(China Conservatory of Music News) From August 10 to 15, 2022, the Special Training Course for the Guqin Grading Examination of the China Conservatory of Music, hosted by the Yayue (Ceremonial Music) Research Center of the Taishan Cultural Tourism Research Institute and undertaken by Jining Taibai Qin Society and Qufu Boya Musical Instrument Store, was held at the Nishan Gengdu Academy in Qufu.
The Social Art Grading Center of the China Conservatory of Music aims to establish a nationwide platform for the grading examination and training of social music education teachers and grading exam instructors. Through this platform, the high-quality teaching resources of the China Conservatory of Music are disseminated across the country, benefiting a greater number of learners in society. It also significantly strengthens the promotion of the Conservatory’s training and grading examinations, better fulfills the university’s function of serving society, further highlights its brand advantages, generates greater influence nationwide, promotes the development of domestic music and art training, and plays a positive role in advancing the inheritance of Chinese music culture.
Nishan Gengdu Academy is located in Qufu, Shandong Province. The designers drew inspiration from the rich historical and cultural heritage of the farming-and-reading tradition, incorporating the wisdom of the four seasons and the twenty-four solar terms into the Academy’s spaces with a sense of ritual. The overall design concept seeks to blend the simplicity of agrarian life with the elegance of poetry and classical literature, sketching a tableau of contented and harmonious living. It conveys a profound cultural heritage of “mastering poetry and literature, understanding propriety and righteousness, cultivating one’s character, and establishing high virtue.” A variety of traditional Chinese cultural experiences, including ceremonial music (yayue), flower arrangement (kadō), tea ceremony, incense ceremony, recitation, and sutra copying, can all be realized within this space.
During extracurricular time, the instructors led the participants in a series of culturally distinctive experience activities at the Gengdu Academy, such as Analects tracing and copywork, elegant tea gatherings, ukulele making, coffee latte art, and shared reading of classics, making the intensive training more flexible and lively.
The teaching assistant for this training course, Kong Jun, is a 76th-generation descendant of Confucius, whose family has resided in Queli (the ancestral home of Confucius) for generations. He graduated from Qufu Normal University in 2014 and currently serves as a member of the China Orchestral Music Society, a professional adjudicator for the China Zheng Online Competition, a grading examination adjudicator for the China Orchestral Music Society, a National Art Assessment Specialist for Primary and Secondary Schools, an adjudicator for the National Campus Talents Aesthetic Education Arts Festival, an expert adjudicator for the “Golden Elephant Cup” Shandong Youth Music and Dance Competition, a specially appointed professional adjudicator for the Shandong Youth Music and Dance Competition, a council member of the Jining Guqin Society, a researcher at the Yayue Research Center of the Taishan Cultural Tourism Research Institute, and co-founder of Boya Musical Instrument Store. He is an accomplished young inheritor and renowned instructor of the Confucian Mansion’s ceremonial music (yayue), dedicated year-round to the preservation, transmission, and promotion of Confucian Mansion ceremonial music and traditional yayue.
The professional training courses and grading examinations for this session of the training program were successfully completed, and professional grade certificates have been issued. Please stay tuned for more information.
For guqin instruction, guqin purchase, traditional Chinese culture study programs, educational tours to the hometown of Confucius, Confucius memorial ceremonies, cultural and artistic exchanges, lectures, and related events, please contact: chinaguqin@outlook.com
Address: Confucius Cultural Park, Dacheng Road, Qufu City, Shandong Province, China.
