Musicians begin this presentation by beating the Jin drum and sounding the Yong bell, as in the first drum roll. The conductor then sings out the command for Ning He ("Tranquil Harmony"), the banner-bearers raise their banners, and the staffboys raise their tasselled staffs. Then the sounding box, Tao drum and bell are sounded, whereupon the orchestra and choir begin in unison. Holding short flutes in their left hands and three pheasant tail feathers in their right hands, dancers perform the "eight-fold formation" dance. (Traditionally this consisted of eight rows of eight dancers each. In Taipei, however, owing to limitations of space, the dance is performed in a "six-fold formation" with six rows of six dancers each). The dancers move slowly and gracefully in harmony with the music.
After the music and dance commence, the Principal Presentation Officer is led by deacons to a position in front of Confucius's spirit-tablet in the Da Cheng Hall. From here he makes an offering of silk spirit-money, as well as a libation.
He follows this by bowing three times.
The dancers are young boys of elementary school age. In ancient times, there were three types of dances: civil dances, martial dances and dances that blended the two. In civil dances, young boys held feathers and flutes. Martial dances, however, were performed by adolescents of at least fifteen years old, each holding a shield and a spear. The civil/martial dances were performed by adults holding feathers, flutes, shields and spears at the same time.

The Collateral Presentation Officers are led by deacons to positions in front of the spirits of the Sages and Scholars of the Eastern and Western Corridors to offer libations and to bow three times