Showing love and respect for teachers in a traditional way
Shot by Jiang Xiaowei. Edited by Jiang Xiaowei. Subtitles by Jiang Xiaowei.
Children at downtown Shanghai's Wunan Kindergarten welcomed the 38th Teachers' Day tomorrow in a special way on Thursday – by showing gratitude to their teachers in an ancient-style ceremony.
Dressed in traditional Chinese costumes, about 200 children, 80 of whom are expatriates, participated in the event and expressed love to their teachers.
The ceremony involved four main parts: pupils bowing to their teachers, giving them a personal note of respect, gifting vegetables to teachers and reading the family instructions of influential Chinese educator Zhu Xi (1130-1200).
It is a brief version of the formal ancient Chinese etiquette practiced by people who wanted to follow the learnings of a teacher.
Children at Shanghai Wunan Kindergarten read the family instructions of influential Chinese educator Zhu Xi.
Children bow to their teachers to show their respect in the special ceremony.
Children also sounded the drums during the ceremony, another part of traditional Chinese culture to demonstrate commitment to studying hard.
After the ceremony, each child was honored with a certificate acknowledging they had performed well in learning traditional culture.
"I like the drum part of the ceremony because it cheered me up," said Kyle Robin Madden, who comes from United States.
"I am very proud of myself receiving the certificate," said another kid, Thomas Han Ryan, who is an Australian.
An expat child bangs the drum during the ceremony.
"Our ceremony is about following Zhu Xi, one of the most influential Chinese educators," said Gong Min, the kindergarten's principal. "But our purpose is to create an atmosphere which is full of traditional cultural elements," she said.
With 18 years of experience as a principal, Gong has won love and respect from the children, who often call her "Principal Mother."
Located in Xuhui District, the public kindergarten is one of a few in the city qualified to enroll foreign children.
It is the third time the kindergarten has held such a traditional ceremony, the first in 2020.
Apart from the ceremony, the pupils normally are exposed to a daily dose of cultural education through different activities and courses. These include making traditional Chinese food and learning ancient Chinese poetry and the 24 solar terms.
"Our children can easily learn traditional Chinese culture through their daily activities and theme events," Gong added.
School principal Gong Min and some pupils with their certificates.
