Threshold of Chinese Culture vol.1

Threshold of Chinese Culture, a series of general teaching materials on Chinese culture designed for overseas Chinese learners, is suitable for overseas learners who are preparing for exams such as HSK, IB or AP, or enthusiasts who have a strong interest in Chinese culture. Threshold of Chinese Culture (vol. 1 and vol. 2) consists of four units, totally 16 lessons, with each unit named after a Chinese character, “美”(beauty), “智”(wisdom), “礼”(etiquette) and “和”(harmony). Starting with the first unit “美” and ending with the fourth unit “和”, the four Chinese characters take learners on a journey through Chinese culture from the shallow to the deep, as well as from the outside to the inside. The content, all-embracing but not opaque, covers geography and landscape, architectural design, painting and porcelain, literature and music, clothing, food, housing and transportation, ancient technology, etiquette and rituals, and Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. In addition to providing an in-depth reading experience, we have also designed a large number of cross-cultural comparisons and exercises, hoping to seek commonalities while preserving differences in mutual understanding, and to cultivate learners’ global perspective and mindset. As a cultural textbook, the whole book includes texts in both Chinese and English in order to lower the reading threshold.

Except for the paper materials, Threshold of Chinese Culture comes with an online learning applet, which includes not only teaching materials, videos, animations, games, atlases and other resources related to the material, but also learning micro-lessons specifically produced for the book. Delivered by real teachers, the 5-to-8-minute-long micro-lessons also include the refinement and supplementation of the content of the paper textbook, which can deepen the learners’ secondary understanding of cultural knowledge.

The author group and main editors of Threshold of Chinese Culture are as follows:

Shangguan Xuena, planning editor and associate editor of Beijing Language and Culture University Press, has planned and published a series of teaching materials and teaching aids, such as A Kaleidoscope of Chinese Culture, Multimedia Lecture Series of Narration of China, Series for Young Readers of Meet China and Smart Cat-Graded Chinese Readers. Her products have been awarded or nominated for the China Excellent Publication Award three times.

Ruan Luna, teacher in the School of International Education of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, has taught at the Confucius Institute in Miskolc, Hungary. Her research mainly focuses on second language teaching and Chinese culture teaching.

Considering the characteristics of our readership, Threshold of Chinese Culture, a series of introductory materials on Chinese culture designed for overseas Chinese learners, has presented on an application in addition to the conventional carrier of paper.