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Jessica NgMythology has always been an interesting topic to me, so I took Professor Yamashita's assignment and found/read what I hope to be an adequate version of "The Heavenly Grandchild and the Sea God's Daughter." My first impression was that the story must have come from Northern Japan, based on a literal interpretation of "heavenly" referring to Hiko-hoho-demi and the existence of animals and creatures that can travel between different realms. Professor Yamashita did say, however, that the answer isn't so obvious. A lot of emphasis is placed on the sea: it is the setting of most of the action, and provides many key characters, including sea deities. To me, the gods living "beyond the horizon" doesn't necessarily mean they live beyond the sea; it means they are out of reach of humans. The humans in the story live firmly on land; even marrying a sea god's daughter did not grant Hiko-hoho-demi the privilege of living beyond his designated place because he proved unworthy by being dishonest. For these reasons, I am #teamhorizontal!
Here is a link to where I found the story (scroll to page 19).
Jessica NgJudging from the proclamations and placards emphasized, I would say the Hongwu Emperor valued integrity, practicality, and order. I say practicality because he makes such an example of the "riffraff" who interrupt the work of farmers and laborers, and even seems to say that petty crimes and issues can be ignored in favor of continuing agricultural work.
I found his complaining about punishing people in the morning only to have more crimes committed by evening and the corpses piling up before previous ones have been removed to be darkly comical. We as teachers know that classroom management based only on punishments and consequences doesn't work! Did the emperor make any decrees or efforts about punishing but also rehabilitating those who committed crimes or otherwise participated in undesired behavior?
Jessica NgI think you are right to use the word "discipline" both in the sense you clarify above, and in referring to punishment. Keeping in mind his humble upbringing, experience in the monastery, and good intentions for his constituents, I couldn't help but be shocked at the ruthless tone of his proclamations! The death penalty, forced labor, and flogging he mentions are pretty extreme punishments; a little further research reveals that he also favored flaying and "death by a thousand cuts" as torture and execution methods.
Jessica NgI think it's interesting how Sijo poetry is very similar to traditional limericks in how the poems develop on their topic. The traditional limericks I've come across almost always start with a line introducing its subject ("There once was..."), followed by a few more details about that person, then ending with a punch line/plot twist. If I were an English teacher or taught language arts to older students, I would definitely incorporate Sijo poems and ask students to try and write their own.
Jessica NgDuring our discussion, Prof. Bharne used the term "geomancy" to refer to feng shui and other philosophies behind the arrangements of buildings. I thought that term was interesting, so I looked further into it and found that there are many other forms of earth divination throughout Africa and Europe. I know feng shui, specifically, is still regularly used in China (even though it's technically illegal) and in other cultures, so I wonder what other forms of geomancy are still practiced today? How did feng shui gain popularity outside of China and become another tool to use in new-age wellness?
Jessica NgI used to teach 3rd grade, and area and perimeter were always so tricky for my students to understand. I like your idea of having them build their "dream house;" it sounds like something they would really get invested in. There are some resources available on TPT that help facilitate units on city-building; I once used one that even had students designing their storefronts and naming streets. Your idea of incorporating planning around building materials would be a fun extension.
Jessica NgMy apologies if this is too off-topic, but when the second lecture got to the images of the won bills, then Jeong Yagyeon and Saint Andrew, I was excited to see some familiar headgear. I finished watching the second season of Kingdom on Netflix a couple of weeks ago; all throughout the series I've been fascinated by the costumes and wondered how historically accurate they were. This led me down a couple of different rabbit holes, and this thread is a particularly detailed explanation of hats that the characters wore.
They were quite technologically advanced and their features indicated the occupation or social class of the wearer. I could imagine a fun lesson about sartorial choices and symbols with older students, and how it relates to the ways we dress today. What do your clothing choices communicate about you? How is it similar to or different from the way clothing was used in, say, 16th century Korea? Look at the way our government/leaders dress: what do they wear that indicates their status or role?
Jessica NgI think the topic of how and whose histories are recorded is fascinating. Thinking about the traditional design of our own American dollar bills, it seems absurd that anyone other than a government figure should belong on our currency (I sure hope that changes soon). Sin Saimdang was a prolific painter (an unusual pursuit for women at that time), but the article indicates that her fame is also largely due to her famous philosopher son. It makes me wonder, how did she and her work get chosen to be on the 50,000 won bill, while her son's image is on the 5,000 won bill, accompanied by *her* artwork? What does this choice reflect about modern Korean culture?
Jessica NgThank you for a very informative lecture/presentation. I teach ETK, so a lot of this material isn't usable in my classroom as-is. However, I love that every ancient culture we've learned about so far have produced their own forms of ceramics and pottery. I would share some of the designs as an art lesson on form, or perhaps lines (squiggly, zig-zag, curvy, etc.) We could also talk about how certain shapes are better for different purposes, like how a wide mouth is easier for pouring in liquids or how a bowl shape is best for eating. Perhaps I would get a group of parent volunteers together so that as small groups, we could help the students form and decorate their own bowls, pots, vases, etc.
Jessica NgPersonally, I find it easy to forget the diversity of dwellings that can be found outside of our houses, apartments, condos, and McMansions. The Yaodong sunken dwellings remind me of homes I saw in my sister's travel pictures from Cappadocia in Turkey, or depictions of pithouses I occasionally saw when studying ancient Native American cultures. People everywhere are so resourceful and learn myriad ways to adapt to their environments. I can see an activity where, after learning about different cultures (their customs, traditions, artifacts, etc.), students play a mix-and-match game, whether in a small group with a deck of cards depicting features of those cultures or on a grander scale (each student receives a card representing something from a culture and they have to find each other).
Jessica NgThe idea of the Culture of Wood as a long-established Japanese tradition is new to me, even though I should have realized the pattern through repeated viewings of Japanese buildings in pictures, movies, and TV shows. It's fascinating! As an environmentalist, I'm very interested in the mission to live more harmoniously with nature through practices that are ecologically sound, even if they might have drawbacks or disadvantages. I could see having discussions with my ETK students about natural resources and things we use that are natural or man-made, starting with objects in the classroom or from home. This could branch out into a nature walk or field trip where we explore buildings, talk about what they are made of, and ask questions about which ones hurt or help the environment and why.
Jessica NgTo me, the ubiquity of the Laughing Buddha as a symbol for the religion is another example of carelessness and appropriation by those outside of a particular group or tradition. Most of us have probably been to restaurants and bars that have Asian calligraphy meant to elicit a sense of "zen," or seen a Buddha head perched in garden dirt, or seen prayer flags decorating a backyard picnic. All of the above are misuses of these objects and symbols, and ignore the complexity of the religion's teachings, not to mention the many different branches that exist. People simply pick and choose the images and parts they like, along with what they think they symbolize, and toss aside the rest. It's not always so simple or easy to understand what is "right" or "wrong," but asking questions and doing some research is a good start.
For middle and high school students, especially in schools that have a diverse student body, a discussion about respecting cultures could be started with a compare and contrast exercise of the two Buddhas. I would ask students to then work with a partner to research and find out for themselves what each of these images actually depicts, then talk about why one might be more "popular" than the other. With careful guidance, they can start to think critically about respect, cultural appropriation, and the ways symbols are (mis)interpreted.
Jessica NgYour observation reminds me of something I learned along the way in teaching, that I'm sure many of us know already: class rules are more effective if they are brief, easy to understand, and focus on positive behaviors. Last year, I visited an upper elementary classroom that had a poster up of exactly the opposite; it was a list of "don'ts," like "Don't talk when the teacher is talking," etc. This year, I distilled the rules for my ETK class into 4 simple ones, and they worked pretty well:
1) Be kind and helpful.
2) Do your work.
3) Listen to the teachers.
4) Be safe.
Jessica NgYou probably already know or have some sense of this, but it's not just your upbringing! It bears repeating that rules, routines, and consistent consequences set up predictable patterns for children and adults, which help alleviate undesired classroom behaviors. In my experience teaching little ones, I've heard so many parents' anecdotes about their kids are at home vs. what I see in the classroom. Very often, the root of the behaviors is lack of structure. Military entities do take structure to the extreme, but with good reasons/intentions, I suppose.
Jessica NgIt's inspiring to learn about the techniques and traditions that are still carried out today, even if only in the last stages of the rebuilding of the shrines. To bring it down to the level of my ETK students, I might integrate pictures of these buildings into a STEM challenge. Students would be shown a variety of types of buildings, then led through a brainstorming/planning activity before being given different materials to build with. Some essential questions can be: How can you make a strong building? How much weight can your building hold? How tall can you make your structure. A variation would be to pick their favorite building and use that picture as a reference point for reconstructing it.
