When the time-honored craft of dough sculpture meets creative ideas for the Year of the Horse, a distinctive intangible cultural heritage experience unfolded in Room 101, Main Building No.4 of Zhangzhou Campus. On May 9, the event specially invited Wu Wenfeng, inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, to guide faculty and students of the college to learn the art of dough figurine making. The traditional folk culture was passed down through the warmth of handmade craftsmanship. The activity was hosted by Su De, counselor of the college.

At the beginning of the activity, Su De briefly introduced the historical origin, development and folk cultural connotation of dough sculpture as a national intangible cultural heritage, and outlined its basic techniques including pinching, rolling, kneading and lifting. Traditional dough sculpture craftsmanship has kept innovating through generations. Nowadays, safe and easy-to-shape clay materials are widely adopted in campus experience sessions, which are more suitable for handmade classroom teaching. This allows the millennium-old intangible cultural heritage to approach teachers and students in a more youthful way.

Subsequently, the practical teaching session began. Wu Wenfeng gave a hands-on tutorial themed on "Cartoon Little Horse" with step-by-step demonstrations and guidance. First, take red clay and knead it into a teardrop shape to form the horse’s main body, then insert a bamboo stick for stable support. After finishing the basic horse body shape, make decorative yellow saddle ornaments, carefully press out natural textures to enrich decorative details and highlight the layered contours of the model. Once the ornaments were completed, clay of matching colors was kneaded into well-proportioned limbs, which were then assembled and fixed on both sides of the horse body. Next, a round and lovely horse head was shaped separately. Facial features such as eyes and ears were crafted one by one and attached to the corresponding positions of the head to present a vivid and lively expression.

During the whole teaching process, Mr Wu walked around to provide on-site guidance. He bent down frequently to refine the clay shapes and patiently answered every question raised by teachers and students. After the two-hour immersive experience, tables were filled with a rich variety of one-of-a-kind "Intangible Cultural Heritage Little Horse" works. Everyone gave full rein to their creativity and adorned the horse sculptures with auspicious accessories including fortune characters and golden ingots, embodying abundant good wishes for the Year of the Horse. By immersing themselves in the charm of Chinese intangible cultural heritage, students have further strengthened their emotional recognition and sense of identity with traditional Chinese culture.、

As one of the college’s serial events titled "Taking Intangible Cultural Heritage to the World", this activity adopted a diversified model combining lectures and hands-on experiences. It aimed to enable students to deeply perceive the charm of intangible cultural heritage, enhance their awareness and understanding of fine traditional Chinese culture, and thereby strengthen their cultural confidence. In the future, the college will continue to hold such cultural activities to help international students act as cultural communicators during their overseas studies. Students are expected to vividly tell Chinese stories on the international stage, actively promote cross-cultural exchanges, and extend the influence of fine traditional Chinese culture to the wider world.