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AnonymousI find it interesting that many of the Asian cultures were intent on keeping Europeans from entering their countries, often using religious differences as the reason. I find the reasoning of Korea for keeping Christianity out of the country enlightening as it gives some insight into the thought processes of Koreans. "May Koreans were highly dismissive of Christianity for many of the same reasons they objected to Buddhism - it promoted selfishness, honored celibacy, and gave credence to miracles." To give voice and thought as to why a religion is objectionable and to clearly state those reasons gives the reader some insights into a culture that is will is will soon be facing cultural changes and facing an invasion of European ideas.
AnonymousI have to wonder where some of the old values of Korea came from. A woman needs to be married but if she is widowed she cannot remarry, therefore leaving her without a protector and unable to care for or fend for herself unless she has family that is willing to take her in. I'm sure in many instances she was no longer concubine material so the only real options opened to her if her family turned their backs on her were prostitution or begging. Is this born out of a culture that once believed when your husband died you were supposed to kill yourself as an act of honor or devotion? It's interesting that the roots of feminism flourished at a time when the country was facing a national debt crises and women were able to finally show the vital force that they supports all cultures. I found this reading very enlightening and helpful in understanding some of the cultural mores of my Korean students.
AnonymousIn session five, Dr. Jung-Kim introduced us to Ch’oe Cheu. Ch’oe was born into an aristocratic family, however could not work for the bureaucracy due to rigid class structure and policy. Ch’oe favors an egalitarian society, one of equality for all. One facet that I found interesting was that Ch’oe treated his slaves like members of his family. They all ate dinner at the same table with no differentiation between the classes.
I am currently teaching the Civil War in my United States History. As a lesson we look at several different perspectives on slavery. We evaluate the Grimke Sisters, John Calhoun, Hinton Helper, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and others. Students have to list three viewpoints the person had on slavery and actions they took to support this viewpoint. I would like to incorporate view points on slavery from other countries and how slavery was viewed in Asian cultures. It is important to not teach history from an isolated view. Other countries had slaves during the same time period, and in the case of Korea slavery was viewed differently. Korean slaves were born into that social class and they didn’t influence the economy to the extent as did the Confederate south.
AnonymousI found it very interesting how women's roles began to change in the late 1800s. It would appear that women were gaining some rights and social status. There was an eradication of early marriages, concubines and arranged marriages. This is not long after women in America and Europe begin to campaign for their rights. I would like to look at any writings from women in this ear and see if there is links or connections between the western views and eastern views. Students of American History and Government would benefit by seeing the effects that these two groups might have had on each other.
cgaoAdditional reading provided by Jennifer
AnonymousThat is such a valid point about not teaching in a bubble. So many times I hear students talk about how horrible American were for practicing slavery when the reality is that many cultures around the world, both ancient and contemporary, practiced slavery. I think the difference is that Americans purchased slaves - they were not collateral damage of war, so that is viewed as more heinous. I found the lecture last night about Korean slaves being born into that social class interesting. Class standing, as we see in many cultures in past eras, had nothing to do with education or hardwork. It was simply who your parents were, no deviation from the preordained plan. Many cultural revolutions and wars have resulted from such parameters. The entire session last night was very intriguing.
AnonymousLearning about Korea was so interesting. The country can be easily lost between two Asian giants in China and Japan. What I found interesting was the fact that women in Korea had more rights and started to gain rights before other women in the so called "civilized" nations. There were also many similarities between Korean movements and the rest of the world. Many of the rebellions that were happening in Korea were similar to others around the world. They were fighting for many of the same reasons: peasant discontent with aristocratic rule, rigidity of social status, and social injustice.
AnonymousI also found it interesting that women in Korea seemed to be gaining more rights right around the time that women in the west were starting to gain theirs. I wonder how much of that might be because of Enlightenment thinking and writing. Or is it more because of the Korean traditions that focused on matrilineal traditions of living in her parents home? How much might be from outside influence if any? Or am I being a western snob and assuming that the reason that Korean women got rights was because of outside influence? Would it have happened anyway?
AnonymousThis short story contained great detail and information about the duties and obligations of a Yangban. It gave a full description of what it takes to be a Yangban. Its a great story for older students. As looking online to connect the story of a Yangban to my kindergarteners, I came across an interesting website that has different pictures and information on mask from different parts of Asia. One had a mask of a Yangban. The website is typed below...
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/arthistoryinasia/ss/KoreanMasks_6.htm
AnonymousThe reading stated that Korea was "the most isolated society in East Asia." What I got from the reading is that Korea observed and paid attention to what was happening in China and Japan as sophisticated societies that were humiliated by forced treaties and Western influences affecting their cultures. Korea endured invasions by Mongols, Manchus, and Japan. It was necessary to close their borders. Korea protected itself by controlling the outside influences limiting who could come in and controlled their people travelling outside of Korea. They even thought to limit the size of boats so their people could not travel too far. The reading mentions a few uprisings, but seemed to sustain the culture through reforms until the 19th century. What was interesting to me is that the success of Christianity spreading was by the people reading about the religion rather than the people converted by missionaries or encounters with Jesuits. There were Catholic persecutions at three different times in the 1800's yet the religion survived.
AnonymousThank you for the yangman mask web site link. I got side-tracked by the other interesting links, such as Genhis Khan rising from slavery. There are other interesting topics to read about Asia.
AnonymousIn the resource titled "Under the Mandate of Nationalism: Development of Feminist Enterprises in Modern Korea, 1860-1910", what I found most interesting was the fact that a newspaper played a key role in the Korean feminist movement. "Tongnip Sinmun" (The Independent Newspaper) was first published in April 7, 1896. It was published in vernacular Korean. The newspaper was a public advocate for feminist advancement. It provided easy accessibility to the masses on feminist issues.
One might introduce students to this information when teaching about women's suffrage in the United States. You can easily make the connection that media/the press played a big role in helping women throughout the world advance in society. "The Una" was first published in February of 1853 in Rhode Island. It was designed to speak to the "real women" of all classes. "The Revolution" was first published in 1868. Equal rights, divorce, and prostitution were all discussed in this newspaper.
AnonymousIn the last session Dr. Jung-Kim discussed the sijo, a Korean poetic form that I found very interesting. She had mentioned that it is a very structured poem which I thought would be very applicable for students as students often have a difficult time with free form poetry and seem to always invite some kind of structure as well as many times need it. The structure of the poem includes three lines with each line averaging 14-16 syllables for a total of 44-46 lines. The first line of the poem introduces a situation or theme, the second line development, and the third line a twist and conclusion. I especially like the idea of including a twist as well as a resolution so late in the poem. It almost translates to a coda at the end of a musical piece before its final closing notes which I've always been fascinated with.
Below is a great example of a sijo poem found online with its link.
http://allpoetry.com/poem/10255211-My-Mask---A-Sijo--by-Pierre-Richards
My Mask (A Sijo)
They wonder at the mask I wear, it seems so happy daily
Though the war inside would drive one insane, so maybe I am or not
But each day I live through to the end, I am the winner
Pierre Richard
edited by dchoi on 10/20/2014
AnonymousI visited the site and I agree that Dr. Jung-Kim lucid description the sijo poetic form is a viable creative tool to use in the classroom with middle school students. The poetic structure support both creativity and expression, while at the same time its structure is an excellent way to explore the harnessing of deep and intense emotions present in middle school students.
AnonymousLearning about early feminism in Korea was quite interesting. A great potential unit would be to do a comparative study of the early feminist movements in countries throughout the world. When did women get suffrage, when did they get property rights, etc.