We dove into Ancient China with books about science, history, art, food, music, and folklore. I know two weeks seems like such a short time, but we had previously had an overview of China in our world history. As we study the Middle Ages this coming school year, I plan to cycle back to China and also use my Mongolia country study and Korea country study with my kids.
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Books about Science in Ancient China
Instead of using a comprehensive book to showcase all the scientific inventions of the Ancient Chinese, I decided to dive into individual, fun stories.
The Warlord’s Puzzle
We played with Tangrams after reading The Warlord’s Puzzle. If you don’t already have Tangrams, check out all the free printables, videos, and games at Tangram Channel.
The Warlord’s Alarm
We made a Chinese water clock using supplies around the house. Our was not the most scientific water clock, as there are so many variables to keep consistent. But this process taught us the challenges of creating a consistent clock!
Zhang Heng and the Incredible Earthquake Detector
This book combines science and art. The beautiful illustrations were created in the style of ancient Chinese shadow puppetry, in color instead of shades of gray. We enjoyed learning the story behind the first seismoscope. The book does not give scientific details of how it worked internally, as they were lost to time. However, here is a computer generated model of what it may have looked like inside.
The Silk Princess
These beautiful illustrations will give you a feel for the landscape of the Five Sacred Mountains of China. “Based on the ancient fable of the Silk Princess, this original story captures the spirit of ancient China, and tells the history of silk in the adorable story of Princess Hsi-Ling Chi.” -Amazon
The Story of Silk
Richard Sobol presents a fascinating photo journal about modern-day silk making. (This story takes place in Thailand.) We have found all of his photo journals to be fascinating.
Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China
This takes place during the T’ang Dynasty (Middle Ages) but was a nice continuation of the silk story. We read it in order the answer the question of how the secret of silk was leaked to the world.
Ancient Chinese Philosophy
These books and videos were insightful into Chinese philosophy and the art of Shaolin Kung Fu:
- Beautiful Warrior
- Zen Shorts
- Confucius, Great Teacher of China
- Video: The extraordinary final test to become a Shaolin Master
The 1st Emperor
Emperor Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty and ruled from 221-210 BC. He was buried with the Terracotta warriors and also began work on the Great Wall to keep out invaders from the north.
Terra Cotta Warriors
- Then & Now Ancient Wonders has a spread about the Terra Cotta Warriors with flaps to lift, showing how they used to look compared to now
- Ming’s Adventure with the Terracotta Army
Great Wall
I purchased a fun kit at a used homeschool curriculum sale. With it, we made a small, paper model of the Great Wall of China. It also includes a calligraphy ink stone and brush, ancient coins replicas, and a fan to decorate.
- The Great Wall Through Time
- You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Great Wall
- Ma Jiang and the Orange Ants
- The Story of Mulan (bilingual book)
Calligraphy in Ancient China
At my kids’ request, my parents bought them this really neat, Chinese calligraphy practice book and a set of Chinese calligraphy brushes. You practice using water, which means the characters disappear as the waters evaporate.
These two books inspired our attempts at Chinese brush drawing. We also used A Young Painter for art study! Hiss Pop Boom also goes through customs surrounding Lunar New Year in China (see my flip-through of the book)
We used the brushes from the Chinese calligraphy set. Below are the videos about Chinese painting that my kids chose to watch and copy.
- How to Draw Chinese Pandas
- Easy Chinese Brush Painting – How to Paint a Cat
- Chinese Brush Painting Basics – Goldfish
- Chinese Brush Painting – Bamboo for Beginners
Scroll
This book explains the pictographic origins of the Chinese language. After we read this book, we made our own scrolls using paper that we taped together. I used disposable chopsticks on either end to roll the scroll onto. The kids drew pictures using the key of pictograms found at the end of the book.
Look! What Do You See?
This was a really fun puzzle book for my kids. It’s made to look like Chinese calligraphy but, hint hint, it’s not Chinese!
Food
Chinese Menu
This is a wonderful compilation of Chinese folktales about Chinese foods. Grace Lin provides a timeline at the beginning of the book. We read the stories about food from the portion of the timeline featuring ancient China. This book is not a cookbook, but there is one recipe at the end, for Grace Lin’s mother’s scallion pancake recipe. We had to try it and they turned out perfectly. Chinese scallion pancakes are called cong you bing in Chiense. Here’s a similar recipe, if you want to try it!
Fortune Cookie Fortunes
Did you know that Fortune Cookies aren’t even from ancient China? It is believed that they were invented in California by the Japanese.
Dim Sum For Everyone!
This is a super cute book featuring the various small dishes of Dim Sum.
Noodle Magic
After reading this endearing, intergenerational story and the story about knife cut noodles from Chinese Menu, we had to make our own!
Music
We used A Musical Journey for our music study. This interesting book has short introductions of the regions of China, paired with musical examples. The book includes a CD to listen to as you read through it, and we looked up short videos about specific Chiense instruments. I thought this book does a great job in helping us realize how large the country is and how varied its regions. You could split this book into 10 short lessons.
Games from Ancient China
Go: This is one of those deceptively difficult strategy games. Beginners can play it on one level, experts can play it on another! Intrigued? Here are the rules.
Chinese Chess: This is also called Xiangqi. It is believed to have originated in the 1st century AD. This game is a bit harder to learn, as the pieces have Chinese characters on them and each has a different way of moving.
Folktales
- The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & The Beast Tale
- Lord of the Cranes
- Da Wei’s Treasure: A Chinese Tale
- Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend
- The Lost Horse
- The Empty Pot, Demi
- The Seven Chinese Sisters
And, just for fun: Ms Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China