Menu
close
Home › Forums › Core Seminars › East Asia Origins to 1800, Spring 2021 › Session 1 - March 17
Miguel Diaz.
stubingRegister for the discussion session on Zoom here: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAlf-ipqDojGtYKJV-Qz3iooe3o0LprKM7N
Video #1: Geography and Demography Basics
Geography/Environment readings:
1. Hiroku Tabuchi, "Japan Races to Build New Coal-Burning Power Plants, Despite the Climate Risks," New York Times, Feb. 3, 2020 (below).
2. Justin McCurry, "South Korea to shut a quarter of its coal-fired plants over winter to cut pollution," The Guardian, Dec. 2, 2019; Jean Chemnick, "With Widespread Deforestation, North Korea Faces an Environmental Crisis," Scientific American, April 19, 2019 (below).
3. Tom Levitt, "Ma Jun: China has reached a tipping point," The Guardian, May 19, 2015 (below).
Video #2: "China" Before the Qin Dynasty
Population readings/video:
1. Watch: Channel News Asia, "The Village with Dolls but No Children," Aug. 17, 2019.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/village-dolls-nagoro-japan-ageing-declining-population-11816372
2. Read: Michael Robinson, "Schools in South Korea: Where have all the children gone?" 2018.
https://focusongeography.org/publications/photoessays/southkorea/index.html
3. Read/Watch: Clifford Coonan, "Global population decline will hit China hard," Deutsch Welle, Sept. 9, 2019.
https://www.dw.com/en/global-population-decline-will-hit-china-hard/a-50326522
Todd RutleyThe topic of water resource management has many implications in areas including public health, fair access to safe drinking water, pollution and the environment, all levels of politics, agriculture, the economy, climate change and population sustainability. Water management is a top concern of both China and the USA that is a part of every economic development initiative.
What can we learn about water management from China? What to do and what not to do?
Bin He
Hope WattersonAccess to clean water in California is a challenge. Much of our water comes from the northern part of the state, but the greatest demand is in the south. Increasing drought made worse by climate change is another area of concern. Debates over how groundwater is used is also in dispute between environmental groups and farmers. Even with clean water legislation, contaminated water runoff and chemical threats are concerning. It seems water, our most basic need, is politicized almost everywhere.
https://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/rb/RB_211EHRB.pdf
https://water.ca.gov/Water-Basics/The-California-Water-System
clay dubeDelighted that many of you have focused on the water issue. It's worth noting that water management has been a theme of many scholars in coming up with theories about East Asian societies. For Japan, scholars have argued that the need to work cooperatively to manage water for irrigation, etc. was an important force for group cohesion. For China, some have argued that "despotism" originated in "hydraulic societies" where a powerful state was needed to manage water. Some readings:
Japan
EAA - rituals and management https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/water-tradition-and-innovation-flowing-through-japans-cultural-history/
William Kelly-- waterworks key, role of power: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/57647/ceas031.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (a second Kelly piece looks at 20th century management) https://apjjf.org/-William-W.-Kelly/2454/article.html
Kanzaka - Tokugawa village communities and water http://www.ehes.org/ehes2015/papers/Kanzaka_CivilEngineeringTokugawaJapan.pdf
China - Wittfogel - hydraulic civilization: https://www.britannica.com/topic/hydraulic-civilization#ref220125 introduction to his book: http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Wittfogel.pdf
A critique by Perry of Wittfogel and those who ignore him (and much of the China history field does) is attached. NY Times obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/26/obituaries/karl-a-wittfogel-social-scientist-who-turned-on-communists-91.html
Todd RutleyThe lecture notes (at 22:37) that 94% of the population lives in the Eastern 45% of country... and that only 6% live in the Western 55% of land. The lecture also noted that minorities in the west speak their native languages which are not Mandarin. So, how/why does China control the western part of country if it is populated by minority people that do not naturally speak Mandarin (Tibetans and Uighers) and who frequently revolt against the central government? Chinese civilization may be 5000 years old, but the borders that now encompass so many minority people are a relatively recent phenomenon.
Todd Rutley
Jennifer MacchiarellaI found the articles about shifts in population and the need for women to enter the workforce interesting. My students read a short essay called "My Mother Never Worked" about how home labor such as child-rearing, cooking, and cleaning isn't valued. As Covid changes our home/work structures, my students have noticed how much of the additional labor of at-home school and increased meal preparation has fallen to their mothers, even when both parents hold outside jobs. It's not universal, but common enought that my students were surprised. Although Japan is trying to entice mothers to return to the workforce through daycare opportunties, it seems the larger issue is a patriarchial workplace that favors long hours in the office. If men aren't willing to demand better work/life balance, the problem of population decline will be difficult to solve.
Jennifer MacchiarellaReading about the disputes over water coming from the Himalayas reminded me of similar disputes over water here in Washington. While the articles discussed water as necessary for agriculture, and attempts to reduce consumption, here the issues often focus on dams and hydroelectric power. As the US moves to more renewable energy sources, the compromises of the past have to be addressed. Taking down dams can increase the salmon population, but reduce electric output. As a class, we often examine competition for resources as a cauuse of conflict, and even war. I plan to incorporate the issues surrounding water disputes into our 20th century unit.
State governments and Native American groups are often at odds about the best course of action.
Here is an article from our local paper about the dams. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/salmon-people-a-tribes-decades-long-fight-to-take-down-the-lower-snake-river-dams-and-restore-a-way-of-life/
Todd RutleyCulture heroes can communicate myths about the origin of a group, myths that support group legitimacy, promote ethnocentricity
Culture hero myths may display supernatural elements or power which “prove” divine connection
Culture heroes can create traditions and mark the beginning of group culture
Culture heroes can justify state/ruler power
Culture heroes promote intra-ethnic group affinity links. This promotes power of leaders of these groups
Culture heroes may promote inter-ethnic group affinity conflicts. This promotes power of leaders, especially during warfare.
Culture hero myths conveyed orally can reach more people than the written word because literacy was very limited.
Culture heroes personify and simplify history – much simpler history than books
Culture heroes may promote group exceptionalism ideas & group supremacy. The "mandate of heaven" concept is an example.
Anastasia BrownReading the article on coal usage in Japan was astonishing. In light of the Paris Accords and every country is trying to lower their coal consumption rather than increase it. But since Fukushima occurred they seem to be wanting to limit this type of disaster again, by increasing the number of coal power plants. I do find it unusual that the government and that those groups who usually focus their objections on the nuclear power now are focusing on the start of 22 new power plants. I wish in America we would look at new ways of using more renewable sources for energy. But I understand how the government would like to definitely avoid another Fukushima, but is coal the answer?
The issue of birth rate is a problem for all developed countries. We have heard about Japan's declining birth rate for years and how they have been opening up for immigrants for labor. It is also interesting to read that it is happening in South Korea and China. America's birth rate is flatlining and comparing it to China would be interesting. As well as the problem of aging in these countries, especially in Asian countries where it is part of the family, culture to take care of their aging parents, grandparents. The aging populations, dying villages, is also occurring in America. Young moving to the cities where there is more opportunity. Or getting married later, and deciding not to have children or just have one. But the trend seems to be more alarming in countries like Japan and South Korea. But China was interesting, due to their data not being accurate and the problems caused by the one child policy which has hurt families with aging parents who have no one to look after them. The problem of declining populations will hit most developed nations hard before 2030, but it is not surprising that Africa will be growing past the 21st century.
Julie Laguna-CaturegliVideo: Is Japan a dying country?
Based on this article the rural Japan is depleting and quickly. There are many factors for this reason: low birth rates, marriages not a priority, high life expectancy, and economic crisis to name a few. The one factor that caught my eye was that marriages are not a priority therefore, low birth rates. I am also referring to the video: Is Japan a dying country? At 3:08 minutes into the video, the viewer observes a young successful administrator, Akihito who marries outside of the human race. He decides to marry an Anime hologram, which he fell in love with. As a young boy, girls bullied Akihito and so he decided to marry a hologram. The Anime culture is certainly a strong presence in our own students, youth and adults of America. This situation leaves me with many questions in regards to tradition and culture of the Asian population. Do people have to be married in order to start a family? Why does this culture of Anime have such a strong hold on people? According to the video marriages were down by 580,000 one year.
Taylor BubQ1: In California, access to clean water is difficult. Southern california relies on northern california for our water supply. Just driving up the 5 or 99 freeways on the way to northern california, you can see that there are massive amounts of farmland. But much of this land is dry and water is clearly scarce. I wonder if China experiences some of the same issues that we experience when it comes to the politicization of the availability of water. Are there areas in China and other East Asian countries where water is very scarce and they must rely on other areas?
Sean LobberechtI really enjoyed the materials that were provided for session 1 and think it was A great introduction to this seminar. All the materials fit very well into my curriculumas I teach ancient civilizations and actually have A model UN unit where we focus on the issue of access to clean water. I think A lot of the water resources and conversation of resource management could be A nice addition to the Model UN unit I do on access to clean water. I found it very interesting that Professor Dube mentioned that many scholars use the issue of water management as A lens into the formation of East Asian societies. I believe with the Model Un water unit I teach working this discussion inot other units would not only help prep students for the Model UN unit but also be A way to extend on that learning. What particularly interested me about these materials however was the discussion of Ancient Chineese culture, culture heroes, what drives technological change, and the five rolls sources.
My colleague and I are considering using A guiding question to anchor our curiculum next year and that question is "What makes A civilization great?" I personally believe two of the main factors that make A civilization great are culture and technological advancement. I believe the discussion of culture heroes is A great way to get an insight into any specific culture. Culture heroes provide A common moral compass for members of any given community, the belief in common culture heroes also allows for more people to work together collectively to build A great civilization. I am no professional but I believe there are many similarities between culture heroes from different societies but there are also many differences which would make this A great topic for debates and argument writing. Next year I want to do A better job of working in deeper discussions about culture and technological advancement. i believe technological avancement is so important and i will probably use the question "what drives technological advancement?" as another underlying guiding question to steer discussion, debates, and argument writing in my classroom.
As I have said previously I would like to do A better job of teaching the culture of different civilizations in my classroom. I believe I can definitely find A place to work the 5 rolls into my classroom. I am also A big believer in the use of sources in the classroom and I feel onne of the problems that I had as A first year teacher was finding primary sources that could be incorporated into the classroom so I was very pleased to be introduced to these. As we learned, these 5 roles were the foundation of Chinese education and culture for over 2,000 years. The fact they have been A staple in Chineese education for so long they are A no brainer to incorporate into the classroom. Also if they were such A staple they undoubtedly have had A major impact on Chineese culture. Confucianism is also one of the standards in my curriculum so that is another reason to use them in the classroom.
I apologize for any typos, it has been A long week as my school just brought back students into A hybrid model for the first time this Monday. I greatly appreciate all the resources everyone has shared and I am looking forward to taking A deeper dive into all of these topics tomorrow night with you all!
Cynthia JacksonThe visual of four rivers coursing through China intrigued me. In the fall, I considered developing a lesson that looked at how the shifting of the Yellow River over time has caused fluctuations in the settlement of nearby populations and changed the way local towns and cities developed. I still like this idea but I wonder if this lesson could be taught after one where students study a political map to identify which river has the most towns and cities near it. Then students will be given a population density map and asked to describe the relationship between the number of towns or cities in an area and the population density of each.The final step would be for students to use their new knowledge to draw conclusions about the four rivers, including hypothesizing which is the largest, which is the best for agricultural and industrial uses, and which is the safest to live near. Exploring these rivers through a human settlement lens would make way for studying the impact of the Yellow River changing course over time.