Session 3 - March 28 readings (dube- china qin/han - song/yuan)

[Samantha Auerbach]

I feel like this debate could resonate with a lot of students in today's supply and demand scenarios. It's very interesting to read about some of these issues being raised during this time in history. The article allows us a closer look at to how China came to be and the resources they used at such an early time. I agree with the scholars for calling out the government in allowing the greedy to sell their goods for profit, while honest people are making a living off the resources they have available. They argue their position very clearly and fight for the people of their country that work so hard. This is still very relevant in today's society and we see it play out in a lot of aspects of our life. If I taught middle school or high school, I could see a very engaging lesson where students find modern situations where they see the same recourse happening. 

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[Chad Espinoza]

After listening to the lecture, it seems that legalism has the advantage of mobilizing people because deals in easy to understand absolutes. The philipsphical foundation, while not perfect, is easy to understand and seems to address two basic drivers of humanity: seeking out pleasure and avoiding pain. By exploiting these two drivers, the Qin wiere able to motivate large amount of people to accomplish many things. I think this presents an interesting question for students to consider. Should a government rule its people by offering citizens large rewards for behaving in a way desired by the government, and punished for not? Most social structures, including school, work this way and we often do not question the legitimacy of this way of functioning. In fact, we, as teacher, often do much to enforce this structure. 

[Chad Espinoza]

This seems to be a tale of lost. The fisherman, stumbling on a utopia, is unable to share the location of his findings to others. What is interesting is people's reactions to him. They do not call him crazy, but instead seem to believe him. Sadly, no one is able to find this place. They just accept the lost. This seems to give insight in to the pysche of the Chinese during the era of disunity. The Qin unified the country, but that sense of unity seemed lost with no way to regain it. Instead of denying that there ever was unity, the country mourns and accepts that their memories of unity will remain memories. 

[Hilda Dixon]

I think that for the Excerpt from The Book of Ser Marco Polo, we can see a descriptive and picturesque narrative of how the city of Cambaluc hath looked like. I wonder if we can ask our students to act out this passage with some props or many they can create a model made of clay or other materials that reflect this ancient Chinese town.  We can divide the classroom into groups. Each group in in charge of a specific theme. Then, we have a family night out in which we invite parents to see what our students did. Parents are encouraged to interview our students, too.

 

[clay dube]

Meghann - you're right about the multiple interpretations that are possible. 50 years ago, some historians of China saw the Song as putting China on the brink of jumping into a true industrial revolution with more modern governance. Then the Yuan came to power in what those historians as a regressive move. They spoke of a "Mongolian Break." Now many see the Yuan as a period of openness.

[clay dube]

Samantha and Hilda both propose utilizing primary sources to facilitate discussion/debate among students. The aim is to get them to pull out the ideas and wrestle with how they fit. These are great ideas. How do Marco Polo's descriptions fit with the town maps that we saw in the lectures?

[Jessica Ng]

Unlike most folk tales and fables, which are relatively straightforward and have a simple message by the end, The Peach Blossom Spring lends itself to many different themes and lessons, depending on the reader and social context.

For one, I believe it can be a cautionary tale about greed and honesty. The fisherman was given a glimpse of paradise, but he broke his promise and thus no one could find it again. It reminds me of the story of Eurydice, and how Orpheus couldn't obey one simple command, thus losing his wife forever. In the version  of Peach Blossom Spring my mom once told me, the people who went to look for it never returned - yikes!

I think there is also an embedded message about the possibilities that can be achieved through working together. There is no mention of a religion or government telling these villagers what to do. Each person seems to live humbly and plays their role in making their little society work.

Reading between the lines: the fact that the people's ancestors created this village in their attempt to escape war speaks to their status as refugees. The trauma they experienced was motivation to leave and seek better conditions. It's a lesson in resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving.

[Hilda Dixon]

What would I do with this short video?  I would teach my students about idiosyncrasy, sovereighty and fulfillment. I think I would ask my students to close their eyes and imagine that aliens more powerful than us have invaded us. Due to the fact that they are keeping us under their control, they are now our governors. As a result, we cannot keep many of our current jobs, customs or social status. These aliens have called people from other universes to help these poweful alliens mange our society. In spite that there are progress, growth and plenty of innovations, we don't expereince fullfillment? Why is that? Additionally, to undestand the counterpart. What would be the reasoning that Mongolians people did not want Chinese people to continue holding civilian servant jobs? could it be that the Mongolian people did not trust the Chinese people? 

[Hilda Dixon]

Ancient stories that describe a setting by a river means tranformation, and this poem in one vivid example of it. The fisherman represents the old traditional ways of doing things. The fisherman is not intersiting in caughting fish because he is drinking instead of fishing. This fisherman is not putting attention to his fishing rods, so the tides took him into a journey that is smelly and not pleasant. This journey is a little bit scary, but he cannot go back now. Then, he saw a valley with mulberry groves and white houses. The new scenery represent the new China; more beautiful and picturesque than before. The change is perceived as positive in this poem.

[Alma Ochoa]

I like your idea of having students analyze the infrastructure of ancient China and think about and compare it to our current infrastructure that we rely on! Geary idea! 

[Billie Johnson]

Aside from the technological advances during the Song Dynasty, which have always amazed me because I am always intrigued by brilliant minds, I am curious about these exams.  Perhaps I missed it, but did families in power have any particular advantages for this exam? It seems that with the complexity of the exam and the type of access this field provided people that there would be some leeway or maybe not. I would like to use this information to discuss how humans interact with their environment from the perspective of the economy and history. We see this in terms of how water was used for trade and commerce. We could also look at technology and manufacturing from a historical perspective and how these advancements were a positive or negative for this society. I'd be curious to know from my students, I suppose this is taking on perspectives again. If they were to rule as an occupying force, how would they structure our current society and why? This perspective could be controversial although Kubulai Khan was provided a buffer because he was described as an activist ruler...similar to Robin Hood?  It would be worth exploring that and the Marco Polo mystery is a great setup for a debate. Students could take a position on whether or not Marco Polo met with Kubulai Kahn and try to back up their arguments with evidence.  It's sort of like how do we know history exists without writing? I can see the Marco Polo activity being fun and a great opportunity for students to enhance their learning on reliable sources and the collection of evidence.

[Jessica Ng]

Reading about and listening to the lecture section about the Grand Canal, I can't help but marvel at the technology and ingenuity present so long ago. I think this particular part of Tang history lends itself very well to earth and physical science for upper elementary through high school students. I would pose the essential question, "How can we make water flow uphill/against gravity?" and, through the scientific process, allow students to construct their own experiments using a set of materials I provide. I poked around online and found this video:

https://youtu.be/iymgjhHZnGE

I would show it at the end of students' trials (and errors), and have them make comparisons between the video's example and their own inventions.

[Mario Ruiz]

The fisherman found some sort of peaceful community that resented the ideas of war and were seeking protection from it. I think the value that the story conveys is that a comuunity or place such as this peaceful one might never be found. There may never be any sort of utopia such as this unless it's dreamt. The fisherman was drinking copious amounts of wine prior to finding this place and so perhaps he fell asleep in a drunken state and dreamt this entire experience. It may also convey the idea that there is no running away from war, turmoil, and conflict. We can't go to some magical placce where we can simply forget about this. 

[Cynthia Stults]

How horrible that my own parent would break one of the laws that were put in place only to protect me and the rest of our country! In order to avoid chaos, my sinful parent must face punishment. I will turn them into the local magistrate, for they have the prescribed punishment for their crime. Whatever the punishment is, my parent deserves it, they broke the law, and the law must be satisfied.

[Meghann Seril]

As a legalist, how I deal with my parent breaking the law is very clear. The laws are clear, their enforcement should be consistent, and punishment should be doled out as necessary. I have to turn my parents it and they should accept the consequences of their actions. Otherwise, how would we ever have order in our society?

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