According to the news website (By Wang Yang and Li Liang, Correspondents) April 7 — Just after the Qingming Festival holiday, lecturer Wu Yamin from the School of Foreign Languages and International Trade, guided 93 international students in a calligraphy class to explore the ancient poem Qingming through innovative teaching methods. They reviewed pictographic and ideographic character-formation methods and embarked on a learning journey of the pictophonetic method of creating Chinese characters.
Artful Verses,Verse Depths
At the start of the class, lecturer Wu Yamin recited the ancient poem Qingming in Hunan dialect, Cantonese, her native dialect, and Mandarin, challenging students to guess her hometown. This lively exercise reviewed the distinction between non-local and from another province. She then guided students through line-by-line recitation and repeated practice, gradually energizing the classroom atmosphere.
During a creative reading session, international students performed the poem through inventive interpretations: singing verses boldly, whispering lines softly, strolling while reciting, and even delivering verses in horse-riding stances. Laughter filled the room as poetic energy blossomed.
Lecturer Wu then organized a group quiz competition, guiding students to review pictographic characters like 雨(rain), 行(walk), 人(person), 酒(wine), 家(home), and 杏(apricot), alongside ideographic characters such as 断(break), 有(have), and 明(bright). Simultaneously, she introduced pictophonetic characters including 清(clear), 欲(desire), 借(borrow), 问(ask), 处(place), 遥(distant), 指(point), 花(flower), 村(village), 魂(soul), and 何(why). Through this blend of review and preview, international students deepened their understanding of Chinese character formation and the poem’s layered meanings.
Ink Flow, Verse Glow
During the calligraphy practice session, lecturer Wu Yamin first had international students independently practice hard-pen writing while she circulated to offer guidance. For characters that commonly challenged learners—纷(intricate), 魂(soul), 酒(wine), and 断(sever)—she demonstrated a deconstructing components approach,decoded their semantic clues and helped students master standardized writing techniques.
To spark enthusiasm, lecturer Wu Yamin prepared patterned calligraphy paper as prizes for students who mastered the characters.
After each student completed their writing, Wu unveiled traditional-style costumes, inviting them to pose with their works for keepsake photos. During the session, she seamlessly reviewed HSK3 vocabulary pairs prone to confusion:带(wear) vs.常(often)、真(real) vs. 直(straight)、很(very) vs. 跟(follow)、作(work) vs. 昨(yesterday)、游客(tourist) vs. 旅客(traveler).
AI Odyssey, Verse Immersion
The class climaxed with an AI creativity segment. Lecturer Wu Yamin had pre-collected students' headshots, using AI tools to generate Qingming-themed vintage posters. She merged these with their recitation of Qingming poem audios into atmospheric micro-videos. Upon seeing their vintage-style avatars, international students erupted in cheers of “Amazing!” and “So Beautiful！”.
Vietnamese student Bui Thi Hong shared, “We also observe Qingming in Vietnam, but our holiday fell last Friday and lasts a week.” International student Jiudet raved about his poster: “I really like the editing. It’s really nice. I am so satisfied. Thank you so much! ”International student Yafei posted his vintage-style portrait on Facebook, showcasing his Chinese “memorial observance”. Mozé forwarded the artwork to his family group chat, sharing this special poetic gift across generations.
Script Sparks, Soul Ignites
In this innovative calligraphy class, lecturer Wu Yamin employed multifaceted pedagogical approaches to help students unravel the logic of Chinese character formation and grasp poetic depth within a relaxed atmosphere, igniting their passion for Chinese writing.
Wu emphasized that creative instructional design not only clarifies character evolution but also alleviates learning anxieties, aiming to cultivate international students' enthusiasm for exploring Chinese civilization.
Jiang Hui, Party Committee Secretary and Dean of the School of Foreign Languages and International Trade, highlighted the program's dual focus: While anchoring cultural literacy through decoding Hanzi's DNA, we pioneer new paradigms for cultural dialogue. As embodied in students' calligraphic works inscribed with “文明互鉴，美美与共” (mutual learning among civilizations, shared beauty in diversity), the classroom has become a forge where reinvented cultural symbols build bridges of humanistic dialogue across continents.
