On the afternoon of September 8, “Academic Conference on Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture” was held at the meeting room of the provincial Party school of Hainan Province. LI Jun, Deputy Secretary of Hainan Provincial Committee and President of the provincial Party school attended the event and delivered a speech. The conference was presided over by PENG Jingyi, President of Hainan Confucian Academy, and former Executive Vice President of the provincial Party school. XU Qi, Executive Chairman of the Academic Committee of Confucius Academy, SUO Xiaoxia, Director and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Cultural Communication Center of Guiyang Confucius Academy, TAO Yusu, Director of Institute of Traditional Culture of Guizhou University (Guiyang Confucius Academy) and another guest were invited to attend the conference. They discussed topics of relations between Confucianism, Philosophy of the Mind by Wang Yangming and SU Shi’s Theory, their value in the current era, and inheritance and development along with principal heads of Hainan Confucian Academy and Hainan Su Dongpo Research Council, as well as experts and scholars from Guizhou and Hainan.

At the conference, the leader of Hainan Confucian Academy introduced its achievements and experience in promoting traditional culture in the last 28 years since its inception. The director of Hainan Su Dongpo Research Council gave an introduction to its work operation. XU Qi talked about main endeavors of Guiyang Confucius Academy in inheriting and carrying forward excellent traditional Chinese culture and developing and practicing core socialist values, while SUO Xiaoxia briefed participants on exploration and practice of Guiyang Confucius Academy in studying and promoting Wang Yangming’s philosophy. TAO Yusu, on behalf of his university that had established an institute in Guiyang Confucius Academy, shared experience and achievements of academic research and training in complementing each other’s advantages for common development. Experts and scholars at the conference conducted academic exchanges on the inheritance of Confucianism in the modern era, contemporary value of Philosophy of the Mind by Wang Yangming, social function and modern value of studies on Su Shi’s Theory, and relations between Su Shi’s Theory and Confucianism.

LI Jun highly appreciated exchanges between Guiyang Confucius Academy and the circle of traditional culture in Hainan. He pointed out that in ancient times; Guizhou and Hainan were a remote mountainous area and a southern wasteland respectively. But now Guizhou becomes a summer paradise while Hainan becomes a winter resort. Five centuries ago, WANG Yangming was exiled in Guizhou to revitalize education for three years. In Longchang, he was enlightened. Then he developed his Philosophy of the Mind and initiated the practice of giving lectures in academies of classical learning, which stimulated the development of culture and education in the central part of Guizhou Province. Nine hundred and eighty years ago, SU Dongpo was demoted to Danzhou, Hainan for three years where he was committed to eliminating corrupt customs, bringing wasteland into cultivation, opening schools, encouraging good academic atmosphere, writing books and setting up theories, developing education and promoting culture. All of his efforts exerted a profound impact on the local area. The two great men shared much in common for they made significant contributions to the integration of cultures of local ethnic minorities and Central China when demoted. The academic and cultural communities in Guizhou attach great importance to researches of Wang Yangming’s Theory and have achieved fruitful results. Hainan should learn from Guizhou to bring researches of Su Shi’s Theory further. He expressed his hope that Guizhou and Hainan would exploit their cultural resources and organize innovative and successful events that promote traditional culture, so as to practice Secretary General Xi Jinping’s significant expositions on traditional Chinese culture, carry forward excellent traditional Chinese culture, and make positive contributions to enhancing the influence of Chinese culture.