Sci-Fi Imagination Public Classroom × Dunhuang: Encountering the Starry Sky in the Silk Road Ancient City
On May 26th, the "Science Fiction Open Class for Children" event, part of the award ceremony series for the first China Dunhuang Science Fiction Creation Invitational Competition, was successfully held at Qilizhen Middle School and Dongjie Primary School in Dunhuang. The event was hosted by the Publicity Department of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Education Department, the Provincial Science and Technology Department, the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the Provincial Market Supervision and Regulation Bureau, the Provincial Association for Science and Technology, and Lanzhou University. It was co-organized by Silk Road International Intellectual Property Port Co., Ltd., SCIENCE & FANTASY GROWTH FOUNDATION, and the Dunhuang Municipal Government, and jointly undertaken by Gansu Cultural Tourism Industry Group Co., Ltd. and Reader Publishing Group Co., Ltd.
The open class, titled "Unfolding the Wings of Imagination with Science Fiction," featured a special lecture given by Mr. Sanfeng, a distinguished expert from the China Science Fiction Research Center. He delved into the dimensions of what imagination is, its relationship with technological innovation, and ways to protect and cultivate it, delivering a lively and engaging lecture that children would find enjoyable and inspiring.
Since May 25th, the award week theme event of the first China Dunhuang Science Fiction Creation Invitational Tournament has officially kicked off. During the event week, various unique science fiction theme activities will be held every day to enrich the content of this tournament and add science fiction elements to Gansu's culture. This open class has invited Mr. Sanfeng, who holds a PhD from the University of Maryland, is a senior lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, the chief researcher of the SCIENCE & FANTASY GROWTH FOUNDATION, a specially-appointed expert at the China Science Fiction Research Center, and a member of the Science Fiction Literature Special Committee of the China Science Popularization Writers Association, to open the door to the world of imagination for children.
Teacher Sanfeng began by explaining what imagination is, explaining that imagination refers to a form of thinking ability that creates new images based on perceptual experiences. Whether it is for personal development or human progress, imagination plays a crucial role. When talking about what "creative imagination" is, Teacher Sanfeng vividly described the story of Kekule's discovery of the benzene ring, telling the students in the audience that as long as there is imagination, any phenomenon in life can become a source of creation.
Afterwards, Teacher Sanfeng talked about the connection between science fiction and imagination. Science fiction is an imaginative art form based on scientific knowledge, which can be said to be a perfect combination of rationality and fantasy. It is not just a literary genre that satisfies people's curiosity, but also an important component that inspires human scientific progress. For example, the first science fiction novel "Frankenstein" inspired the invention of the pacemaker, and the calculations in Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" coincided with those of Apollo 11.
These various examples undoubtedly illustrate the promotion of human imagination by science fiction, and imagination will lead to technological progress. Finally, lecturer Sanfeng recommended different levels of science fiction reading and science fiction movie appreciation to the children. Through these novel and interesting works, they can open the door to their own imagination in entertainment.
As Jules Verne once said, "Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real." It is not technology that limits our exploration of the unknown, but rather our imagination. May these children always retain their golden imagination and let the kite of their imagination fly on this ancient land of Dunhuang.