I started studying Chinese around six years ago, and through my studies, I’ve been able to appreciate and discover various elements of Chinese culture that exist around me. In my classes, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about traditional Chinese festivals, such as the Lunar New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Tomb Sweeping Festival, among others. For the first two, I had the chance to learn about them firsthand and the important elements that they are composed of. For example, to celebrate the Lunar New Year, I was able to make mooncakes as part of the celebration.
Through the Chinese classes I take, I have also gained a deep appreciation for Chinese characters and the intricate meaning behind them and the symbols which they represent. I have engaged in various calligraphy workshops that involved practicing the stroke orders of several characters. For example, one of the workshops that I did with my class was intended for the Chinese New Year, so my classmates and I practiced writing 新年快乐 along with other traditional Chinese blessings. We then got to hang them around our school as part of the tradition for Lunar New Year, and I got to witness how impactful Chinese culture and the components that it represents can be.
The characters in the language, in particular, have always fascinated me since they have both a rich history and a significant way of writing, as well as the cultural ties that they carry. One of the things that stood out to me about Chinese calligraphy was the fascinating way in which language and art were combined to create this incredible cultural practice.
As a culmination of my Chinese learning after five years, I traveled with my school to Taiwan to practice my Chinese skills in real life and be immersed in various aspects of the culture. One of the most interesting things that I observed there was that they used traditional characters, as opposed to the simplified ones I had learned. These traditional characters helped me fully grasp the importance of these significant Chinese cultural elements that surrounded me—elements I had encountered various times through parts of Chinese culture like calligraphy. Being immersed in them for several weeks helped me gain a deeper understanding of the beauty of Chinese culture.
