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Incooporating Chinese Culture into the Classroom


Hi everyone!

This week we read poetry by Du Fu and poetry from the book Classics of Poetry. The theme that is most emphasized from this selection of readings would be the influence they have on Chinese culture.

The poem, taken from Classics of Poetry, Plums are Falling, and the poem, Boat of Cypress really displays the culture that was apparent at the time. In Plums are Falling, it talks about a girl who is looking for a good husband. She lists off certain qualities she is looking for in one, until she narrows it down to the one quality she really wants.

"Plums are falling, seven are the fruits; many men want me, let me have a fine one.

Plums are falling, three are the fruits; many men want me, let me have a steady one.

Plums are falling, catch them in the basket; many men want me, let me be bride of one."

This reflects the Chinese culture in which a young woman is hoping to find (or be paired with) a good husband that treats her kindly, and as a good wife, which she hopes to be. She has many prospects, but she is ultimately looking for the right one.

Boat of Cypress, another beautiful poem from Classics of Poetry, shows a man who is troubled with himself and his heart. It reflects the culture at the time because men are expected to be manly and are held to the higher standards of feelings. It was viewed to be more feminine to discuss feelings and if a man did that, it would de-masculine him internally. In the poem it cites:
 

“This heart of mine is no mirror,

it cannot take in all.

Yes, I do have brothers,

but brothers will not be my stay.

I went and told them of my grief

and met only with their rage.”

 
Those lines suggest that the character went to his brothers and trusted friends to try to sort out his thoughts and feelings but they only responded in the way that they were taught to and that was  anger or teasing.

This topic would be very interesting to teach to high school students. There are many ways you could incorporate it into a lesson plan. You can take the theme at hand and have students compare the works to a poet they know today. You could let them choose from a select list. Have them pick two poems, one from each poet (one from Chinese Poetry, and another of their own), and compare and contrast the influences each has for the culture it derived from.

As a fun perk, you could have them write some of their own, one from the perspective of the Chinese culture, and one geared toward the culture of the poet they chose. 
 
To the left you have two poems. One is from the poet Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey and the other poem is Plums are Falling from Classics of Poetry. A student could choose these two and compare them and contrast them and discover how each one represents the culture at the time and place they were written.

The types of pop culture that could be used to incorporate the theme in a fun and educational way would be through the movie Mulan. The animated Disney movie is about the legend of a girl who pretended to be a man in the army during the Northern Wei dynasty. The story is derived from a Chinese poem written in 386-534 when northern China was ruled by nomadic invaders.

The poem is called The Ballad of Mulan, and the entire poem can be found here [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/mulan.pdf]. This pop culture icon can be used to connect that bridge that students usually refuse to cross because the topic is “too boring,” or “hard.”  Everyone knows the movie Mulan and so it can be watched in the classroom (It is free on Netflix), and then read the original poem and direct that to learn about the theme at hand.

That’s all for this week! Take care and I hope you have a blessed day!

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