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1. Description of Our Community
The area of Dacun and Yuanlin City was developed by Han Chinese settlers during the Yongzheng period(1723-1735), which was later a part of Yanwu Shangxia Fort. The first settler was Shi Shibang. By around the 16th year of the Qianlong reign, Yuanlin had developed into a street town called 'Yuanlinzi Street'. Because the early settlers had cleared the land from all directions, leaving circular plots of land as a memorial, it was named Yuanlinzi. The area is also known as 'Linzi Street' because of the lush trees surrounding the people’s houses .
Many of the village leaders in Yuanlin also preserved the culture of Beiguan music, such as Dongshan Fongliyuan in Dongshan Village and Fuxingxuan in Wannian Village, both of which are Beiguan groups with a history of more than a hundred years. In addition, because of Yuanlin's excellent geographical location, some people began to turn surplus fruits from the central and southern regions into preserved fruit candies, making Yuanlin the most famous place for producing such snacks.
2. Summary of Our Project
Beiguan music is an important representation of Chinese culture, especially in Taiwan, where Changhua is known as the stronghold of Beiguan music with the highest number of “Xuanyuan” (Beiguan music groups) members registered. However, due to its aging members, young people are less inclined to join Xuanyuan. The younger generation may also face opposition from parents who have biased views towards the parade culture and may not understand the essence of Beiguan music.
Changhua has a nationally designated preservation group, Lichunyuan, and four county-level preservation groups: Dongshan Fongliyuan, Changhua Lifangyuan, Lukang Yuchinyuan, and Changhua Rongleyuan. Our school, Dong Shan Elementary School, is also dedicated to promoting Beiguan music and has a deep relationship with Dongshan Fongliyuan, which has been in existence for over a century and provides community outreach to pass on this traditional music to the next generation. Therefore, we have decided to utilize the cultural advantages of our location to introduce Beiguan music and showcase its lively atmosphere in daily life, including Beiguan music performances in homes, temple processions, and parade performances.
Dongshan Fongliyuan, a local Beiguan music group near Dong Shan Elementary School, was founded by Mr. Lin Chaohu in 1948, and named Fongliyuan. The group has been passed down for three generations by Lin Chaohu, Cao Changchun, and Cao Rongyuan, who are passionate about traditional arts, Beiguan opera, and music. This group has a history of over a century, and we will focus on Dongshan Fongliyuan to gain a better understanding of the history and techniques of Beiguan music, and to actively preserve and promote traditional arts and Beiguan music.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:21-50%
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6
E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):
We learned about the importance and significance of Beiguan in Taiwan through interviews with local elders and their experiences and stories. Throughout this process, we constantly discover the profound nature of Beiguan and understood the crisis of its inheritance. We actively participated in club activities and performance promotions, and we even inquired about more opportunities to perform from our teachers because we wanted to let more people know Beiguan music and continue the tradition. We enjoyed every performance and strived to become ambassadors for the inheritance of Beiguan music culture, continuing to promote Beiguan music with great efforts.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
Participating in the 2023 Web Expo is a new learning experience for students. In the past, students were accustomed to being taught by teachers, but this time they need to actively gather information, visit different experts and teachers, and participate in various experiential activities. The change in learning method is the biggest challenge for students. Fortunately, through group cooperation, everyone learned to divide up the tasks, communicate and coordinate with each other, and complete various research and activities one by one.
In addition, we also encountered the problems of insufficient time and inadequate webpage production skills. Because the nine students come from different grade levels and classes, it is difficult to find common times to carry out activities. In order to avoid sacrificing their regular learning time, the research progress is delayed. Time is also required to teach students to be proficient in various application software operations to create a perfect project webpage!
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Beiguan music takes root in schools for sustainable inheritance. We further promote our Beiguan music to the people of the Dongshan area, so that more people can come and participate in our Friday night practices.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
Language: Through multiple discussions, field visits, progress reports, and interviews with the public, we have learned to utilize social resources, cultivate diverse writing skills and simple interviewing techniques, derive conclusions from questionnaires, and enhance our ability to analyze texts.
Social Research: Through this research project, we gained a deeper understanding of Beiguan music in Yuanlin, Changhua. We hope to raise awareness of the importance of preserving traditional Beiguan music, as well as its underlying values. This is also an alternative way of promoting culture.
Art: Through our visits to artists and exhibitions, we learned photography skills such as composition, capturing angles, and close-up shots. We also learned many concepts of creating beautiful images through web design and drawing. By browsing other websites, we discovered different website features. Additionally, through visiting Beiguan music artists, we learned to appreciate the connotation and cultural heritage of Beiguan culture.
Information Technology: From the initial document organization to the final website production, we encountered various software and hardware, understood the usage methods of different programs, and used diverse programs to create our own website. By browsing a multitude of websites, we can increase our understanding of Beiguan culture and make the website content richer.
Mathematics: In our website production, we transformed statistical data into graphs for display through questionnaire surveys, and found out majority opinions from interpreting the graphs.
Integrated Activities: Through collective activities, we can understand mutual assistance and cooperation, learn how to distribute work, understand everyone's strengths, and make the most of our own strengths. When there are different opinions, we ask questions and discuss them together. Ultimately, we work together to complete the tasks.
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