The major program of Study on the Revival of Traditional Chinese Fine Arts in Contemporary Times features academic discussion around "Chinese fine arts" and acts as an important channel to discover traditional Chinese civilization. The collation, discovery and systematic study of traditional Chinese fine arts in some sense matters to the continuity and development of national culture and the rediscovery and confirmation of traditional values and cultural confidence. Moreover, the study also attempts to reveal the unique experience of traditional Chinese fine arts and its renewal in contemporary times and the cultural presupposition hidden in the image of Chinese fine arts - the humanistic and aesthetic meanings behind civilization, leading to spiritual comfort to which human beings aspire today and in the future. This study will start with Chinese cultural traditions, take advantage of Chinese philosophical thinking, focus on the exploration, collation and retrieval of theoretical and knowledge systems of traditional Chinese fine arts, and then perform creative transformation based on circumstances of contemporary Chinese and global cultures, in order to find the revival road for traditional Chinese fine arts. The major program consists of five projects: Cultural Study of Traditional Chinese Fine Arts, Style Study of Traditional Chinese Fine Arts, Study of the Modern Transformation of Traditional Chinese Fine Arts in the 20th Century, Construction of Contemporary Chinese Fine Arts Discourse System, and The Road to Contemporary Revival of Traditional Chinese Fine Arts, with NUA’s Prof. Fan Bo, NUA’s Prof. Kong Liuqing, Prof. Zhu Liangliang of Changzhou Institute of Technology, NUA’s Prof. Shang Yong, and Prof. Shang Ke of China National Academy of Painting as project leaders respectively.

The major program of Research on Composition Theory System with Chinese Characteristics takes building the composition theory system with Chinese characteristics as the main objective and sorts out profound changes brought by the history of "Western music spreading to the East" in the past century. Opposing Western centrism and narrow spatial and geographical boundaries, it emphasizes the unity of "historicity" and "logicality" and that of "diversity" and "integrative thinking". The first purpose of this program is to demonstrate latest research development of Chinese composition theory and highlight China's theoretical contribution to the global composition theory system, based on academic and professional fields of contemporary Chinese music creation, with an emphasis on distinctive concepts - such as category groups and core problem domains - that emerge in the development of the composition theory with Chinese characteristics, through the induction, integration and promotion of the core knowledge with Chinese discourse characteristics. The second is to provide a "Chinese plan" reflecting unique perspectives and different understandings of Chinese scholars so as to expand contents and implications of the global composition theory system when integrating Chinese and Western music cultures, by studying new resources of composition theory at home and abroad, broadening the academic vision after comparing, contrasting, absorbing and distilling different composition theories, and creating a multi-dimensional integrated "grand composition theory system" featuring creation theory, ontology, methodology, and epistemology. The program is composed of five projects: Research on Some Issues on Historical Development and System Construction of Composition and Composition Theory, Concepts and Core Techniques of Modern and Contemporary Music Creation, Evolution and Core Knowledge of Modern and Contemporary Composition Theory, Expanding Horizons of Modern and Contemporary Music Studies, On the Technical Characteristics and Theoretical Analysis of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Music Works, and the pandect - Contemporary Construction of Composition Theory System with Chinese Characteristics. Prof. Fan Xiaofeng of NUA, Prof. Cai Qiaozhong of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Prof. Chen Hongduo of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Prof. Wang Xuqing of Hangzhou Normal University, and Prof. Zheng Yan of East China Normal University are the respective leaders.

The major programs of NSSFC are widely acknowledged as the highest-level, most generous and most authoritative in the philosophy and social sciences sector. In the art sector, NSSFC approved 27 major programs this year, and NUA has been awarded 2 of them (among which the art discipline has been awarded for three consecutive years), making NUA ranked first in terms of number of programs approved in the past three years (5 projects in total). The approval of two major programs in the art field by NSSFC should be credited to NUA's leadership, faculty members and students' continuous attention and concern for improving research and innovation capabilities, and has been of great significance in building NUA into a high-level art university and promoting discipline development. (Research Office)