Ancient teachings aid modern lifestyles

The government is promoting the work of Confucius, the nation's most famous sage, in a bid to reaffirm traditional Chinese culture.

Growing influence

Now, every one of the city's 405 villages has a Confucius Classroom. Shi Junzhen, a 60-year-old resident of Qianjia village, is proud of his daughter-in-law because of the efforts she made to help his wife when she was in the hospital in July.

"There are many good stories about filial piety in our village, partly because we are enlightened by Confucian teaching," he said.

Yang Hong, head of Shuyuan village, said the local Confucius Classroom also acts as a platform to narrow the distance between officials and residents.

"The villagers actively voice their opinions about village management and the officials listen to their opinions patiently. Our village has seen great changes in every aspect - for example, people are friendlier to their neighbors and the village is much cleaner," he said.

"Confucianism is always in Chinese people's blood, no matter how the social structure changes. What we want to do is to awaken beliefs that are buried in people's hearts. It's a long process, one that can only be done over generations and generations. We cannot push hard. We can only begin with concepts that are close to people's lives, such as guiding them to be filial, caring and friendly," Yan, from Shandong university, said.