Photo: Luo Zhenyu, founder of Dedao App (a Chinese learning platform) and host of the "Journey of Civilization" talked with 1 million online views in front of the Lingxing Gate of the Confucius Academy in Guiyang.

At 5:00 pm on August 17, Luo Zhenyu, founder of Dedao App (a Chinese learning platform) and host of the "Journey of Civilization" walked up the Lingxing Gate of the Confucius Academy in Guiyang, Guizhou Province. On the other side of the lens, nearly 1 million online viewers followed his footsteps to jointly "seek relaxation and enjoyment in the six arts" amid the pavilions and terraces of the Academy. 

"This is the most relaxing day for me since the beginning of 2025. Such relaxing state can be described as the utmost purity of mind." When the live streaming kicked off, Luo Zhenyu exclaimed. Once arriving in Guiyang on August 16, he only had one thing in mind: Where can I find delicious food? Where can I try some Huaxi beef noodles? This was his first day of leisure of 2025 - no urgent KPI and no to-do list, except enjoying the cool breeze and the azure sky of the city. 

Luo Zhenyu felt a tinge of regret when standing in front of the statue of Confucius at the Confucius Academy. Such regret had nothing to do with "not studying hard enough", but was due to his favorite line in the Confucius Analects - "Set your heart on the truth, hold to virtue, lean upon benevolence, and seek relaxation and enjoyment in the six arts". Among these utterances, "seek relaxation and enjoyment in the six arts" is often ignored by high achievers. 

In the past year, Luo had been burdened by the production of "Journey of Civilization". He began to run out of ideas, and was troubled by anxiety. He suddenly realized in Guiyang that his mind could have dried up if he didn't engage in "wandering aimlessly". 

Why did he choose the Confucius Academy? He said it was just an "excuse" - "listening to a lecture" in name, but "taking a vacation" in reality. The coolness of Guiyang and low clouds everywhere on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau helped him escape the summer heat. 

"Do you know why the statue of Confucius is 9.28 meters tall?" "Why is the Dacheng Hall always closed?" Listening to the explanations of Zhou Zhijiang, member of the Party committee and deputy director of the Guiyang Confucius Academy Cultural Communication Center, Luo Zhenyu and his online followers probed into the cultural secrets of the buildings. On the square in front of the Dacheng Hall, a Chinese wedding ceremony, a respect-for-the-elderly ceremony, a first writing ceremony and a coming-of-age ceremony are held annually, and on September 28 ever year, a grand memorial ceremony for Confucius is staged. 

In the Dacheng Hall, Luo Zhenyu made a deep bow in front of the statue of Confucius. "Respecting Confucius is in fact respecting a part of our own character. But of course, if you bow for good grades, I also applaud your good intentions."

Then, Luo Zhenyu and others visited the Yangming Pavilion, starting a time travel in this more-than-1,000-square-meter exhibition hall and engaging in a cross-temporal dialogue with Wang Yangming, a great thinker in the Ming Dynasty. The exhibition includes three parts that systematically reproduce the process of Wang Yangming's journey to the final enlightenment in Longchang. The most attractive exhibit among them is the couplet rubbing "The lofty ambition soars above the clouds; the gentle spring mist echoes refreshing autumn skies" with vigorous strokes showing the beauty of Chinese calligraphy. Luo Zhenyu stopped to admire the charm of Master Wang Yangming's calligraphy and enjoy the unique "coolness" of Guiyang. 

At the Minglun Hall, Luo Zhenyu learned about the Confucius Academy's public benefit lectures on traditional culture, and was attracted by the neatly arranged Mu Duo books on the table. 

At last, Luo Zhenyu came to the Yangming Auditorium and the offline screening event of "Journey of Civilization" began. This event brings 1,000 on-site attendants and nearly 1 million online viewers back to   the year 1072 AD. 

This tour conveyed both the cultural charm of the Confucius Academy and the coolness and sense of relaxation of Guiyang city to the audiences. A viewer commented on the live streaming, "I can't go there in person, but my heart yearns for it." Some also said that they had already begun to plan their own visits to the Confucius Academy in Guiyang in order to personally experience such distinctive cultural charm and natural beauty.