Traditional culture recently got a refreshing reboot in Zibo city - located in East China's Shandong province - in the wake of its introduction of a raft of events and activities this year, designed to combine its unique Qi culture with modern civilization.
Qi culture is a major component of traditional Chinese culture originating in the ancient Shandong area. Qi Culture (1045 BC - 221 BC ) evolved and developed mainly in the territory of the State of Qi during the late Spring and Autumn period.
Zibo is the birthplace of the Jixia Academy -- an official higher-learning institution in ancient China. It is also the birthplace of Cuju - a traditional sport, like football - and of Pu Songling, a celebrated short story writer of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as well as other cultures and historical personages.
Leveraging these resources, the city has established more than 70 education bases to further promote traditional Chinese culture in modern times.
To better interpret Qi culture and its significance in current civilization, the city recently published over 100 cultural monographs, such as Qi Culture and Modern Civilization and Qi Culture and Modern Times.
The city also organized a Qi Culture Festival for 17 years as well as academic conferences, in order to build platforms for cultural communications and commerce.
It is understood that in order to develop its traditional culture in an innovative way, Zibo has helped with the issuing of a number of original cultural works - such as Cuju Boys and other cartoons and films - by working with professional creative teams.
The city has also reportedly moved to integrate traditional moral values - such as respecting the aged and caring for the young, as well as love of country and home - into modern social etiquette.
More than 650 ceremonies have reportedly been held at schools this year, with about 10,000 pupils and middle school students getting close contact with the essence of traditional Chinese culture.
Some 40 reading stations have also been dotted around the city, to make it more convenient for locals.
Projects introducing traditional art to the countryside have also been implemented, in order to stimulate people's aesthetic awareness.
These aesthetic elements have also been integrated into cultural tourism and urban construction in the region. At parks, such as Qisheng Lake Park and Yanying Park, culture exhibition areas have been established, were visitors can learn about historical references，hear quotes by famous people and take in other traditional cultural elements.
In a talk about the city's activities to preserve its traditional culture, He Yanping - vice director of the city's publicity department – said that the path to the contemporary transformation and development of traditional Chinese culture lay in protecting its cultural roots while making innovative breakthroughs.
