PART 1 : THE ERA OF CONFUCIUS
From the shores of the Yellow Sea, Mount Tai rises cracked and craggy, the Yellow River flows roiling and raging. Shandong Province is marked with the traces of humanity as far back as tens of thousands of years ago, a major birthplace for the dawn of Chinese civilization. In the opening years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou was given title over the ancient lands of Yan along the Rivers Si and Zhu and established the Kingdom of Lu. Though under the dominion of the feudal lords during the calamitous era of decay and strife known as the Spring and Autumn period, the Kingdom of Lu still managed to preserve many proper systems of the Rites and Music from the Western Zhou. Confucius upheld the virtuous governance of exemplary rulers and was said to have "followed the examples of the forefathers Yao and Shun, conformed to the decrees and regulations of Kings Wen and Wu of Zhou." His modes of thought are a crystallization of the early period of Chinese civilization, a response to the dilemmas of the period.
Generations Pass along the Endless Flow of Time
A Time of Challenges
Archaeological Insights into the Times of Confucius