[Cynthia Jackson]

1895 was just 19 years before World War I and we know from studying world history that this was a period of increasing nationalism. Most of the empires and countries that China interacted with as trade partners or through war were westerners that believed in their race and ethnicity being superior to anyone living in “the East”. With China’s long history of influence and prominence over Japan and Korea, it was probably very disparaging to have another country in the East rise and defeat them in battle.

 

In 7th grade, it can be hard to help students consider the ways that multiple events and movements around the world interact with each other- in this case European and American empire building, nationalism, alliances, and the development and modernization of East Asia -because students have not learned much history yet. Their experience with history up to this point is some state history and ancient civilizations of the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Without the contextual knowledge previous learning would provide, students are unable to draw connections. However, I believe that the significance of China and Japan’s relationship changing could be taught if students understand that Japan and Korea first followed in China’s footsteps, so to speak, for thousands of years (just not as deeply as mentioned above).

[Cynthia Jackson]

After learning about both Opium Wars, I’m left feeling sad and wondering why this history was not taught better when I was in school. Opium’s effects on people was referenced in Charles Dickens's novels or quickly in a history textbook, but the socio-cultural and political impacts were not reviewed. I like the idea of reviewing these wars- time period, causes, “players” events- and then focusing on how this changed life for Chinese within their empire. Perhaps comparing and contrasting how life changed in Beijing and Nanjing by reading accounts and looking at images (paintings, photographs, architecture) could be a good way to help students grasp the vast amount of conflict, devastation, and change experienced in China during the 19th century.

[Cynthia Jackson]

To teach unequal treaties, I would like to give my students modified excerpts from several of these sources. (In 7th grade, my students very much struggle with modified texts too- as I got reminded last week with a two day lesson on Moctezuma and Cortes meeting- so I would need to be very intentional about which parts I would select when creating my own treaty question packet for hands on learning. The question for the day would be: What do these treaties indicate about China’s perceptions of foreigners and foreign nations perceptions of China?) Primary sources are a great teaching tool and my students better remember their learning and practice their historial skill set when they engage with primary sources. Since this would be taught in December, my students will have had a lot more practice evaluating sources, the steps of which I taught last week during our pre-unit. By giving them the sources and reminding them to use those steps, I believe students will be able to draw conclusions about China’s increased wariness of foreigners and distrust of western cultures including practiced religions.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Article VIII-XII: This treaty not only expands Britain’s trading freedoms, makes Britain money, and gives them a port China, but it also allows for Britain to directly influence Chinese internal affairs. First, Britain gets China to agree to free any British citizens who have committed crimes. At first glance it seems like a normal agreement between two countries who might both have prisoners of war. However, the longer I thought about it, I realized that the language does not specify prisoners of war or those imprisoned during specific dates. It states that China is to “release unconditionally all Subjects” meaning that any British citizens committed of crimes before and during the war are considered as having paid “their debt to society” in full. It occurred to me that British merchants who had broken Chinese laws for foreigners before the Opium War were released as the result of a treaty that increased theirs and their country’s power immensely. This treaty takes it one step further though- Britain dictates that China absolves all of its own citizens of having aided or sided with the British in any way during the war. 

...a full and entire amnesty and act of indemnity, to all Subjects of China 

on account of their having resided under, or having had dealings and 

intercourse with, or having entered the Service of Her Britannic Majesty, 

or of Her Majesty's Officers, and His lmperial Majesty further engages to 

release all Chinese Subjects who may be at this moment in confinement 

for similar reasons... (Treaty of Nanjing, Article XIV)

 

The inclusion of the agreement above seems particularly odd as Britain did not take over China completely or directly. However, by deciding what China would do with its own citizens, blocking trade, and occupying coastal China for years until all 21 million in “debts” were paid, Britain behaved with China as if they were being added to the imperial empire. The treaty makes it clear that the British do not trust the Chinese to honor their loss in the war or their “debts”, and is considered insulting to someone reading it two centuries later. If this was the beginning of their troubles with foreign nations, it makes sense that China has described these years and the following century as their Age of Humiliation.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Articles IV-VII: 21 million dollars China was told to pay in repatriation fees. China had to cover the cost of the war for both sides, plus pay additional fees for British merchants losing profits, even though their opium laws and policies were seemingly clear and foreign merchants knew the risks they took. How this war played out- the offending of British citizens, the declaration of war, the defeat at the hands of a country that was clearly more industrialized and prepared for war than their “enemy”- reminds me of both the Texas and Hawaii annexations by the United States. In all three cases, territory and greater economic rights were won. I have learned that there are theories the U.S. conspired with American citizens in these areas. While I am not sure if those are true, I am not quick to dismiss these theories. I wonder if there is similar research about Britain’s relationship with the merchants in China and if so, if these could be supported with evidence of Britain using this strategy in other empires and kingdoms around the world.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Articles I-III: I will be doing several posts to break down the Treaty of Nanjing because I found this document absolutely fascinating. These first few articles of this treaty gave Britain greater access to China which had been a goal since the days of the Macartney expedition in 1793-1794. Great Britain gained control of Hong Kong, giving them an official port in East Asia, very close to one of their most important trading partners. A port in this region would also make it easier for Britain to insert influence over other East countries as they could better legitimize their interest by controlling areas on two sides of China’s borders- India and the island of Hong Kong. While the treaty’s language makes it seem as if this war was inconvenient for Britain, it was in fact quite the opposite. Britain walked away with much more economic and political power than they would have had otherwise, even if allowed greater access to trade with a larger community of merchants (their original goal).

[Cynthia Jackson]

I would like for my students to use “discovery” to be able to differentiate and describe the relationship between economic growth and economic development. In World Geography, one of the 8 traits of culture is economy but very few lessons throughout the year explore that trait. A lesson focusing on the ways 19th century economic development created internal political tensions would be a great way to help students to understand the significance of China’s return to economic dominance in the late 20th century- a potential topic of focus for one of the unit’s common assessments. As this lesson would ask students “What is the relationship between economic growth and economic development?”, a thinking exercise at the beginning of the lesson would help students start making connections. This thinking exercise would have students begin to make conjectures and ask questions about the impacts of limited resources on a country economically, politically, and socially. I am considering two word problems to accomplish this: 1) In our class, there are 17 students. The teacher has 17 pencils. If each student needs 17 pencils, how many pencils does each student get? 2) We get 5 more students added to our class and now have 22 students. What happens to the supply of pencils? Some of the follow-up questions would be: “Let’s think about the various impacts this would have on our class. 

• (1) What happens when students don’t have pencils? 

  • How would people respond to a pencil shortage? 

  • How might students behave with each other if there was a pencil shortage? (social) 

• (2) How would students expect the teacher to fix this problem? 

  • What are some ways the teacher might respond when asked to fix this problem? (government) 

• (3) If students were allowed to vote and choose student government officials, how might a pencil shortage affect the election? 

  • What might students ask of candidates? (political)

 

This activity would be followed by discussion and analysis of Chinese economic data from the 18th-20th centuries. I am not quite sure what this part of the lesson would look like but I am guessing that these charts and graphs show that there is a point at which economic growth and development turn profit. Anything before this point would mean breaking even or a deficit. I want students to observe this trend and create inquiries about social life in these phases based on the information they observe. Following lessons would highlight key events during these phases so that students can investigate and collect evidence for their inquiries.

[Cynthia Jackson]

And I love the essential question you created! Thank you for sharing!

[Cynthia Jackson]

China and Japan have certainly not been the last countries to limit foreign access within their borders in an effort to avoid negative foregin influences. In fact the 18th and 19th centuries were not the last time that either country isolated themselves. They both did so in the 20th century and China continues to do so today as evidenced by data they release for illnesses and natural disasters, and their practice of creating and using their own social media apps distinct from those used in across countries. Cuba and North Korea, two other communist countries that were/are interested in gaining international power, have also limited foreign influence in the past 70 years. I highlight that all three countries have communist governments because I think that there is a pattern- negative interactions with non-communist countries and/or characteristics of a communist government encourage isolationism in modern times.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Examining examples of Chinese and Japanese literature side by side would be a cool way to introduce the cultural similarities and differences. Given that A Dream of Red Mansions is a treasured piece of literature, collecting translated excerpts from it would allow me to lead students in analyzing this primary source and practice using literary themes and character’s actions to identify expressed cultural values and beliefs. Similarly, using excerpts from Japanese bunraku would give students an opportunity to identify events in Japanese history and some of Japan’s cultural values and beliefs. Then, students could make arguments about which format- books or plays- would be best to teach cultural values and determine if the author’s drew attention to issues that contributed to their countries decline in economic power and domestic peace.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Personally, I found the mention of Heshen fascinating because in my own education, there were not many times when we learned about the wealth of individuals outside of Europe and the United States. Yes, some time may be spent on describing the culture of, and positive and negative impact of “the wealthy” as a group in other countries, but often individuals, and the things they did with their money, are not mentioned. My students enjoy learning about Mansa Musa, the emperor of the Mali emperor in the 14th century. They remember learning about the richest person in the world at the time and one of the richest people who ever lived. Accounts of his travels help them understand the interconnectedness between Africa, Europe, and Asia and students walk away with a new perspective of Africa- one that is not based on European colonialism. I think teaching Heshen would have a similar impact in my classroom and provide an opportunity for students to calculate who was richer.

[Cynthia Jackson]

I like that you highlighted Europeans’ needs and abilities to provide more goods for themselves had changed. You’re right. It’s important to consider while we study how the 19th century dramatically changed South and East Asia. This chart also raised three other questions for me. In my school’s Asia unit, we are highlighting Southwest Asia, India, and East Asia to blend the old and new state standards together before we fully transition to the new. Looking at this chart and seeing that China and India led worldwide production of goods in 1800, made me wonder if I could use this chart to have my students practice making inquiries- one of the Massachusetts social studies practice standards. Three of my questions would be this: 1) How did a decline in economic activity and national wealth during the Industrial Revolution impact China and India? 2) What role did European presence, both imperialism and colonialism, in East Asia play in China’s and India’s economic development or reduction during the Industrial Revolution? 3) What factors contributed to a steady decrease in Japan’s economic power from 1750-1900?

[Cynthia Jackson]

Thinking about these statistics gives me another perspective and reason to be glad that I am in this seminar. While I have learned about and pursued more knowledge of the pattern of economic activity in European countries and the U.S. during the Industrial Revolution, I have never studied it’s impact on East Asia or considered researching this independently. I am astonished that China had the highest GDP in 1800 and experienced a dramatic decrease in economic power by 1900, but I realize now that I shouldn’t be. When I think about it conceptually, it makes sense. Trade existed before the Industrial Revolution- that event didn’t just “happen”, so if trade existed before then there had to have been a region, empire, or country that held the leading spot. I’ve learned about China’s role in trade during the medieval age and about when China began gaining global economic power again in the mid-late 1900’s, but I now know I didn’t extend the thought further. If I had, then I would have questions such as “Did China have the most economic power in the medieval ages and perhaps before?” and “When did China lose its leading role in trade and why?”

[Cynthia Jackson]

Part of geography instruction includes the 8 traits of culture. One of those, daily life, would be a good way to frame conversations about family structures in East Asia. My partner and I considered an assignment last year where students would be able to describe the average number of people living in a house in East Asian countries to their own family situation, but COVID-19 didn’t allow us to get there. Using the information about family expenditures that I’ve learned from this week's materials, I would like to modify the original idea and have students break down family life as much as possible looking at typical family structure, expenditures, and activities.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Last year, I had my students look at a population pyramid. I remember that it didn’t land well even though they completed a reading about population pyramids the same day. Students were confused about the significance of the information in this chart and I’m sure that was because my focus for that lesson was in the wrong place when I designed it. My objective was something like “students would be able to analyze population density maps and population pyramids”; the goal was entirely focused on the skills and did not consider the meaningful knowledge students could gain as they practiced the skills. I would like to change this for this year but am not sure how to do so yet.

 

It’s important to help students identify the factors that contribute to aging societies. For middle school students, I think it would be beneficial to tell them the factors- people living longer, people giving birth to fewer children, high infant mortality rates, and emigration of youth to other cities or countries- and then have them look at the data for Japan. Students would be able to draw their own conclusions practicing the Common Core reading and writing standards that students “draw reasonable conclusions from evidence”. I could also have my students compare Japanese data to U.S. data, making examples out of states that are facing similar issues. My kids enjoy comparisons, especially local ones. In New England, we could consider how Maine has the issue of an aging population in part caused by the lack of economic opportunities. I would love to take my students through a civic-minded study of Maine’s changing practices and policies to keep and draw younger people back to the state. By looking at policies in Japan to combat the negative impacts of an aging population, my students could compare and contrast strengths and potential pitfalls of policies in the U.S. and East Asia, and potentially raise awareness of this issue by creating a social media campaign or make policy/practice suggestions by writing letters to officials in Maine.

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