A college student in ancient costume takes part in the ceremony to commemorate Confucius, at the Confucian temple in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province, April 4, 2009. Thousands of people at home and abroad participated in the grand spring ceremony commemorating Confucius in his birthplace Nishan Qufu during the tomb-sweeping holiday. Confucius (551 B.C. -- 479 B.C.), native of Qufu, was a great thinker, philosopher, and educator in ancient China. [Xinhua]