On November 2nd, 30 new international students from Jiangnan University had a cultural enrichment field trip to Wuxi Museum featuring a lecture on traditional Chinese painting and hands-on activities.

The lecture was quite different from the usual ones. Instead of learning Chinese language, students applied Chinese language to decode Chinese paintings. It began with the stories about Ni Zan, one of the most famous Chinese artists in the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368). From these stories, students had a glimpse of Ni Zan’s eccentric personality and unique painting style. Instructor Kang shared tips on how to understand Chinese painting. When Kang showed more paintings of Ni Zan, students attempted to make some professional comments. Plus, they gained an insight into genres of traditional Chinese painting and basic painting techniques. In the hands-on session, students picked up the brush with great interest and tried their hands at basic lines such as straight lines, cursive lines, bamboo leaves and orchid leaves on rice paper.

Recently, the School of International Education of Jiangnan University and Wuxi Museum have worked together and complemented each other to develop a cultural exchange platform of “Chinese Language + Jiangnan Culture” in an effort to promote the understanding of Jiangnan Culture in an innovative way, so as to better tell China's stories, to spread the voice of China to the world more effectively, to improve the influence of Chinese culture and to cultivate international students with“Global Vision, Future Mission, Unchained Affection”.