China is planning to build a global Confucius research center, which experts said could better promote traditional Chinese culture, strengthen the national confidence, and set model for global Confucius research.
The plan will be jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Education (MOE), East China's Shandong provincial government and Renmin University of China (RUC), RUC announced on its website.
RUC would, in accordance with MOE's requirements, work with Shandong and other research and education institutes to draw up a blueprint and roadmap of the center to further promote it as a Confucius research and communication center.
Officials from RUC recently went to Shandong, which is known as Confucius' hometown, to discuss preparations for the center and the cooperation agreement between the two sides.
Building a global Confucius research center would be conducive to the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture, said Liu Jiayi, Party Chief of Shandong Province, adding that the province is striving to combine resources from multiple platforms to make the center prosperous.
"Chinese need to establish cultural confidence, which requires a full understanding of our history and the country's conditions. (The Confucius center) can serve as a traditional Chinese cultural research and learning center for global Chinese people," Yang Chaoming, head of the Confucius Research Institute of China and member of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who proposed the plan, told the Global Times on Monday.
"If Chinese culture is compared to a big tree, Confucianism is the trunk. To understand how our traditional culture has developed, we must know the roots of the tree," Yang said.
Under the influence of Confucian doctrine, the Chinese people have lived together peacefully for thousands of years. Confucian thoughts have nurtured generations of outstanding descendants, he said.
In September 2018, Liu, the Party Chief, said at the international Confucius cultural festival in Qufu, Confucius' hometown, that Shandong is implementing the "Confucianism Masters" program, which will promote the establishment of Confucius University and a Confucian research center.
The MOE also announced on its website in January that the center should be included in the plans of colleges and universities in Shandong.
"We encourage educational institutions [in Shandong] to strengthen research on traditional culture, train traditional culture talent and promote the integrated and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture," the announcement said.
