What can you learn at the Courtyard Institute?

The Courtyard Institute is dedicated to offer a professional and profound service to all people interested in Chinese culture, traditional knowledge, history etc. First and foremost, we aim to be an educational institution. We organize short-term classes, lectures and salons at our courtyard as well as tours and visits to places of special interest and importance in and around Beijing.

 

The focus of the short-term classes is mainly Chinese traditional literature, art, philosophy, handmade craftsmanship and folk art. The usual duration of a short term class is between three and ten days. The courses can be either held in a short period of time or distributed over a longer stretch of time.

 

The lectures, salons, tour and visit activities are aimed at inroducing more people to the charm of traditional culture. We want to make traditional culture more easily accesible for people, broaden horizons and exchange ideas.

 

What we do and who we serve

We have tailor made courses for different audiences:

For adults and students

  • We organize Guqin (ancient Chinese music instrument) and Kunqu (old form of Chinese Opera) gatherings, to learn about these ancient art forms and get a first hand experience.
  • We organize  book clubs, press conferences, documentary film salons to extend and exchange knowledge.
  • We organize Yijin Jing classes (muscle/tendon strengthening combined with breathing and meditation exercises) used as key element in Shaolin training.
  • We organize visits to archaeological sites in the outskirts of Beijing and explore the secrets of the Hutongs.

For children

  • We organize shadow puppetry workshops, traditional clay figurines and “how-to-make-your-own-kite” workshops.
  • We organize traditional game tournaments with games like 丟沙包(diushabao – bean bag throwing) and 抖空竹 (doukongzhu – diabolo) for exercise and team building purposes … and fun!
  • We organize musical evenings with traditional opera and old string instruments and we also organize shadow play theaters to develop children’s creativity and imagination.
  • We organize art courses like pen drawings and calligraphy to inspire children and lead them to appreciate these arts.