Twenty-five participatants of the first "International Program for Teachers of Chinese Culture" attended their graduation ceremony at Yilun Hall of the Imperial College in Beijing on Saturday.

The first batch of "seed teachers" comprises American professors of Chinese culture and Chinese postgraduate students and college teachers who are engaged or interested in Chinese culture studies.

The program was held in Nishan Birthplace of the Sage Academy in Sishui, Shandong province, began on July 3 and lasted for a month. It was jointly organized by Beijing Foreign Studies University, and Nishan Birthplace of the Sage Academy, and Beijing Sihai Confucian Academy.

During the one-month intensive study, professors Roger Ames of University of Hawaii, Henry Rosemont of Brown University and Tian Chenshan of Beijing Foreign Studies University have imparted the intrinsic characters and core qualities of Chinese culture in English. Besides classroom lectures, the program also included a series of cultural experience activities such as Tai Chi, traditional Chinese medicine and traditional painting and calligraphy.

According to Feng Zhe, co-initiator of the program and director of Beijing Sihai Confucian Academy, the program plans to train 3,000 teachers of Chinese culture around the world in 10 years. Based on the successful cooperation with American universities in the first year, the program will further its cooperation with universities in Europe, Australia, Africa and other regions in the future.