JINAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The National Library of China signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Qufu Bureau of Cultural Relics on Friday to put documents related to Confucius' estate under a national ancient books protection program.
According to the agreement signed in Qufu City, eastern China's Shandong Province, the two sides will cooperate in various ways, including publishing books from Confucius' estate, developing traditional culture, ancient book protection, and training.
Confucius' estate documents mainly include Confucius family documents, collections of ancient books and the inscriptions on tablets found in Confucius' mansion.
The archives of Confucius' mansion has more than 9,000 volumes of Confucius family documents, 40,000 copies of ancient books, and over 4,000 inscription rubbings.
Putting the estate documents of Confucius in the national ancient books protection program will help protect the documents, improve research, and promote traditional Chinese culture, said Liu Dongbo, Party chief of Qufu City.
Confucius (551-479 BC) was an educator and philosopher born in Qufu. He is believed to be the first Chinese person to set up private schools enrolling students from all walks of life.