Session #2 - March 2 (afternoon), Clay Dube

[cgao]

The attached readings are to help you understand early Chinese philosophy and to prepare for a debate on Monday evening. Please bring the philosophy document with you, either digitally or in print form. You'll need to use it.

The filial piety cartoons are not required reading, but are a modern representation of classical teachings.

For the debate on Monday evening, you'll need to argue in support of "your" school of thought and against those of others. Here are some of the questions we'll look at:

1. What is the basic nature of human beings? 
2. Describe the organization and conduct of an ideal society. How is it organized? What are aims of the state and how do the people and the state interact? To whom do we owe loyalty?
3. What are the core components of education in that ideal society? How are people taught? What are they taught?
4. How can we move from the society we have to the ideal one? What is to be done? 

You can prepare by reading the philosophy teaching guide. As you read, try to answer the questions on pages 46-47 for each of the schools.

 

Attachments:

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[Scott Craig]

I really enjoyed reading these stories. They teach a lot about respect and the emphasis on filial piety. I think it would be interesting to have my US History students read these and discuss the moral lessons taught by the stories. Then have them create a cartoon series that demonstrates values from various periods in U.S. History. Examples could include abolitionist views, suffrage views, arguments for prohibition, etc. It could be used to have students view people's values and ideals in just about any period of US History.

[Kim Leng]

I’m collaborating with a teacher this semester who wants students to create their own life philosophy.  I like the idea of asking the big question found on page 52 of professor Dube’s handout. What might be some big questions students can ask for one’s own philosophy about life?  How about what do you value most in life?  Is it success, happiness, time for leisure activities?  I found this interesting article ( https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-We-Should-Require-All/243871 ) that explores some big questions:

• "Questions of Identity" (Who am I? Who are we?).
• "Questions of Purpose" (Why are we here? What’s it all for?).
• "Questions of Virtues and Vices" (What is truth? What is beauty? What is morality?).
• "Questions of Existence" (What does it mean to be alive, to die, indeed, to be? Or not to be?).

The students will need to think about some big questions that will help them navigate life.  I might ask the teacher to consider incorporating some Chinese philosophy from one of the four schools and other philosophers first. By doing so, students may engage in research in order to think about creating their own philosophy. 

[Dennis O'Connell]

Wow!  So much packed into a short session!  The world of Chinese Philosophy lightning version!  Without recounting all of the philosophy we discussed in the even shorter time period of this post, I want to focus on a couple of the take-aways I received this afternoon.  Firstly, I guess I have to thank Confucius each time I administer a state test.  I can also thank him wherever I see meritocracy being put into practice.  Secondly, I can thank the Mohists for cultivating universal love as a principle states could employ as a way of avoiding the wastes of war.  I just wish I saw more examples of this philosophy being put into practice.  Thirdly, I can thank the Daoists for their "Live and let live" attitudes, their encouragement to live a life of simplicity, and the idea that "Things that are meant to happen will happen."  Lastly, I am not sure what to thank the Legalists for, but I am guessing they would have a strict rule about starting and ending sessions on time.  Thanks to those in charge today for doing that!  

[Dan Thalkar]

The end of yesterday's afternoon session, where we learned about the influence of Confucian thought on modern bureaucracy and standardization, stuck with me. The connection to the civil service exam and current standardized testing is an excellent example to share with students to help them see how history, even when it takes place around the world, affects our world today. Additionally, I appreciated how these readings ranged among academic secondary sources, primary texts, and comics. Having students create a comic to synthesize complex issues and topics is a great way to lower the risk of writing an essay, allow for great amounts of creativity, and still ensure that the content was mastered. 

 

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I recall learning about Confucius in elementary school and for some reason it stuck with me for a long time. I would love to present these ideas to my students during our classroom meetings. Bring it at least one idea from each school, and then get their opinion on some of these teachings, can we still follow them today? 

I would also love to teach about the oracle bones as primary sources and have them compare it to other writings that are found in different ancient civilizations like the writings on the walls in caves, the Egyptian hieroglyphs and have them compare and contrast them. There is so much to analyze and talk about, the way these artifacts were created, the purpose of these artifacts, the locations. Then maybe have the students analyze and compare how we preserve our writings now, and the evolution of writing in general.

[Tiffany Chang]

I appreciated the quick debrief history of Xinjiang yesterday. I went to Urumqi with a brief lesson of what happened between the Uyghurs and the Hans, and yesterday was a good review of what is still happening today. I want students to understand how important it is to connect similar situations in different parts of the world to our own curriculum like the tensions between different people groups are everywhere today and not just one point in history. It is crucial to learn what may have caused the tension, the triggers that caused certain uproars, and the outcomes that shape today's culture. In the past, I usually glossed over the artwork and pictures that were in my textbooks, but studying ancient civilizations, we should study the primary sources which may include many pictures and drawings. Students should have a variety of resources aside from text that they can analyze. Comic strips are an excellent tool to demonstrate student understanding and allows for creativity. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

I never knew I was using Lao Zi's quote in class. I have a collection of quotes that my students respond to in their Writer's Notebook every week. A lot of the quotes are from the US Presidents, some from writers and celebrities. I didn't realize until today, that  I had a quote that originated from Daoism. According to my website source, the quote "A journey of a thousand mile, begins with one step," was spoken by the Old Master, Lao Zi--though he's someone whom scholars doubt that there ever was a man called by such name according to our reading. With each quote of the week, students do a quick little search online for contextual information such as the time the author of the quote lived, who s/he was, where s/he lived and what else was happening during the time of his/her life. With this contextual information, students respond to the quote in their notebooks. I am delighted that I am now much more knowledgeable about the contextual/background information I could impart to my students about the philosopher Lao Zi. I was also able to find more quotes online by other philosophers mentioned in our reading. These will make a good addition to our class quotes along with the author/philosophers background information from the reading materials for this session.  

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

That sounds like a valuable exercise you've developed over the course of time.  I'd be interested to talk to you and get ideas about how you motivate students to really think analytically and critically.  I struggle with teaching writing because many students resist the work of mentally grappling with ideas, understanding them, and either incorporating them or coming up with coherent arguments against them.

[Marcos Rico]

I had heard a little bit about Confucianism, Taoism and Buddism. I had never heard of Mohist (As Clay kept on reminding us, not to be  confuse with Maoist [different time period and ideas] ), Legalism, nor Daoism. It was a great to find out that Taoism is a different spelling of Daoism.

Confucianism follows that teaching of Master Con aka Confusius, it teaches that humans are innately good and can be perfected by creating habits. it talks about the 5 constant relationships that dictate how one must behave in society. Ruler- Subject, Father-Son, Husband-Wife,Elder Brother- Younger brother, and Elder Friend- Younger Friend. Practice makes perfect

Mohism follow the teaching of Master Mo Zi (who very likely was made up to counter Master Con), it teaches that we should do everything that we can to help our community, not just our family. Study war, for defense not to attack. War is wasteful. We have to reach for Universal Love.

Daoism follows the teachings of Master Lao Zi. Dao is power. "if you can define it, you do not know about it". it teaches that troubles stem from the pursuit of civilization. Nature knows knows best.

Legalism follows the teachings of Shang Yang, "Everyone must follow the same rules." Humans by nature are selfish and short sighted, andcan be manipulated with rewards and punishments.

I am not sure which Philosophy I identify the most with, but I was placed on the Mohism philosophy group. We must care for other as we would care for our own family. We must avoid wasting resources, war is bad because it is wasteful. We must study war from a defensive point of view, to protect our communities from enemies. Love everyone, not just your family, universal love.

 

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

Reading the primary source quotations from Shang Yang and Han Fei Zi was pretty startling!  Qualities I would have expected to be virtues - such as art, music, literature, love of travel, benevolence (kindness), integrity, brotherly love, sincerity, faith, cultural rituals, education, and intelligence - are totally condemned.  I had to look up the definition of "sophistry," because it's not a word in frequent usage.  It means "the use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving," so that one makes sense to be on the list of things for rulers to avoid.  But otherwise, OMGoodness, what a distressingly bleak outlook on life!  It sounds like it's all about control and suppression.  Maybe that shouldn't be too shocking, but it's unfortunate when the people in charge take that approach to strengthening their positions at the expense of people being human and wanting to grow and enjoy life.  I suppose there are parallels in our own history, if you consider Puritanical thought.  That could be an interesting comparison to research.

[Marcos Rico]

Somehow I always assumed that it was a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien I would have never guessed that it is such an ancient chinese quote. I might have also used this quote with my students. Earlier, after reading your comment, I was looking around my library for the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings but could not find them. I will have to ask my sons if they know where those books are at 🙂  Beacuase, now thanks to a quote from Lao Zi, I want to re read them (well, once we finish this seminar because we will have a lot of reading to do).

I like your idea of students answering to a quote in their writer's Notebookonce a week. In the past I have tried several several different activities to motivate my students to write.  I might give this one a try. Thanks for sharing.

[Christine Moguel]

I slipped a little in class stating Maoism- instead of Moism , in class without fully understanding the different implications of the two schools of thought.  After reading about Moism- Mojia- the school of Mo-  MoZI (c 470 BC- c. 391BC) I found out that the two not only differed in thought but also happened centuries apart.  The chinese philosophy of Moism was the first makor intellectual rival to Confucius and his followers.  MoZi - was very influencial during the warring periods and was noted as an anti-fatalist- one who practiced love without distinctions (contrary to confucious theory).    His school of thought promoted the idea that people should work hard to change their fate and the inequality of the world.  

Another key concept of the Moist-Mohist (correction) theory was that they thought that offensive warfare was evil and a great cause of human suffering.  Most Mohist followers traveled much throughout warring chinese era offering their defensive war tactics and skills to rulers who were under attack.  They were skilled in engineering devices designed to repel attacks on walled cities and fortresses.  Pretty cool stuff.   Though the groups didnt last very long they made an outstanding impact of the history of chinese philosophy.

[Brenda-Jean Shephard]

just an observation.  moist is an adjective that has a different meaning than mohist...

[Christine Moguel]

Yes thats right!  Thanks for pointing that out! Need to edit before clicking send!  My Appologies!

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