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China's first Confucian classroom in a prison has been opened in East China's Shandong Province, aiming to educate criminals by using the classic works of Confucius in a move experts suggested should be promoted across the nation.

The classroom opened Saturday in central Shandong's Luzhong Prison as part of a charity program funded by the China Confucius Foundation. The classroom will encourage traditional teaching methods focused on moral education, calligraphy and reading classics.

"The teaching of the Confucian classroom is divided into 10 modules, including education on Chinese folklore, traditional music Josh Doctson Redskins Jersey , calligraphy and painting," a China Confucius Foundation employee surnamed Zhang told the Global Times. "Such diversified activities may help criminals understand the essence of Chinese culture and cultivate their own moral character."

Luzhong Prison's pilot program will involve a series of changes to improve the prison's cultural atmosphere through classroom and library design, family activities and training prison instructors in Confucian teachings, Lin Guojun, deputy head of the provincial prison management bureau Troy Apke Redskins Jersey , was quoted as saying by the Xinhua News Agency.

"Criminals can hardly receive the edification of traditional Chinese culture due to their particular circumstances. Apart from receiving legal punishment, they should also receive an education in traditional culture, which encourages them to do good deeds," Zhang said, adding that such positive education could reduce criminal activity.

"Confucianism advocates good qualities such as filial duty and mutual respect Geron Christian Redskins Jersey , which will have a positive moral impact on criminals," Ren Zhong, a Confucian scholar, told the Global Times. "Such Confucius classrooms should be promoted in prisons nationwide, and the government should put more effort into such activities Preston Smith Redskins Jersey ," he said.

All eight provincial-level drug rehabilitation centers in Shandong have already established their own Confucian classrooms, the first of which was established in Jining in 2015.

"As a country with a great culture, China's transformation of criminals should also have its own features," Zhu Lijia, a public management professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance Brandon Scherff Redskins Jersey , told the Global Times.

"Confucianism is a good method to educate criminals, as it can help them reshape their spiritual world," Zhang said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a tour of Confucius' hometown of Qufu, Shandong in 2013 that Confucian thought can play a positive role in China's modern development.

At an international seminar in 2014 to mark the 2,565th anniversary of Confucius' birth Montae Nicholson Redskins Jersey , Xi also said that culture is the soul of a nation and called for mutual understanding between civilizations.