temple, which is located in Qufu, the birthplace of the sage, will hold a memorial ceremony on Sept 28. More than 40 Confucius temples and cultural institutions at home and abroad, such as the US Confucius Education Foundation, the China-Australia Cultural Exchange Center, and the UK Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education, will join the ceremony as well as launch an initiative to promote the innovative development of traditional Chinese culture.

The awards ceremony for the 16th UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, as well as the launch ceremony for the 2021 Confucius Culture Week for Chinese and Foreign Young Students will be held on the evening of Sept 27.

With the theme of "Dialogue among civilizations and global cooperation" the 7th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations has attracted 189 experts and scholars from 15 countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea, as well as Russia. Several foreign guests, including former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and Thai Princess Sirindhorn, will deliver speeches via video link at the event or send letters of congratulations.

A series of interviews with ministers, diplomats, and experts will be held online and offline. The event will also feature a forum on traditional Chinese medicine for the first time.

The Nishan Forum on World Civilizations has been playing a significant role in enhancing exchanges between different civilizations and building a harmonious world, said Liu Tingshan, deputy director of the Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies.

The events are being sponsored by multiple government departments and associations, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, as well as the Shandong provincial government.