The Writer's Garret As The World Turns Beijing: the Forbidden City Lesson 5 Grades: 6-12 Time: 1-2 hours Overview: Building on prior lessons, students will sit on their hand-designed magic carpets and imagine flying across the Pacific, over Hawai’i and the many island nations along the way, before landing in Asia. Students will briefly stop by Taiwan and Hong Kong, and be introduced to the ways they are similar and different from the mainland of China. Students will discuss how these three distinctly Chinese locales grew apart. Their common heritage will converge at “The Ballad of Mulan,” where they will consider Chinese poetry, calligraphy, symbols, and art. They will take a trip to the Palace Museum (also known as the Forbidden City). Students will record their thoughts and impressions of Asia and China in their travel journals. Objectives: Students will have the opportunity to explore differences between East and West. explore Asian-American heritage. explore U.S. connections with China. learn about the concept of “global economy.” expand vocabulary and learn Asian roots to some commonly used concepts. explore importance of geography and setting to historical and sociological benchmarks. understand how culture and ideology can impact and history. understand how science and technology have shaped the Modern Age. explore the relationships between ideas and things in language and culture. practice calligraphy. practice expository writing. study Chinese visual and written art forms. study an ancient Chinese ballad showing gender empowerment hundreds of years earlier. Preparation: Review fact sheets on Taiwan and Hong Kong; Chinese calligraphy; and The Palace Museum; Review "The Ballad of Mulan," which was only touched on briefly the day before. Look into the “yueh-fu” poetic form. Review calligraphy and poems from prior meeting day. Bring pens / pencils, large labels, colored sharpies, paper, card stock, scissors, glue for fans. Make sure you have all permission forms, evaluations, or required reports for granting or administrative purposes, and have reserved projectors and computer rooms as needed. Bring in maps /globse, travel magazines, and travel books. Bring travel journals and magic carpets to class. Review these sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/ GREAT Video: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide- 191501619-beijing_vacations-i The Writer's Garret Points for Discussion & Emphasis: 1-Finish discussing the relationship(s) between Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Where have student, friends, and / or family traveled to any of these locations? Where is Taiwan in relation to China? Where is Hong King in relation to China? What is (or was) "The Republic Of China"? Who are the "Four Asian Tigers"? What does "Formosa" mean (the former name of Taiwan, it is Portuguese for "Beautiful Island"). What happened in Hong King in 1997? What is the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin? What is vernacular? Can we think of ways we have formal speech in English vs. informal speech? Which countries first colonized these two territories, and what has the lasting impact of that colonial history been? Are there territories in or associated with the United States that make for good comparisons to Taiwan and Hong King? How so? 2-Discuss the structure, meaning, and cultural importance of "The Ballad of Mulan.” What is a ballad? What is a folk tale? How old is the story of Mulan? What is yueh-fu form and how is it related to haiku? What is the concept of "gender"? Why does Mulan want to go to war? Why do you think the poem ends with a question? What is a pictogram? (Show ancient examples: Native American rock art; Egyptian hieroglyphs; Aztec and / or Mayan glyphs. Show modern examples: road signs; symbols such as "Recycle" and "No Smoking".) What is an ideogram? How different would your experience be if you could read this poem in the original Chinese? 3-Discuss the Palace Museum / Forbidden City and Beijing. What is a Museum? Why are museums important? What elements of Chinese culture from that era survive today? Why was this location known as the "Forbidden City"? What is porcelain? What is jade? Why do they have symbolic meaning for the Chinese? Do we have precious stones or metals that have symbolic meaning for us? What does “gold” mean to us? Do see examples of symbolism in the Palace Museum? Did any of the students watch the Olympics in Beijing? Why is Tiananmen Square the heart of Chinese Culture to the Chinese? Why do Westerners view it differently? How does this event parallel what we learned about Kent State? Was this another case of “Civil Disobedience”? The Writer's Garret Classroom Procedure: Presentation: 10-15 minutes Spin globe to show students once again the trek from Japan to China. Students will make sure they have their passports in a safe place, hop on their magic carpets, and head down to Tawian. Discussion #1. Share maps of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Presentation, "The Ballad of Mulan": 10-15 minutes Have class members read "The Ballad of Mulan" aloud, stanza by stanza, round-robin fashion. Discussion #2. Show class original (Chinese character) version of "The Ballad of Mulan". Individual Writing Exercise, Chinese calligraphy: 20-50 minutes 1. Circulate the Chinese calligraphy handout (provided) and discuss the basics of how Chinese characters translate "things" into "ideas", and how, in Chinese calligraphy, pictures form words. 2. Have students practice making new characters to express certain ideas from the provided subset of Chinese characters. 3. Have students develop their own system of pictographic writing, and use those pictographs to capture or describe important ideas from "The Ballad of Mulan". Help those students who feel uncomfortable drawing by suggesting simple, stylized ways to describe certain ideas through things. Encourage students to draw upon their private / personal associations to turn these abstractions into concrete expressions. 4. Alongside these pictures they are to write a small poem that captures their sense of being in China. 5. Students will then put this on a piece of paper, glue on the calligraphy, their poem, and anything else they want to create a fan to demonstrate the elegance of visual, tactile, and written art inspired by the Far East and beauty of China. Presentation, The Palace Museum / Forbidden City: 10-20 minutes Show students provided images of The Forbidden City in Beijing. Show students provided images of pottery / porcelain, jewelry and bronze sculptures from The Palace Musuem. Discussion #3. Individual Writing Exercise, Travel Journal (optional): 10-15 minutes Students should write 1-2 paragraphs in their journals about what they see, smell, taste and who they interact with in China. The Writer's Garret Preparing Students for next meeting: 5 minutes Make sure students get forms filled out and signed by parents or guardians. Have students bring in a towel for next meeting. Have students consider which of their written pieces they like the best to select for revision and inclusion in the anthology. Suggestions, Comments, Enhancements, & Modifications: Make sure that more time is spent on students “experiencing” the material rather than hearing you talk about it. Make certain you leave enough time for making the journal, adding in an itinerary, writing in it, and reading work aloud. Use a lot of comparisons with our life in the U.S. to other places in the world, emphasizing similarities over differences. Ask students for analogous situations or common cultural traits or purposes. If their families are from other countries (e.g., Mexico, Vietnam), ask them to share additional, personal comparisons. Don’t try to cover every topic—but do focus on those that can invite healthy debate and opportunities to think “big” thoughts. Feel free to reduce the number of writing and group assignments to permit a deeper writing exploration of the remaining assignments. Encourage contemporary and personal connections with geographically or temporally removed material. Make sure that students know to be respectful of one another when commenting on each other’s work or participating in small groups. Encourage ongoing design additions to their magic carpet and daily writing in their journals. Make sure in advance and obtain permission if necessary for computer usage, and be prepared to bring ample picture books, magazines, poems, etc. if necessary so that all students can be engaged! Hua Mulan This article is about a legendary Chinese heroine. For the Disney film based on this person, see Mulan. For the protagonist of the Disney film, see Fa Mulan. Hua Mulan Oil painting on silk, "Hua Mulan Goes to War" Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Hanyu Pinyin Hu Mùlán This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. Hua Mulan (Chinese: ; pinyin: Hu Mùlán; WadeGiles: Hua1 Mu4-lan2) is a legend from ancient China and was originally described in a Chinese poem known as the Ballad of Mulan ( ). In the legend she fought for 12 years and merited 12 ranks of rewards, which she refused and retired back home instead. The historical setting of Hua Mulan is uncertain. The earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386534). As a child, Mulan loved riding horses around her gaff and shooting arrows, as well as reading books about war, as she was from an area dedicated to practicing the arts of fighting. It is recorded that she was born around Hú Nán Sh ng Ch i Shì, a province in northern ancient China that practiced the arts of the sword, as well as fighting and kung fu. Mulan was around 18 when she joined an all- male army in place of her father, who was too old, and a younger brother who was still too young.