School: Fu-Shin Elementary School
    Changhua, Changhua, Taiwan

6 students, ages 10-11 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on February 4, 2005. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005

Classes and Teachers: Su Chia-Ling , Chen Siao-Wei ,Jhang Jin-Ling

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.fsses.chc.edu.tw

1. Description of Our Community

Ershuei was originally called Er-ba-shuei. It is the central of the counties of Changhua Nantou and Yunlin. To the north are the Bagwa Mountains and to the south runs Taiwan's longest river,Chuosuei River. Truly one of Taiwan’s most picturesque of places. In this area of no factories, simple living, a natural paradise, you still can find a country neighborly .If you have the chance, come and enjoy the agrarian life of Ershuei with its rice paddy fields and blue skies. If you jump over to the Bagwa Mountains, you can visit the troops of Formosa monkeys. At the same time, you can look behind the mysterious veil of the Babaojuin and follow the trail of its cultural legacy. Do not forget to sample the many delectable fruits and vegetables. Come and experience the fun at our eateries with tables filled with local delicacies. Of course, you cannot miss an afternoon of admiring Dong Zuo's exquisitely sculpted ink stones made from snail-shell river slate (Luoshih stone).

2. Summary of Our Project

Dong Zuo is an award-winning inkstone sculptor. He is the son of sculptor Dong Ren-Shen (deceased). Dong Zuo learnt from his father since he was young, and he dedicated more than forty years of his life in this profession.During this time,he has completed numerous sculptures in Luosishih stone, one of which placed Silver praise in Council for Cultural Affairs.At the request of the Council for Cultural Affairs, Dong Zuo exhibited his works in New York and Paris. In 2002,Mr.Dong was invited to an individual exhibition in Japan.He was often interviewed by the media and television stations. Because of the well-known author Liou-Yiong wrote an essay about Dong Zuo. The topic was Shaping the ink stone is like shaping the person,the essay about Dong Zuo was entered into the junior high textbooks in 2004. Dong Zuo has put his whole heart into furthering the art of inkstone sculpting. At the asking, Dong Zuo shares his sculpting secrets with students and members of the community to further this disappearing art. His actions are worthy of imitating.

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:2-3

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

At school, we have an IT centre which is based on an Optical Fiber Communication System and connected to the Taiwan Academic Network by T3. To download and/or upload information from home, we can dial-up or use ADSL to connect the internet network.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

(1)The differences between team members and traffic problem: Our team consists of fourth and fifth graders; therefore there is a difference between us on our knowledge of this subject. As we are in the different grades, our class schedules are different, so we can only utilize the extra-curriculum hours such as lunch break and the time after school for this event. There is a distance between the Inkslab Art Museum and our school, but we can get there by bicycle.

(2)Hardware Equipments: There was only one digital camera provided by our school. In order to complete this project, all teachers contributed their own digital cameras and digital voice recorders unconditionally. Besides, Mr. Dong Zuo provided us with some necessary tools so as to fully undergo this inkslab activity.

(3)Training for interview techniques: Our team members need to be trained for their interview skills after regular class schedules. This will help them handle the upcoming interviews.

(4)To share and integrate with the local community: Inkslab is not strange to any of us, because we usually have some courses on Luosishih inkstone at school. Through this project we realized that there were some people who silently dedicated themselves to inherit and pass on this local traditional culture. By sharing the resources of the local community and Mr. Dong Zuo, we were able to learn more about the culture of our hometown.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

(1)We should show more respects to these precious inkslab masters and further encourage them. All the more necessary is to take a serious attitude towards passing on this unique handicraft from generation to generation. We wish more and more people would recognize the real value of this unique local culture.

(2)Our team members improved significantly on their eloquence, the ability to express themselves and the way to think of questions. The most important thing is that every member has fully understood the value of cooperation, of learning from team work and of appreciating each others.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

From the researches and interviews on this special topic about Luosishih inkstone, and inkslab artists, we learned a lot more about our hometown specialties. Through this special study, we were able to excavate the resources from local community by learning techniques of manufacturing these specialties as well as holding study activities. In so doing, we have shared our results with all the students at our school.

On this special study, we need to work separately but still cooperate with each other and maintain mutual communication. For instance, during the interview, some of us need to raise questions and a second one write down the progress reports and filed them in order, while a third one take care of sound recording. In addition, some other members need to organize course programs for study activities. It was only through this kind of team work that we were able to complete this project and achieve the preconceived targets.

We have learned a lot from this study, such as getting along with people, taking correct attitude towards life as well as maintaining the balance of our body and mind.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

(1)interview: To interview the inkslab master in person and learn from him about the manufacturing process of inkstone.Also interview local people to understand more about Mr. Dong Zuo’s ideal of and attitude towards making inkslab.

(2)internet: To look for related informations on the net, and exchange opinions with net friends.

(3)books: Learn more about the local culture, history and characteristics to obtain various extra-curriculum knowledges.

(4)Scanner,printer: To process images by scanner and to print out informations for circulation and records by printer.

(5)Telephone,fax machine: To keep in touch with interviewees by telephone and fax machine.

(6)computer,portable disks,hard disks: To process and exchange related information and photos by computers, hard disks and portable disks.

(7)Software: Dream weaver,Photo Impact,Photo Shop,Flash,Office...

(8)Digital camera Digital voice recorder: To trace the interview records, and take down the reorganized conversation note.

(9)Digital video camera video camera: To record the whole process of activities for the reference of next teaching programs.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

(1)Little Reporters (to interview in person): Through the interview and interact with Master Dong Zuo to get the first hand information. At the forefront to understand the difficulty of making inkslab and to witness the birth of a masterpiece from Master Dong Zuo’s hands.

(2)Little Inkslab Teacher (to experience of making inkstone): From picking up a stone from the riverbed to finish his or her final product of inkslab; According to what we have been taught by Master Dong Zuo, we set out to make our own inkslab so as to realize the difficulty in making one.

(3)Little Lecturers: After a period of time, every team member has acquired certain knowledge about Luosishih inkstone. Team members then undertake the job of promoting the culture of Luosishih inkstone in school, by letting more people understand the value of their own culture treasures.

(4)Research Experts (to collect information): Apart from our first hand information, we still need to do some research on the Internet and books in order to verify all the data. For that reason Internet and Reference Libraries became a new world for us , and we were able to compare our first hand information with the search results from Internet and books and choose the correct ones. It is also an effective way of showing the information to more people via Internet.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

(1)The influence on our students: Perhaps due to the difference between town and country, apparently our students underwent less cultural shock and that was the reason why these school children were not as clever and fast as their equivalents in the urban areas in response to an oral exchange and they tend to have stage fright. Besides, the children who grew up in the city were well composed on the stage. However, after this project we found our team members were able to present themselves as if they were the little reporters. We did not see any sign of wince or shyness on their behavior, which was an unexpected positive result.

This special study program is actually a huge project for us in that we will be able to gain valuable experiences through its completion. We realized that the most valuable inkslab Master, Mr. Dong Zuo, is so close to us, getting to know him would be tantamount to knowing the history and the development of our Luosishih inkstone. We believe by the in-depth study this time, we will be ready to carry over the heritage of Luosishih inkstone. To carry over and further pass on this hometown folk culture is the best way of showing the love to the hometown.

(2)The influence on the local community: In recent years Ershuei Town Council has done its utmost on in promoting the tourism industry and local folk culture of the Township. It did not forget to add the Inkslab Art Museum as recommended visiting spot on the tourist route.

A website on this subject could let more people know how Mr. Dong Zuo has contributed all his life to the promotion of Luosishih inkstone. In addition, it could also draw the attention of the locals and amateurs all over the world to cherish this valuable handicraft.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

When we brought up the idea about CyberFair Project to Mr. Dong Zuo, he soon agreed with it without hesitation. It was Mr. Dong Zuo who spared no efforts on in teaching us the knowledge and techniques about Luosishih inkstone selfishlessly. As a result we were able to know our hometown treasures much better and further enhance our sense of identification with our place of birth.

We also have to thank Mr. Dong Zuo’s wife, Guan Feng-Jiao, who has collected all the information about Mr. Dong Zuo such as exhibition photos, awards, and reports from TV and the presses. Without her efforts, we won’t be able to have that information added to our website. Besides, Mr. Dong Zuo’s oldest son, Mr. Dong Chia-Jing, often guide us in making inkstone and help us in dealing with the contents on of our website. Our thanks should also extend to Mr. Syu Tian-Siang and Mr. Chen Wun-Cing, two of Mr. Dong Zuo’s good friends, for their interview with us and having showed us their treasurable collection of inkslab. Some enthusiastic student’s parents helped us in many ways that was also our source of motive power. Last but not the least, we have to thank Mrs. Su Chia-Ling, Mrs. Chen Siao-Wei and Mrs. Jhang Jin-Ling, who arranged for our interviews, guided and urged us on the progress of the study, which made it possible for us to have this project done without a hitch.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

At school we have a course about making inkslabs, however they are just flat, ordinary and practical ones. It is not difficult to make one like that. Till we get in touch with Mr. Dong Zuo, we started to learn in-depth the process of making a Luosishih inkstone, and really realized what a great work it is. We tend to see only the eventual success of Mr. Dong Zuo, without knowing how much painstaking efforts he has been undergoing for his hard-earned fruits of victory. We understand that the goal of success can not be reached in one step.

We tend to think we have learned a lot from school, even with great result of study. However, after this study, we realized we knew so little from extra-curriculum sources. Ironically, this place is where we have been brought up, and we feel so unfamiliar with it. Now that we were able to know more about our hometown, we started to feel proud of it. From now on we can speak up loudly to friends around the whole world , that the hometown of Luosishih inkstone is Ershuei Township.