2014 Chinese Class Project Work

These project work are completed by students from Grade 7-11. Aren't they adorable for capturing the essence of Chinese culture?


1. Modern ink art:

This student took Chinese ink art elements and combined it with modern (political) American art. A bald eagle perched atop a giant rock looked into the rugged horizon of, perhaps American west (?), where giant words emerged that said, mei guo, am i free?

2. Chinese New Year lion head:

This student started from scratch to make this lion head. He experimented with several different materials for making the frame of heads, failed a few times, and finally got the frame made with chicken wire.

He then covered that frame with paper mache. While he was doing it, according to his mother and sister, he was covered with paper dust like a carpenter.

The paint on the lion's face is industry paint.

The jaw of the lion can open!

The size, make, motif and color of this lion is compatible to a commercial one for a lion dance troop. Everyone is impressed as it really looks like a manufactured lion head from a Chinatown store!

3. Calligraphy:

What is amazing about these two calligraphy work is not only that you can see the nascent structure of the characters emerging in these two works, not only that the student knows how to go from right to left, and from top to bottom, not only that he knows to sign his name in a smaller font in the mid-bottom on the left side of the scroll.

What is amazing about this project is that the student, who is of French heritage, compared Chinese calligraphy with French calligraphy, and found that both Chinese and French people take great care and pride in producing beautiful calligraphy and value calligraphy as a cultural heritage.

 4. Calligraphy scroll:

Because I myself is a calligraphy and Chinese painting practitioner, I have a soft spot for students who finds a love for these arts.

This project impressed me for many reasons. First, the student took the initiative to learn calligraphy from a mother of his friend's. The process of calligraphy making speaks for the quality of the work itself.

Second, he truly grasps the essence of Chinese art by pairing a quintessential Chinese poem with characteristic Chinese motif with an accompanying Chinese landscape painting. The proportion of the landscape versus people, the bony look of the mountain ridges, the position of the river at the two thirds height of the painting all look deliberately artistic. He even used some sliding-brush technique in his painting to produce the watery, hazy effect of the clouds. Very intentional student indeed.

Third, nascent aesthetic attention is paid to strokes in his calligraphy work: when to stop, when to stress, when to elongate, when to curve - he seems to start to get the idea of the subtle manipulation of the brush to produce deliberated outcomes.

Furthermore, he framed his work on two scrolls himself (with some help from his mother)! The presentation speaks for his faith and joy in his art. What a delightful project work!


5. Model of a Suzhou garden:

This handsome rendering of Suzhou's Lion Forest Garden is done by careful planning, meticulous attention to details, willingness to work hard, an eye for beauty and a heart for gentleness.

The gravel road is made of tiny pebbles, the wall and bridge of clay, the grass of special grass paper, the water of special gel, the pavilions of bamboo and wood sticks and planks. It is amazing that it looks like a real landscape model displayed in the lobby of an industry building!



And it's not just the specialty materials that enabled this great work, but an understanding of Chinese culture embodied in the Suzhou gardens. By naming her garden "Serene", this student has understood the essence of garden art lies in tranquility and peace. By designing a moon-shaped gate into her delicate garden, she is clearly inspired by Suzhou-style garden aesthetics. By positioning distinctly stylish objects in her garden seemingly randomly - but in fact strategically and purposefully - on both side of a meandering brook, she understands the Daoist philosophy of "the highest order of having no order."








I am amazed by these project work. They remind me how much I love my students. They make me smile every day, and they've made me proud.