session 7 (10/9) - dube (film + 19th century)

[clay dube]

The first part of our 10/9 session will be the screening of "We the Workers" (http://china.usc.edu/calendar/screening-we-workers). After that screening and discussion, we'll then return to a discussion of China's long 19th century. To prepare for that session, please go back and read the readings for the history part of Session 1 (http://china.usc.edu/comment/151501#comment-151501). 

Part of the session 8 (10/16) will be devoted to a 3-sided debate over how to best cope with China's challenges. A guide to the debate is attached. The group assignments are below. The three sides are:

self-strengthening 
Li Hongzhang
Zeng Guofan
Yung Wing (Rong Hong)
Zuo Zongtang

reform
Kang Youwei
Tan Sitong
Liang Qichao

rebel
Qiu Jin
Sun Yatsen
Huang Xing
Song Jiaoren

self-strengthening	reform	rebel
Arrayales	Jiminez	Powers
Baccus Doby	Jones	Shen
Camacho	Koester	Silvestre
Castro	Levy	Steil
Contreras	Luna	Sun
Fortson	Mendoza	Tam
Gonzalez	Mercado	Tambunan
Goschi O’Neill	Nettles	Tanguay
Hernandez	Nguyen	Wang
Hertzog	Ortiz	Wong
Hoh	Osterweil	Xu
Huynh	Oyarbide	Zhao Davison

 

Attachments:

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[clay dube]

The best primary sources are in the recommended documentary collections listed above (especially Sources of Chinese Tradition). Some selections can be downloaded below. Also below are encyclopedia entries about some of the characters and a couple of scholarly articles about the topics. 

Please read the primary sources and the encyclopedia entries carefully. The scholarly articles are optional. They are longer and more detailed. You may find them interesting. 

Remember - this is debate preparation. You need to be able to channel the energies and ideas of these 19th and early 20th century Chinese figures. 

 

 

Attachments:

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[clay dube]

Thanks to these three volunteers to play a leading role. If you want to claim one of the secondary roles, please reply to this.

Li Hongzhang  -- Lesly Gonzalez
Kang Youwei -- Carlos Oyarbide
Qiu Jin -- Jasmine Wong

[clay dube]

Please reply to this message if you're in the self-strengthening group and have ideas about your key points for the discussion.
What are the big challenges China faces? What should be done?

[clay dube]

If you are in the reform group, please reply to this message in order to share your ideas about what your group should emphasize.
What do you think the big challenges are? What should be done?

[clay dube]

If you are in the rebel group, please reply to this message to share your ideas about how China should cope with the challenges it faces? What challenges do you consider key? What policies and actions do you recommend?

[Rick Steil]

In the readings for the Session 7 lecture I was chosen as a rebel and was interested in Yatsen Sun who is considered the father of the Republic of China. I had no idea that many Chinese went to Hawaii and attended school there and saw a different way of life and attempted to return to China to make their mark by implementing Western ideals. Sun championed revolution to get things done but Sun never accomplished what he set out to do. He stepped down to avoid civil war and made a decision for the good of the country instead of his political gain. This is a great lesson to teach our students.

[Jazmin Luna]

Our group should emphasize the importance of social reform and not just economic and military modernization.  Even though, we were defeated in the first and second Opium Wars, we should focus on how we can make our country better for our people and not just think on how we can make the economy or military stronger.  One of our biggest challenges would be to convince the majority that a constitutional monarchy is better than the Imperial System. We would have to also convince Empress Dowager to allow foreigners into our country, since she is a big opponent to reform and is anti-foregin.  I would advocate for open schools for studying-abroad.  This would bring new ideas from people of different countries, which in turn can help us with the social reform. 

[Rick Steil]

I’m really curious about how Han Dongfang feels about his mother country China. After all they have put him through I am curious if he feels betrayed by his country or does he still have a patriotic feeling toward them. I think this film and discussion will be a chance to see images that show what is really going on and what life is like in China. It is hard to get a real feeling about this massive country by listening to the news or reading articles. Images will be nice to see for ourselves and let them tell us the story rather than news outlets.

[Amir Osterweil]

“Our ultimate goal is the liberation of the working class. “

“Long live the unity of workers.”

These two quotes resonated with me because I found it ironic to be coming from a country that has been Communist for 60 years. It reminded me of the paintings of Mao with factory workers, and I felt like China had done a complete 180.  One can see the inequality in China, which is the antithesis of Communism. It seemed like Communism, as an economic theory was all but dead in the video. The discussion was very interesting because it revealed that the workers still have power if they can ally with the Communist party. So it seems like there is a nascent apparatus for organizing, i.e. laws, people just need to educated about the laws.

[Chris Hertzog]

Collective bargaining, social justice and workers rights; organized labor and bargaining, not revolution.  We assume democracy will deliver, but there is Walmart within a democratic society.  Enough said there. Han Dongfang brings up a great of information on the workers, their struggle and their fight for basic rights as human beings.   Teaching through history, we hit many of these topics in U.S. or World History to connect a film like this to.  Many examples come to mind immediately; 18th-19th century Britain, France and Germany.  In the U.S. 1800 industrialization periods, child labor, strikes continuing into 1900s, 1920s, 1940-50s with different groups and immigrants, many of course were Chinese.  Now we see into China and get a real clear picture of the abuses and human rights and worker crisis is happening, and it is filling our shelves.  Change did come to Euorpe, change comes to U.S. and now it is China's time.  Han Dongfang paints a dark picture, but looks back on the history of Europe and the US and paints a picture of hope, or at least, as each of those went through change, so can China.  I hope to show that to my students.

 

[Michelle Levy]

It was interesting to listen to Han Dongfang after the screening of We the Workers. He was mentioning that he didn't make the film to be fancy, using cameras, but instead it was to show as many people as possible. That being said, it was relieving to hear this film has been going around the world in film festivals. To tell the story of these workers, it means that the film gives more laborers opportunities for unity and trade unions through watching the changes that can come about. The collective bargaining spirit is more than defending worker rights. Moreso it is declaring respect of contract. Corruption destroyed China and people's lives, but people didn't realize it. Social media has really opened up people's eyes to what is happening in the world, and specifically in factories in China. The labor movement reminds me not of what I would teach in my classroom, but with talk of a teacher strike in February, of how important unity is at times of fighting for what is right.

[Cindy Nguyen]

I was deeply impressed by "We the Workers" and its portray of a factory worker's struggles in China.  It was shocking to see how unfairly the workers were treated by the government and the factory owners.  It seemed that the government is more interested in maintaining their power and money than to help their own citizens.  I would include parts of "We the Workers" during the unit of social changes in America during the 1900s.  By doing this, I am hoping my students would realize how fortunate we are today to have workers' rights and protection. Some students could also relate to this subject because of their parents/family members who might work in factories.  We could use this connection to help students to relate to the material.

[Michelle Levy]

Jazmin, I definitely agree with you about our social reform group. Having our discussion with students about making our country better for people, not just for military and economic growth is an important debate we can have. I think students will be able to fight for things they believe in, and working at a Title 1 school, I think our students have more experience than we know. I'm willing to support the study abroad idea you had too. Maybe my students would be too young, but high-school students could participate in seeing the world in a better light. 

[Catalina Silvestre]

It was surprising to see the unjust behavior that the employers place upon the people. Even more so I was surprised that the people did not know that they and rights.  The purpose behind the film was to simply document for the future.  Yet, the film itself gained more attention than expected.  The employers were more interested in keeping the leverage with the communist rather than helping the people.  The downside is that, when there are issues at such in any place of the world the people of those communities do not always bind together to stand up for what is right.  If all workers participated in the strikes and stood up for their rights there would be a downpour of employers focusing on the survival of their companies and businesses.  There are times where people will only show sympathy, yet sympathy is not enough. Interestingly enough the world around us is experiencing turmoil.  The only way that we as a people and as humanitarians can grow toward what is simply right is by standing up and fighting for our neighbors.  Our economy is, as well as the rest of the major economies around the word, money driven and this theme continues to be prominent as we hold discussions in this seminar.      

 

 

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