The Australian Chinese-Classics Reciting Centre (ACCRC) is a charitable education program supported by the Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China.
The objective of the ACCRC is to provide a platform for the Australian children, whether of Chinese origin or not, to learn and understand the Chinese culture, so as to cultivate a generation of young Australian Chinese to be culturally rich, respectful, and tolerant.
The motto of the centre is: Following Masters & Learning Masterpieces.??
Since July 2003, the teaching has been conducted by voluntary teachers totally free of charge to children aged 3-13. The ACCRC started with 7 young boys and girls of one class and expanded to now many classes in Sydney’s Haymarket and many local suburbs, even Gosford, offering weekly courses for several hundred children.
The ACCRC teaches moral values and Chinese culture based on the Chinese Four Books and Five Classics (四書五經), mainly, The Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, Lao Tsu, The works of Mencius, Zhang Zi, Lao Tsu, Di Zi Gui, and The Three-Character Classic.? By reading aloud, hence memorizing through recitation ancient Chinese classics; handwriting and copying masterpieces; and through storytelling, and lecturing, the students have shown marked improvement in memorizing, concentration and confidence.? Not only have they learned thousands of Chinese characters, the children who have attended the courses are known to display decent and respectful behaviors at home and in community; outstanding academic performance at schools; solid understanding of social norms and cultural integration and tolerance; and profound self-confidence and love to others.
ACCRC has participated in many culture events, i.e. ACPPRC 10th anniversary celebration banquet, the annual Sydney Chinese New Year celebration and parade, the First Confucian Festival Australia, the celebration concert for 10th anniversary of HKSAR etc, in which the children performed by reciting and dancing to well known Traditional Chinese masterpieces.
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