The school's philosophy emphasizes 'painting as a door into tradition, and calligraphy as a bond bridging the ancient to the present.' Individuals study to astutely carry on the tradition of the ancient saints and sages, using art as a means of internal cultivation, in order to enhance their insight into the world, and to ultimately expand their paths of creative understanding. The program is founded on the rich cultural legacy of China's ancestral tradition. Each individual utilizes these foundations to produce impactful and meaningful works of art that are rooted in tradition. The school seeks to nurture students to become talented individuals of high moral character, who possess great proficiency and clear prospects as practitioners of Chinese painting and calligraphy. The school currently stands as the main artistic institution of higher education in China with the strongest educational model in the area of Chinese painting and calligraphy. In light of the school's rich cultural history and superior pedagogy, it now serves as a keystone in the China Academy of Art's specialized Chinese Visual Culture programming and the recently developed Contemporary Eastern Studies Culture Center. The School of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy also works to express the essential values and consciousness at the core of Chinese traditional art, using methods of research and laboratory work to perfect the strategy of imparting ‘important points of superior tradition’ into a specialized framework for study of Chinese painting and calligraphy.