Innovative Practice of Historical Scene Reenactment Teaching Method in Senior High School History Classroom ——Taking the "Commercial Activities in Chang'an City of Tang Dynasty" as an Example

Han Jingwen  【China】

Abstract

This paper proposes theHistorical Scene Reenactment Teaching Method", which reconstructs historical contexts in the classroom through a combination of physical props, role-playing, and historical evidence, guiding to deeply participate in the analysis and debate of historical events. Taking the "Commercial Activities in Chang'an City of Tang Dynasty" as a case study, it elaborates the teaching design and practice process in detail, and demonstrates the effectiveness of this method in stimulating students' subjectivity, cultivating historical evidence-based abilities, and historical interpretation literacy. research shows that this model breaks through the limitations of traditional lecture-based teaching, and provides feasible paths for innovative history classroom teaching under the new curriculum reform.

Keywords: Reenactment; Classroom Teaching Innovation; Historical Evidence; Historical Interpretation; Tang Dynasty Commerce

Introduction

Currently, there is a general dilemma in high history teaching that "emphasizes conclusions over processes and knowledge over thinking." In many classrooms, teachers often directly present the results, time, place, and characters of historical events core knowledge points, and students passively accept them, lacking in-depth exploration of the background, development context, and complex causal relationships of historical events.

At the same, there is insufficient cultivation of historical thinking ability in teaching, and students mostly stay at the level of memorization and recitation, lacking training in key abilities such as historical material, historical interpretation, and time and space positioning. This makes history learning dull and fails to stimulate students' interest and initiative. Frontline teachers urgently need to explore a teaching model not only meets the requirements of the curriculum standards but also activates students' subjectivity.

This study is based on constructivist theory and the principle of historical evidence, and develops "Historical Scene Reenactment Teaching Method", emphasizing the restoration of historical contexts through concrete scenes, enabling students to generate historical understanding in immersive experiences, and making up the disconnection between history and reality in traditional classrooms. Specifically, this teaching method will create situations close to historical truth, allowing students to experience history's warmth and texture through-playing, situational dialogue, and physical operation. For example, when learning about "Shang Yang's Reform", a scenario of "Debate Meeting between Qin Nobles and Commoners" can be set up, with students playing different social roles, engaging in fierce discussions around reform measures, and thus deeply experiencing the resistance and necessity of the; when learning about the "New Culture Movement", the discussion scene of the editorial department of "New Youth" can be simulated, allowing students to feel the tide of ideological liberation the pulse of the times.

Through this immersive experience, students are no longer passive observers of history but active participants and thinkers, actively constructing historical knowledge and improving historical thinking ability in experiences, ultimately achieving the transformation from "knowing it" to "knowing why it is", and effectively solving the prominent problems existing in current high school history teaching.

1. Theoretical Framework and Innovative Value

1.1 Core Concept

The "living history education view

"The Reference of Middle School History Teaching" advocates "historical education that does not sever ties with reality." This teaching method, through tangible props (such reproductions of Tang Dynasty currency "Kaiyuan Tongbao", market registration documents, replicas of Tang Dynasty clothing, and models of Chang'an city) and role-play task cards (such as identities like "market governor", "merchant", "neighborhood chief", "customer", and corresponding duty descriptions, transforms abstract systems of the Tang Dynasty's commodity economy and household registration management into operable scenarios. Students can "touch and participate" in history by physically handling reproductions currency, simulating the filling of market registration documents, and playing different social roles in trade negotiations, thus deepening their understanding and experience of historical situations.

Classroom implementation of evidence

Following the requirements of the "General High School History Curriculum Standards" for the "historical evidence" literacy, the core historical material selected is a fragment of thehuang manuscript "Tang Tianbao Jiahe County Market Estimate Case", which records in detail the valuation standards and price fluctuations of various commodities in the Tang D Jiahe County. Guide students to interpret the price records, measurement units, and commodity types recorded in the historical materials word by word through group cooperation, and combine the content of textbook about the layout of Chang'an East and West Markets and commercial division of labor to infer the business model differences between Chang'an East and West Markets in terms of commodity types transaction scale, and management methods. This further understanding of the regional characteristics and overall features of the urban economy in the Tang Dynasty cultivates students' ability to extract effective information historical materials and analyze historical issues.

1.2  Innovative Breakthrough

Unlike traditional teaching methods that use film and television materials as auxiliary teaching, this method emphasizes students' construction of historical logic:

Low technology dependence: Only paper props and simple space zoning (such as dividing "East Market" and "West Market" areas with desks) are needed By simulating the market layout of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, students can interact and experience in a real and perceptible environment without relying on complex multimedia equipment or high technology, which lowers the threshold for teaching implementation and ensures that schools with different conditions can effectively carry it out.

High cognitive engagement: Students understand the market management system of the Tangynasty through role decision-making (merchants, foreign merchants, market governors), avoiding the risk of "historical distortion" in film and television works. In the of role-playing, students need to deeply research the commercial laws, taxation system, and market management institutions of the Tang Dynasty (such as the market office, market governor' duties), as well as the rules of economic activities of different identity figures. For example, how merchants should comply with the market's "open and close at dawn and d" time regulations, how foreign merchants conduct cross-cultural trade and comply with the foreign trade policies at that time, and how market governors execute price supervision and maintain market order,. This in-depth participation prompts students to actively consult historical materials and analyze historical contradictions and choices, thus not only mastering knowledge but also cultivating historical thinking, problem-olving, and teamwork abilities. It effectively avoids the possible historical deviations in film and television works due to the pursuit of dramatic effects from misleading teaching.

2. Teaching Case: Commercial Activities in Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty

2.1 Preparatory.

2.2  Classroom Implementation Process (45 minutes)

Phase 1: Scene Introduction (5 minutes)

The teacher a high-definition reconstruction of the "Chang'an City Fangtu Map" from the Tang Dynasty, which clearly marks the locations of the East and West Markets and distribution of major streets, government offices, and residential areas around them. Pointing to the East Market area on the map, the teacher asks: "Students, take a close at this map of Chang'an City. You will find that the East and West Markets were the most important commercial districts in Chang'an at that time. Historical records show that East Market 'collected all kinds of rare treasures from the four directions', while the West Market was 'inhabited by many foreign merchants', forming different commercial characteristics., what caused such a significant difference in commercial functions and customer groups between the East and West Markets? What does this reflect about the spatial economic layout and urban development characteristics of Changan City?" Through intuitive map display and thought-provoking questions, students are guided to approach the issue from a spatial perspective, establishing a preliminary sense of inquiry into the geographical of commerce in Tang Dynasty Chang'an, laying a foundation for in-depth analysis later on.

Phase 2: Role Task Driven (25 minutes)Students are divided into several groups, each with 6-8 people, playing different social roles in Tang Dynasty Chang'an.

Student role assignment and thinking training

Session 3: Contradictions, Conflicts, and Historical Source Analysis (15 minutes)Introducing the conflict event: "Persian merchants accused Tang merchants of inflating the price of spices." In the 8th century, Chang'an West Market served as international trade center, attracting merchants from Persia, Arabia, and other countries. One day, a Persian merchant named Amr complained to the Tang government's city department, claiming recently Tang merchants colluded to manipulate the spice market, significantly raising the prices of low-value perfumes such as ambergris and frankincense, causing a sharp in his operating costs and a reduction in profits. He requested government intervention to investigate and handle the matter.

Providing two sets of opposing historical sources:

Source A: Thehuang manuscript P.3348 records "One liang of musk, priced at one hundred and twenty coins." This document is a market transaction record from the Tangynasty in the Dunhuang area, which details the prices of various spices, with "musk" as a high-end spice, its "highest price" is one hundred and twenty coins per liang. According to the purchasing power of the currency at that time, this price was already at a relatively high level.

Source B:Tang Law and Its Interpretation" stipulates that "if the city department evaluates prices unfairly, it will be punished according to the crime of sitting on embelement." "Tang Law and Its Interpretation" is the official interpretation of the Tang Dynasty's code, in which the "Miscellaneous Laws" clearly stipulates market management, pointing out that if the city department (the official office managing the market) evaluates prices unfairly, leading to prices being too high or too low the relevant personnel will be punished according to the "crime of sitting on embezzlement" (illegally obtaining property by taking advantage of one's position), will be given corresponding penalties depending on the severity of the case.

Student task: Analyze the root of the contradiction (cultural differences? Monopolistic behavior?), write "city order judgment" and explain the basis. Students need to combine Source A and Source B to explore the causes of the contradiction from multiple perspectives. For example, whether there is situation where Tang merchants use information asymmetry or market status advantage to form a monopoly, deliberately raising the price of spices; or whether Persian merchants are not familiar with the pricing system of Tangynasty spices, there is a cultural cognitive difference; or whether the city department is derelict in its duties in price supervision and fails to effectively maintain market fairness. On this basis students need to write a judgment in the tone of the Tang Dynasty's city order, clearly determine whether there is illegal behavior by Tang merchants, and quote specific price data Source A and the regulations from Source B as the basis for the judgment, put forward corresponding handling opinions, such as ordering a price reduction, recovering illegal gains, punishing the relevant persons, etc., to reflect the Tang Dynasty's law on the maintenance of market order and the pursuit of fair trade.

3. Practice Effectiveness and Reflection

3.1  Qualitative evidence: The student's cognitive progression is demonstrated

Level 1 (fact description):

"There are more foreigners in the West Market because they sell and gemstones." (Student role record card)

This record comes from a student who played the role of a "local resident" in a role-playing activity simulating the activities of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty. The student observed a large number of vendors dressed in exotic attire and speaking different languages gathered in the West Market, and learned inquiry that they mainly sold imported goods such as spices and gemstones, thus drawing the above conclusion, which reflects the direct perception and description of basic facts in the historical scene.

Level 2 (Causal Explanation):

"The 'entry tax' paid by foreign merchants was higher than that local merchants, so they had to increase their pricing to make a profit." (Group Discussion Report)

During the group cooperative inquiry into the commercial taxation policies of the Tang D, students, by consulting the records of "market customs" and "entry tax" in the "Tong Ji", combined with mathematical calculation models, analyzed that foreign merchants due to the need to bear high additional entry taxes, had to increase the selling price of goods in order to maintain profit margins, which in turn led them to be more inclined to in the West Market where transaction costs were relatively low, thus forming a causal logical chain of "high taxation—high pricing—concentrated operation", and demonstrating their initial exploration of the economic laws behind historical phenomena.

Level 3 (Historical Evaluation):

"The system of city orders in the Tang Dynasty maintained order and hind competition, a microcosm of government control over the economy." (Classroom Debate Viewpoint)

In the classroom debate on the "dual nature of the Tang D's city order system", the students on the positive side cited the text from the "Tang Liudian" such as "All markets judge penalties with two festivals, the value of the market, and collect their taxes", pointing out that the city order effectively maintained market order through regulating trading hours, delimiting market areas, and setting price, avoiding price gouging and vicious competition; at the same time, the students on the negative side, combined with the archaeological materials such as the "Persian silver coins" "Sogdian documents", argued that the city order's strict restrictions on the types of goods and the scope of business, objectively suppressed the vitality of foreign capital. Finally, the two sides reached a consensus: this system was a concrete manifestation of the "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce" policy under the centralized system of the Dynasty, which not only guaranteed the state's financial revenue but also reflected the ancient China's deep intervention in economic activities, demonstrating that students can use multi-dimensional historical for dialectical analysis and form evaluative viewpoints with historical depth.

3.2 Quantitative Data: Comparison of Experimental Class and Traditional Class

Table 2: Teaching Effect（N=120） 

3.3  Practical Reflection

Innovative Value:

Concretizing the operation of institutions (such as " registration" and "transit tax"), cracking the students' "historical institutional abstraction" cognitive barriers; through economic decision-making contradictions (such as "Han pricing dilemma"), permeating the "productive forces-production relations" principle in the materialist conception of history.

Improvement Direction:

Farmers,en and other bottom-level roles need to be added to avoid excessive focus on the elite perspective; the problem of time-consuming prop making can be addressed by developing reusable standardized material.

4. Conclusion

The historical scene reproduction teaching method, with its "low-cost, high-thinking"** characteristics, provides a down-to-earth solution for the new curriculum reform. Through the closed-loop design of "reproduction-decision-conflict-evidence", it transforms students from historical observers to historical, generating a cognitive understanding of historical complexity in embodied experiences. This method can be extended to other themes (such as "Citizen life in Song Dynasty" and "ustrial salvation in late Qing Dynasty"), and its core lies in using historical materials as the skeleton, scenes as the flesh, and critical thinking as the soul, to achieve "living" history education.

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