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1. Description of Our Community
In Guan-yin Area, Guan-yin Village has a beautiful legend, which is most meaningful to the villagers. It tells the origin of the name of this village. On April 22, the tenth year of the Emperor Shian-feng of the Ching Dynasty, after an afternoon heavy rain, when Huang Deng-cheng, a farm laborer, was returning from work, he saw a natural stone drifting on a stream. It looked like Goddess of Mercy (Guan-yin in Chinese). Out of curiosity, he waded into the middle of the stream to pick up that stone and then put it at the roadside. At that time, there were only nine families, living in this village. The villagers lived a poor, hard life. They needed religious belief. Therefore, they built a straw hut for the stone and worshiped it reverently as Goddess of Mercy, hoping to get spiritual comfort. They called it “Stone Guan-yin”.
2. Summary of Our Project
The Chinese Buddhism implies a kind of mystical color and has deeply influenced people in the simple countryside of Guan-yin. A-yin Lin, the venerable man who is in his eighties now, took the Japanese education in his childhood and went deep into “The Eighteen Layers of Hells”; also, he combined his thoughts with his paintings. By his exquisite painting techniques, these paintings show the kindhearted spirits of Buddhism completely.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:1
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):
Our school network system adopts TANET scholastic cyber-net, linking Central University system by way of Taoyuan County network center. Partial members can surf the Internet by way of ADSL or Dial-in User Service.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
During the process of our research activities, there are three major problems as follows: 1. The formulaic impression toward Buddhas:Our impression toward Buddhas is only confined to what parents tell us or reports on television. However, the formulaic impression often misleads our ideas so that we don’t make a thorough inquiry into these questions. Not until we made this project, we found that the amount of Chinese Buddhas is so huge; it would be a great challenge in our age to go into this question. 2.The construction of web pages: Not many students have the experience to make web pages among the group members, and they only have basic techniques. Therefore, we feel troublesome to present the records of collected materials and activity process in the pattern of web pages. It’s fortunate that our instructors use lunch break to teach us how to use the software and hardware of computers everyday, so our problems can be solved. Although it’s toilsome to make web pages, it’s worthwhile when the web pages are completed. 3.The Traffic Problem:Our school is located in the countryside of Taoyuan County, but Grandpa Lin lives in Taipei. Although we are always full of expectation and excitement every time, it is an unpleasant task for teachers because they have to keep driving for one or two hours in order to meet Grandpa Lin. We all look forward to meeting him, but it is a one big headache for children living in the country like us to get carsickness during the long drive.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Jhih-yu Jiang—It’s my first time to take part in the activity related to computers, and I was so glad that I could join this activity. In the beginning, it’s fun, but it’s kind of tired and busy at the end. No matter how tired and busy it would be, we still tried hard to finish it. One day, we went to interview Grandpa Lin, and that’s also my first time to go out with my teachers. I thought it would be just an interview, then we could also appreciate the paintings of Buddhas and “the Eighteen Layers of Hells” which were drawn by Grandpa Lin. Besides, Aunt Lin would explain the meaning of paintings or the part we didn’t understand when we interviewed Grandpa Lin. Thanks to Aunt Lin’s explanation for our further understandings and realization.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
In our teaching environment, the local cultures are emphasized so that it’s an important mission for us to cherish and protect our cultural property. Through the field investigation and interviews, we explore the spirits of research and discussion from our hometown, Quan-yin! This project “the Mystical Fantasy World of Buddhas” is closely related to the Grade 1-9 Curriculums, including: Language Field 1.Analyzing questions of the project, and collecting and integrating materials. 2.Improving abilities of communication and discussion by visiting A-yin Lin Social Studies Field 1.Understanding local leaders’ characteristics. 2.Understanding the characteristics of local culture 3.Understanding the influence of religion in our society. Science and Technology Field 1.Using various kinds of information software effectively and efficiently. 2.Learning to integrate technology into our daily life Arts and Humanities Field 1.Be able to appreciate artistic productions. 2.Using imagination to be more creative about Buddhas Integrative Field 1.Uniting the power of teamwork and reaching goals cooperatively. 2.Exploring questions, making plans, pondering for answers, and sharing discussions.
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