session #8 readings (dube, 10/16)

[Gerlinde Goschi]

In the same unit I will be teaching about Chinese culture and traditions (including the art of tea drinking), I will include a mini-lesson about Beijing Opera, its roots, and its meaning. My first-graders, for the most part, never heard about this form of art.  When introducing it, I would show pictures of actors and their costumes.  I would also try to find a short video about Beijing Opera to show to the class. After teaching about the history of this art form and its inspiration to the Chinese people, I would ask my students to draw a character of their own that they would think would fit into a Beijing Opera.

[Beverly Nettles]

Xu Zhengkeng, 1918-1921

As I read this article I found that Xu views of America were similar to mine, and quite accurate.  I think he is correct in saying that America’s focus and views are on money.  America is a Nation driven by money, as stated in the article, money is worshiped – those who have lots of it are idolized…, thus, the motive of most American’s is to obtain money.  He states the standard of living is high, American are superstitious, and not totally civilized.  I guess from a foreigner point of view, and one who have studied in America he is correct.

[Evelyn Mendoza]

This reading was really entertaining! I always enjoy learning the perspective of others. In this case, it was interesting to learn how a Chinese man would describe America and the Americans that live there. I would be interested to find out how Xu Zhengkeng came to these conclusions. For example, where did he make this observations, for how long, did he observe families, couples, or single people, etc.

 This is a reading I would definitely bring to my class because students will get to see how others see Americans. Students can even discuss whether they agree or disagree, and why. Also, I could bring in more recent assessments of American/Americans and see how they all compare.

What South Koreans Think of America & What Japanese Think of America

[Valerie Doby]

This was a part of history that I really didn’t have a great knowledge of before this session.  Since I teach medieval China, I haven’t studied as much on this part of China’s history.  

 

It is funny that most of my students when we get to China ask about foot binding.  I remember a little about it from history in high school but it wasn’t emphasized.  The fact that students ask about that first is amazing how a tiny part of Chinese history is blown up.  

 

This helps me to remember to balance the history that I teach and the impact it had on a society.  If I overemphasize or undervalue something in history my students will be greatly impacted.  I appreciate Prof. Dube reminding us about our responsibility as educators to be as balanced as we can.

 

[Jonathan Tam]

“China is a celestial kingdom that doesn’t need help from the outside” is the quote that resonated with me, namely because I feel as though this attitude was greatly expressed to the outside world. When the British wanted to open trade lines to China, a request was made by the Chenlong emperor for the British to kowtow to him. I would definitely consider it pride that led to the turmoil that would follow after the Chenlong emperor’s death, but this political attitude that was expressed to the outside world certainly made it worse.

[Jonathan Tam]

The account by Ulysses S. Grant was one I found particularly compelling. In the article, he describes his day to day experiences leading up to meeting Prince Kung and leaving China. Throughout the account is the key agenda to figure out how to “deal” with the Chinese, but to my surprise, it wasn’t as demeaning as I expected. The experience is raw and reflective, informative and well-depicted. There are moments when he even praises the Chinese for the actions in the streets as merchants or their kindness, but always centers back to his role as a politician in this region as well as treating the experience as a matter of international relations.

[Jonathan Tam]

While I do understand the reasons why you won’t want to bring foot binding as a topic in the classroom, I actually think that it would be a great topic for my students to discuss. I teach at the School of Social Justice and so discussing gender roles in history would a great circle topic in bridging how those roles exist today. A topic that we have discussed in the past is the role of makeup in our lives and a conclusion that we were able to reach was how it’s a value among the girls at our school to wear and keep wearing make up. Bringing in a topic like foot binding might challenge the origins of where those values came from. From what was discussed in seminar, the foot binding culture was established during the time of the Song dynasty. An emperor was impressed by women who had particularly small feet and this was a tradition upheld by the rich northern families. My guess is that a very similar path can be followed if we analyze makeup.

[Erin Tanguay]

I really enjoyed the three-sided debate that we had in class. I was a part of the rebel group and even though I didn’t have a particular person that I was assigned to I found myself drawn to Qui Jin. Jin was a rebel hero of the uprising of the Qing dynasty. She was a feminist, who inspired other women to leave abusive marriages and fight for what they thought a Chinese women needed from her government. When I spoke up in class I took on the role of woman fighting alongside Qui Jin and I used her quote of “Don’t tell me women are not the stuff of heroes.” I think this would be a great activity for my students. This year I’m going to try this during the Japan unit. I will give the students roles as a shogun, samurai, regent, and commissioner during the Tokugawa Period. I will assign some with actual roles, such as, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. I think it will get the students to really be invested in the historical time period the way I was during this section.

 

[Carlos Oyarbide]

The 21 demands that Japan made of China in 1915 really help put modern China’s global policy into perspective. I remember a few months back reading about china terraforming islands in the Pacific, with the suspected motive being that this would allow China to lay claim to the oil that lies beneath. At the time, this seem incredibly petty. With a better understanding of Chinese history, the Century of Humiliation in particular, it now seems downright logical.

With all the demands that were made of China by foreign powers in the early 20^th century, I have to imagine that the “Twenty One Demands” had to feel particularly shameful. It was bad enough that China was seemingly powerless to defend itself against the American and European onslaught, but Japan’s desecration of China’s sovereignty seems even more painful. The taking of precious natural resources by all of these foreign powers really frame the modern foreign policy China has taken in the Pacific. Not content to be merely “a power” but “the power.” What I find terrible interesting moving forward is how China and Russia will contend with one another. Much has been made about Russian foreign policy in relation to the U.S., but little in relation to China. I can’t help but feel that this will soon change. 

[Carlos Oyarbide]

Was I the only one who found my role a bit frustrating. As Kang Youwei, it was a bit difficult to present my arguments knowing that historically I would be expelled by the Empress Dowager. It felt like I had lost before I had even begun. Furthermore, the Reformers were sort of in the middle between the two groups. While they advocated the imperial control of the Manchu’s, they did wish to modernize the country to help more of the Chinese citizenry. However, the way the Reformers wanted to modernize are only subtly different than the way the “self-strengtheners” wanted to modernize. When I was asked how the reformers where different than the self-strengtheners I almost froze.

All things considered though, it was a lot of fun to have a prominent role in the encounter. This activity made me focus more on the readings of the week. I was definitely more invested in the assigned texts compared to prior weeks. I even had a three column chart to try and better understand my argument and those of my opponents. 

[Carlos Oyarbide]

It's impossible to argue against you in hindsight. Fair trails and democracy are seen as crucial to modern society. In preparation for the discussion tonight, I had to remind myself that these ideas were not necessarily seen as valuable at the turn of the 19th century. You mentioned the 100 years of shame. If I put myself in the shoes of someone that led a relatively good life back then, I would have a hard time making the argument for rebellion. With foreign powers trampling all over china’s sovereignty, rebellion could be argued, would only further weaken China from within and allow these same foreign powers to carve up China even further. Had the Manchu’s been “traditionally” Chinese it is possible that the country could have rallied around it’s emperor much in the way that Japan did. I think that rebellion would have been inventible anyway, but it is interesting to suppose what could have been. 

[Jazmin Luna]

To add to that, even within one country, the standards of beauty change every 10 years or so. Whomever does not follow that trend is seen as an outcast or weird person.  Body ideals just like music are just a trend.  As a second grade teacher I am always giving a positive comment to each of my students on something that is different from the others, that way they don't see one comment as a reason to do that. I show them that they are all unique in their own way and that those differences makes them who they are.  It is sad to see how much t.v. influences our students with what is suppose to be right, yet glad that there are more and more people with disabilities or whose body that are outside the norm, making it big on t.v. It's all about confidence and instilling this into our young minds. 

[Carlos Oyarbide]

I totally agree that no topic should ever be off limit to discuss with our students in the proper context. You make very valid points about gender roles and I love how you tie it in to the gender norms your students have for themselves and for each other. However, I do think that this topic needs to be broached delicately and put in it's proper context. I think that that the reason we are discouraged from addressing this issue is because it has become this pernicious stereotype of China. It has been my experience that sometimes students will remember the most sensational aspects of a unit while forgetting much of the nuance. I think if you wanted to proceed with this topic you would have to make it part of a larger unit that could do justice to a very complex issue. If not, it can just reinforce a stereotype that would run counter to your mission as an educator.

[Jazmin Luna]

This is very true because not once had I heard of the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and yes, it is similar to how the United States started their own country away from Britain.  Just like the U.S. revolution, the Xinhai Revolution had many uprisings and revolts.  Similar to the U.S. as well, two main parties formed after the revolution.  In the U.S. it was the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party and in China it was the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.  But unlike the U.S. the revolution in China overthrew over 2,000 years of Monarchy.  This topic could be used as a compare contrast question, in which students analyze how they were similar yet different. 

[Matthew Wong]

Amir, I agree with you about relating Sun Yat-sen's "Fundamentals of National Reconstruction" with the impact of the Enlightenment. 

Before I read this document, I had a limited understanding of Sun's vision for a democratic China. For years, I have known that Sun was considered a founding father of modern China. I knew about his overseas experiences and often wondered how China would be different had he continued to lead China rather than step down because of Yuan Shi Kai. 

It's interesting to note that Sun references the Enlightenment and western governments as having influenced his own plan for China's future. It is evident that Sun thought meticulously about a modern China that would endure rather than continue the dynastical change China has experienced for centuries. The Enlighenment now has new meaning for me, and something else I can share with students. 

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