Chinese Calligraphy & Resilience

Frequently asked questions

• What to expect, run of show

  Has your name influenced your identity and how you view yourself? First, we start with an ice breaker where everyone shares the meaning of their name and what their parents told them about who and why they chose that name.

  Then we go over an overview of Chinese Calligraphy, its history, ties to Chinese culture, and depending on the Chinese holiday we are celebrating, some themes related to that holiday. For example, for Lunar New Year, we will also look at some spring festival couplet poems.

  Then we will use the Piccles digital drawing tool where everyone will draw 3-5 things that they love and represent them now. It’s always fun guess who drew what and a time of getting to know each other better.

  Lastly, everyone will combine those 3-5 elements and invent a Chinese character that represents them. It’s not about making it look Chinese, creativity is about original thought and using everyone’s unique expression to build authentic connection.

• Will we learn to speak and write in Chinese?

  Yes! You will learn to say and write a bunch of simple Chinese characters and also see how they combine to form new characters.

• Does the character we invent have to look Chinese?

  No! The exercise is not about creating a real Chinese-looking character, but to use our imagination and create something original, and sharing what it means to us in order to form authentic connection with others!

• Can we extend the event duration?

  Absolutely! We can easily extend this event to 90 minutes with an additional fee.

• What is Chinese Calligraphy?

  In China, only 2 arts are considered fine arts - painting and calligraphy - and calligraphy is considered the greater of the two. Early drawings of characters on oracle bones date back over 3,000 years during the Shang Dynasty and modern Chinese characters were codified during the Han Dynasty around 1,800 years ago.

  How many Chinese characters are there? The biggest dictionary in China has around 60,000 characters; the standard computer code in China has 70,000 characters while the largest compilation of characters in China ever had 106,230 characters. The Chinese government simplified characters in the 1950s to increase literacy rates and today you can be fluent in Chinese if you know around 2000-3000 characters.

• What's Inventing a Chinese Character?

  In this virtual workshop we use the transformational power of Chinese Calligraphy to reinforce our identify and share what's meaningful to us with each other. The evolution of Chinese Calligraphy from drawings to pictographs to modern characters is a story of innovation and resilience, and shows that our identity can keep evolving. Everyone will invent a new Chinese character that represent the things that bring them joy and walk away rejuvenated. This perfect is perfect for DEI initiatives and celebrations for Chinese New Year/Spring Festival, AAPI awareness, or Mid-Autumn Festival.