Two professors, one from the mainland and another from Taiwan, were awarded the 2015 Confucius Cultural Award in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province on Sunday.

Chen Lai is a professor of philosophy and head of the Academy of Chinese learning at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His specialism is Confucianism, and his outstanding achievements have significant influence at home and abroad.

Tung Chin-yue was once taught by Kong Decheng, a 77th-generation descendant of Confucius. He is an honorary professor of Chinese literature at Taiwan Politics University and deputy director of the International Confucian Association.

The prize was awarded at the 7th World Confucianism Conference which opened on Sunday in Qufu, the hometown of Confucius. The awards have attracted over 150 experts and scholars from 15 countries and regions.

The prize committee described Chen as the "inheritor and interpreter of Chinese culture" and Tung Chin-yue as "the propagator of the Chinese national culture."

The Confucius Cultural Award was set up by the Ministry of Culture and Shandong provincial government in 2009.

Confucius was born in 551 BC in Qufu. His theories of benevolence and courtesy have been a dominant ideology in China for more than 2,000 years.