Winter Solstice 2007

Those of us in the northern hemisphere have successfully passed the "standing still" point of the season, the last season change of this calendar year, the shortest day and longest night of the year.

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, has a beautiful solstice composite for us and some explanation of the science on the same page. Of course, if you are in the southern hemisphere, it was the longest day and more and more dark will now be creeping into your days.

Having learned little new about the holiday this year, try my previous entry for an explanation of the Chinese Winter Solstice and celebrations.

Next books to read

I'm considering:
Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas By Pauline Chen, A new book suggested for readers 8 - 11 years old. The reviews of this 1st generation girl and her family's celebration of Christmas look good.

Recently read:
(graphic novel) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. I liked it and I was not sure that I would. My children were not at all interested, and they have certainly been interested in graphic novels for a little while. I think they have not really seen the stereotypes, and certainly have nto felt them addressed against them.

2008 Lunar Calendar

Next year's lunar calendar is ready! The next zodiac cycle starts with the Year of the Rat on February 7, 2008, but you may want to know what the moon will be doing from 1 January.

Email me and request the pdf file for 2008's calendar. New this year: the day of the week is written in each 'moon' so it may be easier to find the dates.

Time for optimism?

We've passed from the solar term "Small Snow" or "Little Snow" (I saw some this year), into "Great Snow". I am looking forward to December 22nd when "Winter Solstice" begins. The same term is used in English for the longest day, and the 14 day solar term that starts that day.

I don't expect to ski again until 2008 - although my skiing may peak in the solar term "The Rains" so I hope that name will not hold true where ever I am!

Volunteering to Teach Manners?

Global Volunteers "Notes from the Field" this week was from Xi'an where they are preparing for the 2008 Olympics.

Kimchi & Calamari

Really enjoyed this book by Rose Kent (for 9 - 12 year olds) about a 14 year old (Korea) boy adopted by an Italian family in America and his "struggles with self-identity". I am sure it will be described many places as "a great book, especially for those with cross- cultural adoptions".

I think it is a good book. Period. A good book. Well-written, for all of us.

You may want to do it as a read-aloud so that "those discussions" do happen.

Mid-Autumn Festival's a month away

You may want to start looking for mooncakes at the Chinese grocery store, review Mid-Autumn Festival information, decide whether you want to go into your child's school to celebrate, or even start talking to their teachers. September 25th is less than a month away now!

If you want to surprise some friends online, there are Mid-Autumn Festival e-cards. You can set them up now to be delivered on September 25th!

If you want close-ups of the moon, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Arizona State University's collaboration may be just in time. They're setting up the Apollo Image Archive for high-resolution scans of original Apollo flight films. Most of these have not been publicly available in over 30 years.

This is a sample of the high resolution frames the Apollo Image Archive will have. AS15-M-0085 was taken on the Apollo 15 mission in July 1971. Photo courtesy of NASA/Arizona State University. (Thanks to Kathe for the heads-up!)

2008 Lunar Festival Dates

Chinese New Year (lunar 1/1) Feb.7, 2008, February 7 - 12, 2008
Lantern Festival (lunar 1/15) Feb. 21, 2008

Tomb Sweeping Day (2/28) Apr. 4
Dragon Festival (lunar 5/5) June 8
Ghost Festival (7/15) August 15

Mid-Autumn Festival (8/15) Sept. 14

Double Ninth Day (lunar 9/9) Oct. 7

Chinese Food

Characters and pinyin for Chinese Food nouns
http://chinesenotes.com/chinese_food.html

Moon cakes - put on on Autumn Mon & link to that entry from here
http://china.tyfo.com/int/art/festival/middle-autumn/mid-cake.htm

Eating the Chinese Way
http://www.howtoorderchinesefood.com/

Last updated: 7/2007

Perseids are coming!

From August 10th - 15th, the annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a great show, with little to no moon and dozens of shooting stars each hour. We would need to get away from our home and the surrounding light pollution to get the best view, but the shower has been visible other years, even here. Of course, if there are no clouds on August 12th, the night of the new moon that will be the best show.

From space.com - "The Moon will be out of the way, leaving dark skies for good viewing as Earth plunges through an ancient stream of comet debris. Little bits, most no larger than sand grains, will vaporize in Earth's atmosphere, creating sometimes-dramatic "shooting stars."

For more, see

Space.com's Space Watch

Kites

The Chinese invented kites. Kites were used by the Chinese during battles. Ancient Chinese believed that kites could ward off evil spirits. Today some still see kites as a good luck symbol.

Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document containing Vermont-standards which includes a kite making lesson for K - 2 on pages 16-17, grades 3 - 5 on page 31-32.

Webquests: I am just learning about these - some are great and some are not, like any other type of resource.

• Watching the Colors Come Alive, Ancient China and kite design/building. (6th grade Ancient Civilizations/Geometry)
• Let's Go Fly A Kite (High School Math)
• "Folklore tells of a Chinese general who used a kite to defeat an evil emperor. In what ways do the stories report that he used the kite?" sounds great - but I can't find this webquest anymore.

And . . .
We like the book Moonlight Kite, although it is not overly "Chinese" IMHO.

Dragon Books

Our favorite dragon books. The "reference books" can be enjoyed at many ages, but the YA books really are for more mature readers. Dragon books for younger readers are here too.

"Reference" Books:

• Dragonology by Ernest Drake
• How to raise and keep a dragon by Joe Nigg
• The Dragonology Handbook: A Practical Course in Dragons by Dugald Steer

YA Fiction:

• Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
• Searching for Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Two by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
• Calling on Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Three by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
• Talking to Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Four by Patricia C. Wrede (also available as an audio book)
• Dragon's Blood: The Pit Dragon Chronicles, Volume One (Pit Dragon Chronicles)by Jane Yolan
  

Grades 5 - 7

• Dragon's Milk (Dragon Chronicles, Book 1) by Susan Fletcher
• Flight of the Dragon Kyn (Dragon Chronicles, Book 2) by Susan Fletcher

Juvenile Fiction:

• How to Train Your Dragon (Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) * by Cressida Cowell (We have not yet read her How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse (The Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup the Viking)
• Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
• The Dragon's Boy: A Tale of Young King Arthur by Jane Yolan
• (read to them) Lao Lao of Dragon Mountain by M. Bateson-Hill (really nice paper cut illustrations, OK instructions at the end)

Chinese New Year-related Picture Books:

• Dancing Dragon by Marcia Vaughn. An accordion-fold picture book
• The Rooster's Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Eric Kimmel. (especially for the beautiful papercut illustrations)
• Silk Peony, Parade Dragon by Elizabeth Steckman (longer story than many picture books)
  
• The Day the Dragon Danced by Kay Haugaard (picture book, ages 4 - 8) not really a Chinese New Year book, but perhaps an accurate picture of how many preschools might celebrate it. I like it - although I wish the snack at the end were something besides lollipops for a number of reasons.
  

Not really a "dragon book":

• Long is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children by Peggy Goldstein

Dragon Books that are not quite as beloved:

• The Dragonslayers by Bruce Coville
• The Dragons Are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky and Peter Sis (poetry)
• The Dragon of Doom (Moongobble and Me) by Bruce Coville
• How to Speak Dragonese (Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) by Cressida Cowell
• Chin Chiang and the Dragon's Dance by Ian Wallace (also Chinese New Year's related)

Dragon Books We Want to Read:

• Here there Be Dragons Jane Yolan (grades 3 - 8), Collection of 5 poems and 8 stories
• A Dragon Book by Donn Kushner (ages 9 -12, grades 6 - 8)

Dragon Books We Don't Like!

• D is for Dancing Dragon : A China alphabet by Carol Crane and Illustrated by Zong-Zhoiu Wang. (picture book) I don't care for the illustrations and the rhymes seem forced. Mandarin and pinyin was used for
• E - "Ehru" (Although in Mandarin it is "Erhu", so I don't know if that is a typo or if another dialect of Chiense was used),
  
• Q - "Qin Terra Cotta warriors" and
• X - "Xiexie" Thank you"
  
but the pronunciation was only explained for "X". However, the extra information on each page - that most people don't share with their pre-readers was nice.

last updated: January 2008

Summer Solstice is coming!

Summer begins on 21 June 21, 2007 at 18:06 GMT, which is 2:06 pm EDT where I am.

The 10th solar term Xiazhi should start on or about that day.

English translations

There are a variety of sites that offer free translations and dictionary lookups, but Life in China offers something a little different.

I would ignore the uninspired home page and go straight to one of these: 5 pages of Chinese Proverbs, a longer page of Chinese idiom translations or to Festivals and Holidays for some greetings, phrases and a culture note or two.

Wacky Love in Translation

I have to agree with reviewer Anne Midgette's view in the NYT. I am not sure that a Mandarin version of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” will play well in Shanghai -- but what a neat possibility for Americans who are studying Mandarin. (or should it be American adults? I don't know the original play well enough to judge)

If you are thinking of a class field trip, you only have until June 3rd!
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/theater/reviews/18perf.html

Catalogs

There are a number of catalog available to support your search for knowledge, I mean resources.

"Everyone" seems to like ChinaSprout: Chinese Cultural & Educational Products. They have a lot of "things" in addition to books.

Since I am more focused on books, my favorites include:
Shen's Books (Or, read more from me on them)
Asia for Kids and Culture for Kids (these two seem to be cousins).

For the more serious students of Chinese language:
Cheung & Tsui Company

I am sure I have forgotten some, and there are others available that are fine too!

80 generation family tree!

All direct quotes from BBC web page.

"For the first time in more than 2,500 years the family tree of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius, is to include women descendants."
For the complete article, see BBC

"Analysts say Beijing now sees Confucianism more as a celebration of traditional Chinese culture and its strict hierarchy of subjects obeying rulers."

"Many also see Confucianism as a provider of moral values in a country that is embracing capitalism more and more."

Dispelling Evil

"Dispelling evil and pestilence and seeking peace": The Dragon Boat Festival, lunar 5/5

Dragon Boat racing is a sport that is growing around the world. Most Americans teams have a competitive teams as well as teams as youth or "fun" teams. In addition, there are quite a few teams that focus on fund-raising for charity or that are "survivor teams".

Redrawing the eyes on the boats brings them to life. While it is done at the start of the season, not everyone is clear about whether it is for all boats, or only the new ones. If I got to vote, I'd say to (re-)paint them all, why take a chance?

If you are interested and want to try and see a race near you, a full list of dragon boat races in the USA are available at www.dragon-boats.com/dbnet/dragon_boat_races_usa.htm. I thnk there were about 60 in 2006!

In some regions, balancing an egg on end at noon will ensure a lucky year. (So much for this being solely a equinox practice.)

All this came from Appeasing the Water God?!?

Certainly more insects are out and biting at the start of summer, and this is the only Chinese Festival I've heard of where reminding family members to take care of their health is a component.

Neal is in Beijing

It's a business trip so I don't know if he will see much more than this October 1999 trip to Beijing, but I hope so. Perhaps as much as Beijing in Pictures. I think he saw Tian'anmen Square and the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) on his first trip. Perhaps he can see the Summer Palace and the (nearby) "old summer palace", called Yuanmingyuan or the Garden of Perfect Splendor.

I am not recommending the Big Bell Tower for those in Beijing for a quick visit. Our quest for it one summer day seemed long and dusty - as it is not convenient to a metro stop & we could not figure out a bus that went that close either. I would describe it as more of an adventure or a quest than a pleasant tourist stop.

Photos online
Beijing, Beijing in 2004, Portraits of Beijing, Nine dragons, and "old" Beijing. Several different sections of the Great Wall are accessible from Beijing:

• Badaling (Wikipedia's entry, the “North Pass” of Juyongguan pass, known as the Badaling. see also Google Earth's Badaling),
• Mutianyu, and
• Simatai

Some are much closer and more accessible than others. Those would also tend to be more developed than others. If you like crowds and Starbucks and KFC, you should not pick the least developed area! Esspecially if you are going further out, price the cost of a private car too, for 3-4 people it may be cheaper than a bus tour!

If you are planning a trip. . . or love maps like we do:
"Best" online street map of Beijing or map of Beijing?
Downloadable subway map
Travel Map of Beijing
Tourist Maps of Beijing

Betsy's in Shanghai

In her honor, I tracked down some photos of Shanghai, "City of the Sea". Of course it would have helped her family if I had tracked them down last week!

Photos:
This is the Shanghai photo gallery I wish she had seen first!
Some Shanghai photos for sale.
From National Geographic: Oriental Pearl TV Tower
Chinese culture has a nice Shanghai photo gallery.
Shanghai food - made me hungry!
I like this guy's photos - but they load tooo slowly. My favorite of his: Cleaning up the Bund: preparing for tourists.
I think this was the bridge we saw from our hotel when I last visited.

If you are planning a trip:
Shanghai Guide has down-loadable maps of the city.
Lonely Planet is our guide book of choice. I wonder if we should compare her trip to the "things to see" list when she returns. Online, perhaps the most fun is their image gallery.
Or, read some Rough Guides to Shanghai online.

Who will carry on the lantern craft?

Especially during Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, lanterns, mostly round and red are hung along streets, parks & businesses.

Making lanterns is an ancient craft and there were many, many types and colors of lanterns. Four main famous styles. Traditionally, round lanterns are typical of the north and "southern" lanterns are more elongated cylinders which can take many shapes. These time-consuming constructions handcrafted on a bamboo frame originated in the Hangzhou area and were used in the royal court of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Now round lanterns are seen in most of China.

" but time-consuming lantern-making is a dying craft, writes Yao Minji."

"However, even many locals don't realize that the round lanterns they see in Shanghai are in fact northern-style, the same type that Zhang Yimou used in his famous film "Raise the Red Lantern." And regional southern-style lanterns are disappearing."

The difference is that the authentic southern lanterns are handcrafted of bamboo; they are often cylindrical and can take many shapes.

2007 article from Xinhuanet.com Who will carry on the lantern craft?

Qing Ming

Today is Qing Ming Jie, it must be 105 days after the winter solstice. On Tomb-Sweeping Day. Families in China and Hong Kong will visit cemeteries to pay respect to their ancestors.

Honoring one's ancestors is an important part of Chinese culture, and is part of the importance of family and having a long family line.

Among the offerings, "spirit money" (paper money) is often burnt. Some say that true devotees actually scrubbed the bones of their loved ones. Some say that buying a home during this period is taboo.

Other Blog Support:
At least one family in Taiwan traditionally eats spring rolls on Qing Ming.
One student's Qing Ming Festival 2007 in Singapore.

(I don't talk about politics here.) In 2007 there were 42 round-trip charter flights between Taiwan and Shanghai for Qing Ming. There have been special charters for at least 57 years for Chinese New Year. This year it was expanded other traditional festival holidays, including Qing Ming, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Resources included:
China Economic Net article

Youth Day?

Youth Day (青年節) is celebrated in Taiwan on March 29th. May 4th, when Youth Day is celebrated in mainland China, is called "Literary Day" in Taiwan.

Chinese Restaurant Food: Wok Carefully

That's the big story for me in April 2007's Nutrition Action Health Newsletter: their article on Chinese Restaurant Food. Subscribers may already it in their mailboxes, it is not yet online. Except for the sodium, it looks like you can eat fairly healthy at Chinese restaurants. Remember to eat your vegetables.

This is second time the Center for Science in the Public Interest has looked at Chinese restaurant food - the first view in 1993 got alot of press coverage. I think they were the first to start discussing restaurant food in terms of healthiness. You can get your own copy of the article, or subscribe. The organization is a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science and "things Chinese" are not (usually) one of their main topics.

Speaking for myself, the key to long life is probably not how late my family and I stay up on New Year's but portion size, and the day's (or week's) amount of exercise.

Vernal Equinox (Chūnfēn)

Would you have guessed we are in the third solar term now, "The Waking of Insects"? The Chinese calendar divides the year into 24 solar units. Chūnfēn (春分) is the fourth solar term, although it is now also used to refer to the first day.

In the USA, "the first day of spring" will be March 20, 2007. The Vernal Equinox is *really* the moment that the sun passes over the equator, the moment when light is equal to dark. On that day there should be 12 hours of sunlight and 12 of darknesses. For Europe, it will be March 21st. In China, Chunfen is March 21st to April 5th, 2007. (In 2008, 2009, and 2010, it will be from March 20th to April 4th.) The following solar term is Qingming(清明, Pure Brightness).

Students - Did anyone recognize the "chun" (spring) character? and "ming" or bright? Can you see the sun and moon characters that combine to make the character "ming"?

In the Southern Hemisphere March 20/21st is the Autumnal Equinox.

The legend (or rumor?) that eggs can only balance on their end on the Vernal Equinox seems to have come from China - although by the time it reached America it seems to have changed so that it could *only* happen then, and in China it may have been for one whole solar period.

What I hear more often now is that eggs can be balanced on end on any day - that you have time and patience. Try it and let me know!

Each solar term is divided into 3 pentads. For Chunfen they are, the first pentad: xuánniǎo zhì (玄鳥至, Swallow Zhì); the second pentad: Lèinǎi Fāshēng (雷乃發聲) and the last pentad: shǐléi (始雷).

Girl Scout Awards and China

An investigation of China can help USA Girl Scouts earn requirements for a number of awards and patches. For Brownies, check out requirements of these Try-Its:

• "Different Languages" in People are Talking,
  
• adapt the "Knots" requirement in Art to Wear,
• investigate kites for Movers,
  
• "Eating Customs" in Manners,
  
• Puppets, Dolls & Plays, and
• with World Thinking Day (WTD) celebrations: Caring and Sharing (p. 60), Making Music (p. 156), People of the World (p. 158), Playing Around the World (p. 160), Brownie Girl Scouts Around the World (Try-it Book, page 8, especially #5), Around the World (p. 146),

Part or all of these Junior badges can be earned investigating China, including from

• Girl Scout Basics: Girl Scouting Around the World;
• Adventures: Global Awareness, Traveler, World Neighbors;
  
• Family and Friends: Celebrating People, My Heritage;
• Create & Invent: Folk Arts, Prints and Graphics (Chinese produced rubbings, perhaps as early as 2nd century AD);
• Explore and Discover: Globe-Trotting, Let's Get Cooking; and
  
• Online only badges:Now and Then Stories from Around the World, and (at least #8 of) World in My Community.
• With WTD, consider: Girl Scouts Around the World (Badge book, page 2), World Neighbors (Badge book, page 28), Traveler (#2, #3, #5, #8, Badge book, page 26), Global Awareness (esp. #7, #8, #9, Badge book, page 14) and requirement #5 of Girl Scouts in My Future (Badge book, page 4).

For older girls, China relates to requirements in at least these Interest Patches:

• A World of Understanding,
  
• Global Girls,
  
• G.O. Girl (Get Organized) (Feng shui started in China!),
  
• Paperworks,
• Textile Arts, and
• Travel.
  

(If you have a girl really interested in China, certainly alternate requirements can be created for some other awards at every level.) There are also Council's Own awards and patches for the "back of the vest/sash", including GSUSA's Our Rights and Responsibilities Junior Patch - supporting WAGGGS' Ours Rights, Our Responsibilities theme for 2006-2008. Do remember to check individual council's requirements for selling to scouts out of council before proceeding with their programs.

Reminder: The goal of World Thinking Day (February 22nd) is to learn about other Girl Scouts and Girl Guides and what they do; not learn about the country or its national animal! (Mainland) China is not a member of WAGGGS and not suitable for part of WTD celebrations - but you can do Taiwan or Hong Kong.

Give-away Ideas

• Papercuts, Origami, Paper Lanterns
• Animals from the Chinese Zodiac. Although I am sure that Taiwanese Scouts and Hong Kong Guides know their zodiac signs, it is years and years since everyone's birthday was celebrated on one day of Chinese New Year.
• Put rice in a bowl with school glue and mix it together. Put some rice it in a soda cap cap and add two toothpicks. It looked like a bowl of rice with chopsticks. (This is a good time to review chopstick etiquette!)

Display/give-away - One troop made fortune cookies (an American invention now associated with many Chinese restaurants) from craft foam. For each fortune they glues in a part of the Hong Kong law or promise. They made slightly larger ones for part of their display and smaller ones for the give-away. They were all made of foam circles. They used a dot of glue to hold it until the glue gun glue dried.

"American Fun" Chinese hair sticks - I have heard of troops having the girls wear their hair up in a bun with decorated chopsticks. I think this comes from someone's interpreation of (Japanese) Geisha hairsticks, but I have not tracked it down. Find out how Chinese girls wear their hair, whether they might do this and their possible reactions. Why do Americans think of (only) Tea and chopsticks when they think of China? What might your girls think after you have learned about China? Will their activities reinforce stereotypes or give them a better understanding of how others live, and perhaps how we are all similar?

Activities - Chinese Games, Chinese jump rope

Calligraphy

More to come!

Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document contains Vermont-standards based lesson plans includes lesson plans for calligraphy fro K - 6. Stroke order is a big issue for me with characters and a pet peeve when artists who don't write Chinese try to teach calligraphy. The references used look good but I still don't think stroke order tis emphasized enough.

Stroke order test - "write" the same character twice, once respecting stroke order and once ignoring it (even if you are tracing for both characters). Show the two characters to your students. So far, every class I have heard of, says that he one drawn with the correct stroke order somehow looks "better". This has been true even when the class does not know any Chinese.

For a different type of character, check out the Spring (chun) Paper Cut Project.

More to come!

Tea & Chopsticks

Chopsticks
I think chopsticks should always be used and shown if you discuss Chinese food at all. They have been in use for about 5,000 years. Food was cut smaller in China to cook faster - and use less fuel. Chopsticks, or kaui-zi, those quick little fellows, were enough at the table. (Of course they had spoons for soup too!)

In China and Japan, children’s chopsticks are shorter than adult/regular chopsticks and children probably start using them at around 3 years old. In 2004, NPR suggested that 6 year olds should have the fine motor control and concentration necessary to use chopsticks. That piece suggested using dry popped popcorn as a first practice food. It has worked well in a few classrooms that I know.

I read a suggestion once for using tongue depressors instead of chopsticks but I can not imagine how one would be able to hold them at all like chopsticks. For more on chopsticks, see also: Asia Education's Chopsticks Lesson Plan. I especially like their student's page on Using Chopsticks. (You may want to review the photos of how to hold them in Wikipedia's Chopsticks or the WikiHow entry on How to Eat With Chopsticks.)

If you have any of the long serving chopsticks in your kitchen, people love to see those too.

There is etiquette to using chopsticks - just as there is with other eating utensils. One eats with the more rounded end, and one can serve with the other end. Never stick them straight up in a bowl of rice - it would look like incense burned at a temple or funeral offerings.

Tea
Tea has been drunk in China since at least 2,000 B.C. There are several different stories about its origin. For more, see Tea Trivia or a Tea Primer.

Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document containing Vermont-standards which includes a clay teapot lesson for grade 5 & 6 on pages 36-41, including a quiz.

What about "Fortune Cookies" and "Chop Suey"?
Perhaps I should add something on those American creations. There is a debate about whether fortune cookies are even a Chinese-American creation or if it is actually of Japanese-American origin. Until the mid-1960s they were made by hand - using a chopstick. There is a "How people make fortune cookies" video and stills from Mr. Rogers at PBSkids.org

For a cute fortune cookie ad, stop by Consumerism at "small fox in a big world".
(Last updated September 2007)

Paper Cuts

I really like the paper cuts that Malaysia Site has at the start of their description for each zodiac description, like The Sign of the Rat, and Sign of the Dragon. You can see the animal, and you may be able to see the Chinese character in the papercut. Use their sidebar to get to the signs for other years and see those animal designs.

At least two 2 children's books use papercuts well. Papercuts illustrate and are central to Laolao of Dragon Mountain by Margaret Bateson-Hill et. al (sadly, too long to read to most groups). The most beautiful papercut illustrations I have seen are in Eric Kimmel's Rooster's Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac.

For a different kind of papercut, check out this Spring Paper Cut Project for the character "Spring".

Chinese papercut background for teachers is on page 6 of Brushstrokes From West to East.

For more information, see Wikipedia's Chinese Paper Art entry.

last updated: June 2007

2007 Lunar Festivals

China developed and used their lunisolar calendar to determine planting and harvesting times, and festival occasions. Although the western (Gregorian) calendar is used in China everyday, the lunar calendar is still important - especially for traditional holidays.

Chinese New Year (including the Lantern Festival on day 15), Mid-Autumn Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are the most important and widely celebrated Chinese holidays. However there are quite a few other holidays celebrated by their lunar dates.

Sunday, February 18, 2007 - Chinese New Year, lunar 1/1, Year of the Pig, 4705
February 2007 - Common Man's birthday - This is celebrated more by Chinese in other parts of Asia, more than in China.
March 4 - lunar eclipse
Sunday, March 5, 2007 - Lantern Festival - lunar date 1/15 - This is also celebrated as a sort of Valentine's Day in some Chinese communities.

Tomb Sweeping Day April 5, 2007
May 1, 2007 (lunar 3/23) Tin Hau Festival - Taoist Goddess of the Sea and patron of fisherman. Celebration now is limited to smaller communities in fishing islands, or areas immediately around a Tin Hau temple. (There are about 60 temples in Hong Kong dedicated, at least partially, to Tin Hau.)

Buddha's Birthday (lunar 4/8) - This is now a public holiday in Hong Kong. In Cheung Chau, HK, the Cheung Chau Bun Festival is also held on this day, in honor of Pak Tai, the Taoist God of the Sea.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - Dragon Boat (Tuen Ng) Festival - lunar 5/5, Considered the third most important Chinese holiday

(July 7, 2007 - total lunar eclipse)

Sunday, August 19, 2007 - "Valentine's Day" - 7/7 lunar
Monday, August 27th, 2007 - Ghost Day - 7/15 lunar
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - Mid-Autumn Festival - 8/15 lunar
Friday, October 19, 2007 - "Double Nine" Chong Yang Festival - 9/9 on the lunar calendar

Winter Solstice "Dong Zhi" Falls on December 20-22.

The 25th year of this cycle begins:
February 7, 2008 - Chinese New Year - lunar 1/1, Year of the Rat, 4706

Best Wishes for your Fire Pig Year!

I hope you are enjoying time with your family today.

Over 800 million people have been on the move to get home for this day - Chinese New Year - celebrated by almost one quarter of the world's population.

Traditional celebrations were for 2 weeks, but even in China they only get about a week off now.

Please be careful in your celebrations! Over 125 people in Beijing were injured by fireworks this year.

Children's Books: Zodiac Series

Oliver Chin is planning to write a children’s book for each of the 12 zodiac signs. He started with The Year of the Dog and released The Year of the Pig this year. He had events at Vromans Bookstore and Book Passage so their sites can show him and his children as well as the book title, of course a cheaper price is available at Amazon.

More Zhima Jie

An Asia Society's press release from ~1999 has lots of information on the details.
http://www.asiasociety.org/pressroom/rel-zhimajie.html

One review at IMDb said it was useful for introducing American culture to others, I disagree. Certainly that was not the goal of the show. It never was a direct translation of the American show as this review also states. (Although when we saw it in 1999, they still were using "American" footage. My understanding is that all of the overseas "Sesame Street" shows start out using American footage that is dubbed and create more and more of their own content over time.)

My previous thoughts are at Zhima Jie.

Lesson Plans about China

These are worthwhile lessons plans - but they sure don't fit into Chinese New Year Lesson Plans very well!

(Chinese) Math Lesson Plans

Math - award winning abacus site

Mathematics in China

(coming later)

• Inventions
• Tea and Chopsticks (While you're waiting, start with Asia Education's Chopsticks Lesson Plan and this 6^th grade lesson plan on The Tea Culture)

Language Arts and Comparative Literature - Big title for something we started in my house when the children were toddlers and pre-schoolers.

• Mulan as a Unit Study with links to other lesson plans & unit studies on China!
• Teaching With Asian Children's Literature: A Thematic Unit Of Study for K-6 includes Yeh-Shen
• Comparing Fairy Tales Across Cultures: Cinderella and Yeh-Shen
• An Integrated Unit on Friendship Implementing Asian-American Children's Literature.
• Dim Sum's Index of Lessons 5. Comparing Fairy Tales Across Cultures Lesson: Cinderella and Yeh-Shen, comparing Cinderella and Yeh-Shen, appropriate for grades 2-5, includes: 2 planning worksheets, Venn diagram template, list of versions of Cinderella from other cultures, 1 Internet link.
• III. Comparison of Different Stories includes Chang's Paper Pony.
• Women in Traditional China and their Portrayal in Chinese Folktales by Gale Billingsley

Yeh-Shen (Cinderella) probably deserves its own list.

Philanthropy

• Asian Fusion: "Through investigating traditional examples of culture and illustrating the impact of philanthropy in Asia, learners will gain an appreciation for Asian life and society. Learners will gain knowledge of the geography of Japan and China." Five 45 minute classes for middle school.
• Good Will: Three Chinese Stories: "The Chinese culture is presented through Chinese stories, old and new. The main character in each story is faced with a dilemma in which he must decide on the appropriate action to take. In each case the decision becomes a selfless act." Three 60 minute lessons for K - 2nd grade, using: Margaret Mahy's The Seven Chinese Brothers, Ying Chang Compestine's (The) Runaway Rice Cake, and Karen Chim's Sam and the Lucky Money.
• Chinese Proverb on Honesty: A 30 60 minute lessons for K - 2nd grade, using: The Empty Pot by Demi.
  
• Generosity of Spirit (Chinese Folktale): Two 55 minutes lessons for high school.

Art
Brushstrokes from West to East is a 43 page document containing Vermont-standards based lesson plans for K - 6, including kite & lantern making, paper cuts, clay dragons, clay teapots, and Chinese seals (chops) and calligraphy.

Sealed With A Chop - Use Model Magic to make your own chop. grades 1 - 6. Language & Art.
Simple "Chinese" Lantern - From Crayola & Michaels

Chinese Immigration - to America

• Teaching the Chinese Immigrant's Story - Angel Island (1910-1940)
• Moving Words: Asian Immigration

Also check out lesson plans for Chinese New Year. Many of them can be taught at any time of year, with little or no changes.

Lesson Plans added: 8/2007
Updated: 3/2007

Paper Folding

Origami is the word for Japanese paper folding, but there is a (perhaps longer) tradition of paper folding in China. Some historians believe that it started not longer after Ts'ai Lun invented paper in China in A.D. 105. Many say both paper and paper folding were introduced to Japan in the late 6^th century by Buddhist monks. Unfortunately, there are no records of Chinese paper folding, and the oldest Japan records are from 1797 (in the 18^th century). Separately paperfolding originated in Spain (Arabs brought the secret of paper to them in the 12^th century).Children can benefit from origami in many ways – the listening skills, sequencing, fine motor, attention, math skills (geometry, congruence, symmetry). Last year, I saw an article on about how it helps in using both sides of the brain. Whether you research it or not, Enjoy!

Classic Paper Crane:
Filmmaker, George Levenson won awards for his Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. You can see clips of that and of his companion video, How to Fold A Paper Crane at the Sadako Film Project. To complete a crane, read the full directions for how to fold a paper crane. I love his book, The Pumpkin Circle and think it fits in well with the Harvest theme of Mid-Autumn Festival.

Paperfolding for the Chinese Zodiac: The next "rat" year starts in 2008. Many of the directions are pdf files and require the use of Adobe Acrobat. The pictures are just that - with no folding instructions. The Japanese zodiac uses the same animals. I have heard but have not confirmed, that Mythological Creatures and the Chinese Zodiac in Origami by John Montroll has challenging directions to fold each of the characters of the Chinese zodiac.

Rat -Simple mouse, Great rat origami picture, Directions for a mouse, Picture of mice that I can not fold. Or select this mouse.

Ox - Cow picture, No directions

Tiger - Tiger picture, No directions

Rabbit - For the youngest, consider this origami rabbit face, or select one of Waterfordpress' origami rabbits. For the more dexterous, try these instructions for rabbits at Fishgoth.com or select the Thinkquest rabbit. Or look at Joseph's Wu's Rabbit for Chinese New Year (picture only). Some fold origami rabbits in school during Mid-Autumn Festival, although it is not traditionally done in China on that night.

Dragon - Dragons are generally harder to fold. My friend Lorna found some simple ones from Tammy Lee. One based on the fortune teller you probably learned in school and a basic dragon puppet. When you are ready, Marc Kirschenbaum’s Rearing Dragon (page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, page 6) is a high intermediate dragon. This Eastern Dragon [PDF file of instructions] is a also high intermediate. Joseph Wu has done great multi-piece dragons including this Grand Dragon, and Stephen O'Hanlon has some wonderful dragons in his Fantasy Origami Gallery.

Snake - Ronald Koh and David Derudas have folded incredible cobras, but that is well beyond most of us! No directions to fold a snake yet.

Horse - Incredible folded Horse picture from Ronald Koh, Horse directions, *** Horse Directions, Seren's Horse picture. Or select this horse. Directions for this Front Flip Horse might only print on A4 (UK paper size) but you can still read them online.

Sheep/Ram/Goat - Not an easy goat, *** sheep

Monkey - Kirikomi Monkey - cuts are an essential part of making this model, No easy directions.

Rooster - Rooster picture, No directions.

Dog - For a simple origami dog face you need only a square of paper and a pencil or something to draw the face. You can also make it "talk". This dog's head uses a different approach. I also found an 8 minute video on folding an origami dog if you really want to see each step - or a quick review of them all starting around 7:50 into the clip.

There are some (easy but) harder dogs too. The "Patient dog" can be folded two different ways, one with a tail and one without. One might be easier for you to do than the other. To try this advanced dog you may also need to download the turkey instructions which is the base. Or try this, Stylized Dog.

Pig/Boar - Paperfold Pigs, pig's head, a picture of The World's Largest Origami Pig, ** pig, directions for a Freestanding Pig (not quite the wild boar fold that I adore).

Other Origami
Bubble Balloon Box
Teapot

33 schools in and around Portland teach Mandarin

Southeast Portland started what will become the nation's only kindergarten-to-college Chinese immersion program in 1998 - a public school with an immersion Mandarin program! Of course the area has pre-schools and weekend Chinese schools teaching Mandarin too.

If you want to read it all, The Oregonian might ask you for your zipcode and year of birth - but you can at least start the Mandarin Rising article without sharing anything.

1 Feb. 2007 addition: maybe I should retitle this "Cheers and Jeers"

Meanwhile according to today's New York Times Palo Alto Board Rejects Classes in Mandarin. (After a certain amount of time, only subscribers will be able to see the whole article.) Only part of the issue seems to be that since it could not (or would not) be offered to everyone that it might "give the small group of students in them an unfair advantage."1

1 - quote from Palo Alto Board Rejects Classes in Mandarin, By Jesse McKinley, February 1, 2007, The New York Times.

Sichun Panda babies

(news from December 2006) SICHUAN, China --
Sixteen baby pandas were born at the Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center between July 2005 and December of 2006, including 5 sets of twins. In the wild, only own twin usually survives but in zoos and breeding centers, with human assistance, both twins should be fine.

The cubs are weighed and measured every five days. YouTube has clips of the cubs, perhaps before being weighed and then at about 6 months, playing outside. (What I like best is hearing the pandas!) Scenes like those would never happen in the wild as pandas are solitary creatures.

The pandas should start to walk and stop nursing by February 2007, but the breeding program continues and there should be more little ones there.

There is also an email bouncing around the internet with a China Foto Press photographs attached. To see some of their original photos, see Happy Life in the Panda's Kindergarten and Chinese Giant Panda.

Sources included:
NBC
Panda International

Do blogs have a monetary value?

Business Opportunities has an applet to calculate what a blog is worth in US dollars. How much is your blog worth?. It was inspired by Tristan Louis's research into the value of each link to Weblogs Inc. If links add value to the site, the value of his must be shooting right up, because it is interesting.

According to that, this blog and my Chinese New Year blog are each currently worth $564.54 but my Mid-Autumn Festival Blog, is worth $1,129.08.

Chinese Games

Some places list Chinese games as "Hunting, Polo, Parcheesi, Chess, and Backgammon". Some how that is not exactly what I was thinking when I wanted to introduce Chinese games to children - or when Girl Scout troops ask what Hong Kong or Taiwanese game they can teach others for World Thinking Day. I don't think of paper-cutting, origami and Chinese knotting as "games" but they are fun crafts that Chinese children do. Ideas originally for Chinese New Year in the schools which can be adapted for any time of year, include Chinese Games (Catch the Dragon's Tail, Lame Chicken, and ideas for 3 - 9 year olds), Crafts and activities, and Crafts for upper elementary.

A bit of History: Yoyos and dolls may have been the world's first toys. China invented or discovered: yoyos, tops, kites, playing cards, Mah jong (Mahjongg), and Chinese Chess (Xiang Qi, similar to Wei Qi, known in the USA as a Japanese game "Go").

Probably most of the oldest Chinese card games were also played as gambling games, and certainly many multi-player mahjongg games today have a gambling component. (Japan and Hong Kong have different scoring rules for the game.) Mahjongg was originally a solitaire game - and now you can find software versions to download and play it on your laptop or PalmPilot. Chinese dominos are a differn tgame and use different tiles.

Chinese board games include Xiangqi and Go, a strategic board game for two players (known as Weiqi in Chinese).

The "Shuttlecock", Chinese Yoyo or Chinese jump rope are all fun and good games to present.

Some call the shuttlecock (pictured here) a "helicopter rotor", "propeller top" or "bamboo dragonfly". If you do not have or do not want to use feathers, you can make your own shuttlecock with a coin, some facial tissue or tissue paper and a rubber band. An American quarter is about the right size. It is bounced off your foot and body - the rules remind many Americans of hacky-sack.

Games needing space - These take up a fair amount of room to move:
Eagle and Chicks, Catch the Dragon's Tail, Lame Chicken and Forcing the City Gates (which sounds a bit like "Rover, Red Rover" to me...) Fang Bao also takes up some space, but maybe it could be kept to a long side of the gym (or where-ever your event is held), or possibly even down a hall if you have enough adults for supervision?

Chinese Jump Rope - You can make your own Chinese jump robe with rubber bands or elastic cord. (WARNING: rubber bands contain latex, and are sometimes 100% latex. You may want to check for latex allergy issues before you bring this into a school community gathering.)

From Losing the games of their parents?, look how high the Chinese jump rope is in the picture!

Last Updated: September 2007

Mandarin & Music

Food for thought - excerpts on Mandarin & Music

1. Mandarin Language Is Music To The Brain Science Daily 13 December 2006 — It’s been shown that the left side of the brain processes language and the right side processes music; but what about a language like Mandarin Chinese, which is musical in nature with wide tonal ranges? . . . Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of California - Irvine.

2. Mandarin Chinese speaks volumes in giving the young an ear for music Ian Sample in San Diego and Faisal al Yafai - Thursday November 18, 2004 - The Guardian

Scientists have discovered an unusual tip for parents who want their little darlings to grow up to be musical geniuses - teach them Mandarin Chinese.

Psychologists at the University of California in San Diego found that children who learnt Mandarin as babies were far more likely to have perfect pitch - the ability to name or sing a musical note at will - than those raised to speak English. Perfect pitch, though common among the great composers, is extremely rare in Europe and the US, where just one in 10,000 is thought to have the skill.

3. Tone Language Translates To Perfect Pitch: Mandarin Speakers More Likely To Acquire Rare Musical Ability Science Daily 15 November 2004 — Could it be that cellist Yo-Yo Ma owes his perfect musical pitch to his Chinese parents? While we may never know the definitive answer, new research from the University of California, San Diego has found a strong link between speaking a tone language - such as Mandarin - and having perfect pitch, the ability once thought to be the rare province of super-talented musicians. . . . Or read the study yourself, with graphic figures of the results and sound files of the test.

NJN's Unbroken Thread

I just found New Jersey Network's interesting Unbroken Thread page. Ignore the fact that season 2004-2005 is in the web link, it is current stuff, referring to a December show and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's upcoming "Year of the Boar" Show. I love their study guides, even to older shows.

The NJN site describes itself:
"State of the Arts explores Chinese celebrations of the New Year, marriage, and death and how they form an “Unbroken Thread” of ongoing importance to Chinese Americans today. "

Of interest: the spread of Mandarin

Recently a child asked, “Why we don’t speak Chinese since China is so big?” What a huge question.

China is a billion people but Chinese has 8 major dialects (in mainland China alone). China was isolated from the rest of the world for many years and that certainly contributed to the fact that Chinese is mostly spoken by those of Chinese descent, although that is changing.

Mandarin Chinese is the #1 spoken language in the world at 13.7% of the world's population, Spanish is 2nd at 5.1%. English is #3 at 4.8% (according to the 2006 CIA World Factbook). 785 million people in the world are illiterate (CIA World Factbook, 2005 estimate). That is about about 12% of the world, but almost 17% of those over 15. India and China have most of the world's illiteracy (going along with their massive populations).

April 2006's WIRED magazine had an article titled "The Mandarin Offensive: Inside Beijing's global campaign to make Chinese the number one language in the world." by Michael Erard that may also be of interest.