[Kim Leng]

Yes, I remember the professor referring to this practice as something that the "high society" practiced.  Did he also use the word snobby?

I enjoyed learning about Chinese poetry in this seminar. The poets that I want to explore some more are the works of Li Po and Wang Wei. From the sampling that I read in this class, they appear to have similar styles.  Lots of scenic imagery in their poems: rain, mountain, earth, sun, greenwillows, and more. I can feel their closeness with nature in every single line. They both seem so tuned into the natural environment. 

 

 

[Kim Leng]

 

Ebrey's “A Cosmopolitan Empire” has a section on “Love Stories” that I found interesting.  I realize that I haven’t heard of Empress Wu and was curious to find out more.  According to “The Demonization of Empress Wu” by Mike Dash (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-demonization-of-empress-wu-20743091/), the article points out great female rulers in history with the exception of the United States.  It’s true.  Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great are well known leaders. Who do we have in the United States? When are we going to have a female president? Dash mentions that Wu Zetian during the 7^th century became the only woman in more than 3,000 years of Chinese history to rule in her own right.”

I also learned from Ebrey’s article that Wu started as a concubine in the palace, but rose to power. She convinced the emperor that she should replace his current empress.  That’s amazing! She must be a very persuasive person.  Once she was in power, she got rid of her competition.

[Kim Leng]

I agree with both of you about having students create their own version of a utopia.

What is the perfect society?  The topic of utopia is not new.  I just found this article on utopias.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/see-towns-planned-be-utopias-180968814/. 

It will be interesting to have students come up with their own version of a utopia. What kind of economy would this town have?  What are the values and beliefs?  The Smithsonian article highlighted some utopian towns that anyone can visit.  I just read about one of the utopian towns.  Penedo, Brazil was formed when Finnish pastor, Toivo Uuskallio, and his followers went to Brazil to start a utopia there in 1929.  According to the article, it lasted until 1942.  The community lasted 13 years!  Here’s a brief excerpt about the Pededo:

"According to the community rules, everyone was vegan, no one smoked or drank, and everyone worked together on a farm with no    income. Penedo ran that way until 1942, when the residents finally realized it wasn’t sustainable to run a town with no money."

Now it’s a tourist town.

[Kim Leng]

I've attached my lesson plan on the sijo below.

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[Kim Leng]

Dennis,

I'm working on the curriculum project right now on the sijo.  This Korean poetic form immediately caught my attention.  I couldn't believe how amazing this form is in just three lines!  It's fun and callenging to write.  I looked at several resources, but I found the Sejong Cultural Society's website to be the most useful.  Here's the link: http://sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/teach.php . This is the direct link to the "teach sijo" page full of amazing resources for teachers to introduce this poetic form.

Check out the "Teaching Examples" with video lessons from teachers who have taught the sijo in class to get some ideas. There's also the vast resources from "Teaching Guides." I found the powerpoint presentation to be extremely useful. In just 24 slides, it introduces the poetic form with many sijo examples from Korean poets and current poets. The last section, "About the sijo" provides video lectures from professors David McMann and Mark Peterson. 

 

[Kim Leng]

Hero (2002), directed by Yimou Zhang and starring Jet Li (Nameless), Tony Chiu-Wai Leung (Broken Sword), Maggie Cheung (Flying Snow), and Ziyi Zhang (Moon) is a visually stunning film with so many plot twists.  Jet Li is Nameless, a warrior during the warring states era when China had many divided kingdoms. The king of Qin controls one of the most powerful kingdoms and constantly experienced many assassination attempts.  Nameless gets a meeting with the king to claim his reward for killing the assassins, but is questioned by the king regarding his methods. How did he manage to successfully defeat the three very skilled assassins?

I think students may be able to sit through the entire film.  If time does not permit, show the first 10 minutes of the film.  The sweeping landscape of China with its mountain ranges and the battle scenes on horses will immediately captivate the students’ attention. The film’s opening scene displays a map of China’s many divided kingdoms.  Following the first ten minutes of the film, I would show the calligraphy school scene.  In this scene, arrows are flying into the calligrapher’s shelter, but the calligraphers continue to write, despite the possibility of death under a rain of arrows. This scene is also important because of the the film’s message, represented by Broken Sword’s calligraphy in this scene.

A major plot twist in this film is that Nameless did not kill the king’s assassins.   In fact, it is Broken Sword who tries to dissuade Nameless from his plan to assassinate the Qin emperor. Broken Sword said, “One person’s pain is nothing compared to the suffering of all.” China has been in continuous warfare. When Nameless reaches the throne room, Broken Sword’s calligraphy is displayed behind the king.  The two Chinese characters translate to “Our Land.” Nameless is eventually convinced and does not kill the king, but he is executed for his assassination attempt. The film’s message to think of the greater good rather than one’s personal gain or vengeance is the overarching concept. In the end of the film, the Emperor of Qin is able to unite the kingdom.

[Kim Leng]

Hi Christine,

We are very connected to East Asia.  In thinking about future assignments for your students, I agree that there’s nothing more powerful to see that connection than the products that we use.  What if you bring everyday items to class and have students list the items and look for where those products are made?  Then have them take a look at their personal items.  Where are their phones made?  Where are their backpacks made?  Where are there shoes made?  I’m currently wearing a long sleeve shirt made in Vietnam that I got from Old Navy. And the Adidas shoe that I wore is also made in Vietnam.  The green computer bag that I have is made in Vietnam.  What?  I had no idea! In just taking a quick inventory of the items that I own, I currently own a lot of things made in Vietnam.  And my favorite slipper that I wear at home is made in China. It's going to be a challenge for me to look for an item that's made in the USA.  I think students might also discover some surprising things about the stuff they own.

[Kim Leng]

I enjoyed reading Tao Yuanming’s Peach Blossom Spring story. What an amazing description of a utopia.  Peach blossoms blooming along a river. A young woman picking sunflowers. Fisherman Wen walked into a valley that appears to be fruitful and self-contained. "In front of him stretched a great valley filled with fields, gardens, bamboo and mulberry groves, and clusters of small, white houses. Figures in brightly coloured clothes were working in the fields under a pale blue sky, dappled with thin clouds."

The people in this valley is living a life in a scenic environment with land that is definitely fertile.  They have gardens and beautiful fields of flowers.  The people wear beautiful colorful clothes and the weather appears perfect.  It’s even got “thin clouds” and blue sky.

Have students come up with their own version of a utopia.  What would that look like?

[Kim Leng]

The building of a wall will make a great discussion. As Alcaide’s “The Great Wall of China’s Long Legacy,” article points out, China’s Great Wall is a marvel that’s taken centuries to build.  So much energy and effort was spent into building the wall and maintaining the wall.  Despite all this, its one purpose was unsuccessful.  The Mongols still invaded and conquered China. 

I think this article will be a great tie in with current news about the border wall.  Check out US Blocks Funds for Trump Border Wall Plan here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48406296 and also check out this article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46824649.  I would have students read several articles and discuss their thoughts. It's not an easy topic to discuss. 

[Kim Leng]

Hi Marco,

This economy is a tough one.  Southern California has become an increasingly expensive place to live.  My friend once took an extra job to supplement his income and I had to do the tough math with him.  All the traveling, gas for traveling, and tax taken off equal to too much effort for too little financial reward. It was hardly economic growth and definitely not economic development. He was better off spending less money on certain items than going to this other job.  I recommended that he quit and just cut his Starbucks spending and such.

I’m so happy to read that you’re spending more time with your family.  Congrats on almost earing all the CEUs! As I’m getting older, I realized that time is very precious.  You can always make more money, but as far as I know…you cannot buy time. 

[Kim Leng]

I’m also curious about Barbara’s book and may just read it this year.  We’ve abused our planet for so many years.  I remember when Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth came out in 2006 and there were still people who thought that climate change was a hoax. And to know that Trump still calls climate change a hoax is unbelievable!  I admire that China is investing in solar panels and tapping into renewable energy. If we just ignore the problem, nothing gets resolved. 

[Kim Leng]

Barbara’s a great lecturer.  China seems to be leading the way to reduce pollution, however, a large part of me kept questioning…is it too late for all of us?

I had no idea that China’s BYD (Build Your Dreams) had a plant in Lancaster since 2013 building electric busses!  I found an interesting news article here:https://insideevs.com/news/343785/byd-produced-its-300th-electric-bus-in-lancaster-california/ with a video.  According to Patrick Dunn, BYD’s Vice President of Operations, the company only had a dozen employees in 2013 and now employs over 750 people!  I’m impressed by how much the company has grown in under 10 years.  It also started with just making one bus model and now has 12 different models that they deliver to all over the United States. It’s great that the company is making so much progress. China does seem to lead in changing our environment.  I just hope it’s not too late.

[Kim Leng]

The Byodo'in Temple excluding everyone who is not considered an artistocrat to enter and pray will make a great discussion.  How can a religion that emphasizes the equality of all humans justify limiting full access to the masses?  How about having students also look at other instances in history where the word "equal" is used in a document, but the word does not apply to everyone?

As for the difference between samurai and Bushi, I think Hollywood had us all fooled.  It was an eye opening lecture.  Hollywood will do whatever it wants. I'm currently reading The Library Book and learned that some Hollywood movie studios sent people to steal library books.  The library had to then send their people to regulary retreive the library books back.  It's up to us to watch movies with a more critical eye. 

[Kim Leng]

Amino Yoshihiko’s “Deconstructing Japan” points to the mystery of Japan's name. Consider this passage:

There are few states whose name is, like Japan’s, neither a place name, a dynastic title, nor the family or clan name of a royal line…there are still many things about the name ‘Japan’ which remain unclear, such as when it came into currency, what it meant, how it was used, how the characters were read, and so on. (p. 123)

This is so interesting and mysterious! I thought that Japan meant the “Land of the Rising Sun” but this is only part of its creation myth.  The first recording of the character Japan was used in the 7^th century, but according to Yoshihiko, its character is “vague in meaning and pronunciation.” What?  I want to read more theories about why this is so. Japanese history continues to amaze me!

[Kim Leng]

I truly enjoyed learning so much Asian history this spring semester.  This is refreshing because the history that I learned in this seminar was not delved into thoroughly for most of my schooling.  Thank you Clay; Catherine; and all the visiting professors for making this semester so wonderful.

While there were so many interesting topics discussed in class, the one topic that immediately caught my attention was the sijo.  I love poetry and have collaborated with teachers during National Poetry Month.  I’ve collaborated on writing haikus and blackout poetry.  What is this sijo that predates the haiku?  I had to learn more!  Our practice session on writing the sijo with professor Jung-Kim helped me gain the confidence to bring this topic into the classroom.

I shared the sijo with an English teacher and he also loved the idea of having our students write one for National Poetry Month.  We collaborated last year and had the class write haikus.  The sijo is also short and represents a different challenge.  Together we designed a sijo lesson and read examples from http://sejongculturalsociety.org/. We read the Korean poet’s sijo and sijos written by high school students. The website also featured a sijo writing contest and we also introduced the contest to students.  All the students were required to write the poem, but submission to the contest was optional.

The sijo project was a success!  Students enjoyed the challenge of writing about a theme and then elaborating on the theme or situation.  And the counter-theme or twist and conclusion provided another challenge to complete. 

The results of the sijo writing contest are in and our students did not win.  Here are the winning entries for this year: http://sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/past/2019/winnerssijo.php. I’m going to collaborate with the teacher again next year for National Poetry Month. Maybe this time we will also write a sijo and submit to the contest for fun.  And I think we will give our students more than one class period to work on their poem.  They did not have a whole hour to write because of the introduction and examples.  Thank you again for a wonderful seminar!

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