LIKEmanyotherseniors,WangYing,atWuhanUniversity,hasbeenbusypreparingforthepostgraduateentranceexamssincethenewsemesterbegan.Butinanotherwayshe'sdifferent.Hermotivationcomesnotfromwantingtogetamaster'sdegreetofindagoodjob.Shewantstopursuefurtherstudiesbecauseshehopestolearnmoreaboutthehistoryandcultureofhercountry.

WangismajoringinChinesetraditionalculture,anunusualmajorforcollegestudentsallacrossthecountry.Thesemajorsarestudyingawayoflifethatexistedthousandsofyearsago.

"Wereadarticlesloudtogether.Andtheteachersexplainthemwordbyword.It'squitesimilartoclassinaprivateschoolinancienttimes,"saysYeDaiyin,ajunior.

Wuhanestablishedthemajorfouryearsago.ThestudentstakecoursesbasedontheclassicalcultureofancientChina,suchasliterature,philosophy,andhistory.TheircurriculumhasclassicworksliketheFourBooks(SiShu),theFiveClassics(WuJing),theSongofChu(ChuCi),andLaoZi.

Thereareinterestingwaystostudytheclassicalculture.

ManyofthestudentshavejoinedtheChunyingPoetryAssociation,whichisopentoanyoneinterestedinclassicalpoetry.Theyusuallypractisecomposingancientpoems.

Poetic

AccordingtoYe,whohasjoinedthepoetryassociation,themembersoncetookathinpieceofsandalwoodlikeapieceofincense,inaclassroom,andlitit.Theythentriedtocomposeapoembeforethestickburnedcompletely.Ittookabout20minutes.

"It'sinterestingtoplaythiskindofgame.Nowwecancomposepoemswithinashorttime,"Yesaid.

Thestudentsalsofindchallengesintheirstudies.

"Thecoursewasalittledifficultatthebeginning.Thetextsweuseareintheoriginalform.Thecharactersareintheiroriginalcomplexform,theoneusedbeforetheyweresimplified.Andwehavetoreadthemfromrighttoleft,"saidWangYing,asenior."It'stakenmeseveralmonthstogetusedtothis."

Recitingthetextsisevenmorechallenging.

"It'sourhomeworktoreciteallthepartsoftheFourBooks,andsomeoftheSongofChu.Itwashardformetomemorizethematfirst.Butitgoteasier,"Wangsaid.

Infact,shecannowrecitealmostallofthe"DreamofRedMansions"(HonglouMeng)frombeginningtoend.

Changingmajors

Infact,studentsmajoringinChinesetraditionalculturewerenotaskedtoenrolinthemajorbasedontheirscoresinthecollegeentranceexams.

Theytransferredintoitaftertakingexamsduringthesecondhalfoftheirfirstyearofstudyofothersubjects.

Someofthemhavegivenupapopularmajors,suchasWang.Shewasinlawinherfirstyearofstudy;othersaresciencemajorsandnowfindthemselvesinarelativelynewfield.Ye,forexample,starteduniversitylifeasamathsmajor.

Andnotallofthemareconvincedofthemeritsofthisnewcourse.

"Thejobprospectsforthemajorarenotpromising.Itmaybehardforgraduatestogetwell-paidjobs,"saidasophomorenamedSong.

Motivation

Butthestudentsdoingthenewcoursehavetheirownreasons.

"Ourmotivationisnotmoneybutinterest.Whatwe'velearntisfarfromenough.Manyofushopetopursuepostgraduatestudies,"saidTianFang,ajunior.

Thestudents'enthusiasmforthenewmajorhasimpressedtheteachers.

"It'sgoodthattheyareseriousabouttheirstudies.Thejobprospectsmaybeuncertainforthem,buttheycansucceedbyworkinghardandhavingagoodattitude,"saidoneteachernamedXuwhoisinchargeoftheseniors.