Learning from the past to guide the future

One of the highlights of the opening ceremony was the cooperation reached by five research institutes in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Zhejiang, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, where Wang lived and worked. The five institutes will enhance the protection and maintenance of Wang's teachings.

In recent years, Shaoxing has spent 8 billion yuan ($1.09 billion) on maintaining Wang's former residence. It reopened to the public in 2022 and has received more than 300,000 visits.

During this year's conference, Shaoxing promoted 10 aspects of his life featuring Yangming culture, including Kuaiji Mountain, Fufeng Mountain (formerly Niutou Mountain), Yunmen Temple, and Chenxi township. All these venues were linked to Wang during his lifetime.

To make the opaque, and sometimes abstract, philosophical thoughts more accessible to the younger generation, Shaoxing has launched multimedia products, including books, operas, short videos, songs and animations centering on Wang's beliefs.

Digital technology has also helped boost the promotion of Yangming culture. A digital literature museum is open to the public at Wang's former residence in Shaoxing. In addition to paper books, over 1,000 digital literary works about Yangming culture are available.