A modern mission to advance tradition
The north branch of Beijing’s Haidian District Library will host 25 cultural activities in April, as public interest in tradition has continued to grow in recent years, thanks in part to popular TV programs. The activities promote
guoxue, which is loosely defined as the study of ancient Chinese civilization — specifically, such realms as history, philosophy, literature and art.
Participants will learn about stone rubbing, incense, book binding and music.
The library has also staged an activity to recommend books about the integration of tradition into modern life.
It hosted an event attended by experts from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan on April 3 to discuss the integration of ancient culture into contemporary education.
Beijing-based historian and publisher Ren Deshan said at the event that studying tradition is important to building cultural confidence and identity.
“Essentially, guoxue assists individuals’ comprehensive development. It ... serves as a foundation that helps young people learn other subjects,” he says.
Calligrapher and culture expert Duan Junping says: “Chinese people were educated in the classics for thousands of years to become useful members of society. But we need new concepts and innovations to promote traditional culture amid the explosion of information in the digital age.”
Studying tradition means more than wearing ancient attire and reciting texts, he says. More practical learning methods should be adopted, including those that use the internet, Duan believes.
He says social support, especially from the family, is key to cultivating culture.
Duan’s grandfather, for instance, inspired him to become a calligrapher.
Zhu Anshun, a guest professor of the Chinese Culture Academy of Chongqing and director of the Zhonghua Book Co’s classics-education center, says there are obstacles to promoting tradition among youth.
Most parents worry that their children’s academic performance will suffer if they spend too much time on guoxue. And some parents enroll their children in classes about culture for purely practical reasons, such as helping their academic and career advancement.
“They’re not confident enough in traditional culture. So they choose the short-term focus on exams over the longterm benefits of guoxue.”
He believes society should become conducive to cultural studies and promote the idea that they offer comprehensive benefits.
There are many private institutions that teach traditional culture. But public schools are “the main battlefield”, he believes. He has personally made efforts to promote guoxue in the publiceducation system, he says.
Zhu believes schools should change the way they teach traditional culture, which typically requires learning the classics by rote, to make lessons more interesting.
Publisher Li Ke, who also lectures on traditional culture, says a growing number of education officials and teachers have been making efforts to blend essential elements of traditional culture into current curriculums.
Some have staged successful experiments that balance
guoxue and academic performance, he says.
“This is very meaningful,” he says.
“It proves that learning traditional culture doesn’t create conflict with exam scores.”