[Cynthia Stults]

I'll admit i'm somewhat torn on this one. On one hand, one could argue that with various groups breaking off, they are more prone to isolation (like the society in Peach Blossom), and thus a lack of exchange of ideas, goods, etc. One could also argue that disunion/warring states can lead to development in certain areas. If one is constantly warring or skirmishing with neighbors, then better weapons and military tactics need to be developed, and possibly even food storage and preservation techniques, knowing that less time and resources can be devoted to farming- necessity is the mother of invention, after all. 

[Cynthia Stults]

In the literal sense, the fisherman found what a society that had achieved immortality, enlightenment, and peace. In the text it tell us that he lost his fear, as well as his apathy- he went from being unaware of what was happening in his boat and only caring about the wine, to having hundreds of questions to ask the society he discovered 

The story conveys the values of seeking peace instead of war, and focusing on agricultural pursuits instead of warring, and punishing, like the Qin did. The society that abandoned the Qin lands were rewarded with immortality while those who remained suffered

[Cynthia Stults]

The filial piety classic and cartoons were pretty surprising to me and were in direct contrast to the values I was raised with, and I wonder if I was alone. I definitely grew up respecting my parents, but they made it clear, that their mission and goals were to make sure that their children were well cared for and happy and that they would sacrifice anything necessary to achieve that. The cartoon that most struck me was that of the parents who were willing to kill their child because the grandmother was giving him part of her food. My parents will not even allow us as children to take them in once they are too old to live in their home. We have strict instructions (and legal documentation) that they are to be put into a nursing home when the time comes so that they will not inconvenience us. I'm not sure if that is a Western idea, or if my parents are just nutty, but I don't think I know anyone who would sacifice their child's needs for those of their parents.

 

It does make sense that promoting this ideal could influence the population to be obedient to whatever ruler is in power, and it does explain why the simple mention of meeting with a parent over behavior or academics can send my Chinese students into a panic.

[Cynthia Stults]

I really think it's wise when we are teaching about any country (present day or ancient) to start by studying the geography of that country, like Clay did this morning. So much of history, politics, and culture is directly related to geography. I like starting a unit with lots of different maps in order to give students context. I especially liked the superimposition of China and the US to show their similar sizes and that various cities were at the same latitudes. This can really help students make personal connections with a country they may know little about. Showing population density maps can also lead to great discussion about what factors lead to such dense population centers. 

[Cynthia Stults]

I remember, way back in the day, when Zero Population Growth was the big thing. Anything more than 2 children was considered bad for the environment, was going to lead to the end of the world, and was really looked down upon. I remember seeing interviews with some those proponents who praised China's One Child Only Policy. After reading and seeing how many elderly people are needing care and don't have children to care for them, it seems like many people are starting to regret this policy, whether they express it outright or not. This could be an opportunity for growth within the gerontology community. Entrepeneurs could have an opportunity to start more nursing homes and senior care centers. Seeing all of the dolls in that rural community that have replaced people was slightly depressing, but also a little creepy too. 

[Cynthia Stults]

I'm Cynthia and I teach 4th grade at Warner Avenue Elementary in West LA (near that other, lesser educational institution). I took the East Asia since 1800 back in the fall and was amazed at how much I learned and how much I enjoyed my Saturdays in the seminar. I currently live in the Santa Clarita Valley, but will be relocating to Thousand Oaks this summer or next. I love to work out and run, and typically try and get an 8 mile treadmill run finished before we have seminar on Saturdays. I'm very curious about the opening of Disney's newest live-action reboot of Mulan. Does it have any roots in Chinese folk lore? If so, how much has Disney sanitzied it???

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

[Cynthia Stults]

Katherine,

          I totally agree that it is an important practice to have our own students begin their own forms of diaries. People trust diaries with their inmost thoughts and feelings about what is happening. They do not censor themselves, worried about what others may think or judge. This provides a unique perspective and context to historical events. Diaries, especially those of youth, do not typically have an ideological agenda and are not trying to persuade someone to their way of thinking, as these aren't intended for public consumption. I think that students will feel more connected with historical events when they are able to view these events through the eyes of someone like them. We teach about the California Gold Rush and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, and it has been a real struggle to find primary source documents written from the perspective of the Chinese miners and those who worked building the railroad, like a diary. The one thing I do worry about with teaching students the importance of journals and diaries, is that if we tell them that they might be read by people in the future, they could begin to censor themselves, and not share those sincere thoughts and feelings. I'm not sure how to address it, but perhaps with all of the posts people make on social media and blogs, has the need for additional journals and diaries has lessened? 

[Cynthia Stults]

Andrew, that is a BRILLIANT idea and I am totally going to use this. This is engaging, experiential learning that will definitely present a challenge to students as they have to put away their own style of communication and negotiation. With younger students, I think that giving students contradictory customs is going to be extremely challenging for them and that isn't a bad thing! In fourth grade, we begin looking at early exploration of California and the Pacific Coast, and how these Europeans interacted with the native California Indians and populations native to the Yucatan Peninsula. Most students assume that we don't have the same communication issues now that they did back then (thanks to translation apps), but by presenting these business and communications customs (most of which have NOTHING to do with what words are spoken), students can discover the small behaviors that can contribute to extreme misunderstanding, and how those misunderstandings can lead to extreme conflicts, and even wars.

 

THANK YOU for a great idea!

[Cynthia Stults]

Dennis, I was like you in terms of my understandings of the Koreas. I held an extremely simplistic view that South Korea was basically perfect in all of their development and North Korea was evil and messed everything up. That lecture definitely opened my eyes. I had also wondered how the North Korean government was able to establish and maintain control if everything was horrible and all of their population was starving. Learning about their extremely quick economic growth and development (under the strict government control) compared with South Korea made me start to understand how North Korean people would develop early trust of their government. Learning about all the scandal, intrigue, and death as South Korea developed their government and democracy (Parade of Presidents), was shocking and I almost thought I was learning about North Korea. In social studies, I have seen a shift in more recent times away from the glorification of home culture and more towards a less biased approach to history. I also remember from my own education, that the old textbooks and sometimes even teachers would only point out the positive contributions and actions of the U.S. and their allies, and avoid or gloss over the negative attitudes, actions, or even attrocities committed, while only focusing on negative aspects of "rival" countries. (Has anyone else experienced this bias in their education?) When we heard about very blatant indoctrination of youth under controlling regimes in East Asian countries, we all are shocked and horrified, but if we reflect, I think that many of us would realize that similar things happen in our country- maybe not to the same extent, but they still happen. As teachers of social studies, we have to be extremely conscious of how we are presenting and representing the players in historical events- am I presenting the positive and negative actions of all parties, or am I uncomfortable admitting to bad behavior of my own country, or the positive contributions of "evil countries"?

[Cynthia Stults]

Dennis, I always look forward to reading about your ideas on integrating what we learned in this seminar into our elementary classrooms. I really think your idea about having students look at the role of religion and women in art in various cultures. At my school site, we have a signficant amount of religions and cultures represented within the student population. By integrating the art and religions of Asian countries, my new students would be able to share part of their culture with their classmates in a non-threatening way. Bringing in religious art from the other religions and countries from their classmates would likely help students to realize that as a human family, cultures have more in common than they realize. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Robert, I almost feel foolish that I did not make the conneection you did with the Japan Times article and the current plight of a lot of our students who were brought here as babies or young children, and who consider the U.S. to be their home and want to have a voice in how their home is run. I think it would benefit them to see that there are other people struggling with similar problems and encourage them to think of how they can change this situation. Much like it is in the U.S., immigrant rights are a controversial topic and local municipalities sometimes circumvent what is on the books in terms of law. However, one area that greatly differs between the two countries and the affected populations is that the groups in Japan are what would be considered legal immigrants in the U.S. and pay taxes and own businesses. Another surprising difference (at least for me), when I did a little more research, is that when it comes to very local issues, some local Japanese governments are allowing and designing ways for these permanent residents to vote on important local matters, in defiance of their Constitution. Even though these local votes aren't legallly binding, the government is still concerned. I have never heard of this happening within the U.S., and can only imagine what consequences would occur if more local governments were creating their own voting systems. I think that for older students, comparing and contrasting the immigration and voting issues of Japan and the U.S. would add perspective to what has been a hot-button issue in both countries for decades. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Angela, I agree that this seminar has opened up my eyes to see that unfortunately, it seems that all cultural groups view outsiders as ignorant and less developed than themselves. As I think (hope really) that human beings are mostly inclined towards good intentions, it does make sense that, aside from amassing additional land, when these countries take over (much like when Japan invaded Korea), I have to believe that the average Japanese (and possibly even some within the military) believed that it was necessary to "help" these lesser countries to improve, and of course, the only way that they could improve would be to take on all aspects of the culture of the invaders, and that due to biology and/or lack of proper education, these "ingorant savages" could not possibly govern themselves, or hold high paying jobs or hold governmental positions. We are currently discussing this in social studies as the Spanish are forcing the California Indians to move onto missions and abandon their way of life, and how the priests likely felt that they were there to save souls, while the Spanish government wanted more loyal subjects to protect their new territory in North America. It is sad to see that atrocities always are committed by the occupying party.

[Cynthia Stults]

Robert, I think you bring up an interesting thought as it relates to "news" and current events. I think that it would be a fantastic teaching tool to use the Time Magazine covers and discuss the owner's feelings (bias) in terms of their leadership. I think it is important that we begin to teach students to analyze not only what is printed in newspaper or magazine articles, but also who owns the publication and how that can change the way they look at and report on current events. I think an excellent discussion topic could be are any news outlets truly unbiased? Students could first analyze the Time Magazine covers and discuss how the owner's feelings about Mao and Kai Shek are projected and why he chose to do that. What was he hoping his readers would think or believe? To follow up with that, students could take articles about the same event from multiple sources and then see if there is a different take, and then research the groups that own those outlets and see if their political leanings are more conservative or progressive. This can help students develop a critical eye to all that they read, hear, and experience. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Like many of the other seminar participants, I came with a limited view and knowledge of East Asian history and culture.  In my history classes, I had learned how East Asian countries fit into mostly North American history, but was never provided complete context into what had occurred in those countries previously that would affect how and why they acted as they did during these notable historical events.  This idea of context, as well as the importance of culture and interaction between neighbors are concepts that I will incorporate into my teaching practice.

 

Within every event and conflict there is a context and history that contribute to the actions of the participants. In fourth grade social studies, a major portion is that of the California Gold Rush and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. The Chinese (and other East Asian countries) played a significant role within these events, but the textbook never really delves into the why the Chinese were coming to California, beyond the “find gold and get rich” that every other person was looking for. If students are provided the means to look at what was occurring in China leading up to and during these times, it becomes clear that it was not greed that was the motivating factor in many East Asians coming to California. The Opium Wars had started not long ago, leading to economic upheaval in China. Many found themselves poor, and due to their family status, were not afforded opportunities of those with land and those who sold opium. Those who made it to California were expected to send back the money they made, and even the paltry sums they were paid working in laundries or for other mining camps were considered huge windfalls back home. This background and context can provide students with greater empathy as they learn about the Foreign Miner Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act that hurt these immigrants. 

 

While much of East Asian history is not a part of our standards, I think that within both social studies, and social emotional learning, I can teach my students much by looking at what these neighbors, whom outsiders tend to group together into one ethnic group, define as culture and the lengths they will go to protect it and/or share it.  This relates to social-emotional learning, in that students can see that various groups tend to that their way of life was best, and sought to make others practice it too, going so far as to changing people’s names. I hope that my students can see that resorting to “bullying” to turn others to your way of thinking and/or living is inappropriate as it is much easier to identify it in others than it is in ourselves. 

 

This was a seminar I looked forward to, not only for ways that I can incorporate more cultural perspectives into my classroom, but also for my own personal knowledge. Passionate, engaging speakers and meaningful materials lead to engaged students and this seminar exemplified that. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Kurt, I too have been watching the tensions in Hong Kong with great interest (especially with my involvement in this course). Hong Kong is China's "goose that lays the golden eggs", but as you said, unlike Manchuria who were used to a pretty totalitarian rule, Hong Kong had significant freedom under British rule. My father once was acquainted with a Hong Kong citizen who held a governmental position at the end of the British rule. This official worried about this exact situation when Hong Kong was turned back over to China. Residents of Hong Kong were accustomed to having significant amounts of freedom under the British, and he wondered how long the Chinese government would "play nice" with Hong Kong before they cracked down on them like the rest of their territory. Although China is trying to crack down on the Hong Kong protests, it would appear that they are still trying to treat Hong Kong with kid gloves. They are relying on Hong Kong police to quell the protests, instead of sending in the military. The only time the military has left their barracks was a few weeks ago when they emerged in training clothes, wielding rakes and shovels to help  clean up after the most recent protests. Had similar protests been occurring in mainland China, I am almost entirely certain that the government would have sent in full military force to put down the protests. This makes me very curious as to the angle that the media in mainland China is using when reporting on these protests. I could see there being a real concern that the rest of mainland China might start to question why Hong Kong is treated differently, and possibly start to want similar treatment.

For me, this situation has made more clear why North Korea has such a tight rein on the outside influences it allows into its country. It's hard to be upset about "rights" you've never had nor know much about. 

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