session #10 10/21 afternoon (dube)

[Jazmin Luna]

My card focuses on two young men. One holding a gun and one holding a small red book.  In the background you can see more people standing and holding a red sign.  Another person is on the floor aiming at something with a riffle.  The setting is outside in what appears to be a desolate area.  In the distant you can also see other people holding a red flag.  The card says "Be Ready Now."

I was not able to find this poster’s origin on google images.  I believe that these people are the red guards, which were young people who were encouraged my Mao to rebel. Since they are on the lookout, I believe they were waiting to assassinate any person of authority who defied Mao's beliefs.  They were probably terrorizing people who opposed his views as well. 
"

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

I posted my comments on the visual card in the Session 9 forum

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

Lu Xun is a literary giant in China.  His literary works depict stories of ordinary people suffering from the feudal Chinese society. He writes with a satire pen. Madman Diary (狂人日记），Blessing （祝福), and Ah Q (阿Q正传）are some of his novels in which the characters experience severe life struggles inflincted by the rulers and society. Lu Xun critizes the society and the ruling class through the voices of his characters.

I'm thinking of doing the lesson plan project using the film, Blessing （祝福).  The lessons are for high school students learning Chinese language.  Lesson One will teach listening and speaking.  I'll play episodes of the film and ask students to retell the story in their own words.  Lesson Two will focus on Chinese vocabulary development.  Students will read a chapter of the novel corresponding to the episodes of the film and explain the meanings of the words, and they'll also use the words to write sendtends and/or paragraphs.  Lesson Three will discuss the character, setting and Chinese cultures dispalyed in the film and novel.

[clay dube]

This card notes the role ordinary people played in defense. Soldiers and militias were all mobilized to defend China -- guided all the while by the little red book.

[Nira Sun]

I really like the story that you were given here. It associated with what we are learning today with Prof. Dube. The red Guards held responsibility of spreading Mao's theory to all types of civilians: the farmers, the students, the soldiers, and the workers. The spiritual guidance of their speeches were the little red book. I remembered Prof. Dube mentioned in class that it was close to religious which was quite an accurate description of the influence that the littel red books had on people back then.

[Sonia Arrayales]

Peter Seybolt’s “Oral Histories Collected in Houhua Village”, was a very interesting read. I always enjoy reading first hand accounts of important events, because they give you a different prespective of what to took place. Wang Fucheng's recollection was one that had me engrossed. He discussed his father's addiction, his sister's foot binding, and his own personal experiences of hunger, illness, and lack of education. To read about his experiences it was saddening, the hunger he went through, the sickness he experienced, the loss of family he suffered is overwhelming. From reading this, one can see the hardships that were experienced at the time, but I could not imagine experiencing this.

[Cristina Hernandez]

I totally agree with you that the use of cartoons in the classroom it is a great way to grab the attention of our students and to keep them engaged during class.  Also, I believe that the use of political cartoons while teaching historical context is an amazing way to help students understand different perspectives and ideologies with the support of visuals in the form of primary sources such as political cartoons.

[Beverly Nettles]

I enjoyed going through the dicationary post/reading (Ideology-in -the-dicatinary).  I'm excited that this was a listing for our reading; I intend to use this listing to teach my students how to print words in Chinese.  Having the English and Chinese tranlation together, alone with the definition is perfect for expanding my students vocabulary, and to teach them how to print Chinese words.  My lesson is on Chinese Art, and I will teach my Kindergarten and TK to write, read, and make Chinese words into an Art, while expanding their vocabulary and knowledge of China.  Thanks for this awesome resource.    

[Gerlinde Goschi]

Prof. Dube defined Marxism vs. Communism clearly during the presentation.  Many use the terms interchangeably negelecting the minutae between the two.  However, it is hard to state a distinct difference between the two as they are closely related, but how? Marx posited that all history is economic history and all economic history is one class battling with another class, many classes, but always two classes; for example, serfs vs. lords in feudalism, or, the bourgeoisie vs. the middle class. HIs is a philosophy rooted in a materialist interpretation of history.  It is a political ideology.

Communism is the realisation of a stateless society where all are equal. Marxism is the framework by which such a state is developed.  Communism aims to achieve common ownership to promote fairness and equality for all.  Consequently, Marxism is the theory and Communism is the practical implementation of Marxism.  Communism would have never existed without the ideology of Karl Marx.

Where does Leninism fit in?  Leninism emphasizes a highly organized worker's force, highly disciplined, and highly centralized.  The party dominates the state.  It runs the state. Violation of party discipline is punished by loss of job, torture, jail, and/or death.

(sources:  Wikepedia, Quora, Prof. Dube's Presentation 10/21/17)

 

[Carlos Oyarbide]

It was fascinating to hear about the split between the Chinese Communist part and the U.S.S.R. I had always assumed that these two nations worked hand-in-hand until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s. I also assumed incorrectly that the U.S.S.R was the driving force behind ALL communist activity around the world. I had not put together that it was China and not the Soviet Union that helped bring the Korean War to a stalemate. I think that one of the major driving factors that tainted my perception of the influence of communism globally was the simplified narrative of communism in the United States. So often t is depicted as this monolith that plans and acts with one clear and unified agenda. I found the rift between Stalin and Mao of particular interesting as their rift clearly contradicted the idea I had about communism in my head. During all the lectures about the communist revolution in China, I couldn’t help but focus on all the irony found in the disparity between the ideology of communism and the practice of it.

The rivalry between two figures who both saw themselves as the face of “true” communism highlights the façade of comradery that is embedded in communist ideology. I’m sure both leaders saw their ideological differences as the only way to reach the ideals of their economic philosophies, but I believe that ultimately, their ideas were victims of their own egos. 

[Beverly Nettles]

During Lao He speach to the people of China he made a big deal of President Nixon visit to China,  ordering them cleaning up the streets, and telling the people to stay inside…  What was he trying to hide?  When Lao Dia got up to speak he was more defensive – being careful not be too distance, nor to humble..., thus to be invincible.  It’s interesting that one family, the woman, decided to protest the taking down of the drying rack, and responded what could happen if they didn’t.  Sometimes we do things just because someone say we are suppose to and never question, WHY.  I enjoyed reading this article, hearing the debate between the dormitory lady and the family who refused to take down the drying rack for Nixon visit.    

[Evelyn Mendoza]

This story by Ding Ling was written with the goal of inspiring and shaping a new way of thinking among the peasant class. With her writing, Ding Ling wanted to change the attitudes of obedience and conformity that was common among the poor peasants. The Communist party recognized this as a great challenge; so writing “fictional and idealized” stories was an effective method of building support for the Communist party among this group. 

[Michelle Levy]

This brings up an idea I can use in my classroom with 2nd and 3rd graders. I think my students would understand class if it was described to them carefully. My students could actually come up with some fictional, or even non-fictional, stories based upon the peasant class/ Communist party. I think I will roll with this one!

[Valerie Doby]

The More or Less story reminded me that stories can help students remember parts of history and give them historical context.  I use stories in English that tell about history but forget to use them in history.

 

“China Deploys Amnesia” is a very interesting article.  It can be used in my English class to compare and contrast to other countries and what they want to forget about their historical past.  It can be used to compare to what is happening in America today with the Civil War statues.  I think this article can be the basis for a class debate about history: What a country wants to forget their history vs Why we need to remember our history.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

I too agree Chris that this type of amnesia seems to be repeating and the more we learn about the history of other nations and how they have tried to ignore their past we can hopefully shed light onto the times that our own country has amnesia. 

I found the article about China’s anniversary of the Cultural Revolution and the “amnesia” that was reported when President Xi Jinping’s actions were compared to Mao Zendong very interesting and sadly not surprising. The first part of the article addresses certain questions in the history of the revolution, such as, what is a cultural revolution and how the ten year period of the so called ‘cultural revolution’ was not one due to the supreme power wielded by Mao. Then it states that the people were confused during the ‘revolution’ as to what was right or wrong from a leadership stand point. After reading these two points I understand why the later article claims that Xi Jinping has amnesia when he himself has been known to rule with a cult mentality and had party member, Ren Zhiqiang suspended for a year after speaking out against the party. This reminded me of the lecture on October 21st about what is history fact or perception. Will the people of China allow Xi Jinping to have amnesia and ignore a period of history, because it is repeating? What an interesting article to share with the students today, especially as we look at our own current political history and struggles.

 

[Author]

Posts