A gentle breeze rises, tender grass sprouts, and crabapple blossoms bloom again. The third Chinese project-based learning activity of the Middle School has arrived as scheduled. Under the theme of “Inquiring into Jiangnan, Tracing the Rhyme of Wu”, seventh-grade students focused on Huishan Ancient Town, exploring profound Jiangnan culture through subtle details. Eighth-grade students visited Suzhou’s Lingering Garden, exploring the essence of traditional Chinese aesthetics through comparative research. On the morning of May 29, all middle school students gathered at the theater with their research achievements, unveiling an exquisite cultural feast.
Two blossoms bloom in splendor, each with its unique charm. Despite their different research focuses, students of both grades demonstrated solid academic literacy and rich imagination. Members of the “Undersea Exploration Squad” leaned over the sand table and carefully recreated a serene Zen scene with layered rockeries, scattered pavilions and winding streams. The “Huishan Rhyme Seekers” brewed a cup of Erquan tea and contemplated the leisurely life philosophy of Jiangnan people amid lingering tea fragrance. The “Window Shadow Capturers” chased light and shadow through ancient lattice windows, freezing the ever-changing exquisite patterns with their cameras. The “Skillful Hands of Huichun Team” explored ancient sites and traditional customs, recording the warm vitality of ancestral hall rituals, seasonal traditions and old street dwellings with their footsteps.
Among all the excellent presentations, the “Youth Wanderers Team” stood out uniquely. Following the traces of Su Shi’s two visits to Huishan Mountain, the students interpreted the timeless verse “Alone I bring the moon-like tea cake from heaven, to taste the Second Spring on earth”, perceiving the open-mindedness and spiritual sustenance of a great literatus after a lifetime of ups and downs. It reveals that in the spiritual world of Chinese people, there has always been a path from worldly frustrations to natural landscapes, and from outer scenery to inner peace.
Melodious songs and graceful dances constitute the most sincere confession of teenagers to Jiangnan. On the stage, a beautiful rendition of JJ Lin’s Jiangnan echoed gently. The soft melody blended modern pop aesthetics perfectly with the classic charm of water towns in Jiangnan. Before the song faded away, elegant dances took the stage. Dancers of Walking and Singing stretched their long sleeves and moved gracefully, just like graceful Jiangnan maidens emerging from ancient paintings. Every frown and smile embodied the timeless classical charm. Through music and dance, the students interpreted the diversified connotation of project-based learning — culture can be explored and written about, and also sung, danced and felt intuitively.
As the last note faded and the discussions in the exhibition hall dissolved into the gentle breeze in the corridors, the third Chinese project-based learning activity came to a successful conclusion. From the humanistic heritage of Huishan Ancient Town to the garden elegance of Suzhou’s Lingering Garden, from the landscape charm restored on sand tables to the spiritual context carried in ancient poems, seventh and eighth-grade students have measured the land of Jiangnan with their footsteps and touched the millennial cultural heritage with their sincerity. What have they gained from this journey of exploring Jiangnan? They have discovered the Eastern aesthetic codes hidden in rocks and lattice windows, savored the worldly warmth of urban life, understood the open-mindedness and calmness of Su Shi spanning a thousand years, and most importantly, obtained a key to explore profound traditional Chinese culture. Although the activity has ended, the journey of inheriting cultural veins never stops. When the spring breeze rises again, WUIS teenagers will carry new thoughts and enthusiasm to delve deeper into Jiangnan’s profound cultural heritage.