“Cultivate traditional life values and a love of culture via our Chinese cultural immersion workshops. Conducted in Mandarin. As featured on the South China Morning Post, Channel 8, and Channel NewsAsia!
Last sold out when we held it in Nov, our upcoming Bromance of the Three Kingdoms workshops will introduce children to one of the most iconic pieces of classical Chinese literature – the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms – and the values of 忠 (loyalty) and 慧 (wisdom) it embodies via our unique experiential learning pedagogy.
Lunch worth up to $17 included.
Small teacher-student ratio: 12 students with 2 educators
Activities include:
Morning session
– Mask-painting activity to introduce children to the opera facial makeup(脸谱) tradition, which involves the painting of mask templates on Chinese opera actors depicting archetypes such 生(male lead), 旦(female lead), 丑 (joker) and others.
– Understanding Guan Yu’s mask, and how its characteristic features (red face, phoenix-like eyes and long beard) convey his story and associated values, such as a kind and pure heart (赤子之心).
– Appreciation of the elements of Guan Yu’s visual representations in art, such as the Green Dragon Crescent Blade (青龙偃月刀), legendary Red Hare stallion (赤兔马) and others.
– Dramatic story-telling of selected excerpts from the Romance of The Three Kingdoms, such as the Oath of the Peach Garden (桃园三结义) and Guan Yu’s surrender Cao Cao (身在曹营心在汉), that show how Guan Yu never broke his promise even after many years.
– Play an original game allowing students to experience the tensions between temptation, loyalty and betrayal.
– Facilitated discussion of why it’s important to do the right thing, even when others are selfish. Understand why this idea of righteousness and brotherhood is important to the Chinese, many of whom ventured abroad to forge a new life during times of instability in China.
– Understand what true friendship means, as our children grow up into a world of FB, IG and instant gratifications.
– Warning: Parents, be warned that your children may start holding you to your promises after the workshop! 😛
Afternoon session
– Time travel through co-composing a battlefield soundscape.
– Collective problem-solving via role-playing with original props of the chapter “”Borrowing Arrows with Thatched Boats”” (草船借箭), in which military strategist Zhuge Liang managed to obtain 100,000 arrows from the enemy without a fight. This exercise will be child-led, with the exploration of different possibilities before revealing what Zhuge Liang did historically.
– Dramatic re-telling of the chapter The Bitter Trick, the risky act of deception by the selfless veteran general Huang Gai, that paved the way for an unlikely yet overwhelming victory eventually at the Battle of Red Cliff.
– Re-living of the famous Battle of Red Cliff, via a giant game of Chinese Chess, with chess pieces as large as pizzas!
– Children will discuss offensive and defensive strategies. Complexity will be layered, with the use of a minimal number of chess pieces before the addition of more. Children will learn the importance of foresight, patience, adaptation (顺应时势), understanding your opponent (见招拆招), and commitment (起手不回).
– Facilitated discussion of how in life, we succeed when we plan, strategise and make the best use of the tools available to us. More importantly, we succeed when we build strong bonds with people, winning not just their minds but also their hearts.
Important to note:
* Due to limited slots, bookings are non-refundable.
* Do note that by attending this workshop, your child will not understand the complete Romance of the Three Kingdoms. What we aim to do instead is to plant the seeds.
* Photos of the classes may be taken and used for publicity purposes.
* Parents can sit in to observe if space permits.
* Curriculum is subject to minor changes.
* Lunch will be around 12.45pm at Eatts, the former Han’s Cafe at the National Library Building, a 2-min walk away. Our educators will bring your child there, get your child’s order, eat with your child, and accompany your child back for the afternoon segment of the workshop. Lunch is capped at $17 per child and included as part of the workshop fee. Menu is available on our website for your reference.”
Bras Basah Complex, 231 Bain St, #04-01, Singapore 180231. (The workshop will be held at our venue partner, Bhaskar’s Arts Academy.)