Stepping into the campus of Guangming Road Primary School in Linshu County, Shandong Province, one is immediately struck by the rich atmosphere of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) culture. The corridors are adorned with posters and illustrations of TCM knowledge, including introductions to famous doctors, methods of diagnosis (inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation), and the effects of various Chinese herbal medicines. There are also hand-drawn posters and paintings by the children themselves, all themed around TCM. In a corner of the stairwell, a reporter from China Youth Daily observed several preschool children playing role-playing games. The children, dressed in white coats, were earnestly examining the "sick" children.
School staff told reporters from China Youth Daily that the children belonged to the neighboring Guangming Road Kindergarten. The kindergarten and primary school were originally located together, but were separated after institutional reforms; the stairwells are still connected. Introducing kindergarten and primary school children to traditional Chinese medicine from a young age reflects the school's educational philosophy of "starting the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine culture from childhood."
The walls along the school corridors are covered with displays of the 24 solar terms and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) culture. Sun Xiaodong, a teacher at Guangming Road Primary School in Linshu County, told a reporter from China Youth Daily that this was to allow teachers and students to learn about TCM culture while walking around. The school has also built a TCM classroom according to Shandong Province's standards for "Bringing TCM Culture into Schools." Through the history walls in the TCM classroom, children can intuitively learn about the stories of famous TCM doctors throughout Chinese history, the historical development of TCM, and the evolution of TCM culture.
At the other end of the corridor, children from Guangming Road Primary School were having a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interest class. Feng Luhui, a sixth-grade student, made a medicine jar out of clay. She told a reporter from China Youth Daily that she has loved TCM since she was little, finding it fascinating, and hopes to become a TCM doctor when she grows up. Gong Yiwen, another sixth-grade student, was tasked with making two sachets that day. She told the reporter that during class, the teacher explained which medicinal herbs were contained in each type of powder, allowing everyone to smell the herbs before filling the sachets themselves. Gong Yiwen's sachets have mosquito-repelling and calming effects. Her parents love the smell of the sachets and hang them in the car and by their beds.
In the calligraphy classroom, elementary school students are skillfully writing the names of Chinese medicinal herbs such as "Eucommia ulmoides" and "Panax notoginseng" with brushes. The traditional Chinese medicine classroom also displays paintings created by students on the theme of "Medicinal Herbs Around Us," depicting common medicinal herbs found in their daily lives. Sun Xiaodong said that through observation and drawing, the children naturally learn about the value and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine, achieving a subtle and effective learning outcome.
Integrating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) culture into art, calligraphy, and pottery classes is an important measure taken by Guangming Road Primary School to implement Shandong Province's "TCM Culture Enters Campus" campaign. Sun Xiaodong told reporters from China Youth Daily that the school also adopts a "bringing in and going out" teaching method, inviting experts from the county's TCM medical consortium to regularly conduct TCM culture classes for teachers and students, allowing children to learn about TCM culture and dietary health; children also go to the county's TCM medical consortium and TCM planting bases for field trips and practical activities.
The school also has a medicinal herb cultivation practice garden-the "Hundred Herbs Garden"-where over 40 kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs, such as Salvia miltiorrhiza, Cassia tora, and Isatis tinctoria, are planted. Here, children learn to identify medicinal herbs through hands-on lessons, planting, weeding, and learning basic Chinese medicine knowledge such as "Cassia tora is good for the eyes" and "Salvia miltiorrhiza can treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases." Sixth-grade students can generally identify twenty to thirty kinds of medicinal herbs. Furthermore, through hands-on practice and observation, children appreciate the preciousness of life by experiencing the entire process of plant growth; their willpower is strengthened and their physical fitness is improved through labor and exercise.
Sun Xiaodong said that the school's implementation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) education aims to plant the seeds of TCM culture in children's hearts, allowing them to take root and sprout, and fostering their interest in TCM. The TCM knowledge children learn at school will also be shared with adults at home, truly realizing the dissemination of TCM culture from the school to the family, and from the family to society. "The school regularly conducts TCM health education classes and strengthens extracurricular TCM practical activities, allowing students to have more contact with nature and enjoy the joys of childhood as they grow," Sun Xiaodong said.
Wu Yusong, the school's Party Branch Secretary and Principal, told reporters that in recent years, Guangming Road Primary School in Linshu County has adhered to the guiding principle of "health first, people-oriented" and taken the opportunity of bringing traditional Chinese medicine culture into the campus to "maintain the physical and mental health of teachers and students and promote the harmonious development of the school." Over the past year, in accordance with the requirements of the Shandong Provincial Health Commission's "Key Tasks for Accelerating the Construction of the Shandong Provincial National Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone for Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2022," the school has cooperated with the Linshu County Traditional Chinese Medicine Medical Consortium to conduct two teacher training sessions, training more than 10 teachers, and offering traditional Chinese medicine culture courses, covering 100% of students. The "Traditional Chinese Medicine Accompanying My Growth" initiative is also an ongoing activity of the school.
Officials from Linshu County told reporters from China Youth Daily that, in addition to Guangming Road Primary School, the county has also built TCM enlightenment rooms, herb gardens, and TCM health culture knowledge corners in more than 40 schools, including Linyi Industrial School. TCM experience halls have also been built in outdoor practice bases for primary and secondary school students, and TCM cultural education and popular science activities are regularly carried out. Meanwhile, the county education bureau has increased the integration of TCM with various subjects, incorporating TCM elements into the teaching of subjects such as art and biology, allowing students to immerse themselves in TCM culture and receive introductory TCM education. Every year, the county organizes 15,000 primary and secondary school students to participate in TCM cultural practice courses, which has also influenced 15,000 families throughout the county to learn about TCM culture.
