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AnonymousI understood Bushido to be a relatively new phenomenon. That is, it did not exist until Japan started to modernize it's military, et.
AnonymousMao tried to be a Communist and make China a communist state. I'm not so sure about the others. Mao also consciously tried to identify with the past emperors (very Confucian).
AnonymousI know what you mean........I visited China in 1976 and came home all excited about how communism was better than how the peasants had lived for centuries. Over the years, I have realized that the positive ideals of communism have never been materialized anywhere.
But what really scares me is that democracy is not always what it says it is. When the US started out, our forefathers killed off the people who were here, and the only people who could vote were white men who owned land. How democratic was that?
I hope we get to come back in a few centuries to see what China, the US and the planet earth in general are like; if any of them even exist.
Cathy in Temecula
AnonymousSince my East Asia Institute class this month at UCLA, I am surprised by how many connections I have made (in just 2 weeks) with people in my community regarding E. Asia.
Our new choir teacher is Korean and did not come to US until 6th grade (with no Eng). He may come speak to my high school world history class during his prep. Meanwhile our speech therapist's son is returning from 2 yrs in China where he has been teaching English. I hope he will be a guest speaker for my groups. (He earned his BA in Chinese language.)
I have students with backgrounds from many countries and cultures and plan to have them make presentations. Fortunately, some of their parents are also willing to come in and share.
I have invited some staff members to the symposium in Oct at UCLA, one of whom is married to a Japanese woman!
I hope you will seek out students and community members to speak to your classes and bring something tangible to share as well. Next week a PTSA member is going to bring food to sample and talk about growing up in India and what is it like to be an Indian and a Hindu in Temecula!
Cathy, Chaparral in Temecula
AnonymousI just read an article about Princess Kiko. She is expected to give birth to an heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. I remember discussing this in my Asian Seminar class at UCLA. Apparently there hasn't been a male heir born since 1965. If it is a boy, it will solve the succession crisis. I would think they would know by now if it is a boy or a girl since she is expected to give birth this week. I hope it is a boy.
AnonymousI guess you could say that Mao tried to be communist, but if you read the recent biographies of Mao, he really seems less concerned with the communist ideal of equality and more concerned with his own power and cult status. He did not seem to be as concerned with the peasants as we had been led to believe in previous decades. In fact, the peasants seem to be fodder for Mao's nuclear program according to Jung Chang's biography of Mao.
AnonymousThat sounds like a grand idea. There are still many students that like to collect baseball cards and the like. That is something I will try to use and maybe we can even make a game up with the Cold War or something like Dictators vs. Democrats and these baseball style cards.
AnonymousOur democracy (I prefer republic) was fledgling and in many ways an experiment. The founders were an extension of the culture and era in which they grew up in. It took many years for democracy to develop into what we have today and I still would not trade our system for anything I have seen in the communist world. I have seen nothing in Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, the Kim's North Korea, nor Vietnam that would lead me to believe that East Asia's or any brand of communism is preferable to our system. I also think that many people's ideals of communism takes a rather naive approach to humanity's natural instinct for self-preservation and egoism.
AnonymousI found this webquest to be helpful when dealing with a recent geography section.
AnonymousThat is a nice website that you use to introduce a unit on Japan in Middle School or High School. You can make a homework assignment out of it or use an LCD projector or TV to give a mini intro lecture.
AnonymousChapman University has a great article by Dr. Wenshan Jia in the fall 06 alumni magazine. The whole magazine is dedicated to Building Global Citizens and features students, grads, professors who spent time in other countries this last year. Dr. Jia is an associate professor in the Dept of Commucications Studies and is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences the US.
"While in college as an English major in Xi'an, China, during the 1980's, I would listen to an officially banned tape of presidential debates between George Bush Senior and Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, as well as an offically banned tape consisting of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, JFK's inaugural address, Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech, a recitation of Walt Whiman's poem "Oh Captain! My Captain!" and the Bible.
Dr. Jia teaches Americans about China and he teaches Chinese about Americans.
After living in the US for 14 years he reflects, "I have been awakened to my rich cultural heritage, the significance of recovering it from the past destruction from both home and abroad, the importance of preserving it, and the significance of making it understood and integrated internaionlly for a more peaceful world."
Did I realize my alma mater has a mission statement which emphasizes global citizenry for world peace, based on the example of Albert Schwitzwer? Chapman has a Center for Global Education with study abroad programs, overseas internships, world culture courses, and volunteer services abroad, in addition to guest professors and speakers.
There is so much to learn and share; it's nice to know we have the support of universities to promote world peace in our public schools.
Cathy in Temecula
AnonymousJapanese Scholar gives Chapman University a gift and has library room named after him. Mr. Aquin Mitsuo Yamagishi is 82 and lives in Tokyo and is collaborating with Dr. O'Brien of Chapman English Dept on a book about haiku. A reference to our class was in the article in Chapman University's Alum Magazine, Fall 06: "Mr. Yamagishi even sent the library some beautiful prints illustrating the Tale of Genji, written around 1000 A. D. by lady Murasaki and considered to be the world's firt novel. The gentle and humble poet taught on the floating campus when Chapman students cruised from Hawaii to Japan, taking courses in the 1970's.
I loved the paragraph telling of his future projects (he obvioulsy is an example of longevity for those who work and study):
"Dean Baldwin says that Mr. Yamagishi has three moe projects he would like to complete in Japan: history of oil exploration the Osaka area (his father worked in t he oil industry); a history of the Ainu (indigenous people of Japan); and some work on Sado Island, a small island west of Japan that has its own intriguing cultural background ) and is well-known today as the home of Kodo, the famed Japanese drumming ensemble).
Remember: he is also writing a book.....after the 3 projects he hopes to move to Chapman, live in a residence hall and talk with students and profesors everday for the rest of his life. How inspiring, indeed.
AnonymousWell, as far as I know, boys are not adopted in any significant numbers. My wife and I adopted in China in 2004 and we traveled with thirty-nine families from our agency, which was a record at the time. I have since heard that the Chinese official who approved our large travel group was fired because of the size of our group. We traveled with four other groups who sent in their dossiers at different times. Lately, the travel groups themselves have gotten smaller and the process is much slower.
In 2004, our DTC (Dossier to China) was sent to China in January of 2004 and we traveled in late September to pick up our daughter. We just sent in our second dossier in July and we are at this time 12 groups away. The agency has not been allowed to send two regular groups at one time since September of 2005 and the last four groups have traveled about two months apart. If the trend continues, I expect that we will be in China during the Beijing Olympics. I hope ourt placement won't be in Beijing as the cost would probably be prohibitive or we may have to wait an extra month.
So, yes! They have traveled in large numbers but those numbers are getting smaller. We really don't know how much competition there is in adopting Chinese children because the Chinese government is very tightlipped about the process and its role in it.
As far as boys being adopted on a certain day of the week, I have not heard that. Out of 39 children adopted in our group, only one was a boy and he was picked up from Sichuan on a Monday like all of the other children. Our cdaughter came from the province of Anhui, but we are close friends with the adoptive parents of the boy since they live 10 minutes from us.
AnonymousI was fortunate to teach music in CA public schools for 23 years before funding cuts gave me the opportunity to teach high school world history/geography. As I read the Chapman Alum Fall 06 magazine on Global Citizens I was drawn to the time line of performances Chapman musicians and choirs have shared in other countries.
Although Europe takes the lead and the Wind Symphony was at the Sydney Opera House a month before I was this summer, China has had its share of tours, too.
2002: Choir in Beijing and Shanghai
1994: Choir in Beijing, Shanghai, Guango, Guilin, Hong Kong
1987: Chamber Orchestra in Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Guangzhou, Guilin, Hong Kong
1983: Choir in in Beijing, Canton, Hong Kong
It is funny how cities change names, as did so many African countries in the last 4 decades. I wonder what Hong Kong will be named 20 years from now?
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The Big News: 2008 Dr. William Hall and the Chapman University Choir have been asked to perform at the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing
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Cathy in Temecula
AnonymousI am shocked! North Koreans feel war with the US is inevitable? This is unbelievable and more than a little bit scary. Did the news program mention how much of the North Korean political build-up is in response to US policies and/or perceived world domination? Why do they see us as their enemy?