Session 4 readings (dube, 3/17 morning)

[Laura Gonzales]

After listening to today lecture I was intrigued with find out a little bit more about the Mongols. I bought a book tilted “Genghis Khan and making of the modern world. This is a New York times Bestseller. The author Jack Wetherford travels to mt. Burkhan khaldun to learn more about the mongol history and reenact what Genghis Khan childhood was like. The book does in excellent job breaking the Mongol dynasties apart and it makes it easy to follow along. The book is broken down into 3 parts. Part 1 covers 1162-1206, part II covers 12111-1261 and part III1262-1962. The book goes into detail not only about Genghis Khan’s life but about the mongol traditions as well. I learned a lot about the eternal spirit of Genghis Khan and about the different parts that the mongols conquered. It is impressive that they were able to hold so much territory compared to other empires.  This is a book that I recommend reading.

 

[Stella Castro]

Wow, I really enjoyed reading, ”Lan Dingyuan’s Casebook”, it was just awesome, first of all I do  not know if this excerpt is fiction or non-fiction, but either way, it sure was a dun reading.  In the part of,”THE SPIIRT OF THE KING OF THE THREE  MOUNTAINS TELL EVERYTHING”, First of all I like the way the story describes the days, (e.g., On the 6^th day of the 7 month,), I like this I have never read anything that describes the day like that. The story itself is about the magistrate questioning, a Mr. Chen Agong, who had gone to the magistrate for help in trying to find his daughter. However the daughter was never really missing in the first place. It turns out that Mr. Agong, had remarried her to a man from a more wealthy family. But it is a well written story as it tells how the magistrate investigates into the disappearance of the ‘daughter. But the fun part is how the magistrate remembers that the people of this village, (The southerners’), are afraid of ghosts and spirits. So with this in mind the magistrate tricked Mr. Agong, into telling the truth as how he had let his daughter re-marry. But the conniving magistrate was able to get all the answers from Mr. Agong, by telling him that the Spirit of the Three Mountains had told him everything. This is quite genius The story then goes on describe the punishment Mr. Agong, receives in which at one point, Mr. Agong has to sell his cow and his younger daughter to receive money to pay back the family from which he let his daughter remarry into. The punishment however seems severe to me as Mr. Agong, gets whipped, thirty strokes, gets put in the Collar, (this word seems odd, as I would think the word should be cellar), and is also put out on the streets for public punishment and humiliation. However, these types of punishment are the common practice in Asia, as I have heard, read about and seen in the movies.

            In this reading, there is another short story, /section, titled.”Depraved Religious Sects deceives People. This is another wonderful tale that involves spirits, magic, and decisiveness. This story is of how a couple of men deceived the village/own by claiming that they can see and speak to the spirits. How these men tricked the people with their shenanigans, and how they were found out by this same magistrate. Again the magistrate, uses his magic, (pun intended), to out trick these men. Again the punishments are severe, but in the end all the evil and filth was done away with and cleanliness restored.

[Tanish Fortson]

I don’t remember much about middle in high school history but I do remember learning about Genghis Khan and his Mongolian Dynasty. This leader was able to establish the largest land empire in history. He united the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau he conquered huge chunks of China and Asia. I can also remember that he allowed his followers religious freedom and abolished torture. Some of his other accomplishments were the first international postal system and he encouraged trade. 

 

I will pick up this book as well because I’ve heard another teacher mention it as well and hopefully I will enjoy the read. I haven’t heard much about Genghis Khan’s childhood as well except that he comes from humble beginnings. His mother had been kidnapped by his father and forced into marriage. Then when he was 10, his enemies poisoned his father and his mother abandoned him. It will be nice to do a lesson on the Mongolian empire with my students because we could cover territory, traditions, and culture. 

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