‘Butterfly Verses in Graceful Flight’: Exploring Humanities Education in Nature Writing

Sponsored by the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) and organised by the Research Centre for Chinese Literature and Literary Culture (RCCLLC), ‘Butterfly Verses in Graceful Flight’ – The 2024/25 Hong Kong Nature Writing Contest (Secondary School) commenced officially in September 2024. This competition aims to raise students’ awareness of natural environment and improve their writing skills by advocating nature writing in Hong Kong. To promote this competition, the ‘Field Trip for Butterfly Watching and Writing Activity in Fung Yuen’ was held on 5 October 2024. Dr Chau Man-lut, Assistant Professor of the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies, taught the principles of nature writing to 50 participants. After that, the tour guide of Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve then introduced Hong Kong’s butterfly ecology and led the participants to observe the butterflies closely, creating an enthusiastic atmosphere.

The second ‘Field Trip for Butterfly Watching and Writing Activity in Fung Yuen’ was held on 16 November 2024. Unfortunately, the weather on that day was not pleasant due to a typhoon. However, there were only brief showers during the activity, which did not dampen participants’ enthusiasm for butterfly watching. This was also a great opportunity for the participants to learn how the tiny butterflies could survive the devastating storm. This unexpected situation deepened their perspective on nature writing and fulfilled the project’s aim of using nature writing as a gateway to humanities education.

Besides, a ‘Nature Writing Workshop’ was held on 23 November 2024. Ms Human Ip, a famous local writer, was invited to share her insights into nature writing. She demonstrated how to turn her daily agricultural experience into prose and poetry, showcasing her creative works to students participating both in person and online. Ms Ip then led a nature writing workshop focused on ‘mudskippers’, which sparked enthusiastic participation from both in-person and online students, resulting in highly creative works.

 

 

 

 

Dr Chau Man-lut introduces the principles of nature writing to participants

 

 

 

 

Group photo of the First Field Trip for Butterfly Watching and Writing Activity in Fung Yuen

 

 

 

 

Group photo of the First Nature Writing Workshop

 

 

 

 

Photo of a butterfly that survived the typhoon, taken by Dr Chau in Fung Yuen