Our Arts of China Teaching Toolkit is a new educational resource, including lessons plans, touch objects, and more, designed to engage young learners with Chinese art, history, and culture. The twelve lessons in the toolkit are split into three distinct units, each exploring larger themes: Geography & Environment, Belief Systems, and Global Exchange.
In the final days of the Lunar New Year season, we recommend zooming in on our Animal Symbolism lesson which explores the symbolism associated with different animals in Chinese arts and culture, including two animals from the Chinese Zodiac—tigers and dragons. In it, students consider how animals' characteristics relate to their symbolic meaning, then create their own symbolic animal to represent their personal strengths.
Taken together, the three units introduce young learners to the diversity of cultural and artistic practices that inform Chinese visual culture. We encourage teachers and students alike to challenge any stigmas, stereotypes, or false narratives that might exist about Chinese art, culture, and people—both past and present—through the use of this resource.
Posted by Michael Reback Cizhou Ware Pillow in the Form of a Tiger, 1182. Cizhou ware, earthenware, painted slip decoration with transparent glaze. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Asian Art Council, 1993.56. Creative Commons-BY ⇨ Zhang Hongtu (Chinese, born 1943). Mai Dang Lao (McDonald's), 2002. Cast Bronze, box of fries. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 2014.82a-d. © artist or artist's estate ⇨ Ritual Wine Vessel (Guang), 13th-11th century B.C.E. Bronze. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 72.163a-b. Creative Commons-BY ⇨ Plate, 1368-1644. Porcelain with underglaze. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Samuel P. Avery, by exchange, 51.85. Creative Commons-BY
