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Bin HeThis is the first time I have participated in teacher training related to Chinese history and culture. In the beginning, my goal was to learn more about how to organically integrate Chinese culture with different disciplines and make cultural courses more interactive. However, in the past three months, I have gained more than that.
1. Cultural learning requires teachers to associate students' daily lives with our course content to realize that culture itself can be touched, heard, and seen, not abstract consciousness and concepts. It's the commodity price tags they can see everywhere, the increase of foreign objects in movies, or the new dishes that appear in the school cafeteria.
2. The learning of culture requires teachers to provide students with sufficient background knowledge, including geographical and temporal aspects. Specifically, culture originates from the accumulation of human beings in the long-term development process, and the geographical environment and significant historical events have a noticeable influence on it. But for American students, this is what they need to learn and understand in class to lay the foundation for them to apply this knowledge. In addition, from the aspect of self-identity, the study of cultural differences in different periods and different regions can also allow students to intuitively experience and understand some of the current social issues.
3. Cultural learning requires teachers to provide students with opportunities to use this knowledge to solve practical problems. For example, when we study the Chinese Silk Road in history, students can analyze the purpose of several Chinese foreign trade routes in the Han Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and contemporary times to better understand China’s modern Chinese diplomacy, historical origins and policy changes.
4. The learning of culture requires teachers to go out of the campus and connect various resources to their students. Especially during the epidemic, many websites, online lectures, movies, news, and experts in professional fields can be invited into the classroom to give students the opportunity to access first-hand information and at the same time generate more vital interest.
Bin HeIf the Song Dynasty is generally an outward and open dynasty, then the Ming Dynasty is inwardly closed.
To consolidate the new regime, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, implemented a policy of stabilizing the country and closing the border to consolidate control. Before he died, seeing his children fighting for power, he handed over power to the loyal and honest Emperor Hui, and found an excuse to send the strongest Zhu Di far away. When Emperor Hui was in power, everything was done by the established policy of the Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Four years later, Zhu Di replaced Emperor Hui and became an ancestor. Ming Chengzu Zhu Di changed Zhu Yuanzhang’s policy of keeping the country in peace and keeping the country closed, and instead implemented the fundamental national policy of prospering the country, strengthening the army, and opening up to the outside world. Then he encouraged private business and ordered Zheng He to organize a vast expedition activity. The opening of the sea border and Zheng He's navigation greatly stimulated the development of science and technology, economy, national defense, and national culture at that time. After more than 20 years of doing this, China has once again experienced unprecedented prosperity and dominance after the Han and Tang Dynasties, that is, the famous Yongle Year in history. The representative of the development of cultural undertakings is "Yongle Dadian", and the representative of the country's comprehensive strength is Zheng He's journey to the West.
Bin HeTaoism and Buddhism are the religious beliefs with the most significant number of believers in China.
Although Buddhism was introduced to China, it absorbed a lot of traditional Chinese culture and Taoist thoughts and rituals, and it had apparent characteristics of integration. Therefore, for the vast majority of believers in China, there is no difference between the two. Taoist gods and Buddhist Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats are all gods that need to be worshiped in the eyes of these believers. These gods also have vast and unique abilities or supernatural powers, which can control life and death, misfortune and good luck, and can judge reincarnation and destiny.
For people of these general beliefs, what they call belief is "worship." , which includes: burn incense, burn paper, kowtow, make sacrifices, and then pray piously, praying to relieve one's sins and pray for blessings for oneself, family members, and children and grandchildren. These people have a common logic: all idols need to be worshipped, and all models can protect themselves, as long as they are pious enough, as long as their worship is more diligent, as long as their sacrifices are more generous.
Bin HeAfter class, I discussed the influence of Bushido culture on contemporary Japanese society with my friends in Japan. There are some interesting findings:
If you think you have made a mistake in Japan, even if it is just a tiny mistake, you should not find all kinds of reasons, but first admit your responsibility and then apologize. This attitude is called "いさぎよい." It can be translated as "happy, courageous, not cowardly."
On the contrary, if you know you are at fault, you will never apologize. No matter how reasonable the reasons are, you will be regarded as "いさぎよくない (not happy)" and will leave a terrible impression on the other person.
"いさぎよさ" was particularly important in the age of the samurai, and it can be said to be the most crucial concept in the morality of the samurai. A samurai must fight for his master. If he is defeated, it is by "いさぎよい" to die quickly. It is very shameful to run away and beg for mercy from the enemy. That's why there is such a famous "cut belly (せっぷく)." If the samurai fails to fulfill his responsibilities, the samurai will cut his belly and kill himself. "Chrysanthemum and Sword" also talked about Japanese non-surrenderism. The Japanese think that the life-saving equipment in the U.S. fighter jets is "feeling and cowardly (ひきょう)." For the Japanese, their reputation means fighting to the death (死ぬまで戦う).
Bin He3.The origin of humankind
Regarding the origin of humankind, there are no such stories in the Japanese "Kojiki," only Izana brothers and sisters turned their backs, the sister said: "...I will kill a thousand of your countrymen every day." The brother replied. "Then I will build 1,500 delivery rooms every day, and 1,500 babies will be born every day." So the population is increasing, but the origin of humankind is not mentioned.
In Chinese mythology, people are derived from the creation of clay by gods.
4. Other differences in beliefs.
For example, there are legends of "Kuafu chasing the sun" and "Houyi shooting the sun" in China. However, Japan worships the sun and regards Amaterasu, the god of the sun, as the ancestor of the emperor of Japan and the main god of Shintoism.
Bin He1. Story content:
Ancient Chinese documents record the story of "Pangu created the world and the earth." It is about the chaos at the beginning of the world, and then Pangu, who had been sleeping for thousands of years, woke up and created the world, and finally died due to fatigue and turned into everything in the world.
When the Japanese talked about the origin of the world, they only said that when the heavens and the earth were separated, in a "high heavenly source" place, three gods were born one after another. Among them, the Lord God of Heaven's Imperial Palace appeared once, and he naturally became the ruler of heaven and earth. As for the other four "other gods" and the later seven generations of gods, they are just like the gods of heaven, aloof and far away from human life.
2. The Origin of God
Chinese gods: They have extraordinary achievements, and at the same time, they have another identity; they are the leaders of the human clan.
The earliest creation god recorded in Chinese literature is Fuxi and Nuwa. Their achievements are: Nuwa repairing the sky and creating man, the legend of Fuxi and Nuwa creating humankind,
Japanese gods: directly incarnate, and others are the second generation of gods, the third generation of gods..., such as Izan's destiny and Izan's beautiful life, they gave birth to many gods. The Chinese immortals had to work hard from the beginning, not to mention that the later cultivators had to practice both internally and externally.
Bin HeDuring the epidemic, due to limited fiscal and domestic policy capital expenditures, loans to the "Belt and Road Initiative" have stagnated, and commercial investment has become more targeted.
In the first six months of 2020, the value of new construction contracts signed by countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" decreased by 5.2% year-on-year, and last year it increased by 33.2%. However, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that despite a 4.3% drop in total investment, non-financial overseas direct investment in countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" increased by 19.4% in the first half of 2020.
Constrained by the domestic economy and the global economy, and investment from China subject to stricter regulatory review (especially in Western markets), it is expected that China's total overseas direct investment will drop sharply this year.
When the epidemic broke out, and the country was lockdown, Chinese workers could not go to construction sites in countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative." The "Belt and Road Initiative" project mainly relies on China rather than local materials and supplies. Therefore, the interruption of the Chinese manufacturing supply chain also hinders the progress of the project. To this end, Chinese companies now seek to build production capacity in neighboring countries to hedge against the risk of supply chain disruption.
References:
Bin HeConfucianism was selected as the mainstream thought by successive dynasties, mainly based on respect for the king. They think that people regard the king as a god.
At the same time, Chinese monarchs also strengthen their power through various means and policies. The monarch's words are the law, and the ruler controls the power of life and death. Any spiritual power is subservient to the ruler and serves the ruler, just as Hegel said. : "The emperor is the leader of religion and science...".
Now that people have a sense of democracy, they also know that many things should be decided democratically. However, due to the influence of the millennium, people's democratic rights have not been exercised very well. In many cases, people prefer to make decisions directly by the leader.
Bin HeAt the end of last year, mainland China launched a TV series, "Da Qin Fu," to promote that Qin is a benevolent and righteous country and is widely welcomed by the people of the six countries. In the TV shows, the people of the six countries who Qin eliminated embraced and praised Qin...
Some people think this is a strong signal from the Chinese government: a powerful country needs to be reunified. The Qin become a powerful country by eradicating the six nations, unifying text, and asking the vehicle is on the same track. It is propagating national reunification and is pointing to Taiwan.
Here are the links for the TV series:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13551018/
Bin HeThe allocation of water resources has been a problem that has plagued China from ancient times to the present. There is both awe of extreme natural climate and a desire to conquer the natural environment.
Since ancient times, China has had deep memories of floods, and the legend of Dayu's flood control has been circulated in many places.
But more is the re-allocation of water resources by artificial engineering. From the artificial canals in the Sui Dynasty, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, to the modern South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the Three Gorges Power Station, those in power are deeply aware water is not only a natural resource but also an essential tool for driving economic and social progress.
Here is the extra video about the history of Chinese Grand Canal:
Bin HeThe allocation of water resources has been a problem that has plagued China from ancient times to the present. There is both awe of extreme natural climate and a desire to conquer the natural environment.
Since ancient times, China has had deep memories of floods, and the legend of Dayu's flood control has been circulated in many places.
But more is the re-allocation of water resources by artificial engineering. From the artificial canals in the Sui Dynasty, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, to the modern South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the Three Gorges Power Station, those in power are deeply aware water is not only a natural resource but also an essential tool for driving economic and social progress.
Here is the extra video about the history of Chinese Grand Canal:
Bin HeThe aging of the population is irreversible and will have many impacts on social and economic development in China：
1. The specific manifestations are an increase in the burden of support for the elderly and an increase in the tax burden of the working population;
2.the income of the elderly directly affects the industrial structure and the industrialization of services for the elderly, thereby promoting the third The development of the industry;
3. the savings of the elderly population directly affects the current consumption and national savings capacity;
4.the preservation of pension funds poses challenges to the capital market and investment management;
5.Aggravating the 4:2:1 family structure, the empty-nest elderly have become a social problem, and elderly care has become a social demand;
6. The sense of identity between different generations becomes weaker and weaker, and so on.
Bin HeToday I heard about the development of Christianity in China by the guests, and I wondered whether the primitive Chinese beliefs, especially the worship of heaven, promoted the spread of Christianity to some extent.
The Chinese people's understanding of heaven can be divided into two types, one is god, the other is heaven, a fictional sacred space. In traditional Chinese folk culture, the sky represents God. Many primitive religions worship and personify the sky, and believe that many natural phenomena are the will of God.
For Confucianism, in order to prove the legitimacy of the emperor, they would claim that the new emperor would replace the old emperor with the permission of the gods. Therefore, the emperor will also be called "son of god"
Secondly, in Taoist concepts, there are stories of heaven. This is a system similar to Greek mythology, where gods are in charge of everything in nature.
Bin HeSince we have mentioned the development of Christianity in the Ming Dynasty, Matteo Ricci is a figure that had to be mentioned. In many ways, he has achieved what the preachers have never succeeded in the past.
Firstly, Matteo Ricci believed preachers should follow the upper-class line, make friends with scholars and officials with high social and political status in China, and strive for their support. For this reason, when Matteo Ricci first came to China, he changed to wear Chinese scholars' clothes and perform scholar's rites. To gain the Chinese sense of identity, he also studied the classics of Confucianism, adopted the strategy of Confucianism-based missionary, and interpreted the Catholic God (Deus) as the God in the book of Shang and the book of songs.
In addition, Matteo Ricci also made adaptive reforms to some Catholic religious rituals. Due to Chinese traditions restricting contact between men and women, Matteo Ricci waived the anointing in baptism; Catholicism stipulated that believers must be anointed before death. Ricci also instructed missionaries to adapt gradually; he was also committed to cultivating Chinese traditions and requests the permission of the Holy See to enable priests in China to use antique Chinese masses and perform sacraments, etc.
To adapt to the West's tradition and pay more attention to words than oral transmission, Matteo Ricci wrote and printed a large number of Chinese works, which attracted a group of literati to pay attention to Western learning and Western religion and promoted the spread of Catholicism.
All in all, Matteo Ricci might be the first successful western who did the localization of religion in China.
Bin HeBehind the Legend of Mulan- the female images in China
Use the Six-Es (Engage-Explore-Explain-Elaborate-Extend-Evaluate) learning process to have students understand the impact of premodern cultural ideas on contemporary Chinese society.
Mu Lan-
For the “engage” component, we will start by watching the original Disney animated movie to familiarize the class with the general storyline
Then I will encourage students to explore what core values or important aspects are behind the movie-- the female images in the movie.
For this third step, I will introduce the original Mulan story using bilingual materials. Following this introduction, I will incorporate explanation of Chinese signature values, such as loyalty to home and country, and the female’s roles in ancient China.
To elaborate, I will have the students analyze and compare the two versions and find out the reasons Mulan was popular in U.S and China, and how did it reflect on the certain history background.
Then I will have the class link the broad values to current events, such as to talk about the details of China has celebrated some of its female Covid heroes, and let the students better understand the current female status through the guest interview.
Finally, I will have students apply what they have learned to conduct research and complete individual projects- Meet China's Elite Female. This will help me to evaluate students’ understanding of the connection between Chinese core values and current policy reactions.
