Two calligraphy experiencing lessons, themed “ Experiencing China·Dialogues with the Ancients”, were held by International Office on November 28th and December 5th with an aim to help international students experience the charms of Chinese characters and calligraphy , thus enhancing their understanding of the Chinese traditional culture. The lessons were presented by Zhan Xishan and Shen Xinlei from School of Chinese and attended by International students from the Belt and Road School .

First, the presenter showed Chinese characters from different time periods in Chinese history, such as Oracle, Seal Character, Regular Script, and Official Script. Next, she briefly analyzed the distinctions among them and then played a video about the origin and development related to the Chinese characters . Afterward, the presenter illustrated the origin and evolution of some Chinese characters, such as “山（mountain）”, “家（family）”, and “马（horse）”. Besides, the presenter  displayed some calligraphy masterpieces, such as Chairman Mao's inscription of “Beijing Normal University”, and Calligrapher Mr. Qi Gong’s inscription of the BNU motto: “Learn, so as to instruct others; Act, to serve as example to all.” Another presenter illustrated two ways of forming Chinese characters.

In class, international students showed high enthusiasm. They actively asked questions about Chinese characters and imitated many such as  “人（people）” in Oracle, trying to figure out how Chinese characters evolved. By comparing oracles with the simplified Chinese characters, they explored the characteristics of Oracles such as "水（water）" and "田（farmland）". They also drew pictures of wagons and compared them with "车 (wagon) " in Oracle to gain a deeper insight into the Hieroglyphics, which was a method of Chinese word-formation. Meanwhile, international students learned about pictophonetic word.

After the presentation, the presenter prepared traditional Chinese calligraphy tools ---  brushes, ink and Chinese art paper, and taught international students how to use them to practise the basic strokes-horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling ones and dot. They also tried writing their Chinese names and some complex characters, such as "福（happiness）" and "峰（peak）".

These calligraphy experiencing lessons left  a preliminary impression over international students on the charm of Chinese characters, which are an important part of profound Chinese culture.