A rumor circulated on the web that all the 2D versions of Avatar have been pulled out of the Chinese cinemas to make way for the domestic movie Confucius. Despite reports like this, government officials quickly denied it. Yet like all rumors, even if wrong, they may contain a kernel of truth.

Confucius is often regarded as China’s most important cultural icon, greatest sage and almost as a source of Chinese civilization. However, no matter what Confucius really meant in his analects, for thousands of years many different people with many different agendas have interpreted Confucius in the ways they wished. The emperors borrowed the extensive imagery of mandate of heaven to consolidate their ultimate power; now, the contemporary leaders praise Confucianism to reinforce the concept of a harmonious society; while nationalists also join the party simply because Confucius was Chinese.

In this context, it is no surprise why such a rumor was able to gain currency. Many people ridicule at yet another possible attempt to appropriate the aura of Confucius to the service of the State, by using executive order to make sure that people will watch the new film, while ousting a popular western film that evokes sympathetic feelings among many Chinese

However, how does the young generation really feel about Confucius? A public page on Renren.com, China’s largest Social Networking Service site for young people, gives us some interesting insights.

The public page ‘owned’ by Confucius was put up last November. Since then, more than 77,000 people have ‘befriended’ him and there have been nearly 27,000 comments left for him. There has never been a reply from him yet.

A quick scan through the comments reveals that the overwhelming majority of the visitors solicited help from Confucius in his role as a saint-god, for no other reason than the passing of school exams.

圣人~物理化学分数还没出来~来拜一拜~您懂的~！

孔嗲嗲 来看你咯 虽然不知道你的幕后操纵者是谁 但还是很虔诚的拜拜你 今天下午最后一门哦 爷懂得哈~

爷爷，保佑老师手下留情…………保佑我今天可以上百度………

我也拜一下..子曾经曰过..中文写作不挂科!!

孔圣人…我的线代啊…

拜什么也不如拜孔老夫子有用。我知道您古往今来什么都懂。2500年不是距离。明天Computer arch。晚生靠您托梦了。如果我睡的话。

子啊～据可靠消息，这次考试语文的作文题目就是针对您老人家的某句话写篇议论文，鉴于本人十分不擅长议论文，故前来拜拜，望给予灵感～

Note here that in order to translate “拜” I hesitated over which word to use. It should be translated as worship. However, worship implies rather more belief and faith than it is the case. In China, many people visit temples of all kinds and kowtow to whatever deity that is believed to promise good fortunes. It is obvious that Confucius is seen here as another one of those who sit in the Chinese Pantheon.

There are also a variety of themes besides soliciting help. Some reflect nationalistic sentiment

恩，中国文化！绝对中国！

Other comments are downright entertaining.

夫子…你懂我的…拜！

二哥 您憔悴了 让这帮小学生给你折腾的 您老主意身体。

老头,中国现在有一帮2B拿你拍烂片来着,你被糟践了啊,对你深表同情一下.

He has also been compared with Brother Chun, a popular Internet meme originating from Super Girl Li Yuchun with similar deified quality

春哥孔子一起拜

他们都拜春哥。我觉得，还是拜你比较现实。