Recently, the Global Dinner at Penn State University was grandly held, bringing together students and faculty from around the world to share diverse cultures and customs. The Zhengdao Chinese Language Association participated in the event, demonstrating its unique approach to teaching Chinese—integrating oracle bone script, character culture, and historical context to help learners gain a deep understanding of the Chinese language.

The association’s teaching philosophy emphasizes that Chinese characters are not merely tools for communication but also carriers of Chinese culture, philosophy, and historical wisdom. Representatives presented the origins and evolution of Chinese characters through oracle bone script, explaining the form, sound, meaning, and cultural-historical background of each character. This approach allows learners to understand the ancient Chinese concept of the unity of Heaven and Humanity and the philosophy of harmony between humans and nature, integrating language learning with cultural knowledge.

By studying characters through oracle bone script, learners can intuitively grasp the original principles of character formation and pictographic features, gaining insight into the cultural imagery and historical stories each character carries. Compared with traditional methods focused mainly on grammar and vocabulary, this approach enhances learners’ understanding of language patterns, cultural meanings, and logical structures in Chinese. Moreover, combining language learning with historical and cultural knowledge makes the learning process more vivid and engaging, stimulating students’ interest and curiosity.

Participation in the Global Dinner allowed the Zhengdao Chinese Language Association to showcase the charm of Chinese characters, language, and culture to the international community, highlighting the association’s professionalism and influence in campus Chinese language education and cultural promotion, while enriching the university’s multicultural environment with the depth and heritage of Chinese civilization.

The Zhengdao Chinese Language Association has launched online teaching programs and plans to further organize various Chinese language and cultural activities, committed to promoting a relaxed, efficient, and culturally rich approach to learning Chinese worldwide, advancing cross-cultural communication and global Chinese language education.