The Department of Information and Communication Pass on Culture

2013/12/22

SHIH, CHIEN-CHOU

A group of students from the Department of Information and Communication published a book titled, “The Dragon Eye of Da Dao Gong.” In the afternoon on December 19th they went to New Taipei City’s Tamsui Shuiyuan Elementary school to hand out the newly published materials while interacting with the younger students. The TKU students explained that in the west they have Santa Claus, but here in Tamsui we have Da Dao Gong.

Tamsui’s Sanzhi region has been a site that is well known for preserving its heritage and cultural traditions which are hundreds of years old. The students from TKU passed on the knowledge of these traditions to the younger students through acting out plays, drawing, and reading the old fables. The young students were joyful as they played and learned about the characters of their local culture. Assistant professor of the Department of Information and Communication, Jyh-ming Yang, expressed, “This book was an achievement of the collaboration of TKU and the local community organizations.” Jyh-ming Yang and professor Hui-ju Lai worked together to design a student service curriculum that emphasized telling stories and acting out plays. After working with students for nearly a year, they were able to absorb the cultural information through various avenues and manifest it in a way that the younger students could fully appreciate.

Chairperson of the Tamsui Culture Foundation, De Xi Xie, stated, “Not only is this book a great product for Tamkang University, it is also important for the Taiwanese heritage. It is crucial for young students to be able to recognize and identify with their origins. Letting them learn in a way that is fun will ensure that their culture will be passed on to future generations.” Jyh-ming Yang stated, “It hasn’t been easy working on this type of project. Everyone has had to contribute and sacrifice in many ways, but being able to reach out a hand for the younger generation is definitely worth it.”

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