Coastal Carolina has found a way to merge students into the Chinese culture like never before with Chinese name stamps.  

Teaching Associate Shu-Chien Yang stumbled upon the idea when she learned Kimbel Library has a makerspace with 3D printers and laser cutters. She said it is very common for people in East Asian countries like China and Taiwan to have a stamp that represents their name or family. 

“Twenty years ago, if you go to a bank and you open a bank account, you certainly need to have a seal, so it’s really a part of our culture,” Yang said.  

Yang coordinated with Tristan Daniels, the academic engagement librarian, to begin the project. Daniels said the project was a great way to immerse language students into the Chinese culture.  

Nowadays, name stamps are only used in important documents. Most people use signatures like in the United States.  

Each stamp made in the library was created with a laser cutter. It takes six to seven minutes for the laser machine to engrave Chinese characters, so students were able to bring home their finished product the same day it was created.  

Tyrese Anderson, a biochemistry major and member of the Chinese club, said his Chinese name translates to “lucky home.”  

“It was really cool to sort of take something from a language and then combine it with something that you would find in a technology or science class,” Anderson said.  

Yang said she will be doing more activities like this to her future teaching. Her plans for next year are to create something, maybe a souvenir, related to the Chinese New Year, which will be the year of tigers.