Exploring history and culture探索历史与文化之旅

汉风灼灼，当代风华。

A glimpse of the charming Han Chinese costume

汉 服 一 瞥

江苏 柴雨坤

指导老师 彭向梅

Held in Xuzhou， Han Chinese Costume Festival（汉服节）， has once again presented the charming contemporary Han Chinese costume. The teachers and students of different age groups have taken part in this activity. Walking through the streets of ancient Pengcheng， namely todays Xuzhou， they felt as if they had lived in the history for thousands of years.

The activity lasted nearly two hours， which could be divided into two periods： the stage performance and the interactive game. First of all， the stage performance featured ancient elements， including a hand language show， a sitcom（情景喜剧）， a solo， a song and dance act， a guzheng performance， a solo dance， a semichorus（小合唱） and so on. Besides， in the second stage， the interactive game was interspersed（穿插） in the intervals of the stage performance. The game was conducted in all kinds of forms to interact with the audience. What was worth mentioning was the last performance， Han Chinese costume show， showing us the styles of clothing in different dynasties， such as Han， Tang， Song and Ming.

This festival has been a great impact on the spread of Han culture. With the development of society for thousands of years， the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture has been neglected. Therefore， it is urgent to promote the traditional culture including Han culture. Xuzhou， as the birthplace of Han culture， should undertake the responsibility of cultural export， for which this activity can make Han culture more influential.

Not only Xuzhou but some other cities have also carried out such activities in order to spread the traditional culture. These activities combined ancient and modern elements， with apparent characteristics of the times. So we can believe that， in the future， Chinese culture will not be buried but develop into a new culture with time characteristics. At the same time， knowledge of Han culture will also gradually be deepened as Han culture is expected to go global.

A lesson to sew sachets

一堂香包縫制课

江苏 李洁怡

指导老师 彭向梅

Recently our school has launched a large number of community activities， one of which is sewing sachets（香包）. Interested in it， I am very glad to have the chance to watch the whole process.

When it comes to sachets in Jiawang， there is one figure that must be mentioned： President Xi Jinping. A few years ago， he came to visit Mazhuang Village in Jiawang and bought a sachet in person， making us realize the importance of the traditional craft. After that， the local government， schools and villages began to teach citizens how to sew sachets to pass on our local culture.

In the sachet making class， I looked at the teacher sewing sachets by herself and I couldnt wait to try. When I wanted to start sewing sachets， I found a problem that I failed to use the needle and thread flexibly. Ive tried many times but failed. When I wanted to give up， the teacher was like an angel to save me. But for the teachers help， I would not have learned to make the sachet.

When we attended the sachet making class， we felt more than delighted with the teacher telling us many things about the sachet. As I know， the origins of the sachet can be traced back to the time of the Yellow Emperor. Later， the sachet is mostly used in the Dragon Boat Festival， whose significance is to pray for good luck， to ward off evil. But today， this craft is slowly disappearing. This old craft needs to keep up with time to stay alive. Its time for us to re examine the sachet history， cultural connotation and artistic value.

What a really meaningful activity！ It teaches me how to do one thing patiently and tells me that our duty is to keep the traditional handicraft industry going.

A trip to Pingyao Ancient City

平遥古城之旅

山西 王奕泽

指导老师 秦海英

I made a tour to Pingyao Ancient City together with my classmates this summer vacation.

Going through so many events and incidents， Pingyao Ancient City survived practically with a history of over 2，000 years， and ranks as one of the intact（完整的） ancient cities well preserved in China. As one of the attractive scenic spots in Shanxi Province， Pingyao Ancient City enjoys great reputation at home and abroad. Meanwhile， its classical flavor and profound cultural sense left a deep impression on me.

Hardly had we arrived at the Pingyao County seat when we headed for the ancient city. With the guides explanation， we learned that there are six ancient city gates in Pingyao Ancient City， two in the east， two in the west， and two gates in the north and south respectively， whose layout（布局） is like a turtle. Pingyao was the financial center of China in the late Qing Dynasty. The former site of “Rishengchang Piaohao（日升昌票號）” is one of the most valuable historical sites. The waxen images（蜡像） and the furnishings of the objects in the room restored the business scene of the Piaohao at that time， which gave us glimpses into its prosperity.

In history， Shanxi merchants had ambitions to start their own businesses and treated others with honesty. As a consequence， Shanxi merchants became one of the richest commercial groups in China at that time and created unprecedented prosperity. Moreover， the city walls that were built with black bricks have stood against rains and storms for over 600 years and have been well preserved. There is no doubt that Pingyao people are proud of the city walls as they protected them from disasters in the fires of war. Now they have become a symbol of the old city.

At dusk， we took the return train and left the ancient city of Pingyao. The ancient city is just like a book， many chapters lingering in my mind： city walls， streets， Piaohao， temples， etc. It is the Pingyao Ancient City that is heavy with the resplendent Shanxi merchants culture（晋商文化）.

From my point of view， we ought to learn the lessons of its prosperity and decline and develop the Shanxi merchants culture innovatively. Hoping that this outstanding commercial culture can still pass on and will restore its vitality in future.