A crowd of students in Tainan gather early in the morning at the Confucius Temple for the Confucius Day ceremony. What follows is a set of traditional rituals, involving dancing, music, and prayers.
The students are here not only to honor Confucius on his birthday, but also to show respect for their teachers on Teachers Day. Some rituals have changed this year due to pandemic restrictions. For example, the tradition of “plucking hair from the ox of wisdom” has been substituted with planting a tree.
The Confucius Day ceremony in Yilan has also been downsized. It's not open to the general public and the traditional dance performance has been canceled.
However, one tradition that's still in place has people lining up at the crack of dawn in anticipation. That's because it's their chance to receive a special "wisdom cake". While the texture is similar to a rice cake, these "wisdom cakes" are believed to be blessed by Confucius and help people succeed on exams or just make them smarter in general.
Whether or not the cakes actually boost your brain, it's gotten these people up bright and early to start their day - certainly helpful for some extra studying to get that A!