1 Lesson Plan 2 | China
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCHING ANCIENT TEXTS
AHP
Doctrine of the Mean
by Kongzi
Recommended for Middle School
Chinese New Year Celebrations
This lesson helps students understand important cultural values that
underlie the celebration of Chinese New Year. Students will conduct
research using videos, PEM Art Cards, interview transcripts, and a visit to
the Yin Yu Tang house at PEM.
We have provided charts to help students integrate their findings from this
lesson with what they are learning from their school texts. Resources that
will help students fill in the left side of the worksheet are identified by the
Art, History, and Philosophy symbol AHP. Resources that will help students
fill in the right side of the worksheet are identified by the Chinese New Year
symbol CNY. Some answers are also provided as examples for teachers.
Kongzi (ca. 551–479 bce), often romanized as Confucius, was a teacher and
philosopher. His writings embody and influence cultural values of correct
behavior and relationships.
These excerpts from the works of Kongzi help identify cultural values
reflected in Chinese philosophy (the left side of the research worksheet).
By the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth they served God, and by the ceremonies of the ancestral temple they sacrificed to their ancestors. He who understands the ceremonies of the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and the meaning of the several sacrifices to ancestors, would find the government of a kingdom as easy as to look into his palm!
The duties of universal obligation are five and the virtues wherewith they are practiced are three. The duties are those between sovereign and minister, between father and son, between husband and wife, between elder brother and younger, and those between friends. Those five are the duties of universal obligation.
From The Internet Classics Archive by Daniel Stevenson (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, 1994), http://classics.mit.edu.
China Lesson 2
Lesson Plan 2 | China 2
Huang Xiqi (b. 1941) was born and raised in Yin Yu Tang, in Anhui
province, China. Much of what he remembers about Chinese New Year
celebrations is still practiced today.
Sacrifices were offered in front of the pictures of the ancestors, and people would kowtow to them. In the evening, all the members of the family ate their New Year’s Eve dinner together. There were so many dishes that the leftovers would not be gone until the third day of the first month of the new year. This food was called the “crossing the year extras,” and it symbolized that there had been a surplus in the past year and would be more in the new year. After the New Year’s Eve dinner, children would greet the seniors and receive from them money believed to safeguard their lives in the coming year. People would not sleep until midnight, and firecrackers then ushered in the new year.
The first day of the new year was the beginning of the Spring Festival. In the morning of that day, both adults and children would wear new clothes and worship ancestors in front of their pictures. The worshippers would be arranged from the eldest to the youngest. Then they would drink “good business tea” and eat “long life noodles” and “gold ingots” (boiled eggs with tea flavor and salt), along with cakes and red bean soup. The male members of the family would go out to worship in the Huang ancestral hall. On that day, when people met one another, they would offer best wishes. Using knives, scissors, and needles was not allowed. They would also not cook stir-fried foods, because in the Chinese language, the pronunciation of “stir-fry” is the same as that of “quarrel.” They would not touch brooms, so as to avoid sweeping away good luck. They would pay great attention to their utterances to avoid any unlucky word or words with similar pronunciations.
From Yin Yu Tang: the Architecture and Daily Life of a Chinese House by
Nancy Berliner ( Tuttle Publishing, 2003), p.105.
Chinese New Year’s Dragon is the story of how one family celebrates Chinese New Year. Each page documents important aspects of the preparations, traditions, and legends that mark this important event.
Sing, Rachel. Chinese New Year’s Dragon. New York: Simon & Schuster
Children’s Publishing Division, 1992, cover.
INTERVIEW RESEARCH
CNY
RESEARCHING USING
SECONDARY SOURCES
CNY
Chinese New Year’s Dragon
by Rachel Sing
3 Lesson Plan 2 | China
DK Eyewitness Book of Ancient China provides a spectacular and informative guide to the history of the great Chinese empire and the customs and traditions of its people. Stunning real-life photographs and lifelike models offer a unique “eyewitness” view of life in imperial China, from its earliest beginnings in the Bronze Age to its final days in the early years of the 20th century.
DK Eyewitness Book of Ancient China. New York: Dorling Kindersley,
2000, cover.
Guo Nian: Passage into a New Year (DVD) Directed by Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon Long Bow Group, created for PEM, 2003 Running time: 16 minutes 38 seconds
New Year festivities in China last two weeks and entail days of preparation. Take a closer look at contemporary celebrations in the rural region of Huizhou, and hear reminiscences of New Years past.
Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home Web Site www.pem.org/yinyutang
The Yin Yu Tang Web site is comprised of five thematic sections that provide a unique lens through which the house can be examined, including Orientation, Construction, Ornamentation, Belongings, and Preservation. Content is segmented into distinct “scenes” within each theme. As visitors navigate between scenes, a persistent 3-D model view of Yin Yu Tang reacts to reveal different features of the house. A visual interactive family tree, dozens of audio interviews, hundreds of historical and contemporary photographs, and many videos are sprinkled throughout the experience to make this Chinese home a “living house.”
RESEARCH USING VIDEO
CNY
Guo Nian DVD
Yin Yu Tang Web Site
RESEARCHING USING
SECONDARY SOURCES
AHP
DK Eyewitness Book of Ancient China
RESEARCH USING WEB SITES
CNY, AHP
Yin Yu Tang Web Site
Lesson Plan 2 | China 4
Art objects can provide information about a topic in some of the same
ways that primary and secondary sources can. Look at each card and read
about the images below to help fill out the Cultural Values and Traditional
Practices worksheet.
Lattice screen with vase image, detailArt Card C4AHP
The vase images that appear on the large outer lattices of the first-floor
bedrooms of Yin Yu Tang are emblems of peace and harmony. The word
for vase in Chinese, ping, is a homonym for peace.
Ancestor portraits, detail Art Card C5 AHP, CNY
Ancestral portraits would have been hung in the main reception hall and
venerated by family members during the New Year festivities. Created
after the ancestors’ deaths, these portraits would have been likenesses of
individuals, couples, or multiple generations of family members.
In general, we didn't hang up the ancestor portraits. We’d hang them at New Year’s. Before we’d eat we’d put the chicken, the fish, the meat, etc., all arranged on the table, and light the candles and burn the incense, and receive the ancestors back into the house. Then we would send them off. Only after we had sent them off did we eat.
Huang Xiqi
From Yin Yu Tang: The Architecture and Daily Life of a Chinese House
by Nancy Berliner ( Tuttle Publishing, 2003) p.105.
RESEARCH USING PEM ART CARDS
5 Lesson Plan 2 | China
Yin Yu Tang courtyard skywell Art Card C3 AHP, CNY
Water was considered a symbol of prosperity, and the inward-sloping roofs enabled the flow of good fortune into the families’ hands [and lives].
According to the teachings of our masters, the direction that a house faces is decided by its geomantic location. Where we live, when we build a house, on the first day, before the construction, before breaking ground and laying foundation, a geomancy would be invited to look at the feng shui of the location to determine whether or not there were contradictions between the location and the zodiac signs of the owner. He would determine the foundation according to your surname, age, and time of birth, and the animal representing your birth year, to ensure that the house was located in harmony with the environment.
From Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home (Peabody Essex Museum, 2002),
www.pem.org/yinyutang.
Yin Yu Tang entrance with couplets, detail Art Card C2
CNY
A chun lian is a special type of two-line poem used for temporary
decoration on the doorway of a house for Chinese New Year (known in
China as the Spring Festival). Each line is written vertically on a strip
of red paper. The first line is placed on the right side of a doorway, and
the second line is placed on the left. Sometimes there is also a short line
written horizontally for the top of the doorway.
These poems are happy, uplifting messages describing the beauty of spring
and conveying good wishes for the coming year. Along with the meaning
of the words, the form of the beautifully written characters conveys
celebration and happiness. They also ward off evil spirits with their red
paper and auspicious words written in black ink.
Students will learn about daily life in rural China through a visit to Yin Yu
Tang, a 200-year-old house. They will also explore galleries that will help
them understand the art and objects inside the house. Students should
bring their Cultural Values and Traditional Practices worksheets.
MUSEUM VISIT LESSONS
Lesson Plan 2 | China 6
Nianhua convey good wishes for the coming year. These characters are
written in the finest calligraphy on diamond-shaped red paper that is
sometimes speckled with gold. Front doors of homes are decorated with
nianhua characters during New Year celebrations.
Materials
◆ 8 x 8 in. piece of paper
◆ black acrylic paint
◆ ¼ inch-wide paintbrush or a thick black marker
Instructions
1. Select one of the following characters:
a. Gong He Xin Xi Happy New Year
b. He Ping Peace
c. Fu Good fortune and prosperity
d. Zhen Truth
2. Using paint or a black marker, write the character on red paper.
3. When the work is dry, hang it on a door.
4. Create one for a friend or neighbor.
Based on Simonds, Nina, et al. Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats:
A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities, and Recipes.
San Diego: Harcourt Inc., 2002.
ART ACTIVITY 1
Nianhua
7 Lesson Plan 2 | China
Go
ng
He
Xin
Xi
HA
PP
Y N
EW
YE
AR
Lesson Plan 2 | China 8
He Ping
PEACE
9 Lesson Plan 2 | China
Fu
GOOD FORTUNE and PROSPERITY
Lesson Plan 2 | China 10
Zhen
TRUTH
11 Lesson Plan 2 | China
Door god prints come in pairs and are placed each on each side of the
main entrance of a household, guarding the entranceway from malevolent
spirits with their fierce stares and bright colors.
As early as the Han dynasty (206 bce – 220 ce), people started decorating
their doors with words or images carved on peach wood. These images of
the fierce-looking legendary warriors Shentou and Yulei were gradually
replaced by actual historical figures such as Yuchi Gong and Qin Shu Bao,
military generals who played important roles in the first Tang Emperor’s
court (626–649).
Materials
◆ Door god worksheets
◆ Crayons, markers, and colored pencils
Instructions
Have students color a pair of door gods, emphasizing that it should be one
of each, not two matching figures. They can then take these home and post
on both sides of the door to their homes.
ART ACTIVITY 2
Making Door Gods
Lesson Plan 2 | China 12
DOOR GOD WORKSHEET 1
Yu Chi Gong
13 Lesson Plan 2 | China
DOOR GOD WORKSHEET 2
Qin Shubao
Lesson Plan 2 | China 14
English Language Arts Strands: 4, 8, 9, 10, 13, 24, 26
Foreign Languages Curriculum Standards: 4
Social Studies Standards:
Grade Six Concepts and Skills: 3, 7 NEA:1
Grade Seven Concepts and Skills: 4, 5, 6, 7
Visual Arts Learning Standards: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
DK Eyewitness Book of Ancient China. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.
Berliner, Nancy. Yin Yu Tang: The Architecture and Daily Life of a Chinese
House. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2003.
Guo Nian: Passage into a New Year. Dir. Carma Hinton and Richard
Gordon, Long Bow Group. DVD. Peabody Essex Museum, 2003.
Sing, Rachel. Chinese New Year’s Dragon. New York: Simon & Schuster
Children’s Publishing Division, 1992.
Simonds, Nina, et al. Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats:
A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities, and Recipes.
San Diego: Harcourt Inc., 2002.
Stevenson, Daniel. The Internet Classics Archive. 1994. Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. http://classics.mit.edu.
Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home. Dec. 2002. Peabody Essex Museum
www.pem.org/yinyutang/. Design by Second Story Inc.
MASSACHUSETTS FRAMEWORKS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
15 Lesson Plan 2 | China
Cu
ltura
l Val
ues
an
d T
rad
itio
nal
Pra
ctic
esC
ult
ura
l Val
ue
: Fam
ily r
elat
ions
hip
s ar
e ve
ry im
por
tant
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce .
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
Cu
ltu
ral V
alu
e: E
ach
fam
ily m
embe
r ne
eds
to p
erfo
rm h
is o
r he
r ro
le w
ell i
n or
der
for
the
fam
ily t
o su
ccee
d.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce .
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
Cu
ltu
ral V
alu
e: C
usto
ms
and
ritu
als
brin
g go
od f
ortu
ne.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
Cu
ltu
ral V
alu
e: “
Dou
ble
mea
ning
s” a
re e
njoy
ed a
nd u
nder
stoo
d to
be
sign
ifica
nt.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
Incl
ude
book
titl
e co
de a
nd
pg. #
in y
our r
efer
ence
.
EWA
C
Eyew
itnes
s An
cien
t Chi
na
CN
YD
Chi
nese
New
Yea
r’s D
rago
n
HIN
T
Inte
rvie
w w
ith M
r. H
uang
PEM
DV
D
Pass
age
into
a N
ew Y
ear
vide
o
DO
M
Kon
gzi ‘
s D
oct
rine
of t
he
Mea
n
AR
T
PEM
Art
Car
d
YY
TW
EB
Ying
Yu
Tang
Web
Site
Lesson Plan 2 | China 16
Cu
ltura
l Val
ues
an
d T
rad
itio
nal
Pra
ctic
esC
ult
ura
l Val
ue
: Fam
ily r
elat
ions
hip
s ar
e ve
ry im
por
tant
.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
Larg
e ho
use
cont
ains
ext
ende
d fa
mily
. Cen
tral
pla
cem
ent
of a
nces
tor
hall.
ART
CA
RD
C3
Fam
ily w
rite
s fr
om a
ll ov
er t
he w
orld
CN
YD
2
Anc
esto
r po
rtra
it in
dica
tes
impo
rtan
ce o
f fam
ily.
ART
CA
RD
C5
Who
le fa
mily
pla
ys g
ames
tog
ethe
r.C
NY
D 1
3
Kon
gzi w
rote
tha
t fa
mily
bon
ds fo
rmed
the
bas
is o
f a s
tabl
e so
ciet
y.A
CEW
12
Fam
ily b
ows
to a
nces
tor
port
rait
s.H
INT
Kon
gzi e
mph
asiz
ed fa
mili
al d
utie
s as
“un
iver
sal o
blig
atio
ns.”
DO
MEn
tire
fam
ily g
ets
toge
ther
to
cele
brat
e.PE
MD
VD
Cu
ltu
ral V
alu
e: E
ach
fam
ily m
embe
r ne
eds
to p
erfo
rm h
is o
r he
r ro
le w
ell i
n or
der
for
the
fam
ily t
o su
ccee
d.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
Each
fam
ily m
embe
r ha
s hi
s or
her
ow
n du
ties.
DO
M“A
dult
s co
oked
all
day
and
all n
ight
the
day
bef
ore
New
Yea
r’s
Eve.
”C
NY
D 1
0
“Let
the
fath
er b
e a
fath
er, a
nd t
he s
on b
e a
son”
AC
EW 1
2A
dult
s gi
ve r
ed e
nvel
opes
to
child
ren.
CN
YD
14
“Chi
ldre
n sh
ould
res
pect
and
obe
y th
eir
pare
nts.
”A
CEW
42
Ever
yone
nee
ds t
o be
car
eful
not
to
say
inau
spic
ious
thi
ngs.
HIN
T
Each
fam
ily m
embe
r ha
s sp
ecifi
c du
ties
that
mus
t be
acc
ompl
ishe
d da
ily
for
the
fam
ily t
o fu
nctio
n.PE
M V
isit
Ever
ybod
y re
turn
s ho
me
to b
e to
geth
er. I
f som
eone
is m
issi
ng,
food
is s
till
serv
ed fo
r th
em.
PEM
DV
D
Cu
ltu
ral V
alu
e: C
usto
ms
and
ritu
als
brin
g go
od f
ortu
ne.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
“He
who
und
erst
ands
the
cer
emon
ies
. . .
wou
ld fi
nd t
he g
over
nmen
t of
a
king
dom
as
easy
as
the
look
into
his
pal
m!”
DO
M“S
acri
fices
wer
e of
fere
d in
fron
t of
the
pic
ture
s of
the
anc
esto
rs,
and
peop
le w
ould
kow
tow
to
them
.”H
INT
Rit
ual a
nd c
erem
onia
l ves
sels
dat
e ba
ck t
o th
e Sh
ang
dyna
sty.
AC
EW 1
0“T
hey
wou
ld n
ot t
ouch
bro
oms,
so
as t
o av
oid
swee
ping
aw
ay
good
luck
.”H
INT
“Fam
ilies
use
d di
vina
tion
stic
ks .
. . t
o se
ek a
dvic
e fr
om t
heir
anc
esto
rs o
n fa
mily
mat
ters
.”A
CEW
42
“Jus
t lik
e an
y ot
her
year
, the
re w
ere
fu s
igns
eve
ryw
here
. Fu
is t
he C
hine
se w
ord
for
good
luck
.”C
NY
D
Anc
esto
r po
rtra
it in
dica
tes
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f rit
ual.
ART
CA
RD
C5
Ever
ybod
y pu
ts u
p “a
uspi
ciou
s sa
ying
s.”
PEM
DV
D
Cu
ltu
ral V
alu
e: “
Dou
ble
mea
ning
s” a
re e
njoy
ed a
nd u
nder
stoo
d to
be
sign
ifica
nt.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
art
, his
tory
, or
philo
soph
y?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
How
is t
his
valu
e re
flect
ed in
New
Yea
r’s
prac
tices
?C
ite
your
sou
rce.
“The
top
cha
ract
er is
par
t of
the
Fir
st E
mpe
ror’
s ti
tle.
It c
onve
ys t
he id
ea
of d
ivin
ity,
or
divi
ne fa
vor.”
AC
EW 1
6“E
ach
one
has
a sp
ecia
l mea
ning
. Mel
on a
nd lo
tus
seed
s st
and
for
havi
ng lo
ts o
f chi
ldre
n in
the
fam
ily.”
CN
YD
9
“Wat
er w
as c
onsi
dere
d a
sym
bol o
f pro
sper
ity,
and
the
inw
ard-
slop
ing
roof
s en
able
d th
e flo
w o
f goo
d fo
rtun
e in
to t
he fa
mily
’s ha
nds
[and
live
s].”
ART
CA
RD
C3
“Lon
g no
odle
s st
and
for
long
life
.”C
NY
D 1
3
Bat
s w
ere
used
to
sym
boliz
e go
od fo
rtun
e.PE
M v
isit
“Cro
ssin
g th
e ye
ar e
xtra
s” s
ymbo
lizes
hav
ing
a su
rplu
s.H
INT
Vas
es w
ere
used
to
sym
boliz
e pe
ace.
ART
CA
RD
C4
“The
n th
ey w
ould
. . .
eat
“lo
ng li
fe n
oodl
es”
HIN
T