如何教好文化課Effective Strategies for Teaching Cultural Studies

黃艷紅 Huang Yanhong

“中國文化與文明”是埃及各大學中文系的一門必修漢語課程，是外國學生了解中國璀璨文化的窗口。

“Chinese Culture and Civilization” is as a compulsory Chinese languagecourse taught at the Chinese departments of Egyptian universities. Thiscourse acts as a gateway for students learn the rich tapestry of Chineseculture.

在多年的教學實踐中，我慢慢甄選出適合埃及學生學習的內容，摸索出一套他們喜聞樂見的教學方法——中埃傳統文化比較法。以下就舉幾個例子說明。

Drawing from years of teaching experience， I have curated contenttailored to the learning needs of Egyptian students. I have also developedan engaging and enjoyable teaching methodology， known as the Sino-Egyptian Traditional Culture Comparative Approach. Allow me to offer afew illustrative examples.

中埃傳統節日的代表：春節和聞風節Traditional Festivals： The Chinese Spring Festival and Egyptian Sham El-Nessim

同出自農耕文明，古代中國人和埃及人都根據自己對天體和自然界的觀察，制定了完善的歷法，并根據日歷來安排農事。所不同的是，中國的農歷是陰陽合歷，即日月合歷；古埃及的歷法則是太陽歷。中國的春節和埃及的聞風節都是慶祝春天來臨、萬象更新的重要節日。

Rooted in agrarian civilizations，both ancient Chinese and Egyptiansdevised intricate calendars basedon their observations of celestialbodies and the rhythms of thenatural world. Both use thesecalendars to plan their agriculturalendeavors. The notable distinctionlies in their calendar types， as Chinaemploys a calendar that combines thelunar and solar cycles， while ancient Egyptutilizes a solar calendar. As important festivals，both the Chinese Spring Festival and Egyptian ShamEl-Nessim celebrate the arrival of spring and therenewal of life.

教授中國傳統節日的課程，主要側重四個方面：時間、來歷（背景）、習俗和飲食。

In my course on Chinese traditional festivals， Iplace particular emphasis on four key facets： timing，origin （historical context）， customs， and cuisine.

春節的時間是農歷的正月初一至十五，一般稱“過年”，是新一年的開始。關于春節的來歷，除了歷法背景，我還特意介紹了和春節有關的民間傳說，從掃塵，貼春聯、福字、窗花、年畫，到燃放煙花爆竹、守歲和拜年，我結合圖片和短視頻一項一項地仔細講解，同學們覺得非常新奇有趣。接下來的重頭戲就是春節的飲食了——北方的餃子、南方的年糕讓學生們垂涎欲滴。去過中國餐廳的學生趁機炫耀，沒去過的學生則迫不及待地想去親口嘗一嘗這些中華美食。

The Spring Festival falls on the first day to thefifteenth day of the f irst lunar month. Commonlyknown as “Guo Nian，” it marks the beginning ofa new year. In explaining the origin of the SpringFestival， apart from its historical background， I alsodelved into the folklore associated with the festival.From the rituals of spring cleaning， the hangingof couplets and auspicious symbols， the display ofwindow decorations and Spring Festival paintings， tothe exuberant practices of setting off fireworks andfirecrackers， staying up late on Lunar New Years Eve，and paying New Year visits， I illustrated each traditionusing pictures and short videos， which the studentsfound fascinating. Undoubtedly， the highlight ofthe course was the discussion of the Spring Festivalcuisine， which includes northern dumplings andsouthern rice cakes， delicacies that invariably leavestudents mouths watering. Those fortunate enoughto have dined at Chinese restaurants took theopportunity to share their experiences， while otherseagerly anticipated the opportunity to savor theseChinese dishes for themselves.

之后，我把話題轉到了埃及的“聞風節”，請學生仿照我介紹春節的方式介紹他們的傳統節日，要求必須跟春節的知識一一對應著講述。學生們以小組為單位，共同完成了下方的表格。

Afterwards， I shifted the topic to Egyptian Sham El-Nessim and asked the students to introducetheir traditional festivals just like what I did with the Chinese Spring Festival. I emphasized that theyshould make sure to explain each aspect of their festival in relation to what we had discussed aboutthe Spring Festival. The students worked in groups to complete the table below.

通過比較的方式，學生們不但輕松掌握了中國春節的相關知識，而且系統總結出兩個節日的特點，主動學習了很多新詞，可謂是“一舉多得”。

Through the process of comparison， students not only effortlessly grasped relevant knowledgeabout the Chinese Spring Festival but also systematically summarized the characteristics of twofestivals. They proactively learned many new words， making it a win-win situation.

中埃古代發明的代表：蔡侯紙和莎草紙Ancient Inventions： Caihou Paper and Papyrus

中國和埃及同為世界文明古國，其文化的載體——紙的發明自然不可或缺。

As ancient civilizations， both China and Egyptmade a pivotal contribution that served as a mediumof their cultures： the invention of paper.

在造紙術發明以前，人們多用竹簡、羊皮和錦帛等記錄文字，但這些東西不是沉重就是昂貴，只有少數人用得起，極大地限制了文化和信息的傳播。中國東漢時期的蔡倫總結前人的經驗，改進造紙工藝，以樹皮、破布、麻頭、舊魚網等植物纖維為原料，造出了成本低、質量高的“蔡侯紙”，并很快實現了大范圍推廣。這種造紙工藝一直沿用至今，對世界造紙業的發展和人類文明的傳播具有深遠影響。

Before the invention of papermaking， peoplepredominantly used materials like bamboo slips，sheepskin， and silk to record information， but thesematerials were either heavy or expensive， makingthem accessible to only a few， significantly limitingthe dissemination of culture and information. Duringthe Eastern Han Dynasty in China， Cai Lun， buildingupon the knowledge of his predecessors， improvedthe papermaking process. He used plant f ibres fromtree barks， discarded cloth， hemp， and old fishingnets as raw materials， resulting in the creation of“Caihou paper，” which was low in cost and high inquality. It was quickly adopted on a large scale. Thispapermaking technique has been in use ever since?and has had a profound impact on the developmentof the global paper industry and the dissemination ofhuman civilization.

古埃及記錄文字使用的是莎草紙， 并持續使用了3 000多年，記錄了古埃及、古希臘和古羅馬的歷史和成就。莎草紙雖然叫“紙”，但事實上并非真正的紙，反而更接近竹簡，只是它的制作工藝要復雜很多，也比竹簡輕巧。莎草紙的原材料是盛產于尼羅河流域的一種叫作莎草的植物，與蔡倫造紙的原材料一樣，有著廉價易得的優點。莎草紙大約出現在公元前3000年，蔡侯紙則出現在約公元105年?，F代紙張的定義是把植物纖維打碎后重組，莎草紙則是植物纖維的拼接。如今，莎草紙畫是來埃及的外國游客必購紀念品之一，被稱作古埃及文明的“活化石”。教授這一內容時，我請學生帶上莎草紙來課堂，通過將其與現代紙張對比幫助他們感知和理解它與中國蔡侯紙的區別。我還給學生布置了課后作業，讓他們將廢紙、包裝盒等當作原料，仿照蔡倫造紙的方法制作紙張，并完成表格的填寫。學生們都覺得有趣極了，輕松愉快地就掌握了所學的知識。

Ancient Egypt utilized a writing material calledpapyrus， which remained in use for over 3，000 yearsas a means to record the history and accomplishmentsof ancient Egypt， Greece， and Rome. Althoughreferred to as “paper，” papyrus differed significantlyfrom what we typically associate with paper today;its composition was more akin to bamboo slips.While its production process was intricate， itresulted in a lighter material than bamboo slips.Papyrus was crafted from the papyrus plant， whichthrived in the Nile River region — similar to theplant material used by Cai Lun， chosen for itsaffordability and accessibility. Papyrus dates backto around 3000 BC， preceding the emergenceof Caihou paper at around 105 AD. The keydistinction between modern paper and papyrus liesin their manufacturing processes： modern paperinvolves breaking down and reassembling plantfibers， while papyrus is more akin to a patchworkof plant fibers. Today， papyrus art serves as oneof the essential souvenirs for tourists visitingEgypt， often celebrated as a “living relic” of ancientEgyptian civilization. When teaching this topic， Iencouraged students to bring papyrus to class andasked them to conduct a comparative analysis ofpapyrus and Caihou paper. Additionally， I assignedhomework tasks in which students used materialslike wastepaper and cardboard boxes to createpaper using Cai Luns method and completed acomparative analysis table. This approach greatlypiqued students interest and enhanced theircomprehension of the subject matter.

此外，中國傳統文化中的中醫理論與古埃及的草藥使用理論和防腐技術，中國傳統建筑與古埃及建筑，中國的“儒釋道”三教一體信仰體系與古埃及的多神信仰，中國的甲骨文與古埃及的象形文字，等等，兩個文明在很多方面都存在可比性。

Moreover， numerous parallels exist betweentraditional Chinese and ancient Egyptian cultures.These include similarities in areas such as the theoriesof traditional Chinese medicine and ancient Egyptsutilization of herbs， preservation techniques， traditionalChinese architecture and ancient Egyptian architecture，the integrated belief systems of Confucianism，Buddhism， and Taoism in China and the polytheisticbeliefs of ancient Egypt， and the Chinese oracle bonescript and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

用比較法教授這門課程，不但激發和培養了學生對中國文化的興趣，鼓勵學生主動去閱讀、了解和探索，而且讓學生懂得應客觀看待和評價世間的萬事萬物，不妄自尊大，也不妄自菲薄，以自身文化為根本，進行互鑒、互賞，促進對彼此文化的了解和包容。如此，人類文明才可以繼續在融合中發展和進步。

By employing comparative methods in teachingthis course， we not only ignite and cultivatestudents fascination with the Chinese culture butalso motivate them to actively engage in reading，exploration， and comprehension. Furthermore， itinstills in students the value of objectively assessingthe world， free from excessive arrogance or selfdeprecation.This approach underscores the pivotalrole of ones own culture as a bedrock for fosteringmutual appreciation and cross-cultural learning，thereby nurturing understanding and toleranceamong diverse cultures. In doing so， we contribute tothe evolution and advancement of human civilizationthrough harmonious integration.

供圖/ 黃艷紅