Interview with Kong Lingli, the 76th eldest grandson of Confucius: "I can't lie down"

　　China News Agency, Hangzhou, August 14th: Interview with Kong Lingli, the 76th eldest grandson of Confucius: "I can't lie flat"

　　Author Zhang Bin Dong Yixin Fu Feiyang

　　"I have a mission on my shoulders, so I can't lie flat. My responsibility cannot be replaced by others." Kong Lingli, the 76th eldest grandson of Confucius, told a reporter from China News Agency.

　　On August 13, the 2022 8th China Mercy and Filial Piety Culture Festival was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Kong Lingli was hired as the 2022 China Mercy and Filial Piety Cultural Ambassador.

On the same day, Kong Lingli accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency.

　　Compared with ordinary people, being named "Confucius' eldest grandson" inevitably creates pressure.

Kong Lingli said frankly that this pressure will be transformed into a sense of responsibility to pass on Confucian culture well.

The origin of responsibility, in the final analysis, comes from filial piety, from the words and deeds of the parents.

　　In the 1960s, Kong Lingli was born in Quzhou, Zhejiang, the place where the descendants of the sage Confucius lived and the second hometown.

When Kong Lingli was young, his father Kong Xiangkai worked in other places for a long time. It was not until 1993 that he was transferred back to Quzhou to be "instructed" to promote Confucian culture.

Although Kong Lingli, who grew up under his grandmother's knees, did not communicate much with his father, some childhood memories are still unforgettable to this day.

　　"When I was young, my father worked in the north and usually only came back every six months or a year. Every time I came home, my father would wash my grandmother's feet and sleep with her." Kong Lingli believes that children It is a "replica" of his parents. His father's every move has already subtly affected him.

　　The Confucian pursuit of ritual and order can be seen in Kong Xiangkai's teaching to Kong Lingli.

　　Kong Lingli recalled to a reporter from China News Agency that he would cook when he was young, and sometimes when he was in a hurry, the vegetables he cut were not neat, and his father was "very dissatisfied" when he saw it.

"Even a dish has life. It must be cut neatly, taken seriously, and not casual. Just like what my father said, what should one do in life? I can sleep at night. After thinking about it, I feel that the charm is endless." He said.

　　In 2018, Kong Xiangkai fell ill.

Kong Lingli resolutely put down his foreign trade business in Ningbo, Zhejiang, and returned to Quzhou to accompany his father.

In September 2021, Kong Xiangkai died of illness.

For three years, Kong Lingli made almost all of his parents' daily meals.

　　"Everything we do now, every practice of filial piety, is an example for the next generation." Kong Lingli said.

　　Later, when Kong Lingli was sorting out his father's belongings in the office of the Nanzong Family Temple of Kong's family in Quzhou, he found the letter he left to himself.

There are only four words written on it: stand firm and act.

"My father wanted me to 'calm down my heart, and then work hard'." Kong Lingli said.

　　Today, Kong Lingli inherits the mission and entrustment of his ancestors and continues to walk on the road of promoting Confucian culture.

　　On August 13, at the site of the 8th China Mercy and Filial Piety Culture Festival in 2022, Kong Lingli and Cai Zhizhong, a cartoonist who was also hired as the 2022 China Mercy and Filial Piety Cultural Ambassador, presented the work they co-created to the organizer.

The portrait of Confucius in the work was painted by Cai Zhizhong, and Kong Lingli inscribed the sentence on the side: "'The color is difficult. If there is something, the disciple will serve it; if there is wine and food, and the master's food, do you think it is filial?" Peace of mind from the heart.

　　"A person without filial piety cannot be said to have a sense of responsibility. Only with parents in mind can one love the collective, love the country, and be 'proprietary'." Kong Lingli said.

　　As he said, what Confucian culture pursues is not only the kindness and filial piety of a small family.

For more than 2,000 years, Confucius said that "the old will end, the strong will be useful, the young will grow, and the widows, loneliness, and sickness will be supported by all", and it is still timeless.

　　"Merciful filial piety is the essence of Confucian culture, the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, and the spiritual starting point of the Chinese people around the world. Confucius is not only our family's, nor only China's, but the world's. Chinese people around the world should jointly protect and inherit Confucian culture, Spread it to all parts of the world and realize the 'Great Harmony of the World'." Kong Lingli said.

(Finish)