This is an ordinary day for Yang Jinlong.

At 9 a.m, he drives to primary schools and middle schools in Xian Shanxi Province, to teach students about Shanxi kuaiban. It is a traditional Chinese form of storytelling to the rhythm of bamboo clappers(响板) which the art form is named after. Sometimes, he helps students prepare for competitions. Usually his classes run until about 6 p.m. and then he returns home to prepare classes for the next day.

On June 10 the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced 325 national intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) items in Beijing increasing the list to 1,557 items. Shanxi kuaiban, which appeared during the late Qing Dynasty, has been included. It has been introduced to local schools as part of their art education.

Yang has been teaching young people the art form since 2003 after graduating from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing. He studied quyi there. Quyi is a general term for Chinese folk art forms including storytelling crosstalk and clapper talk.

“Art education is important for students in China. Just as many students learn to play western musical instruments like the piano and violin there are many people learning traditional Chinese folk arts, including Shanxi kuaiban, which I’ll work for my whole life,” he said.

Kuaiban is popular in northern China, including Beijing and Tianjin. According to Yang, Shanxi kuaiban was influenced by the art of different areas. The art form can be played by a group of players or only one. With one or two pairs of kuaiban of different sizes in hand the players speak in the local dialect(方言) while telling stories, which are usually about heroes. The player tells stories while playing kuaiban and it’s easy for the watchers to remember the stories since all the lines have rhymes.

Thanks to artists like Yang, this traditional Chinese form of storytelling is passed on and stays alive in our country.

Yuan Longping, “Father of Hybrid Rice（杂交水稻之父）”, was born in 1930 in Beijing. On May 22,2021, this great man passed away（去世）in Changsha, Hunan. All Chinese people felt sad when they heard this.

Yuan’s family was very rich when he was young. His parents had good jobs, and his mother was an English teacher. Yuan was the second son of his parents, and they had high hopes for him.

As a child, he moved to many places, like Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Chongqing, to study because of his parents’ jobs. But much of his time was in Chongqing. He studied there from 1939 to 1946, and he finished his college（大学）there in 1953.

Yuan could do many things. He could play the guitar, the violin and was a good swimmer. He could also speak English very well. And he loved agriculture（农业）very much. He spent about 50 years on it. He studied hybrid rice in the 1960s. His study on hybrid rice was successful. Because of his hybrid rice, China is able to feed（养育）so many people every year. People will always remember him.

One of the most famous people in ancient China was a wise philosopher (哲学家) named Confucius (孔子) (circa 551—479 BC). He sometimes went by the names Kong Zi. He was born in the country of Lu.When Confucius was only three, his father died. His mother was very poor. He never had a good education. As Confucius grew up, he wanted to learn things. So he decided to teach himself. Confucius was a strange-looking boy. He got very upset, but he was also a kind boy. Confucius didn’t play with other children in his free time. But he always talked to artists and musicians and learned from them.

If he met with something difficult to do, he kept trying over and over again until he learned how to do it. Later, Confucius grew up to be a very clever man and became the leader of a city. He used his knowledge and skills in a wise and fair way to govern (管理) the city. He was very popular with his people.

People today believe Confucius was the wisest man who ever lived in China. He also made many wise sayings in ancient China that helped many people learn about nature, the world, and the human behavior. Many of his wise sayings are still inspiring (激励) us, such as “Is it not happy to receive friends coming from a far place?”.