Dube - East Asia and the West (Tuesday)

[Anonymous]

I found the information about Chinese younger generation very interesting. As a teacher I can see how their (Asian students') hard work and constantly being pressured to be successful, proves to make them excellent students. To some point I agree that kids have to be pushed by their parents. Most of the time it is better to have children in some kind of educational/learning center than letting them play video games 24/7, watch TV, or get in trouble in the streets.
I greatly enjoyed today's debate (socialist vs. capitalist, extreme poor vs. extreme rich, etc.) Every topic was very informative, exciting and will be discussed in my classroom. Being able to compare Columbus's view of the world to Jesuits' map, and learning about Matteo Ricci was interesting as well.

[Anonymous]

It saddens me to learn that many brave Chinese young men were fighting in the Civil war and were not acknowledged properly in history. When teaching about historical events such as the Battle of Gettysburg, I will make sure my students will find information about the more than "50 Chinese combatants" who participated in the Gettysburg battle, and who according to historians, these individuals were "rewarded with exclusion and racial discriminated after the war ended". In addition to that, they were not compensated and had to accept miserable wages in order to survive.
A great project for my students will be the creation of biographical posters where students will display historical data about Joseph Pierce, Thomas Sylvanus, Ah Yee Way, John Tommy, an many others Chinese individuals who participated in the Civil war and performed heroic actions as young soldiers. Students will investigate, research, and present relevant information that will promote historical and civic awareness about this period in history.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the fact that Chinese individuals were neglected from the list of American heroes. Although the article mentions that some were recognized where the war ended, later on were completely left out and discriminated against by the American people and even their military peers. The government did not do much for them when they needed to reintegrate to society. I wonder why the history does not show justice for these men who fought so hard fro a country that now despise them.

[clay dube]

One place to begin is Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_China

The accounting firm PwC has this guide to taxation in China: http://www.pwccn.com/webmedia/doc/635671281131435071_cn_tax_facts_figures_2015.pdf

[Anonymous]

Dear Clay,

Per our conversation, I look up the topic in Chinese sources. If the origin of Chinese history is based on Huangdi, then it should be around 3500 years. The 5000 years figure that I have been taught turns out to trace back to the sanxingdui（三星堆） artifacts, which I have never heard of until now. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[Anonymous]

The game of weiqi (围棋), perhaps the coolest and easiest of classroom applications. I will learn this game, buy a board, and expose the strategies to my learners. I love thinking games. Chess/Go Club?

[Anonymous]

I agree Disneyland is fake, reflecting the social values of instant gratification at any cost. It is sad that society is trending on a narcissistic hedonistic path; with no regard for the past or the future. However, it appears the the millennials are the hope for the future as they as they are more globally connect than past generations.

[Anonymous]

During the lecture it was not surprising that the Chinese did not trust any outsiders. Therefore, to own anything from that country was seen as a luxury items. When the class was speaking about other countries being fascinated with China and making knockoffs items, I immediately thought of how many knockoff items are made today. I was looking at the blue and white porcelain made by Garcia Hurtado and it made me considered a lesson on Chinaware porcelain knockoff. I was thinking of possibly having students create their own chinaware by using disposable plates and watercolor paint and markers. I was thinking as a hook we can talk about all the knockoffs we purchase today. Maybe look at how many trendy items are copied and made to look like the real thing in today’s society. Then we can talk about how Chinaware was originally made and many began to get inspired and create their own designs based on knockoffs. Artists in general are always getting inspired by each other I thought this would be a good lesson to consider. Students would also gain a bit of history by having to learn about the trade of China.

[Anonymous]

• Professor Dube brought a lot of points that I would like bring in to my Spanish class. For example, he mentioned that during the Ming Dynasty, silver extracted from Mexican mines. I am very interested to make connections between Asia and Latin America and Spain, and it seems international trade and economics seem to be a good jump off point. As I was looking at the porcelain in the slides, I noticed that a lot of it is similar to talavera, a porcelain ware that is produced in central Mexico, most notably in Mexico City and Puebla. It would be a great research project for my students to investigate how porcelain made its way to Mexico and how pottery designs from China influenced talavera styles.

edited by nramon on 8/3/2016

[Anonymous]

• I was also surprised to learn about the role of Chinese soldiers and it really highlights the disparity of what is included and what is left out in our textbooks. When I teach the Mexican-American war, I always include the San Patricio brigade. This was a brigade of Irish soldiers who defected to the Mexican side because of the discrimination they faced on the US side. I think it would be fascinating to include the accounts of these two ethnic groups and many more who participated in American wars as a way to study prejudice in American society throughout time.

edited by nramon on 8/3/2016

[Anonymous]

I am also fascinated by how the Japanese take many imports from other countries and make them uniquely their own. The same can be said about how Americans take Japanese culture and make it their own. For instance, when thinking about sushi, we created the California Roll and added or own twist to fit the palate of Americans. While I was in Japan this summer, I had the opportunity to go to a baseball game and I am so glad I did because it was fascinating to see how baseball has taken on a life of its own in a very Japanese way. After experiencing the very coordinated cheers, and the more active role spectators take when watching the game, I came to the conclusion that going to Japanese baseball games is far more entertaining than going to baseball games here in the US and also a very special cultural experience that reflects the values and practices of Japan.
edited by nramon on 8/3/2016

[Anonymous]

• I think you raise a lot of important questions that a lot of people must have on the rapidly changing economic landscape and power of China. Perhaps it might be helpful to adopt a more expansive view of China’s economic history in order to better contextualize the why and how of China’s recent developments. As Americans, I feel like we often fall into patterns of looking at China from a Cold War perspective and we think of Chairman Mao as a very crucial, which I will not argue with, he is. However, in placing so much emphasis on Mao’s China, I think we run the risk of forgetting to think of the rest of China’s history. Mao is but one figure in what is a very expansive history that spans thousands of years. In the past, China has had very capitalistic patterns and it is very important to keep this in mind. It would probably also be very helpful to think of communism as both a political and economic system. Are both mutually exclusive? In looking at China, it seems they are not since politically they are a communist country, but not so much economically.

edited by nramon on 8/3/2016

[Anonymous]

I'm currently working on my 3 curriculum lessons. So far my favorite is the topic on CHinese on the Civil War. Yesterday, I was talking to one of my colleagues at Muir MS, and they had not hear about it before. I can't wait for next semester, so I can present my lesson to my students.

[Anonymous]

The article brought up the fact that the dominant narrative about the Chinese diaspora in the U.S. is often focused on the western states, specifically California. Most people in California know about how Chinese people settled in San Francisco after going through Angel Island and had been motivated to come because of the California Gold Rush. As a result, it’s surprising to find out that there were Chinese people on the East Coast during the Civil War, let alone find out that Chinese people fought in the war. I had never even thought of it as a possibility. But after reading the article, I can see how the seafarers in the article potentially kidnapped or bought these children and brought them over to the East Coast.

However, it is saddening to find out that because there weren’t a large number of Chinese people fighting in the Civil War, many people disregard the figures. Moreover, they faced discrimination and xenophobia despite having fought in the Civil War. I am curious about the reasons for why they decided to fight in the war; or perhaps they were coerced into it. I imagine they did it because they viewed the U.S. as their home and should therefore be protected, but I would like some more concrete details to support this thought.

[Anonymous]

This article provided a different perspective in comparison to the history lessons taught in the U.S. Growing up in the U.S. public school system, students are often taught about imperialism from the perspective of Americans, and it is often framed in a positive light. By providing students with this text, students can see how imperialism can be seen negatively because of how the speaker is wary about the U.S. encroaching on China. I am glad the Liang, the speaker in the text, criticizes the U.S. for its willingness to allow the rich to control the government and ignore the needs of poor people.

On the other hand, Liang does show a lot of support for some of the things he saw in the U.S. He marveled at the fact that libraries were open for the public to use and saw that “…n this can be seen the general level of public morality Even a small thing like this is something Orientals could not come close to learning to do in a hundred years.”

Additionally, I did appreciate this quote: “American schools average only 140 days of study a year, and five or six hours every day. But …Westerners’ studies are superior to those of the Chinese.” Liang believe that by limiting work and emphasizing leisure time, then a person can have loftier goals because they have time to think about them. Personally, I wish we could only do 140 days instead of 180. It would allow time for everyone to really dig into content and still have time for fun.

[Author]

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