China History Co-op. Week 4 - Shang Dynasty

Week 4: We wrote on wood like the Ancient Chinese and made ivory carvings.

We began by discussing seven important elements from the Shang Dynasty writing each one down from top to bottom and right to left like the Ancient Chinese. The elements are described below.

1 - Wood Writing - The kids made their bamboo strips for writing by tying craft sticks together with yarn.

2 - Chariots were invented.
3 - Silk was invented - We listened to the story of Lei Zu and the Silkworm and the kids got to feel real silk cloth. You can find the story in the Story of the World Volume 1.

Then they got a chance to put the silk making process in order.

4 - Oracle Bone Writing - We learned about how the Ancient Chinese used the oracle bones as a sort of fortune telling device.
5 - Tortoise shell writing
6 - Bronze - The Ancient Chinese figured out how to make bronze by mixing tin and copper.
7 - Jade and Ivory - Carvings were made out of jade and ivory. First the kids got to see real (very old) ivory carvings that one of our history co-op members happened to have.

Ivory Carvings
Ivory carvings were made from bars of soap.

A vegetable peeler was used to make the surface of the bar of soap smooth.

Designs were carved with a vegetable skewer.

Paint was put on top of the bar of soap and then wiped off from the surface. The paint sunk into the grooves making the design visible.

 

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