For next year's curriculum my colleague and I are thinking about how can we use guiding questions to drive instruction. One major one I have thought in great lengths about is "What makes a civilization great?" I think often when we think about this question our brains are drawn to things such as great military prowess, a booming economy, a civilzation with great industrial power. However, I feel the idea of inclusivity is often left out of this debate. I find a civilization's ability to be inclusive is a trade mark of a great civilization. I hink bringing the debate to class about what are the benefits and down falls of an inclusive society would be a great conversation to bring to students, especially in the climate of today where immigration is such a big topic. I feel an inclusive society leads to things like a great army, economic system, and industry. The ability to incorporate many peoples and cultures can allow for a society to grow, piece together different traditions and technology from the people enveloped into the civilization, and create a diverse labor force. At the same time an inclusive society can lead to in fighting for power so there are deffinitely pros and cons. I think this is why this would be such a great topic to bring to the classroom. this topic would allow for great debate amongst students, make connections to present events, and force students to dig deeper to explain what makes a civilization great outside of the normal and obvious answers. There are many examples from history about inclusivity and the benefits it provides. Some of the world's largest empires such as Rome, Greece under Alexander, and the Mongolian takeover of almost the whole Asian continent are great examples that show how inclusivity can be a trait of a great civilization. In higher level classes this can also lead into great discussions about the expansion and contracting of culture.

I think the reading "The Attractions of the Capital" would be a great text to bring to any classroom. First and foremost I think a lot of students think about history and think that people just basically worked. The idea of a flourishing culture almost seems impossible to them in a time so long ago. I think this piece brings the city of Hangzhou to life. I think a great way to bring this text to the classroom would be to jigsaw it. if you split up your class and gave groups different sections they then could turn around and teach the class allowing you to cover more ground in shorter time. Not only could this bring the culture of the 13th century to lifr but this reading could act as a spring board for many more activities. You could use this reading as the center piece of a debate about which institution played the biggest role in the culture of Hangzhou? It also is ripe with potential writing prompts in many different styles. It could also be a great discussion starter and look into how cities were organized. I think in theis reading we see how complex the cit and civilization was. There was many moving cogs in the machine that was Hangzhou. This could lead to discussions about ancient economies and governance. You could also compare Hangzhou to other cities across the curriculum such as Edo or even Timbuktu. I think bringing history to life allows students to put themselves in these ancient times and I think this reading could be a great resource for any class!

The proclamations of the Hongwu emperor paired with the edicts professor Dube displayed presented in the Ming dynasty video show that the emperor was using the idea of Karma to try and persuade people to be good. This is fascinating to me because it brings up a ton of questions especially when you consider it alongside professor Dube's comments about how they wanted to govern on a budget. This idea of persuading citizens to obey the law by playing into their ideas of Karma is intriguing. 

I think some other ideas come out of the proclamation reading. For instance it shows that above all else their was a great emphasis put on agriculture. It was interesting to learn that agriculture was not to be disrupted unless it was completely necessary. I think an interesting question to raise to students would be to ask if the emperor was being greedy himself by not allowing agriculture to be interupted. Sure we need agriculture to feed the masses but at the same time agriculture was the driving force of the economy. Agriculture was probably the main way in which common people paid taxes which allowed for the emperor to live the life he did and run his government. Was he hypocritical for calling out people for being greedy but he passed laws himself that basically forgave minor crimes as long as it kept buisness moving?

I think these documents would be extremeley interesting to bring to a variety of classrooms. From this three page document and two edicts we learn a lot about the legal system of the Ming dynasty, their cuture, and their economy. 

Professor Dube said the bronze dragon displayed in the second video on the Ming dynasty was male and then asked to discuss why we ight think this is the case. I honestly have no idea what makes the dragon male but I will take a shot at it! First of all the dragon looks huge in comparrison to its surrounding. I feel like based on other ideas from ancient times male figures are usually cast to be much larger in actually size than their female counterparts. I also believe this looks like a prominent place in which this statue is displayed. It appears the dragon could act almost as a pilar at the entrance to a walk way and there may even be one parallel to it. I also find I guess what you would call the dragon's mane to be quite emphasized where I believe one of a female might not be as intricate and prominate. If I were to picture a female dragon in comparison to this one I would assume it would be smaller, more simple, and placed in a less prminate area almost as to symbolize the different roles in not only society but in the family that men and women play.

The letter from the emperor to King George was almost amusing. I can only imagine the reaction of he King upon hearing this letter. At the time of this letter England regarded themselves as the greatest empire on Earth. Imagine the look on King George's face as his fellow countrymen were repeatedly refered to as barbarian?I think this letter would be great to bring into the classroom. We often view England in the west as a powerhouse, almost the rulers of the Earth, as they say "The Sun never Sets on England." To see how China so repugnantly turned down England's envoys I think gives us an interesting lens into examining the relations between the East and the West. I think it would also be interesting to compare Japan's trade policies with that of China because it feels like they had similar systems. 

it is also interesting to view this interaction through the lens of understanding that China could have greatly benefited from European manufacturing technologies as their productivity continuously decreased as they could not get any more out of their land. That leads us to an interesting question though, development at what cost? What would the impacts be if China was able to industrialize earlier? 

The letter by Emperor Qianlong was very direct to King George. His message becomes increasingly clear in his responses to the British ambassador's proposals and reasons for declining those proposals. He describes Europeans to be ones of excess, who "yearned after the blessings of our civilization." Europeans are a nation of want and desire beyond what they need. Although the Emperor ``understands" their position in that they are an island on their own, they are too self-indulgent. The Emperor declines requests for British settlements in many locations in order to engage with trade in China. He claims that the Chinese do not need goods from other nations, it would not be fair for additional countries who want to trade with China, and lastly it would be dangerous, as many conflicts would erupt in the area. At the end of the letter, the Emperor gives a stern request, "Tremblingly obey and show no negligence!..." This letter must have caused King George  to be furious. Great Britain was considered to be a world power during this time, so this sort of response would seem to be a direct conflict to Great Britain. I am unsure if King George would take the letter seriously, as he viewed his own country to be the world power, and not China. However, I am sure that it must have angered him.

The Travels of marco Polo has many sections that can be used in class to get students to brainstorm things like the relative size, advancement, social norms, and so on beween cultures. It can be used to tie into the same comparisons of todays world. And bias in the observations can be shown by including a description of the capital done from Chinese eyes at the same time.

The problem with this specific excerpt is the emphsis on prostitution when used in middle schools. I can assure you there are parents that would make calls. So you couls edit that out or use another excerpt.

I like to include a look at bias in all source readings. With our students depending on the web for so much of the information that they depend on to give them their opinions, it is important to costantly reinforce the need to assess what was the reason a piece was written, what was the society that the author came from like, did they favor or oppose the subject of their work.

We see a desire to purge historical views that offend the delecate social sensibilities du jour. We do not seem to get across to our students tha people can only know what they CAN know. A time holds its own world view, we cannot judge that world view, even if we disagree with it based on what we know in our time. I remember what one of the couples I was traveling with the first time I went to Egypt. They were from the mid-West and "born again" Christians. After walking away from the temple complex of Karnak they said that it was too bad that they spent of of this time and energy worshiping "false gods." I couldn't help but think that they did not realize that from the religious point of view that they were worshiping according to what God had revealed to them in their own time. We can only know what our time knows.