On March 29, the IICE Distinguished Professor GU Mingyuan attended a media seminar on China’s Shuyuan Education at Jingde Shuyuan in Beijing with leaders from relevant educational departments and the press.

WU Yinghui, the dean of Haidian Institute of Educational Sciences and the Vice Executive Director of Jingde Shuyuan hosted the seminar. She briefly introduced the mission of Jingde Shuyuan, dedicated to implementing education of traditional Chinese culture for adults, especially for a wide range of cadres in the government and teachers at schools. Jingde Shuyuan, according to WU, serves as a modern version of traditional Chinese academics, holding up to the traditional belief of exploring truth and employing modern strategies of gathering a wide range of university scholars, and institute researchers to provide numerous training.

Professor SHI Kecan from BNU holds that it is of overarching importance of maintaining the core spirit of traditional Shuyuan if a modern Shuyuan is to be run successfully; this means the superstructure ‘Tao’ (Way) must be prioritized. SHI adds that in modern world, ‘Tao’ means more than Confucian ‘Tao’, and it includes the connotations summarized by the core values of socialism in today’s context and many other modern spirits.

Professor GU Mingyuan noted that traditional culture serves as an important foundation for the built-up of cultural confidence for a nation. He added that as people tend to study more about our national legacies and traditions, the spirit of Shuyuan as an open and innovative place for people to cultivate moral excellence, to engage in academic studies, and to discuss about world affairs, must be well inherited and kept.

Scholars and leaders also had discussions on the operation and development of Shuyuan.