Good news – students from our school win awards at 9th “Qing Shi Cup” History Playwriting Competition

On November 27, the 9th “Qing Shi Cup” National High School History Playwriting Competition concluded at Shanghai Yunjian Foreign Language School Affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University. Jia Cheng, Qu Xiang, and Zhou Shibo from Class 11 Grade 11 won first prize for their play Guardians of Ancient Chinese Classics. Zhang Xinyue from Class 7 Grade 11 received third prize for her work Xuanquan Station. Teachers Zhang Yanlin and Liu Qiang received Outstanding Instructor awards, and No. 2 High School of ECNU was recognized with the Outstanding Organization Award.

The first-place play Guardians of Ancient Chinese Classics is set against the background of late Qing Dynasty, a nation besieged by foreign powers and its civilization under threat. Back then, invaders not only coveted Chinese territory but also plundered its literary heritage. Countless generations-old private collections were scattered, sold off, and lost overseas, shocking all sectors of society. To prevent the complete annihilation of these ancient Chinese classics and preserve the lifeblood of Chinese civilization, monumental efforts were undertaken. Orchestrated and led by Zhang Yuanji, with assistance from his friends and support from patriotic book collectors, these ancient works were meticulously reproduced, compiled, and published under the title Sibu Congkan. This ambitious project became a cornerstone of the Commercial Press, China’s largest publishing house at the time. The play dramatizes this remarkable undertaking, highlighting the unwavering patriotism, selflessness, and profound sense of cultural responsibility of those who ensured the survival of these precious works for posterity.

The Competition is co-sponsored by the ECNU Education Group, the Department of History at ECNU, the Shanghai High School History Moral Education Practice Base, and the Construction and International Communication Base for Chinese Historical Discourse System. Open to students from around the country, the Competition utilizes playwriting as a medium and performance as an output, promoting education through the arts. The 9th “Qing Shi Cup” themed “Cultural Inheritance and Civilization Development in the Course of Human History” received submissions from 27 provinces and municipalities. It involved three rounds of review – preliminary, secondary, and final. A panel of 93 experts participated in the anonymous review process, including scholars from prestigious universities such as Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, ECNU, Central China Normal University, Northeast Normal University, Shaanxi Normal University, South China Normal University, Capital Normal University, and Shanghai Normal University, as well as distinguished teachers and curriculum researchers from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Tianjin, Chongqing, Heilongjiang, and Yunnan.

Our school hereby would like to extend warm congratulations to the award- winning students and is looking forward to continued success and greater achievements from students in the next competition!