Now that we are with HKWA,
Let’s just be demoiselle cranes;
To fly together without regret;
When struggling, we shall say loudly:
Stick to it and never give up!
Fearless demoiselle cranes shall never give up!
Flying Fearlessly originally created by Jingru Du, a teacher from Chinese Language Office
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a great chance for people to express their homesickness and wishes for reunion. For students to carry on the traditional culture of the Chinese nation and cultivate good humanistic qualities of them, the 4th HKWA Mid-autumn Festival Poetry Fair of the primary school was held in the Lecture Hall on September 11-12, 2019.
The poetry was performed in various forms: poetry readings, singings and reciting, or poetry readings together with the audience. It could be classic poetry, patriotic poetry or original poetry, including Moon Cake and Moon by Jessy Chu from Class 2, Grade 3 and Flying Fearlessly by the Chinese teacher Jingru Du.
The Moon Cake and Moon revealed the great fun of small kids. The Flying Fearlessly wished the best for all the students in HKWA— may they have the courage to face hardship fearlessly like demoiselle cranes. Even foreign teachers were moved by the poetic sentiment in the Mid-Autumn Festival and joined us for the beauty of Chinese poetry.
HKWA President Yongyuan Li sent his regards, saying he was very much touched and grateful. All the students would feel proud of China’s brilliant traditional culture and grow into leaders with national feelings and international vision, as he hoped for. He also shared with the faculty, students and parents an original poetry that was created when he enjoyed the moon at the school’s Huxindao Island:
The moon is reflected in lakes with poetry readings;
Enjoy the beautiful mid-autumn festival in classical poems.
On the best time of the year,
HKWA students study very hard.
Vice President Deling Ma said the Mid-autumn Festival Poetry Fair made the school even more poetic, enhanced students’ sense of identity with Chinese culture and grew their confidence and elegant demeanor as the “descendants of the dragon” around the world. She also called on the students to read more to feel the beauty of literature.
“The short and incisive poetry conveys exquisite and overwhelming emotions, and it is why the audience feel the most direct and fervent sentiment from poetry readings. Every student is a ‘little artist’ on the stage, and they share a memorable time with great interest in literary readings,” said Ling Shen, head of the primary school’s Chinese Language Office in HKWA as she spoke of the annual Mid-autumn Festival Poetry Fair.
Chinese language teaching is an important part of HKWA’s bilingual teaching system. Poetry is a unique literary genre that contains rich aesthetic elements. The language, implication, emotion and image of beauty enable students to feel and appreciate the beauty. With the help of teachers in daily teaching, our students embrace the beautiful world with a poetic heart, developing their humanistic qualities and spirit through this kind of poetry fair.
Ode to the Moon by Daniel John Emanuelson, Director of HKWA’s primary school, Wendy Swanner, Deputy Director of HKWA’s primary school and Lisa Wu, Deputy Director of HKWA’s primary school
Weng Li-Yun on the Volume of the original by students in Class 1, Grade 1
Song of Tomorrow by students in Class 2, Grade 1
Disciple rules by students in Class 3, Grade 1
Rhythm Enlightenment by students in Class 4, Grade 1
Night Thoughts by students in Class 5, Grade 1
The Three-Character Classic by students in Class 6, Grade 1
Gulang Yuexing by students in Class 1, Grade 2
Mid-Autumn Festival Thoughts by students in Class 2, Grade 2
A medley of ancient poetry by students in Class 3, Grade 2
Flying Fearlessly by students in Class 4, Class 5 and Class 6, Grade 2
Moss by students in Class 1, Grade 3
Deer’s Call from the Book of Songs by students in Class 2, Grade 3
Invitation to Wine by students in Class 3, Grade 3
A Moonlit Night on the Spring River by students in Class 4, Grade 3
Drunk Mid-Autumn Festival by students in Class 5, Grade 3
Lantern Riddles Guess by students in Class 6, Grade 3
Homesickness by students in Class 1, Grade 4
My Full Thoughts by students in Class 2, Grade 4
Drinking Alone under the Moon by students in Class 3, Grade 4
Poetry and Youth by students in Class 4, Grade 4 and those in Class 1, Grade 5
Enjoy the Moon over Drinking by students in Class 2, Grade 5
Prelude to Water Melody by students in Class 3, Grade 5