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School life in China and cultural understanding highlighted at poetry competition

08 Nov 2019

Back in May, media company China Intercontinental Press opened a Chinese poetry competition to all pupils in Shanghai’s international schools. Rather than reciting poems or creating written poetry of their own, in this case pupils were tasked with interpreting poetry through painting.Ms Xiaoli Zhao, teacher of Chinese, who was the organiser of Wellington pupils’ efforts throughout this competition, shares her thoughts on the importance of cultural studies of this nature, along with Matthew from year 8, who received not one but two prizes for his efforts. How was the competition set up? What exactly were the pupils expected to do?

Ms Zhao: In May we heard about the competition from China Intercontinental Press and we quickly made all pupils in the relevant age ranges aware that they could compete in it. Entrants were expected to download an app which would assign them a poem randomly selected from a list of appropriate ones put together by the organiser. Then pupils would read that poem carefully and try to produce a painting that represented their interpretation of it.

All of the entries then judged by an panel of teachers and Chinese literature experts, who voted on their favourites. There was also an online vote, so anyone who downloaded the app could vote for their favourite painting.

And what did the competition’s producers make of Wellington’s efforts?

Ms Zhao: They were extremely impressed, and rightly so! The competition closed in July and last month they announced the winners, with no fewer than 15 Wellingtonians winning prizes for their entries. They were among hundreds of entrants, so this was a big achievement.

What made you decide that you wanted to compete?

Matthew: Poetry is one of China’s most important cultural traditions and I’ve always been interested in understanding it. There are many layers to each poem, so you have to work hard to go deeper and think carefully about what the poem is trying to tell you. It’s always an interesting puzzle and I thought I would enjoy creating a painting based on one of them. I felt that it was a good chance to improve my painting skills too and take on the challenge of expressing myself in a different way.

What poem were you assigned by the app?

Matthew: My poem was about a poet who was alone in the woods and was quite drunk, but he has nobody to share his wine with, so he looks at the moon and the shadows around him. While initially he thinks that they could be good company, he realised that the moon can’t understand him and the shadows can only follow him, so he doesn’t feel fulfilled. It’s a good example of how deep Chinese poetry is in general – if you look at it carefully, almost every line gives you enough detail to create a painting by itself.

So was it difficult to take all of that dense imagery and put into one painting?

Matthew: At first it was, I had to think a lot about what I thought the poem was trying to say. Still, after I got started, the main elements fell into place quite quickly. It was fun to add to it and gradually build it up into the finished piece.

How did you feel when you finished it?

Matthew: Tired! And satisfied, of course. I was quite proud of what I had made.

And do you think you have a better understanding of the poem after having used it as the subject of your painting?

Matthew: Definitely, painting it made me think carefully about each action the poet took. I thought about his feelings and the way he expresses them to the moon and the shadows. I had to take that understanding and show it without words, which is a difficult challenge but a very useful one.

What were your two prizes awarded for?

Matthew: The first was the ‘star illustrator’s award’ for winning the online vote and the second was the ‘talented illustrator’s award’ which was the experts’ choice award.

After this experience, how do you feel about studying Chinese poetry further? Do you want to paint more with poems as the subject material?

Matthew: Yes, I do. I found the whole process to be really exciting and it helped me with my studies, so I think it’s worth practising more. I think it’s always good to try and look at things in different ways, because then you might understand it better and have more to say about it.

Why do you think it’s important to study Chinese poetry?

Matthew: Because if we don’t study our history we lose it. If in 100 years’ time, we pulled out a poem that nobody remembered, then we probably wouldn’t be able to fully understand what it means, because it was trying to say something about that time and it has been forgotten. If we study poetry then we keep it alive and everyone has a better idea of its deeper meanings.

As a teacher, what do you think this competition gave our pupils?

Ms Zhao: The opportunity to paint is an excellent way of interpreting Chinese poetry. This was a great chance for our pupils, some of whom sometimes struggle to express themselves through words but are talented artists, to express their knowledge and emotional exploration using entirely different skills. I think it was a fantastic way for them to think about and then express their appreciation and understanding of Chinese poetry.

It also showed how deep Chinese poetry is, and demonstrated to our pupils how much there is to learn about Chinese culture. Poetry is an essential tool for improving their understanding of the Chinese language, which relies heavily in some cases on poetic ideas and imagery in its words and written characters. In fact, it’s not really possible to fully understand China’s various languages and dialects without first knowing about its history and culture, of which poetry is an essential part.It’s for this reason that we offer specific Chinese culture studies from years 7-9, as we think that the culture is equally important to the language, perhaps even a little bit more so! These studies take pupils through the history, geography, poetry and any cultural element that is relevant to helping our pupils understand life in China today and in the past.I’m so proud of all the pupils who competed, and they should be equally proud of themselves. I hope that this will encourage them to further their Chinese cultural studies throughout their lives. I also want to thank all of the parents and Chinese department teachers, as they helped inform and encourage their children/pupils throughout the competition and celebrated their successes.

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