The Chinese cultural revival is gaining momentum worldwide, with Hong Kong acting as a springboard.

On Sunday, around 12,000 participants from five countries and regions converged at the AsiaWorld-Expo in the special administrative region - a key “super-connector” between China and the world - for one of the biggest ancestor worship events at home and abroad.

Advocated by local educational groups of Buddhism and Confucianism, along with the religious leaders of Taoism and Catholicism, the ceremony aimed to revive the tradition in a modern setting, keeping the historic tradition relevant to the contemporary age.

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Hong Kong - a city of events and congregations - magnified the traditional annual household practice into a collective worship in tribute to “all ancestors in China”.

The Hong Kong Buddhist Education Foundation, which has organized the event annually since 2013, traced around 23,800 different surnames in Chinese history. With all of these displayed against the ceremony’s backdrop, the ritual was said to “showcase the inclusiveness and the harmony of Chinese culture”.

Gary Chan Hak-kan, an Executive Council member, lawmaker and chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong - the city’s biggest political party - represented local residents and the peace-loving ethnic Chinese from the Chinese mainland and the diaspora, in giving thanks and paying tribute to the “ancestors of all surnames”.

The ceremony also commemorated its initiator - the late Buddhist professor Master Chin Kung who, according to Medwin Hughes, former vice-chancellor of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, had revealed “the importance of cultural harmony based on traditional values”.

Hughes was present, expressing his belief in the peacemaking and order-building potential of Chinese traditions.

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Hughes, who is also a co-founder of the Academy of Sinology at UWTSD, believes that traditional Chinese ethics are “essential for addressing contemporary social problems and fostering peace”.

The thanksgiving ceremony was dedicated to Confucius in recognition of his achievement in enlightening and shaping Chinese civilization. A Confucian-style orchestra from Hong Kong was invited to perform the ancient music that has been preserved for over two millennia.

China Daily's Edmond Tang took the photos during the event.