Peer Review by Yating Hsu

Yufei Li Professor Dutta Writing and Inquiry in Academic Context I 16 April 2013 Analysis of Artifacts in Professor Zhous House I have never thought that I could feel at home in a foreign country before I came to the U.S.A. Thanks to Professor Zhou, she provides me with motherly love and helps me reduce anxiety. My life has become much easier because of her. We met in a welcome party hosted by UNCC Chinese Students and Scholars Association. She wore a warm smile and introduced me to a group of students who have already been here for more than a year. From our conversation, I knew she is a devout Christian. Every Friday she invites several students who are willing to know about Christianity to her house, cooks dinner, and holds a Bible study. Frankly speaking, I am curious about religion, so I joined their group and got many friends there. Although the Bible study brought us students together, I found it is the harmonious atmosphere and wonderful friendship more than anything else that keep us tight. The community I choose is the group of Chinese students who study in UNCC and gather together every Friday in her home. The artifacts I would like to analyze are also from her home. They are presented as follow.

1.

Why are carvings of bamboo on the wall? Professor Zhous husband is from Sichuan province which locates in the southwest part of China. Sichuan province is abundant in bamboos. Thats well explains why it is pandas hometown. In China, bamboo symbolizes a man of noble character. Putting carvings of bamboo in the living room shows the hosts good virtue and the essence of Chinese culture at the same time. Why is the color gold? The wood they used for carving is yellowwood. According to Professor Zhou, yellowwood is hard to erode, so they bought this material for the carvings. Additionally, gold is the color that represents wealth, and also represents their wish for a prosperous future. Why are three carvings on the wall? The space limit on the wall determines that three carvings are proper. What is more, three is a number meant for completeness in China.

Where were the carvings made? They were made in Zhejiang province where is famous for wood carving. After all processes had been done, they were shipped to the U.S.A. These carvings have cost thousands of dollars, so they pay special attention to preserve the carvings. 2.

What are these on the door? This is the door leading to their garage. There are a lot of fridge magnets on the door. They said they never buy any souvenir except fridge magnets when they were still students. Now they can afford more expensive collections, but they will continue to buy fridge magnets because it has become their habit. These fridge magnets came from different parts of the world and they contributed a lot to the attractive door display in their house. Looking at the door, I feel motivated because I also want to travel around the world like them. They keep remind me to work hard. Besides fridge magnets, there are also many menus on the door held by a little paw. These menus give them detailed instruction on how to cook delicious and authentic

Chinese dishes. It is fun to read those menus for they not only tell the amount of raw material people should prepare and how to cook, but also clearly state why these dishes should be cooked in certain ways. The instruction is especially useful for students like me. As a result, whenever I go her home, I will surely visit this door. 3.

What are these in the picture? As we can see in the picture, there are two porcelain vases on both sides. The ceramic arts could date back to the Neolithic Age which is about 5000 years from now. This is the heritage passed on from Chinese ancestors. It is also the proof of the wonderful Chinese culture. Additionally, the birth place of ceramic arts is Jingdezhen which locates in Jiangxi province, southeast part of China. That is where I come from. I am always proud to hear the praise of ceramic arts. On the porcelain vases, Chinese ink and wash paintings have been printed. These two paintings are all about mountains. The painter stood on the top of the mountain and depicted the lush trees and the floating cloud creating a wonderland. On the right side, there are also several bamboos on the vase. It is obvious that bamboo plays an important role in their hearts. What is the handwriting in the middle talking about?

This is Psalm 23 from the Old Testament in Bible. The main idea is to praise God, and to show their great attitude towards God. The couple is devout Christians. This calligraphy is hanged on their front wall in the living room. Everyone can see this clearly when stepping into the room. As far as I am concerned, this is a combination of Chinese and western culture. Many people transform themselves to complete Americans when they have lived in the U.S.A for a long time. However, they two never forget their identity though they became Christians. They never forget that they have the obligation to carry on Chinese culture even they are not China. 4.

This is a typical Chinese calendar that I gave to this couple as the gift for Chinese Spring Festival. In the middle of the upper part, there is a big which means bless. This is the most auspicious character in Chinese culture and there is a story behind it. The Qing Emperor Kangxi was raised by his grandma Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. When he was twenty years old, his beloved grandma suffered from a dangerous disease. At that time, there was a saying that writing a big on a delicate tiffany can prolong ones life span. Once Emperor Kangxi heard this, he found the finest

tiffany in the country and wrote the character out with strong love and pure sincerity. What is more, he put the mark of imperial jade seal which represented the emperor s supreme power right above the character. This act was done to make sure that bless would be given to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang from head to foot throughout the whole body. When she got this character, Xiaozhuang recovered quickly and lived for another fifteen years. Since then, has become an indispensable part of every Chinese house. Paragraph Comment: The first two paragraphs state clearly about the background and community. For the first artifact, I think maybe you can explain more about panda. The second artifact is very interesting. You provide a good description of the third artifact. You pointed out the key information and atmosphere at the end of your third paragraph. In your fourth artifact, you have told a good story about the character. You can tell more about 12 Chinese zodiac signs and lunar calendar. Ending comment: You put your essay in a Q&A style which is convenient for the writer and reader to get the main idea. However, I think you should abandon your questions in your final version to make it look formal. Overall, this is a truly analysis. You did a good job in analyzing artifacts. I like you detailed stories. I also think you should try to relate your artifacts with your community. I did not see much relationship between these two. You should also add an introduction and a conclusion.