雙語部 陳麗民老師

The second unit  of   8^th  Grade  Chinese  History,  English  group, was " The  Archaeological Discoveries in China. " One   of the unit's projects was to make up a prehistoric man's journal-One Day in My Life. Each student had to use the information in handouts and other resources to complete this assignment.  Here, I would like to present to you two works: one from a Peking Man, male,15 years old and the other, a married woman of the Neolithic village at Banpo in Shaanxi.

Prehistoric Man's Journal

Christopher Lo

                                                                                                                                               500,000 years before A.D. 2000

Dear Journal:

     First,  I'd  like  to  introduce  myself.  I  am a  Peking  Man, a male 15 year old.  The Peking  Men are paleolithic or  from the  old  stone  age.   I   decide   to   start  this   journal   because   someone   in  the  future  might  want  to learn about our civilization.  If  you  need a way  to describe our appearance, I can tell you that our bone structure is between gorillas and Homo sapiens.  Anthropologists generally  classify  us  as  belonging  to  Homo  Erectus,  a hominid cousin of modern man but not, according to most scholars of human evolution, a direct ancestor of Homo Sapiens. You can see our skull structure below:

    As you can tell, our forehead is very shallow and our eyebrows are connected.  This is different than you.

        We  walk  upright  if  you  were  wondering.  Our brains are also smaller than  yours  y  one   third.  But, we  have already  " tamed " fire.  We have left carbon from coal behind in our caves.  We  cook  our meat.  We  use  bigger stones   to  chip   smaller   sharp   tools   to  cut  animal  skins, meat, and for crafting wood tools.We live in Longgushan (dragon  bone mountain )which is located in Chou-K'ou-Tien village, 48 kilometers  southwest  of  Beijing.  This is what  Loonggushan  and  the cave we live in look like.

     The tools  we  use  are simple  and  rough.They are useful for cooking.  We  eat buffalo, deer, sheep, wild  pig,  and even rhinoceroses. At least those are  all  of  my  favorite  dishes.  I  have  to  go  now  and  help the adults with hunting.  

Yours truly,  Peking boy

A Married Woman's Journal

                                                  Stephanie Yee

 Dear Journal:

        Today was like any ordinary day.  I never thought such a fatal thing could happen to me.  This is how it began…

        I am  a  married  woman  with  a  husband  and  two  boys.  I  live  in  one  of   the  Neolithic  villages  at  Ban-po  in  Shoanxi.  I belong  to  the Banbo  culture and  live a settled life in villages, measuring 200 by 100 meters and is surrounded by  deep ditches that serves as both defense and irrigation.  My family and I live in houses that are  semisubterrean, round   or rectangular,  with  central  pillars supporting a  roof  of  clay  and  thatch.  The  walls  are  made  of  pounded earth, and inside are  ovens,  cupboards,  and benches formed from clay.  The sunlight shines through the cracks and gives us warmth and light.

        It  was  a  cold  autumn  day and my family and I were all sitting by the fire to keep warm when the children said they wanted to go out to play.  My husband said it would be winter soon so he better do some hunting and fishing.  He took the stone tools and weapons that were dipped and polished.  They all left.

         I  took some  millet out  of  the  pear-shaped ground pits and put them in a pot to cook over the fire.  I sat down and decided  to  make  some things for my family.  I made bone needles, and ornaments using animal teeth, small animal bones, seashells,  and  small  precious  stones.   I  sat  down  to  make  a  colored  pot,   when  the  chief came into the village and announced that a child drowned beside the river.

        I   thought, " How  could  that  child  be  mine ? "  But  this little voice in my mind told me to go and see.  There was my younger son, weeping beside his brother.  I ran to him and asked him what happened to his brother.  He said they were playing  and his brother fell into the river.  He called for help, but by the time help came, his brother had already drowned. I couldn't believe it.

         By  that  time, the  news  had traveled around the whole place and now, my husband stood beside me.  I hugged my husband and my son as tears started streaming down my cheeks.  " We'll bury him someplace special," my husband said as he motioned to the dead body.

         We walked silently to the side of our house where we would bury my son.  I watched in tears as my husband collected the remains and placed into the jar.