More than 200 scholars and experts – along with the followers and descendants of leading scholar and philosopher Dai Zhen (1724-1777) – gathered for the commemoration of the 300th birthday of the Chinese sage on Jan 3.
They met in the Tunxi district of Huangshan city – Dai's old hometown in East China's Anhui province.
Tunxi is located in the mountainous area of southern Anhui province, where industrious locals have created what's known as Huizhou culture.
Since ancient times, Huizhou has been a culturally prosperous region with generations of renowned historical figures, which has laid the foundation for the area's economic and social development as well as its cultural confidence.
Regarded as a master of Huizhou culture, Dai won recognition for his extensive research and achieved outstanding accomplishments in philosophy, Confucian classics, Chinese philology, arithmetic, astronomy, geography, institutional studies and onomatology.
Dai's influence remains ubiquitous in today's Tunxi, with locals having named many places – including a road, park, elementary school, community, memorial hall and a library – after the sage for his contributions.
The event's organizers said the anniversary of Dai's 300th birthday was held to not only to commemorate him, but also to pay tribute to all the other sages of Huizhou – and to inherit and help pass on Chinese civilization to future generations.