Abstract: In response to the tendency in current Chinese language education to overlook students’ experiences, this study draws on Dewey’s theory of experience as an analytical framework to explore practical approaches to addressing this challenge and developing students’ core competencies. Viewed through this theoretical lens, Chinese language learning takes on renewed meaning: it involves “doing” through authentic tasks, “interacting” on the basis of lived experience, “thinking” through intellectual engagement, and “sharing” through community practice, rather than merely “memorizing” ,“receiving”, “imitating” or “possessing” knowledge. Chinese language teaching informed by Dewey’s theory of experience comprises four stages: “awakening and connecting” “transforming and reorganizing” “distilling and deepening” and “validating and orienting” students’ experiences. The text Ansai Waist Drum is used to illustrate the classroom application of this approach. A supporting framework for teaching that attends to experiential growth is then proposed across four dimensions: teachers, curriculum, assessment, and culture. Nevertheless, Dewey’s theory of experience has certain limitations. Its application should therefore remain grounded in the distinctive nature of Chinese language learning, enabling students to progressively develop their capacity to construct meaning and use language through active engagement in language practices.