財團法人東海大學附屬高級中等學校--附中新聞-Bridging East and West Through Cross-Cultural Artistic Traditions
Bridging East and West Through Cross-Cultural Artistic Traditions
日期 : 2025-06-23
分類 : 附中新聞
單位 : 國際教育處
點閱 : 401
Bridging East and West Through Cross-Cultural Artistic Traditions A Chinese Character-Inspired Creative Writing Workshop in the Western Medieval Manuscript Style 22nd June, 2025
Facilitators with participants of the Chinese character-inspired creative writing workshop
An innovative professional development workshop took place on Friday, 13th June 2025, at The Affiliated High School of Tunghai University: International Education Department, where teachers explored a unique blend of Chinese calligraphy and Western medieval manuscript traditions. In only 90 minutes they transformed into professional Chinese calligraphy artists, at the event held between 1:00-2:30pm in Room BCVI, which marked the first phase of a two-part project intended to enhance cross-cultural and inter-curricular education. The original concept and educational materials were designed by David Tabor (白利鍏), who explained the historical interpretation of medieval manuscript images taken from the Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts collection. Assistant Professor Philia Zheng (鄭宜玟) was invited to demonstrate traditional Chinese calligraphy techniques to participating teachers, with educational interpretation provided by Dan Harris (丹尼爾) and literature guidance by Daniel Warren (馬丹尼).
Facilitators and participants practicing their Chinese calligraphy brush strokes
During the session, teachers selected and practiced some of the 24 pre-chosen Chinese characters – including 智 (wisdom), 勇 (courage), and 和 (harmony) – based on personal resonance with their English meanings. The teachers were instructed to use these characters’ English translations as inspiration for 50-100 word creative stories or poems, and decorated with medieval manuscript-style borders, drawing from symbolic traditions including illuminated capital letters, marginalia, and historical iconography. Historically, marginalia were border illustrations surrounding manuscript texts, with the primary audiences including nobility, university scholars, prosperous merchants and religious clergy for a range of purposes, such as status symbols, memory aids, visual instruction or contemplative focus. The workshop recreates this tradition of combining serious academic or moral messages with artistic expression and entertainment.
Examples of medieval manuscripts written in Latin and featuring marginalia imagery
A booklet guided teachers through the process, with each Chinese character accompanied by corresponding story or poem ideas and artistic suggestions. For example, mountain (山) represents obstacles and new perspectives and dream (夢) symbolises aspirations and illusions. This innovative approach demonstrates how traditional Eastern artistic practices can enhance Western educational methodologies whilst fostering deeper cultural understanding and creative expression amongst both educators and students. The initiative positions the school at the forefront of cultural integration in education, offering students a unique platform for both academic achievement and personal growth. “This workshop creates a cultural, artistic and historical bridge by using Chinese characters and symbolism as inspiration for Western-style creative writing,” explained Tabor, outlining the project’s purpose as a platform for cultural appreciation, and personal and artistic expression.
Example of a 50-word cross-cultural story about a group of thieves who discover connection is more important than wealth. Created by Nick from H3A
The project addresses multiple educational objectives. For teachers, it provides innovative cross-curricular teaching and assessment methodologies connecting language, art, history, and cultural studies. Students benefit from stress relief, creative expression, and enhanced cross-cultural awareness following the post-examination period. The school gains an educational selling point demonstrating cultural innovation whilst providing tangible student projects. Watching teachers of different subjects find common understanding through Chinese calligraphy and medieval manuscripts was inspiring. Assessment options include symbolic interpretation, linguistic or artistic expression, or overall project completion, with flexibility for completion over several lessons.
Phase two will see teachers introducing the project with students, using the same character-selection process to create individual creative works. Teachers will fold A3 paper in landscape orientation to resemble a medieval book, with stories written across both halves and artistic borders surrounding the literary work, inspired by the students’ characters meanings and natural elements like vines and flowers, connecting Eastern concepts with Western manuscript traditions. The front and back of the book can be decorated for authenticity. Student works can be displayed in classrooms, physical or digital portfolios or as exhibitions for events, such as parents’ evenings. There are also options for ongoing interdepartmental collaboration and international cultural exchange programmes.
Projects like this encourage reflection on creative expression, artistic traditions, and how cultural exchange promotes understanding.
