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Anonymous.
Rob_Hugo@PortNWI make a big deal with having my students make inter-cultural connections: If we can learn from our own history we can learn more by seeing how other cultures faced and tried to solve the same issues. Do you have any thoughts on specific issues such as Chinese v. European feudalism. I love to share and wil post some posible lessons on the topic when we are not sitting here in the seminar. Richard[Edit by="rcate on Oct 1, 3:07:20 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousDear Richard,
I'm not working at my own computer right now. I'm sitting in a computer room at UTLA, but when I do get back to my computer, perhaps I can find some files on the comparison between European feudalism and Asia. But a more fruitful comparison would be Japan and Europe verses China and Europe. nb
AnonymousI've been very successful with a "little book" project that compares feudal Japan and Europe. The kids seem to "get" it better using the art aspect. They are asked to draw a Japanese castle and European castle, knights, etc. that appear on opposing pages.
AnonymousOf course, the Mongol invasion of Russia and Europe had an influence on Europe. The Mongols also controlled or influence trade along the Silk Road for a critical period. If anyone would like articles.
Here are a series of articles that I've found on the Mongols and how they affected Russia:
Dear Colleagues,
Below are some good sources on the Mongol influence on Russia and its development.
The links below don't appear to be hot so you may have to copy and paste the URL
into the address line of you browser.
http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/petersrussia.html
ON Alexander Nevsky & the Mongols: http://historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwnevsky.htm
On Moscow & the Mongols: http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis03.htm
On everything Mongols: http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm#golden
On the Mongols & Russia: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/m/mo/mongol_invasion_of_russia.htm
On the Golden Horde: http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/Mongols/states3.html
If anyone is interested I can provide articles on how the Mongols affected Europe, too.
Nicholas Beck
AnonymousIn the November 22 session we discussed briefly Admrial Jeng Ho. His voyages dwarfed those by the Europeans but like the Northmen came to nothing because they didn't maintain their contact. If his fleets made landfall in North America or not (and they were certainly capable of doing so) the eventual recall of the fleet and the internalization of China squandered a rich opportunity for expansion.
How different would our world be if the Chinese had activly colonized the Americas? While the Europeans would have still been able to found their colonies on the East coast, they would have had quite a surprize when they expanded into a Noueau-China.
Ultimately the destruction of the Chinese blue water navy brought about their destruction, in those days who owned the sea owned the world. Today we seesimilsr arguments about manned space flight, and while we began in great strength we have pulled back and abandoned ourr leap to new worlds, A main reason like China's reasons for their fleet's recal was money, demanding return now and not seeing the long term we too ask what are we getting for all the money. China for whatever their reasons are activly persueing a space program. We are likely to find that in our time who owns space owns the Earth.
AnonymousI'd be interested in finding connections between Chinese art and European art. I was intrigued by the correllation Professor Ye made between Chinese landscape painting and Dutch landscape painting.
AnonymousWow. You just, like, blew my mind.
This is the question I've been trying to raise. Do older cultures have a longer view? We all know the old saw about how American businessmen look at the next fiscal quarter while Japanese businessmen look at the next quarter century. But I would expand it to ask, is a 4000 year old culture more or less able to plan for the next 4000 years than a 200 year old country?
But then again, like Dube said last time, whoda thunk (I''m paraphrasing) in the 1400s that it was gonna be little ol' decentralized, multifaceted Europe to dominate the next five hundred years? Maybe we should be looking in Africa's direction?
m@x
AnonymousOver the holidays I heard that not only Westerners, but also Ancient Egyptians and Chinese used evergreen boughs to symbolize longevity in new year decorations.
Does anyone know if this is true?
AnonymousSpeaking of alternate histories, can anyone tell me about the veracity of claims that China's ancient origins are African? I tried looking on that bastion of truth, the internet, but the sites that I came up with
http://www.blackherbals.com/african_roots_of_traditional_chinese_med.htm
http://www.ipoaa.com/blacks_in_ancient_china.htm
didn't leave me feeling too confident. Of course, this could just be "the man" trying to keep us down, but is there actually evidence for this? Because I think that would connect our Asian studies to our black students in a more direct way. Can this Clyde Winters be trusted?
Anyone?
Dube?
Shang right,
m@x
AnonymousHas anyone noticed the similarities between African (Nigerian) names and those of Japan? The use of vowels are quite similar and many names appear to be similar. My father is Nigerian. I have made note of this for quite some time.
jem
AnonymousDid everyone get this magazine? It looks like a great resource for the classroom. I just finished reading the article on China in World History 300-1500CE by Valerie Hansen (Yale).
It's an interesting article, paralleling Chinese/Eupopean History/advances, and showing the importance of teaching Asian History. A fact that I didn't know (and found interesting), was how Tang China absorbed many refugees fleeing Islamic conquests--particularly Iranians. Evidently they left thier mark on the Tang arts (gold/silver vessels). Hybrid tombs, recently discovered in Xi'an, combine Chinese and Zoroastrian architecture and burial practices!
AnonymousSpeaking of education about Asia, I recently had the chance to see some of the new 7th grade textbooks from different publishers and was quite disapointed that they are following in lock step the flawed CA standards for China. Not only do they give minimal coverage to the Sui Dynasty, but they "cover" the golden age of the Tang and Song dynasties with only the barest mention, or in some cases, leave out entirely, the great accomplishments in art and literature in these periods. I wonder what people would say if they discussed medieval Europe soley by describing its technology without mentioning Dante, Chaucer and the glorious cathedrals? Or, what if they explained the lasting achievements of the Renaissance by only describing its agriculture and trade, and made only passing mention of the names of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, and Cervantes?
Yet, this is exactly what is done in their coverage of China's great Tang and Song dynasties. Personally, I refuse to deny the existence of some of the greatest art and literature in world history just because they are not mentioned in the CA standards. That would be a return to the type of Eurocentric bias that had existed in the past. Some of these publishers had actually done a better job on these subjects in previous versions, but now with everyone so focused on following these standards, whether they are accurate or not, publishers, and unfortunately, some teachers, are perpetuating this incomplete view of China's cultural heritage. I think a campaign should be started to make the state standards committees aware of this erroneous view of Chinese history. In the meantime, there are lots of supplemental materials available about Chinese painting, porcelain (one of their most valuable trade products!,) crafts, and of course poetry, and stories--as those who have taken the seminars on Asia are keenly aware of.
I plan to even have my students take a try at Shanshui (mountain and water, i.e., landscape) painting with black watercolor paints. Just letting them experience the different subtleties possible by diluting one color to get different shades to represent close and distant perspectives, and showing people as just a very small element in scenes of nature, would convey many of the essential ideas in Chinese philosophy, art, and literature. And, of course much of the background material from the seminars about Chinese literature could help personalize these rather dry facts about Chinese government and economics.
Let us not be manipulated into thinking that the AYP and the CA standards actually represent a true picture of our students or of the history they should be learning.
clay dubeThanks, Steve, for your post about the new textbook adoption. I'm delighted that you've noted East Asia as not simply a land of tinkers and innovative cultivators. I think it is outstanding that you've got your students experimenting with shanshui paintings. That hands-on experience will likely endure in their memories. Having said that, it is helpful for students to know about the remarkable economy that emerged during this era. You've got the invention of paper currency, financial innovations in credit, technological innovations in iron and steel production, and unprecedented improvements in agricultural output. I imagine the textbook authors highlight these things, in part, to counter assumptions of European economic and cultural superiority. After all, it makes the Columbus venture far more comprehensible when one remembers how the stories from Marco Polo and others made Europeans imagine Asia to be the most advanced land in the world.
What do others think of the new crop of textbooks? Before you hit reply to share your thoughts, please locate the textbooks and their uses thread and put your opinions there. As I write this, that thread is on page 2 (scroll down to see the links at the bottom right). Once a new post is made to the thread, though, the entire thread moves to the start of the list.
Here's a link to the textbook thread:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/forum/showpost.aspx?PostID=2918[Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 22, 5:19:14 AM"][/Edit]
AnonymousClay, I noticed a mention of this article in our NCTA summer tour forum. I'd like to bring it up here to invite readers to join in on this discussion. In addition, I'd like to add that I KNOW that Mexico is not in Europe, but I decided to post this here since it is part of the Western hemisphere. Anyway...
So, did anyone read the article about Mexico's new effort to woo Chinese tourists to their beautiful resorts and historical attractions? It was in last week's LA Times. I found it very interesting since the Mexican government is planning to aggressively advertise in China by creating cheap tour packages and encouraging employees of the tourism industry to learn the Chinese language! Mexico exports a LOT of soy and other types of fresh produce to China and, in return, imports $14.5 BILLION worth of made-in-China goods. Mexico sees the enormous potential in building a tourist market with the Chinese, but do you think that the Chinese (clear on the other side of the Pacific) will be willing to fly out to Mexico? According to Chris Kraul's article, only 11,000 Chinese came to visit Mexico last year. (22 million 'other' foreigners made a visit!) What kinds of efforts should Mexico make to attract more Chinese tourists?
AnonymousDemocracy has shaken the grip of tyrannical governments and moved millions of people to voice their opinions on matters that really... matter. Asia seems to be an inspirational breeding ground for massive democratic protests. A few months ago thousands of pro-democracy participants flooded the streets of Hong Kong to demand an election. Just last week Taiwan also encouraged people to "take it into the streets" to protest any chance of unification with China. Did anyone catch last week's LA Times article on the Taiwanese freedom rally? Does the average American know that 23 MILLION people live on the small island of Taiwan? And that China has 700 (seven HUNDRED!) missiles aimed at it?
50-100,000 people came out to support Taiwanese independence. Democracy is taught in our classrooms as a basic American right. We should be aware of it moving and shaking other parts of the world, as well.