SOURCE / PRESS RELEASE
Confucius Academy’s thematic activities promote traditional Chinese folk customs
In recent years, the Confucius Academy in Guiyang has explored the cultural connotations of four traditional festivals, namely the Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, and ingeniously developed the "Our Festivals" IP. This initiative has injected new vitality into traditional folk customs, fostering a renewed appreciation for the practice of traditional Chinese folk customs.
Since the launch of the serial thematic activities of "Our Festivals" in 2013, the Confucius Academy of Guiyang has hosted more than 60 richly diverse festival events, both in form and content, attracting over 20 million online viewers and offline participants. This has since grown into a signature cultural brand of the academy.
The Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival of the Chinese nation, represents the concepts of reunion, blessings, bidding farewell to the past and ushering in the new. During the 2025 Spring Festival, visitors joined the "Twelve Realms of Talent Pursuit" event and embarked on a uniquely engaging journey. Starting with "Collecting Firewood for Talent" along the Path of Aspiration, they climbed the 333-step Fortune Ladder to gather five blessings and exchange them for lucky bags. Activities also included a ceremony paying homage to Confucius at the Dacheng Hall, learning about virtues at the Minglun Hall, taking on challenges from the "New Six Arts of the Man with Noble Character" at the Six Arts School, honoring the sage at the Apricot Altar, guessing lantern riddles at the Etiquette Square, enjoying Guqin (ancient Chinese zither) performances and tea at the Xishan Academy, tasting "family-inherited flavors" on the Traditional Culture Street, and watching traditional performances and intangible cultural heritage shows.
The Tomb Sweeping (Qingming) Festival, a time to commemorate ancestors, took on new life on April 4, 2025, when the Confucius Academy presented a culturally rich experience themed "Mind Studies for Qingming Festival, Patriotic Sentiments Towards Country and Family." Using the heritage of Ming-era Tunpu culture as a narrative thread, the event interwove intangible cultural heritage techniques, mind studies, and familial-patriotic sentiment into a three-part experience: Rite ? Thought ? Action. During the event, an impressive show of Tunpu Di Opera was staged, along with a variety of other performances such as traditional Chinese-style folk songs and rock & roll shows, which embodied the fusion of intangible cultural heritage, fashion, classics and innovation. As evening fell, the original dance drama "Wang Yangming" bridged time and space in an evocative performance. The event also provided visitors with themed market stalls that offered a variety of cultural products.
When the resonant chants of Tunpu Di Opera met the modern physical expression of dance drama, when Wang Yangming's philosophical insights were reimagined as bookmarks and kites, and when the stylized rhythms of Peking Opera echoed alongside the freeform harmonies of the Dong Ethnic Chorus, the 2025 "Mind Studies for Qingming" event transformed ancient cultural DNA into a meaningful experience for the present day. Here, Tomb Sweeping Day transcended mourning to become a soulful journey of emotional connection—inviting us not only to honor the past but to cherish life in the present.
The Dragon Boat Festival, traditionally considered a time to drive away evil and pray for peace and health, took on profound cultural depth on May 31, the first day of the 2025 Dragon Boat Festival holidays. Under the theme "Mind Reflection Between Heaven and Earth," the Confucius Academy curated a cultural and creative showcase that explored the philosophical legacies of Qu Yuan and Wang Yangming, staging a cross-temporal dialogue between the two sages. More than 8,000 citizens and tourists participated to the immersive cultural shows of the event. In addition, eight intangible cultural heritage workshops displayed traditional handcrafts such as lacquer fan making, tie-dyeing, paper cutting, woodcarving, tea cultivation, rope weaving, pottery art and Miao silver crafting.
The inventive combination of cultural and creative products, traditional festival and intangible cultural heritage achieved three tiers of innovation: a cross-temporal brainstorming between Qu Yuan and Wang Yangming, an artistic manifestation of patriotic and family-related philosophy, and a brand empowered by cultural activities.
Since the launch of the serial thematic activities of "Our Festivals" in 2013, the Confucius Academy of Guiyang has hosted more than 60 richly diverse festival events, both in form and content, attracting over 20 million online viewers and offline participants. This has since grown into a signature cultural brand of the academy.
The Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival of the Chinese nation, represents the concepts of reunion, blessings, bidding farewell to the past and ushering in the new. During the 2025 Spring Festival, visitors joined the "Twelve Realms of Talent Pursuit" event and embarked on a uniquely engaging journey. Starting with "Collecting Firewood for Talent" along the Path of Aspiration, they climbed the 333-step Fortune Ladder to gather five blessings and exchange them for lucky bags. Activities also included a ceremony paying homage to Confucius at the Dacheng Hall, learning about virtues at the Minglun Hall, taking on challenges from the "New Six Arts of the Man with Noble Character" at the Six Arts School, honoring the sage at the Apricot Altar, guessing lantern riddles at the Etiquette Square, enjoying Guqin (ancient Chinese zither) performances and tea at the Xishan Academy, tasting "family-inherited flavors" on the Traditional Culture Street, and watching traditional performances and intangible cultural heritage shows.
The Tomb Sweeping (Qingming) Festival, a time to commemorate ancestors, took on new life on April 4, 2025, when the Confucius Academy presented a culturally rich experience themed "Mind Studies for Qingming Festival, Patriotic Sentiments Towards Country and Family." Using the heritage of Ming-era Tunpu culture as a narrative thread, the event interwove intangible cultural heritage techniques, mind studies, and familial-patriotic sentiment into a three-part experience: Rite ? Thought ? Action. During the event, an impressive show of Tunpu Di Opera was staged, along with a variety of other performances such as traditional Chinese-style folk songs and rock & roll shows, which embodied the fusion of intangible cultural heritage, fashion, classics and innovation. As evening fell, the original dance drama "Wang Yangming" bridged time and space in an evocative performance. The event also provided visitors with themed market stalls that offered a variety of cultural products.
When the resonant chants of Tunpu Di Opera met the modern physical expression of dance drama, when Wang Yangming's philosophical insights were reimagined as bookmarks and kites, and when the stylized rhythms of Peking Opera echoed alongside the freeform harmonies of the Dong Ethnic Chorus, the 2025 "Mind Studies for Qingming" event transformed ancient cultural DNA into a meaningful experience for the present day. Here, Tomb Sweeping Day transcended mourning to become a soulful journey of emotional connection—inviting us not only to honor the past but to cherish life in the present.
The Dragon Boat Festival, traditionally considered a time to drive away evil and pray for peace and health, took on profound cultural depth on May 31, the first day of the 2025 Dragon Boat Festival holidays. Under the theme "Mind Reflection Between Heaven and Earth," the Confucius Academy curated a cultural and creative showcase that explored the philosophical legacies of Qu Yuan and Wang Yangming, staging a cross-temporal dialogue between the two sages. More than 8,000 citizens and tourists participated to the immersive cultural shows of the event. In addition, eight intangible cultural heritage workshops displayed traditional handcrafts such as lacquer fan making, tie-dyeing, paper cutting, woodcarving, tea cultivation, rope weaving, pottery art and Miao silver crafting.
The inventive combination of cultural and creative products, traditional festival and intangible cultural heritage achieved three tiers of innovation: a cross-temporal brainstorming between Qu Yuan and Wang Yangming, an artistic manifestation of patriotic and family-related philosophy, and a brand empowered by cultural activities.
Confucius Academy’s thematic activities promote traditional Chinese folk customs
The Mid-Autumn Festival, a day of family reunion, is also a time for poets and scholars to express their emotions, was reimagined in an immersive gala held on September 15, 2024. Here, visitors participated in time-travel-like immersive, interactive activities, enjoying poems, drinking tea and admiring the moon alongside actors dressed as well-known ancient characters. This deep and creative interpretation of traditional Mid-Autumn culture not only enriched the significance of the festival in the modern era, but also strengthened emotional bonds among people and promoted the continuity of national cultural heritage.