Submitted by ciau on
It’s the Spring Festival in February, and Webutuck School District organized a series of activities around this theme. The students were excited to learn about the customs of Spring Festival and its significance in Chinese culture.
The primary students held a variety of activities. Through reading, students had an opportunity to take a brief look at the country located across the ocean. Comparison of holiday customs between China and United States was intriguing to many students. Many customs, such as pasting couplets around the door and putting up firecrackers, were novel to the students, and left them longing for more of Chinese culture.
Senior students got a more challenging task, practicing calligraphy and writing couplets of their own. As no students had ever written with a brush before, they found this to be a difficult but interesting task.
Calligraphy artists
The lesson was divided into three parts. During the first part, the students were introduced to Chinese calligraphy and learned how to use a brush to make the basic strokes. Then the students learned to write some simple Chinese characters. Finally, the students had a chance to write short couplets. At the beginning, students used the brush and ink to paint patterns; however, as the lesson progressed, they learned how to write. Though it’s not easy to write in calligraphy, they reached the goal by patient practice. Moreover, the beauty of calligraphy attracted them a lot. Andi said that this lesson helped her to enjoy calligraphy. Anthony said, “It’s much harder than in my imagination, and I almost gave up. But I heard that even Chinese people still need to practice it for years or decades, so I think I’ve done well.” The beauty of Chinese culture shows its face through calligraphy, so it’s reasonable to anticipate that calligraphy will spread a seed of appreciation for Chinese culture and philosophy to students.