A cartoon series featuring the life of famous Chinese philosopher Confucius will make its Cannes debut this month, sources with the China Animation Association said Friday.

The 104-episode cartoon featuring the life of famous Chinese philosopher Confucius will make its Cannes debut this month.

The 104-episode cartoon tells the life story of Confucius from a little boy to a master and also depicts how confucianism came about, said Liu Dimin, president of the association.

The cartoon, along with more than ten other Chinese cartoon series, will be shown at the MIP TV festival in Cannes, France in April, he said.

Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC) was born in ancient China's State of Lu, today's Qiufu County in east China's Shandong Province. He was a great educator, philosopher, renowned politician, and the founder of Confucianism.

The cartoon, which is being translated into five languages including English, French, Spanish, Japanese and Korean, has been included in the teaching programs of over 300 Confucius Institutes around the world.

It has been aired on TV in China since September 28 in 2009, the 2560th anniversary of Confucius' birth.

The cartoon series, costing 50 million yuan (about 7.6 million U.S.dollars), was jointly funded by China's Confucius Foundation, Shandong provincial government's information office, the Radio and Television Station of Shandong, and a Shenzhen-based film and radio company.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2011)