The Center for Arts Education of Tsinghua University, established in 1993, has its origins in the Music Room.
Tsinghua has a longstanding tradition of prioritizing public arts education, with music and fine arts being mandatory courses in its early years. In the 1930s, the establishment of the Chinese Music and Western Music departments led to a more systematic approach to general music education.In 1946, the Music Room was founded. In 1993, it was renamed the Center for Arts Education, and its curriculum expanded to encompass a wider range of disciplines in addition to music and dance.
Now, the primary functions of the Center for Arts Education include:
Public Arts Instruction: The center is responsible for public arts elective courses at the university. It offers over 150 courses annually, covering music, dance, drama, film, and creative curriculum, with an average enrollment of nearly 7,000 students per year.
Student Art Troupe: The center provides professional guidance as well as rehearsal and performance space for the Tsinghua student art troupe, including the Symphonic Band, Chinese Orchestra, Chorus, Symphony Orchestra, Dance Troupe, Drama Troupe, Ballroom Dance Team, Keyboard Troupe，Fine Arts Troupe，Peking Opera Troupe, and Quyi Troupe. These troupes comprise over 1,500 members, all of whom are undergraduate, master's, or doctoral students from non-arts majors.
Venue Management: The center is tasked with the operational management of cultural venues, including the New Tsinghua Xuetang, Mong Man Wai Concert Hall, Auditorium, and the Student Activity Center (Mong Man Wai Building). It hosts over 100 high-level performances annually and facilitates more than 800 large-scale events.
Aesthetic Education Research & Artistic Creation: As a key contributor to campus culture, the center creates original artistic productions and conducts research in art and aesthetic education.
Xiao Wei currently serves as the Director of the Center for Arts Education at Tsinghua University, with Ding Yi serving as the Deputy Director.
