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President at CTF
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[ DCADP GiVING back project ]
[ project objective ]
defined by the DCADP Team
We hope to spark interest in and curiosity about the meanings and stories behind Chinese historic objects.
We would also like to provide an engaging learning opportunity to celebrate the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
We aim to help students develop visual literacy through examining and discussing specific objects and their stories, and looking closely at body language to identify important ideas conveyed by the works of art.
The team of the Center for the Art of East Asia is planning to visit an elementary school and conduct a lesson using virtual resources, including images and videos from the CAEA Digital Collections, and other media.
The focus on Buddhist sculptures will provide lower-grade elementary school students (K-Grade 3) an interactive introduction to Buddhist art through an understanding of symbolic body language.
Coffered Ceiling from Wanfo Pavilion (Wanfoge,
Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion), 3D reconstruction of still image
Lesson Structure (45 mins)
1. Warm Up
To further understand the context of the Buddhist statues and their symbolic body expressions, students looked at photographs of sculptures from Beijing Zhihua Temple—images captured by the Center’s faculty, and now part of the CAEA Digital Collections database.
Abhaya Mudra
Bhumisparsa Mudra
Dharmachakra Mudra
Dhyana Mudra
2. Activity 2
To further understand the context of the Buddhist statues and their symbolic body expressions, students looked at photographs of sculptures from Beijing Zhihua Temple—images captured by the Center’s faculty, and now part of the CAEA Digital Collections database.
Students were invited to practice posing like the statues and consider how they might relate the physical gestures to their meaning.
Later, they viewed a 360-degree virtual tour of the digitally restored Wanfo Pavilion at Zhihua Temple, in order to gain a better sense of the type of space where the statues might reside. Students discussed other Buddhist symbols seen in the space, such as the color gold, lotus flowers, and dragons, and asked questions about how some of the artifacts ended up outside of China.
3. Activity 3
In the final part of the lesson, students reflected on their learning by doing a quick sketching activity of a chosen mudra.
Professor Wei-Cheng Lin, director of the CAEA’s Dispersed Chinese Art Digitization Project (DCADP) made a virtual appearance in several of the classes, sharing a bit about his personal journey to becoming an art historian, and talking about and why it was important for him to study Chinese dispersed artifacts. Katherine Tsiang provided references to books and art historical materials, including two 3D prints of artifacts for students to touch and feel.
Students are looking at photographs of sculptures from Beijing Zhihua Temple
Students sketching mudras
[ students’ quotes]
What do you think you will remember
about this lesson?
I will remember about that lesson that in China, there are so many temple in China. And there is Zhihua Temple and we learn about body language, Buddhist art, mudra and lotus flowers and Zhihua Temple.
I remember the (Buddhist) statues are made 600 years (ago).
This lesson is the Dhyana mudra, both hands place in the lap, right hand on the top of the left hand.
What I remember is Dhyana mudra means meditation and Dharmadhkra mudra means teaching others about Buddhism.
What did you find especially fun or interesting?
I found especially fun is learning body symbols and the Zhihua Temple.
It was fun because we got to touch an arm or leg (3D print) that was a statue.
Ten Thousand Buddhas, Dharmadhkra mudra and Bhumisparsa mudra posing.
The photos (of the Buddhist sculptures and the Zhihua Temple) were interesting.
[ teachers’ comments]
“It was wonderful to see the students engaging in body in language and making mudra signs with their hands. It was also interesting to see the connection between the mudra and the Buddha statues”.
“The students really enjoyed learning the symbolic language. They were fascinated by the slides of the temples and all the intricate art on the ceilings”.
“I liked how interested and curious the students were when the visitors were teaching about a topic that the students have never been exposed to. They really enjoyed the lesson and the content”.
“I really liked that the students had artifacts to touch and feel, look at right in the room, as well as a video and a talk from a person....three forms of presenting information in one lesson. It kept their interest, and they gained information about their home country”.
“It was great and enjoyable to work with and collaborate with a new team. Communication, coordination, cooperation were great!”.
“I enjoyed doing the body in language, especially when the students posed the mudras they saw on the statues”.
Students sketching mudras
Professor Wei-Cheng Lin, director of the CAEA’s Dispersed Chinese Art Digitization Project (DCADP) sharing a bit about his personal journey to becoming an art historian, and talking about and why it was important for him to study Chinese dispersed artifacts
“For the students in this community, the project engaged them in learning about their own cultural heritage in deep, personal, and meaningful way. Understanding the iconography and its ideals also helped all students who participated in the project develop important visual literacy skill, so that they can make close observations about the artifacts, ask questions about what they see, and generate new interest in the broader cultural context of the artifacts.”
Dispersed Chinese Art
Digitalization
Project
Carol Ng-He
Digital Collections Curator
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