Singing Classic Songs
2021 is the Xin Chou Year of the Lunar Calendar. In the Chinese folklore, the year when the earth branch meets the “ugly” in the lunar calendar is called the ‘Year of the Ox’. Although there were many accidents in 2020, time is our most loyal partner, and the traditional festival we look forward to is still coming. XLIS primary school students still want to use the New Year celebration to tell everyone that they care about the world they are in, and they are ready to warm up more people and make the world more beautiful.
The Book of Rites said: “Studying alone without friends is lonely and ignorant.”
The Analects of Confucius said: “It is a pleasure to have friends from far away.”
In the big family of XLIS in China, students from 32 different countries and regions gathered together to celebrate the 2021 Lunar New Year’s coming. At the beginning of the activity, P5 students sang about their knowledge of friends and their infinite love for Chinese culture. The world is in harmony, and the integration of culture allows a friendship to transcend national boundaries and time.
Ancient poems are the essence of Chinese traditional culture. In ECE Mandarin class, the teachers integrated ancient poems full of charm with beautiful rhythmic movements. In poetry and music, the students gradually realized the connotation of poetry through their subtle memories. It also promotes children’s multiple intelligences, such as language, music, and sports.
‘Amid the boom of firecrackers, a year has come to an end. Furthermore, the spring wind has wafted warm breath to the wine. While the rising sun shines over each household, people would put up new peachwood charm for the old.’ Through the perfect interpretation of music and poetry, ECE students truly felt the ancient Chinese people. The joyful atmosphere when welcoming the ‘Yuan Ri’. ‘A few plum twigs at the corner of the wall. Blossoming all alone, defying the cold. Learn the strong qualities of Plum Blossom, one of the four gentlemen of the flower, that is not afraid of the severe cold.’ Sound enlightenment makes kindergarten children happy while chanting, dancing with music, feel the beauty of the artistic conception and rhythm of ancient poems in the beautiful melody.
Chinese Calligraphy Heritage
Language is the soul of a nation. The Chinese culture has passed through thousands of years, and it is the language that carries it down to this day. How to achieve a perfect interpretation of words? The answer is undoubtedly calligraphy. In order to allow students to learn about the essence of Chinese characters from an early age, our school specially invited the director of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, the member of the Editing and Publishing Committee of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, the chairman of the Shaanxi Calligraphers Association, and the director of Hong Wen Gallary, Mr. Chen Jian Gong to come to our PYP Chinese New Year celebrations. The school intends to let students from all over the world enter the traditional Chinese culture through ‘the window of calligraphy’ and learn about China through personal experience, thus falling in love with Chinese culture.
Chen Jian Gong is a disseminator of Chinese culture and art. Since 1987, he has been invited to Japan, South Korea, and the United States to hold calligraphy exhibitions and calligraphy exchange activities. His essays, calligraphy works, and artistic achievements have been widely published and introduced in newspapers and magazines such as “Japanese Art History,” “Calligraphy World,” “Xiumei,” “Snow Heart,” “Monthly Calligraphy,” “Asahi Shimbun” and other newspapers and magazines. He also won the “Toshiki Kaifu Award” medal awarded by Japan’s former prime minister when participating in the Japanese exhibition. At the end of 2000, when he held a solo calligraphy exhibition in Houston, the scene was unprecedented. The Houston City Government awarded him the “Honorary Citizen of Houston” certificate to recognize his contribution to Sino-US cultural exchanges.
In 1995, Mr. Chen began to devote himself to the popularization and education of calligraphy and calligraphy with primary and middle school students as the main training object, and so he invested in the establishment of the Hongwenguan. Through his and his colleagues’ rigorous academic research, and after years of hard work, the Hongwenguan has been developed into a first-class children’s calligraphy and painting teaching base in Shaanxi Province, the largest scale, teaching quality, and teaching environment.
At the event, Mr. Chen accepted on-site interviews from the students and commented on the students’ calligraphy works one by one. Mr. Chen said that Chinese calligraphy has a history of thousands of years. Through learning calligraphy, students can develop a good study habit of concentration from an early age. At the same time, learning Chinese calligraphy is important for learning other arts and subjects. They will play an important role in our whole life . He saw the works written by our Primary students from the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and South Korea on the stage. In terms of brush and the font structure, he was impressed with what they wrote. Meanwhile, Mr. Chen created a calligraphy work called ‘Chinese Calligraphy and Prolonged Life’, especially for XLIS teachers and students. He hopes to take this opportunity to encourage everyone in XLIS to practice calligraphy. It will improve their literacy and benefit for life.
Theatre For Children
The children’s drama performance The Kingdom of Chinese Characters starts with the Kingdom of Chinese Characters choosing a new king. Through the analysis and interpretation of the similar characters of Chinese characters, the children can transform the flat dialogue between the pages of the book onto the stage. Face-to-face communication turns the process of combining Chinese characters into a unique experience of communication and display. At the same time, through the form of drama performances, students can feel the charm of Chinese characters, calligraphy, and painting from the same origin and become the guardians of Chinese character culture.
King Zhao Huiwen got a piece of jade from the Chu Kingdom. King Qin Zhao heard about this and sent a letter to King Zhao, hoping to exchange 15 cities for this jade piece.
Lin Xiang Ru said he could take the jade to Qin. If Qin gives Zhao fifteen cities, he will leave the jade in Qin. Nevertheless, if they do not keep their promise, he will bring the jade back intact. ‘Returning the jade intact’ to Zhao is a historical story which happened during the Warring States Period. Originally pointed out, Lin Xiangru brought the flawless jade from Qin’s State back to Handan, the Zhao Kingdom’s capital. The young actors used their understanding to interpret Lin Xiangru, King Zhao Huiwen, King Qin Zhao, and other characters with different personalities. They are either straightforward or loyal, reckless or witty, vivid, and leaving a deep impression on the audience.
‘Lucky House’ is a fable from classic Israeli literature. The wise and sentimental poet Goldberg’s poetic words and the lively illustrations of the new generation of illustrator Sanchez convey a simple and humane connotation to this classic fable: be good at discovering others’ shining points.
The little actors in Primary 3 played multiple animal roles. Exaggerated and anthropomorphic animal shapes, moods, and costumes can help children understand different animals’ characteristics, understand their advantages and disadvantages, and experience the beauty of being generous and tolerant in the situation.
The colorful New Year’s themed celebration activities compose a joyful and festive ‘New Year’s Overture’. Through this activity, students in the elementary school learned about the traditional Chinese New Year’s holiday atmosphere and deepened their understanding and perception of traditional Chinese festivals. They experienced the essence of traditional Chinese culture. They not only learned how to express themselves, but they also gained happiness. They felt the best wishes of the festival while inheriting Chinese traditional culture.
Organizers-Primary Mandarin Team:
Winnie Huang
Carol Wu
Hailey Hai
Anne Wang
Faustina Wen
