A Chinese Tale: “The Four Dragons”

Monday (09/01/2012)

a)      Vocabulary Recap.

·         We recapped on the names of 12 chinese Zodiac Animals. They were rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

b)      What’s a dragon?

·         The kids shared about their knowledge.

Xiang Wei: I’ve got a lantern with dragon pictures.

Shawn: They can fly very high.

Rei: Some live in the water.

Jia Xun: They puff fire.

·         Generally, there are 2 types of dragons. The Oriental or Chinese dragon and the Western or English Dragon. The Western Dragons had got wings and they are mostly viewed as dangerous to people. However, as for the Chinese Dragons; they are viewed as the Earth saver which made rain for us or even rescued us from dangers. I defined the meaning of “legend” as nobody has actually seen any dragons…..but probably our ancestors actually did. Dragons symbolized “brave, kind, intelligent, strong and powerful”.

c)       The Legend of Dragons.

·         Once there lived 4 brothers of dragons in the sea of China. They were always happy and playing together. Drought had occurred in a village and many people were dying due to no food or drinks. Thus, the dragons went seeking for Jade Emperor’s help. The storybook said that he promised to give rain the next day. However, he was busy with some tasks and forgot about it. After a few days; seeing no rain yet; the dragons decided to scoop water from the sea and puff it down as if rain from the sky. The villagers rejoiced and thanked the dragons. However, Jade Emperor’s soldiers captured dragon saying that they acted beyond their power. They were punished and turned into 4 long rivers in China. One of them is the Yellow River of Hwang Ho. Some folks mentioned that sometimes, dragons appeared from the river to play together. Wow….they must be the 4 brother dragons.

d)      I can dance like a dragon!

·         We carried the dragon model from the office. After watching a few video clips on dragon dance, the kids got the idea about the dance. The head will always chase for the colourful ball and the body parts must always co-ordinate.

Xiang Wei: Which is heavier? Head or tail?

·         After carrying, it was the head. For dragon dance, unty is important. A longer dragon requires more participants up to 50 people. Our school requires around 6 people. It was awesomely fun! The kids requested to learn more of the dance steps.