The Four Great Inventions of China which are paper-making, compass, gunpowder and printing, played a significant role in the development of ancient Chinese politics, economy and culture. Spread to western countries by a variety of ways, they also brought huge influence to the history of global civilization development.
In Year 3 Chinese Studies Classes, students conducted the topic study in Four Great Inventions under the teacher’s instructions. In terms of paper-making, students not only learned the paper-making methods by the ancient Chinese people, but also experienced the fun of practical creation process.
People in Eastern Han Dynasty made paper with bark, hemp head, cloth rags, and old nets, etc. It was a complicated process and required the cooperation of multiple people. Year 3 students worked in groups and poured the water and pulp to the container. Stirring with chopsticks, they could see the pulp became thicker and thicker. Then students used cups to pour the half-set pulp into the frames with fine-meshed laces and carefully sprinkled the delicate patterns which was designed beforehand. After that, they re-poured the pulp and dried the frames in the windowsill.
In the process of creation, Year 3 students gained a deeper understanding of paper-making as well as developed a greater interest in the Chinese culture.
Y3D Co-teacher – Chelsea XIANG