[Erin Tanguay]

 

I have truly enjoyed this class and I am looking forward to taking the seminar that covers the early historical time period in East Asia since I believe that this is the section that best relates to what I teach. I am a seventh and eighth grade history teacher at Millikan Middle School and Science Academy STEM School. We have two schools co-locating. My students are gifted performers and young scientists. There is so much that I have learned that I can apply to my lessons. For my 8th graders who are studying U.S. history I will incorporate the readings regarding Sun Yat-sen and the Xiong rebellion against the Qing dynasty. How the heroics of George Washington in the Revolutionary War and his decisions as our first President helped to inspire Sun Yat-sen in 1923 when he became the president of China. My students are always asked to write an essay at the end of the year regarding the U.S. Constitution and how it has influenced other nations around the world. This year I will be able to tell them about China’s connection to our founding father. As I mentioned in a post I am planning on connecting Washington’s Farewell Address and the Xiong document and discuss the importance of elected term limits and this was admired by Chinese rebels in 1911. I am taking the STEM school students to Washington D.C. this summer and from the Xiong document I learned that Chinese missionaries had Xu’s words about Washington, “No man in Western history comes close to Washington’s greatness” carved onto a stone and placed at the Washington Monument. After researching this I found that it is stone 194 and you can view it today, which I plan to do with my students.

I am looking forward teaching Japan to my seventh graders this year after hearing Samuel Yamashita’s inspiring lecture on “Establishing the Tokugawa Order.” I particularly liked the way that he designed his lecture by looking at the historical problems or the “histoire probleme” as he put it. I am planning on using this style in other areas of my teaching as well. I have designed my lesson plan for this seminar based on the Samurais, Shoguns, and the Tokugawa Shoganate, which will fit with my standards. After learning of the Battle of Sekigahara by Professor Yamashita, I found a video that is appropriate for my students that clarifies Ieyasu’s rise. I am also planning to modify the three style debate that we did with Professor Dube in class for this section of Japan. I really enjoyed the role playing and I know that my performing art students will too.

I have also found myself thinking about the question “Is history fact or perception” and the three things that shape this; “New People, New Data, and New Questions.” Since professor Dube’s lecture on this I have used this concept in my classroom many days. It has truly made me look at history differently. I even noticed that any articles that I read for this seminar after that lecture this concept was always present. This is a lesson that I will take with me throughout my teaching career. All of the lecturers were amazing and as a lifelong learner I really appreciated the caliber of professors that presented during this seminar. As an undergraduate from UC Berkeley I can say that I have had the privilege of learning from some of the best academic minds and I felt that this program just continued that excellence. I am not surprised after all this is USC.

This seminar has also helped me to fully understand the current political problems that the world is facing and the historical connections to them. I show my students CNNTen.com every morning for breakfast in the classroom and I feel that I can help the students make clearer connections to what they see now that I have taken this seminar. Thank you for a wonderful and intellectually stimulating program. I look forward to your next series.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

I found the lecture by Professor Dube on the hukou system (household registration) in China very interesting. This system was based on who your mother was and where she lived (this was a way of restricting migration to the city). The fact that it is still used today in healthcare and education and this system determines where you can live and what kind of job you can have is such a foreign concept in our country. Dube explained why this system also caused great famine in the countryside. Since some grain went to the state for tax and the rest went to the people based on how many points you worked. One day = one point. The male head of the house received the payment. City status people can eat state subsidized grain. Country folk cannot eat govt. grain. This was an example of inequality the city people received the lions share (schooling, food amount). I also found it interesting to learn that this led to the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution where Mao argued for revolution, which is the structure that he created. So he uses the students (young people) to tell them to rise and criticize the communist. This explains the little red book (Mao’s teachings) was written to praise Mao and carried by the military, workers, soldiers (the trinity of the people of China). A great question to ask students is what our government could have you carry at all times in order to show your loyalty to your government (ex. Constitution, Declaration).

 

[Erin Tanguay]

All U.S. teachers should see this video and I am going to read her book, “Little Soldiers: An American Boy, A Chinese School, And the Global Race to Achieve.” Chu starts by stating that her family moved to China from the U.S. and her son is now attending one of the top state government style schools. She Compares Chinese Education with the U.S. In China parents are supposed to be full partners with the school. There are books for the parents to read and work for the parents to do. WeChat parent web source is to be checked every day. She received 300-400 entries a day for her 3 year old son. Children are doing extracurricular activities before they even get to primary school in order to have a good standing. The system is a test based system where they expect half of the students to fail the high school entrance exam. China’s education reform plan is looking toward the U.S. for how they are succeeding in the secondary education of large amounts of students. One interesting part of her discussion was on the language around effort in Chinese schools and how everyone needs to help a child to work harder if they are behind. Whereas the U.S. focuses on innate ability or talent of a students and that we give up on some kids because we think that they don’t have “what it takes.” However, the opposite is shown in sports in the U.S. were competition is ranked, but not in education (effort over talent).

 

[Erin Tanguay]

 

The video produced by the USC U.S. –China Institute would be a great video to show students. Lim displays a great visual timeline starting at the death of Hu Yaobang (April 15, 1989) to the Troops clearing Tiananmen Square on June 4th and the 5th and subsequent events in China’s history of amnesia in relation to this historical event. She states that memory really depends on geography and she showed the image of ‘Tank Man’ and how it is a defining image of what Tiananmen is to the western world. She shows video footage of him climbing the tank and speaking to the soldier (I have never seen this footage before) and this happened on June 5th not the 4th as many people still believe. She shows how Tank Man has been used all around the world to demonstrate rebellion (ex. the Simpsons, Snowden’s move to Russia, and a Chick-fillet commercial). When she took the Tank Man picture to Chinese universities and asked them if they could identify it, only 15% knew it and 85% could not identify the picture. Those who did recognize it they commended the Chinese government for being a strong government. Tiananmen is not taught in school today. The increasing censorship in China is great, which has even led to the banning of the date of June 4th and words associated with. People are still put under house arrest just for mourning the memory of their dead loved ones, one group is known as the, “Tiananmen Mothers.” She talks about another city called, Chung Chun, a thousand miles away from Beijing where tens of thousands of protestors showed up and the atrocities that took place their at the hands of the police, but because of the popularity of Tiananmen Square it was not reported. She ends with stating that history matters and this is why not allowing state sponsored amnesia to continue is so important. Again, this would be a great video to show to students to understand the censorship within China today.

 

[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.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

In the lecture by Professor Dube he mentioned that Americans were sympathetic to China and when the Japanese bombed China in 1937 during WWII, the people in Boston threw Japanese tea into Boston Harbor (Tea Party II). I had never heard this before and I thought this would be great for my 8th US History students when they are learning about the Boston Tea Party. Students could make a bridging connection to their 7th grade history on China and Japan. My school constantly asks the history and English teachers to make connections across the years not only cross-curricular. It took some time to find an article that actually references this event in Boston. The article that I have attached to this thread, states that in 1938 some Bostonians reenacted a Tea-Party style of protesting by throwing in German and Japanese goods. This would be a great way of making the connection between the Second-Sino Japanese War and the bombing at Marco Polo Bridge and reaction by America prior to the attacks on Pearl Harbor. If anyone finds a better article about the Second Boston Tea Party in 1938 please post it below.

http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/04/20/party_on/

[Erin Tanguay]

The article based on the government’s interpretation on the Tiananmen Square protesting was definitely a view point that I had never heard before. As a history teacher I always find it informative to read both sides of any historical conflict. Many times after hearing both sides my view is changed on what I believed to be the black and white of the event. The fascinating part of this article is the statements about how the protestor’s organization was not being honest with the public and to some degree with the very students that they were using. The article states that Red Cross workers were prevented from administering treatment to the protestors by their own leaders. The article brings up one interesting point that I could use with my 8th grade US History students, “When does the protest stop being patriotic and become anti-government and revolutionary?” This is similar to the American Revolution and the earlier acts of protesting that lead to war and the ultimate removal of the British monarchy in America. This would make a great subject for the students to compare with the American Revolution and the outcome of the Chinese protestors and the tighter restrictions on the Chinese people as a result of their loss against the Communist government. This would also be a great way of comparing the picture of the “Man and the Tanks” and “The Ride of Paul Revere” as acts of propaganda and protest.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

I think the article about China’s Great Famine that killed 36-45 million people would make a great lesson for my 7th graders. After they learn about China and Medieval Europe they could compare and contrast the Black Death and the Great Famine. I would have them address the reason why the Black Death, which killed 70-200 million people, is so widely taught and known by people all over the world and why even the Chinese government doesn’t speak out about the Great Famine as a part of their history. I would guide the students to see that when a large death toll of people is considered to be manmade than it leads to blame and shame on the government that was involved. Where the Bubonic Plague was a product of rats, fleas, and trade, therefore it wasn’t one governments fault and the loss of lives didn’t bring shame to the countries afflicted. This is a great lesson in remembering the past so that we don’t repeat it and not ignoring it because it is painful. Students could also research current places in the world were people are starving mostly due to political unrest, such as, South Sudan and Yemen.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

The fictional story of a peasant uprising during the land reform periods of the Communist Party is an idealized situation for spreading the propaganda message of how the Communist Party supported the peasants in getting what was rightfully theirs. I found it clever how when the comrades from the Peasants’ Association confronted one of the landlords in the village demanding the land grants and even though the landlord stated that he was willing to turn them over and had been planning all along to do so, this was met with scorn. Who was the landlord to give them this land when it was owed to them due

to their labor? This part of the story is telling the peasants that they should have been valued all along and what they desire is what is owed to them not to be given out of false generosity. The story also tells of the hardships that the peasants have endured by the landlord and how even though many have feared him he is truly weak and if they stay strong together he is more afraid of him. The main characters also remind others that they have the support of the Eighth Route Army and the Communist Party in what they are doing. The story ends with the three leaders using reason and the boundaries of their position within the Association in order to decide whether they should listen to the mob of peasants wanting to seize all of Jiang’s property. In the end the peasants take all that they could and the landlord and his wife are left bowing and weeping in front of the peasants. This is great propaganda for the early years of the Communist Party. I think students would find this section of the novel interesting while viewing the propaganda images of the early Communist Party.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

The Oral Histories Collected in Houhua Village would be a great lesson for students to learn from a primary source about peasant life and the conditions that they suffered which made them perfect for recruiting into the Communist party. I know that my students would find it fascinating and sad to hear the lack of basic necessities (food and proper clothing) that many had to live without. Also, the first peasant story tells of how addition to Opium forever changed the lifestyle of family and eventually led to the death of the father due to robbery. This is an important lesson I think for young people to see how addiction has been a problem throughout history and how its effects still tear apart families today. These oral stories truly give the students a look into the simple things that we take for granted (having to share one blanket in the bed with his mother, which implies that he had to sleep in the same bed with his mother). I think with this article and the Mao’s first speech article, students would have a full picture of why the Communist party was able to gather so many loyal members. I also think that students would be shock to hear how frank the peasants were about the killing of tyrant land lords and their wives. It shows how village life was falling apart and how the Communist Party gave them a sense of reform to this unfair treatment.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

I too agree Chris that this type of amnesia seems to be repeating and the more we learn about the history of other nations and how they have tried to ignore their past we can hopefully shed light onto the times that our own country has amnesia. 

I found the article about China’s anniversary of the Cultural Revolution and the “amnesia” that was reported when President Xi Jinping’s actions were compared to Mao Zendong very interesting and sadly not surprising. The first part of the article addresses certain questions in the history of the revolution, such as, what is a cultural revolution and how the ten year period of the so called ‘cultural revolution’ was not one due to the supreme power wielded by Mao. Then it states that the people were confused during the ‘revolution’ as to what was right or wrong from a leadership stand point. After reading these two points I understand why the later article claims that Xi Jinping has amnesia when he himself has been known to rule with a cult mentality and had party member, Ren Zhiqiang suspended for a year after speaking out against the party. This reminded me of the lecture on October 21st about what is history fact or perception. Will the people of China allow Xi Jinping to have amnesia and ignore a period of history, because it is repeating? What an interesting article to share with the students today, especially as we look at our own current political history and struggles.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

After reading Mao’s fiery speech, “From the Peasant Movement to Hunan.” I thought this really fits a middle school mentality. The down trodden rising up! After the students learn about feudalism in China and understand the lack of mobility of the peasant class this would be a great reading to have them learn about Mao and how the Cultural Revolution began. I will have the class read aloud the first section on “Get Organized” and have them list the steps laid out by Mao on how to start a Revolution. Then I would break the class into groups and give them a small section of the reading from “Down with the Local Tyrants and Evil Gentry!” to “The Movement of the Riffraff.” Then I would have the students read aloud the last section. Students would then make peasant banners based on the section that they read using some of Mao’s fiery terminology, such as, “It’s Terrible” or Evil Gentry.” I think this would help them to remember the Cultural Revolution that shaped much of China (The soldier, the worker, the military all together standing strong) as well as show them that these steps and fiery style rhetoric has been used to start other revolutions, such as, the American Revolution.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

I really enjoyed the lecture about, “history and whether it is fact or perception?” I was thinking about how I could use this in my 8th grade class (US history) which sadly isn’t the focus of this forum. Professor Dube said that there were three things that can change the perception of history: 1.) New Data, 2.) New People, and 3.) New Questions. He mentioned the issue happening today in the South with the Confederate statues being removed and the opposition to their removal. I think this issue addresses the classical questions of what is a historical heritage and what is historical hate? Can or should the removal of General Lee’s statue in New Orleans lead to the removal of General Custer statues at West Point or North Dakota? Now that there is a new generation of people “New People” asking why these statues that commemorate a painful chapter in our countries history should be allowed to hold a place of honor? Perhaps the lesson I could ask my students is to develop monuments today that would honor those who fought and died while telling a fuller perspective of the historical events, including the women, slaves, children and men on both sides of the conflict. This truly was an interesting lesson.

 

[Erin Tanguay]

My political cartoon has what appears to be a woman riding a motorcycle with a red military band on her arm and a rifle on her back. There is a train and there are beams and metal structures that would be used to build sky rises in the background. The caption on the card reads, "Perform military sport activity, defend the socialistic country." I found a copy of this propaganda photo on the website, JBFotoblogMao.org unfortunately it doesn't tell you what the cartoon means. I believe this political cartoon is addressing the section on Nationalism and Socialism that Professor Dube discussed in our lecture. The Nationalists view was that you must mobilize in order to keep the Imperialist out. This included women in the rebuilding of China too. The military sport activity is the riding on the motorcycle while patrolling the city streets with your weapon present and visible to show that you are always ready (A lesson learned by Sun Yatsen) and that you are proud to be a part of your nation. The buildings in the background that are being built and the train is showing the economic progress of China under this Socialist Era.   

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[Erin Tanguay]

After reading these two documents about the rebellion against the Qing dynasty I think I will focus the lesson plan for this forum on the relationship between the 1911 revolution and China's first president and influence of the United States and George Washington as a Revolutionary War hero and first President. In 8th grade United States history the students learn how the United States and it's form of democracy and the rebellion against the British Empire influenced other countries to do the same. Usually, we focus on the countries in Central and South America that begin to fight for their independence, however, it is never discussed how this also inspired the rebellion in China. Students are encouraged to write for the history award in our school and the topic is always about how the US Constitution and the United States system of government influenced other nations. I think this would be a great way of having the students learn more about the Chinese foundation of their early republic and the connection to the American Revolutionary war and our first president. I was thinking of connecting Washington's Farewell Address and the Xiong document and discuss the importance of Washington's view on the importance of an elected, term-limit presidency and why this would be admired by the rebels in 1911. Then I could connect the three principles outlined by Sun Yat-sen and the connection to the Enlightenment principles that we used in creating the three branches of the United States government. I believe this would be a meaningful way to connect the early history of China's Peoples Republic and the early Republic of the United States.  

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