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china: related resources
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NOVA: "China Bridge"
Travel with a NOVA-assembled crew of scholars and timber framers to design and build a Chinese bridge known only from an ancient painting.
American Experience: "Nixon's China Game"
In February 1972, after a quarter-century of mutual antagonism between the United States and China, President Richard Nixon traveled to Beijing for an historic encounter with Chairman Mao Tse-tung. The climax of a secret White House initiative headed by Henry Kissinger, the diplomatic breakthrough shocked both America's allies and its enemies.
Frontline: "Dreams of Tibet"
This site explores key questions for China and Tibet: To be Chinese or to be Tibetan? To acquiesce in China's sovereignty over Tibet, or to resist? Can Tibet be modernized without sacrificing its culture?
Journey to Planet Earth: Shanghai, China
Shanghai is poised to recapture its role as the commercial capital of Asia. Already housing a population of 16 million, the city is attempting to rebuild its infrastructure as it faces increasing problems with pollution, water supply and waste treatment. Journey to Planet Earth looks at Shanghai's efforts to deal with the environmental issues facing a city that has chosen industrial growth over agricultural production.
Journey to Planet Earth: Yangtze River Delta, China
Intensive cultivation of the fertile Yangtze River Delta has brought abundance to the nearby city of Shanghai, but China's rapid industrial development is engulfing the countryside at an alarming rate. The country's farmers face the problem of producing more and more food on a dwindling supply of land, and pollution becomes a growing threat as they rely more heavily on the use of chemical fertilizers.
NOVA: "Mysterious Mummies of China"
Preserved in peat bogs, frozen in ice, embalmed on the banks of the Nile -- find out how mummies across the ages came to be preserved.
NewsHour Extra: "Anything But Normal"
This site examines the potential economic and political implications of granting China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR).
Frontline: "China in the Red"
"China in the Red" follows ten Chinese citizens caught up in the social and economic transformation, and through their stories reveals a nation in flux and a people struggling to survive in a world they never dreamed would exist.
Precious Children
60 U.S. teachers make a 10-day visit to China to examine early childhood education in this nation of 1.2 billion people.
Frontline: "Dangerous Straits"
As much as trade or the need for cooperation in the fight against terrorism, it is the flashpoint issue of Taiwan -- the capitalist and now democratic island that China has been trying to reclaim for five decades -- that remains the greatest source of tension between the world's most powerful country and its most populous one.
PBS KIDS: Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat
Learn about the Chinese calendar, Chinese writing, and more on this interactive kids site.
Great Wall Across the Yangtze
When finished, the Three Gorges Dam will produce the energy of 15 nuclear power plants and tame some of the river's deadliest floods. To China's leaders, the dam is the greatest engineering feat since the construction of the Great Wall, but to critics worldwide, it is a social and environmental disaster.
recommended web sites
Chinese Brush Painting
http://www.asia-art.net/chinese_tech_brush.html
The basic Chinese brush techniques are described, including different brushes and their uses. Other materials discussed are ink, paper, and silk. Color, composition and space, seals and calligraphy are also presented. The most common subjects of Chinese paintings are landscapes, flowers and birds, and people. Advice is offered for "rules" of painting from ancient Chinese masters. From the technique page, you can link to art history, ancient and contemporary artists, and see Chinese wood block and embroidery samples.
Subject: The Arts; Social Studies
More Recommended Arts Links
More Recommended Social Studies Links
Posters of the Cultural Revolution
http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/exhib/poster/exhibintro.html
Ohio State University posted an online exhibit which looks at political posters from the Cultural Revolution (1965-1979) as social and historical documents. Posters are a means of spreading political messages to a mass audience, especially among a nation of many languages. Click on thumbnails for a full screen image, translations, and some with annotations explaining what is symbolized in the poster. If you see a pop-up saying you need to install the Traditional Chinese Language pack, just click cancel and you'll still see the English text.
Subject: The Arts; Social Studies
More Recommended Arts Links
More Recommended Social Studies Links
Tao Te Ching Translations
http://www.religiousworlds.com/taoism/ttc-list.html
The Tao Te Ching, attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (or Lao Tze) is a collection of 81 short chapters (verses) and forms the central text of Taoism. This site from the University of Florida provides an introduction and translation of all chapters. Links to other translations are also listed, allowing for comparisons across translations. A section of chapter 33 is translated: "He whose ideas remain in the world, is present for all time." Lao Tzu may have been the actual author or may
have been the librarian who collected the verses, and those ideas have remained for over 2000 years.
Subject: Social Studies; Reading & Language Arts
More Recommended Social Studies Links
More Recommended Reading & Language Arts Links
Taoism and the Arts of China
http://www.artic.edu/taoism/
The Art Institute of Chicago presents an online exhibit of over 100 works of Taoist art illustrating many facets of the Taoist religion. The exhibition includes paintings, calligraphy, sculpture, porcelain, lacquer, and ritual robes and implements. The sections on diagrams include the Chinese zodiac, Chinese scrolls, taiji (yin and yang symbol), and trigrams. Additional features are a glossary, map, and timeline from 1600 B.C.- A.D. 1911. Teachers will find lesson plans for elementary to high school.
Subject: The Arts; Social Studies
More Recommended Arts Links
More Recommended Social Studies Links
Chinese Abacus
http://members.aol.com/chineseabacus/index.html
After an introduction in the concept of the beads and columns, and how it relates to the decimal system of single digits, tens digits, and so on, you'll have the basic understanding of how an abacus works. Use the cyber abacus to try adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing with beads. Instructions for each operation are given, along with practice exercises. The site is primarily for teachers to use to teach, but students can also follow the directions in the lessons. For images of many real abacuses, see http://www.alohama.com/abmuseum/index.shtml, the Abacus Museum.
Subject: Math; Social Studies
More Recommended Math Links
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Tangrams
http://tangrams.ca/index.htm
Tangrams are ancient Chinese puzzles made from 7 geometric pieces which are put together to create many different shapes. Create your own set from the pattern on this site or try the folding version. There are many pictures to try including people, animals, and everyday objects. Try the special subset called "convex" where there are no indentations in the figures. Each puzzle also has a solution you can print or view.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
In the Footsteps of Marco Polo
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Marco/index.html
You know how trying a family trip can be? How about a 24 year trip, traveling 24,000 miles with your father and uncle? The Metropolitan Museum of Art takes you on a journey along the route Marco Polo (1254-1324) began when he was 17, to the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan. Your trip will be illustrated with art and artifacts at the Met, found in the map and Image Explorer (see "Continue the Adventure").
Subject: Social Studies
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recommended books
1,2,3, Go!
By Huy Voun Lee
Published January 2001
Grades: 3-5; 6-8
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts; Math
Although China has many different spoken dialects, its written language is standard. This book introduces some of the simpler picture-words based on actions using the hands and feet. Each two-page spread features a phrase in English and Chinese writing and a cut-paper collage resembling a block print. The numbers 1-10 and the verb "go" are also included.
More Recommended Reading & Language Arts Books
More Recommended Math Books
The Book of Go
By William S. Cobb
Published May 2002
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Math
The modern game of Go is played on a board with 19x19 lines (361 points) with 181 black and 180 white stones. Although often associated with Japan, the game of Go originated in China at least before A.D. 200. The rules to Go are simple, but it is one of those games of strategy that is harder to master than its rules first suggest. This spiral-bound introduction teaches a simplified version of the game in which the first person to capture an opponent's marker wins before presenting the full game. The book comes with 9x9 and 13x13 boards and pieces to play.
More Recommended Math Books
China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution
By Da Chen
Published June 2001
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
During the Cultural Revolution, Da Chen's family members were outcasts
because his grandfather had been a landlord. Faced with no future other
than that of a poor farmer, Da Chen dropped out of school and joined a
gang. His prospects changed when chairman Mao died. He studied day and
night to enter Beijing University, and his family worked hard and went
into debt to help him. His ultimate success reclaimed his family's
reputation.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
Confucius: The Golden Rule
By Russell Freedman and Frederic Clement
Published September 2002
Grades: 3-5; 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
What is the right thing to do? Though Confucius believed there was no one answer to this question, he thought it was one that we should continually ask ourselves. A minor government official 2,500 years ago, Confucius made suggestions for reform that were ignored by the rulers of China. He spent his time teaching and discussing ideas with his students. This illustrated biography examines the man and his thought.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
By Ji-Li Jiang and David Henry Hwang
Published October 1998
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Jiang's powerful memoir introduces middle and high school readers to
China's cultural revolution in the late '60s. Jiang, a teenager at the
time, recalls tensions within the family, the school, and her community
as a whole, including imprisonment, seizure of land and possessions,
and betrayal of friends and neighbors.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
Precious Gold, Precious Jade
By Sharon E. Heisel
Published April 2000
Grades: 3-5; 6-8
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts; Social Studies
Angelena's friendship with Leeana, a Chinese immigrant, is tested when
some in town, even members of her own family, object. This novel for
readers 9-12 is set during the gold rush before the Chinese Exclusion
Act.
More Recommended Reading & Language Arts Books
More Recommended Social Studies Books