Confucius Statue Standing High outside the National Museum of China

The 9.5-meter bronze statue stands tall outside of the National Museum of China.

Tian’anmen Square has a new sentinel as a larger-than-life statue of the ancient sage Confucius now watches over its visitors.

To further carry forward our Chinese splendid traditional culture, a 9.5-meter bronze statue of Confucius was erected at the North Square of National Museum of China in Tian’an Men region. Its unveiling ceremony, a sign of the completion of the reconstruction program of National Museum of China at the same time, was held on Tuesday, attracting a large number of media and visitors to attend.

Confucius, born in 511 BC, is the most important thinker in Chinese history. He has been respected and even worshiped in most of the dynastic eras and his Confucianism oriented on “Ren” (benevolence), “Yi” (Righteousness), “Li” (courtesy), “Zhi”(wisdom) and “Xin” (faith) has exerted a far-reaching influence on almost every aspect of Chinese people’s life.

The Confucius statue, about 17 tons (17,000kg), facing East Chang’an Avenue, amiably and eruditely, clasps his hands and looks into the distance, wearing a treasured sword by his left side. Wu Weishan, a famed sculptor and director of Institute of Fine Arts, China Academy of Arts told us that he intended to materialize a lofty image of Confucius that is perfectly integrated with the overall complex and neighboring environment so as to create an effect of the statue that looks like a towering mountain or a gigantic stone shining together with the majestic National Museum of China, thereby demonstrating the splendid history and brilliant cultures of China.

The renovated National Museum of China

The unveiling of the statue came two months ahead of the reopening of the renovated National Museum at a cost of 3.5 years and 2.5 billion yuan ($379 million). The renovated museum is believed to be the one of the world’s largest national museum, with a floor space of nearly 200,000 m2 from the original 65,000 m2, 49 exhibition halls with varied area ranging from 800 to 2,000 m2, and more than 1.05 million national treasures in its permanent collection.