[Chad Espinoza]

Hello, my name is Chad Espinoza and I am an ELD coordinator and teacher at Tajima High in Echo Park. I have been teaching for over 8 years. Teaching during Covid has made me feel like a first year teacher, but I am adjusting. I am currently fully online. I have enjoyed exploring the vast amount of online resources, but I have found that simply making myself available for video calls has been the most effective. That and Discord. Discord has been great for online interactions. Pre-Covid, I enjoyed going to new restaurants. I still enjoy that now, but takeout is not nearly as good as dining in. As for new hobbies, I have been comfortable in my ability to make cheese and yogurt. Two things I need post-apocalypse. 

[Chad Espinoza]

Hello! My name is Chad Espinoza. I teach grades 9-12 at Tajima High in Echo Park. I teach all grades because I am an ELA support and ELD teacher/coordinator. I am currently teaching 100% online, and will continue to be until the semester's end. Before Covid, I enjoyed traveling, going to the gym, and trying new restaurants. Now, with covid, I have spent much of my free time expanding my cooking skills and watching shows I've negelcted for years.   

[Chad Espinoza]

The East Asia: Origins to 1800 Seminar has been incredible. I have learned much about Asia. But the knowledge I have gained is not just a bank of facts. No. It is a new programming of how to see the world. Many of my ideas of Asia have been challenged and I now realize that this is a very strong way of teaching. Challenging preconceptions is essential to creating cognitive dissonance in students, which studies show is a phenomenon that paves the way for substantial learning. The lectures and ideas that challenged me the most (the ones I will be using in my curriculum next school year) are the CCP’s treatment of the Uyghr people, the complex epic titled The Song of Eternal Sorrow, and debates over salt and iron during the Han dynasty. 

 

The treatment of Uyghur people is a prime example of the worst humanity has to offer. I think my students will find the treatment of Uyghur people barbaric, but I want to direct their focus to how such terrible things can be hidden by suppression of information. I am not sure what the future of America will be like, but it is clear that the government has an interest in keeping certain information away from its citizens. Guiding my students to be aware of how governments can suppress information will help them to recognize any malnevolent trends in our government. 

 

 

The Song of Everlasting Sorrow is a great example of the complexity in Chinese poetry during the Tang dynasty. The poem seems modern in the sense that it puts people in very dramatic situations that require dramatic actions, and the resolution of the poem does not have the satisfying heroic ending. Instead, it has an unexpected ending. The drama in this poem asks students to consider some significant moral dilemmas. 

 

 

The final one is the one I find the most interesting. The debates over the trade of iron and salt will teach my students much about the relationship between the government and the private sector when it comes to economics. I think using these debates to encourage my students to think about economic policies will help them to learn much about the Han dynasty and the universality of these economic questions.

 

 

Again, thank you for this opportunity. This seminar has shaped me as an educator. 

 

 

[Chad Espinoza]

The reading on the Ise Jingu is absolutely fascinating. The building is a beauftiul, yet misunderstood, representation of Japan's complexity. It also embodies Japan's early philisophical unnderpinnings. The building is molded by many different elements, and it is amazing that so much information can inform the design of a simple building that itself seems rather unbusy and uncrowded than its inception would suggest. What I found interesting about the building too was its fame. A German architect is the one who made the Ise Jingu the wonder it is today, as he insisted that the building embodied Japan, thus ignoring other trends in Japanese architecture and solidifying Japanese style as minimalist and monochrome. Buildings tell many stories. And I think this building in particular is a text as rich as any form of literature. Unless I was told, I would have always assumed a building was meant for function or beauty. Never did I realize architecture could communicate cultural ideals and philosophies. In my class of high school students, I think it would be beneficial to teach my students to read architecture and articulate their analyses in writing. Looking at the Ise Jingu specifically. I would point my students to specifics aspects of the building and have them write a response detailing what those aspects communicate. 

[Chad Espinoza]

Hello Jessica,

Funny you should notice the hats. During my first year on living in Korea, I returned home to spend Christmas with my family. When I asked my family what gifts they wanted, my dad asked for a hat wore by Chosun officials. I asked my friend to help me find such a hat and I learned a lot about the Chosun from this search. Only people who passed the civic service exam were permitted to wear the hat, so the hat, called gat in Korean, served as a significant symbol of status during this time. When I found an authentic version of a gat, I was surprised to see how expensive they were. But when I examined the hat, I saw that there was tremendous craftmanship in the hat and that people who made the hat special artisans called ganniljang. Because of the price, my dad had to be happy with the mini version I could afford, which fit like a Korea yarmulke. He was happy with it. But this journey to buying what I thought was a simple hat, turned into a history lesson. I think we can use specific objects from cultures in our classroom to push students into learning about an aspect of a particular culture. 

 

[Chad Espinoza]

Hello Billie,

I found this interesting too. The implementation of Confucianism violates our modern understandings of gender attitudes. It seems too that Korea, specifically the Koyro kingdom, lost out from significant contributions from women when neo-confucian structures were implemented. When I lived in Korea, the roles were still fairly rigid. A native Korean friend of mine told me that Korean women do not grow up until they have their first child, because they are coddled by first their parents, then their boyfriends, and finally by their husbands. However, when the first child comes, women suddenly have an excessive amounts of responsiblities raising children in a highly competitive society. I know this is only one account and I am not sure how objective the statement is, but I found it a very interesting account of gender norms in Korea, which seem to be rooted in neo-confucian ideals. 

 

[Chad Espinoza]

Jessica, you bring up a very good point. Who should be memorialized on a nation's currency? What does that choice say about the values of that culture? Money in every culture is so central and represents the wealth and in many ways th strength of a nation. To put an individual or an individual's work on any denomination is a very loud endorsement of that individual. This is where things get political. I think a fun project for students would be to study who is on Korean currency. Another fun project would be for students to put new people on American currency as a means of ranking important individuals. It would be really fun to have students restrict themselves to individuals who are currently alive. 

[Chad Espinoza]

When I was in school, history was facts. Now, I have learned that history is part fact and part narrative. You bring up a very good point Meghann, how do we know what we know? And how can we decide to trust any particular historical account. This concept is complex and when given to students who are not ready for such information, it can cause substantial mistrust in any system of knowldge among the students. As teachers we must teach our students to critically engage with text so that they do not take them at face value. We also have to teach students a way to gain truth from a particular text while still maintaining a healthy skepticism of the text. To be honest, I am not entirely proficient at this process, but it is a skill I must impart to my students, especually at the secondary level. 

[Chad Espinoza]

This poem is a masterpiece. The imagery is enrapturing and the characters are extremely compelling. The tension in the poem is also immense as it put its characters, namely the emperor and his concubine in extreme circumstances where only equally extreme measures offer any deliverance. The poem however ends with calmness and maybe even indifference as the concubine is no longer concerned with the matters of the emperor and earth. She has transcended to another plane and thus only concerned with that plane. This, the emperor finds out, only after he spends time searching for her in the afterlife. Considering that his love for her intoxicated him and the only way to move forward was to drain his system of her, the ending is quite disciplined in not giving the resolution desired by the emperor. 

The question I have after reading this poem is the impact of such a protrayal of an emperor. Since the poem has endure, I would assume it was popular during its time. But was it ordained by the emperor or was it shunned and only enjoyed by those not in high office?

 

[Chad Espinoza]

The salt and iron deabtes during the Han dynasty are a fascinating incite into the concerns of that nation. The debates read as a very modern text and are laced with some many similarities to the current economic debates nations are having today. The heart of the debate seems to focus on who has control of goods: the government or the private entrepreneurs? Another question that was brought up was the idea of whether or not participation in markets were good for the morality of the nation. Confucians worried that the greed that is stimulate in trade would rot the good citizens of the Wu dynasty. While important aspect of the debate, the most contested front of the argument was the disputes between the government and private entrepreneurs. The first chapter of the debate concludes with the idea that government is ultimately infringing the economic interest of the private merchants, not for the good of the people, but for the good of the state. To help students understand this complex and very relevant tension that always seemed to exist between the government and private sectors, I would have my students draft a policy that addresses this very issue. Students, in groups, can create a policy and then defend it in a whole class discussion, mimicking the debates of the Han. 

[Chad Espinoza]

The text, "Japanese Experiences of Buddhism," gives an interesting account of Prince Shotoku, the first Japanese emperor to every practice buddhism. Reading his account, I was given the image of a remarkably reflective and earnest practicioner of buddhism. The emperor wrote several commentaries on the sutras and when he passed uttered the words "Avoid evil, undertake good, purify the mind." These were some of the last words he spoke. In order to continue the spread of buddhism and to deepen its roots in Japan, Shotoku increased diplomacy between Japan and China. Sadly, during the Heian period, buddhism became entwined in politics and monastaries were used to the benefit of the wealthy. This is yet another example of an earnest system eventually giving into corrurption because that is what humanity does. I think excerpts from this reading would be relevant to my students today. After reading the parts on Shotoku and then reading an except on the eventually corruption of the system he installed, students can reflect and discuss on what this says about people. Such a conversation can also lead students to developing ideas on how to prevent such corruption. 

[Chad Espinoza]

The commerical activities of described in Ebrey's work are nothing short of sophisticated. The systems are so advanced that they even seem to be beynd the daily dealings of people today. The trajectory of the merchant families during the Ming dynasty also seemed very familiar. The mercahnts made money, educated their offspring, who then became scholars and government officials. Essentially, wealthy businessmen were able to garner poltical inlfuence through their wealth. A phenomenon America is very familar with. Another familiarity is the striving for wealth and the things it brings. In Zhang's essay, he is very aware of the power, status, and sex wealth brings. And even mentioned the suffering that occurs. For my students, I think reading this article (well parts of it) would help them to see how the pursuit of wealth is not exclusive to American life, and that it is something that humans have always dealt with. Establishing this will allow my students to write a reflection piece on humans and their desire for wealth and why humans have always been willing to do just about for money. 

[Chad Espinoza]

When I lived in Korea, I was immediately educated about the Chosun dynasty. I never formally studied the influential dynasty, nor have I ever read any acadmic account of them. Learning about their history and comapring it their legacy is a very interesting juxtapostion to make. In Korea, the impression I got was that the Chosun dynasty was the best thing to ever happen to Korea and every historical site I went to in Seoul was in some way connected to the Chosun. Ultimately, the Chosun seem to do much for Korea and Asia at large, since it continued to perserve Confucianism. For students, comparing the culutural legacy of the Chosun with the acutal history of the Chosun would be a fun and rigorous project. It would require students to understand the current leagcy of the Chosun and see how it differs from the actual history of the dynasty. To take it a step further, students can provide their own theories to explain why certain aspects of the Chosun legacy have been amplified and other forgotten. 

[Chad Espinoza]

As the inhabitants of the Korean penisula developed, their societies became stratified. I find this very interesting. Just like the dolemen were found in many developing cultures, so was social stratification among these cultures as their developed agriculture and material goods. This seems to suggst something about human nature and its relationship to material goods. I think this would be something endlessly interesting for students to engage with. Students are very aware of the materialism that exists today, so giving students examples of materialism and the social stratification it leads to, would be a good way for students to interact with Korean history while also developing rigorous opinions of our own. In small groups, the students can develop their theories as to why societies became stratified once there is an abundance of material goods. 

[Chad Espinoza]

The emphasis on the tea ceremony among the warrior class was very interesting. I get the impression that warrior life, while disciplined, was chaotic when the actual fighting ensued. Tea ceremonies are the opposite. Predictable and extremely controlled, likely provided the warriors the order they needed to heal from the chaos they endured on the battlefield. Ushered in by Buddhism, the tea ceremony and highly ritualistic ceremonies and arts seemed to proliferate in Japan quite quickly. Buddhism is a religion that emphasizes peace and seems to purposely eschew desires that lead to overly aggressive and industrious actions, yet Buddhism was adopted by nations that were both aggressive and industrious. Though I have not formerly endeavored to find the exact answer, but it seems to me that Buddhism provided nations like Japan the space and practice to experience peace and tranquility in a world that is anything but. 

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