[Laura Gonzales]

After listening to today lecture I was intrigued with find out a little bit more about the Mongols. I bought a book tilted “Genghis Khan and making of the modern world. This is a New York times Bestseller. The author Jack Wetherford travels to mt. Burkhan khaldun to learn more about the mongol history and reenact what Genghis Khan childhood was like. The book does in excellent job breaking the Mongol dynasties apart and it makes it easy to follow along. The book is broken down into 3 parts. Part 1 covers 1162-1206, part II covers 12111-1261 and part III1262-1962. The book goes into detail not only about Genghis Khan’s life but about the mongol traditions as well. I learned a lot about the eternal spirit of Genghis Khan and about the different parts that the mongols conquered. It is impressive that they were able to hold so much territory compared to other empires.  This is a book that I recommend reading.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

This was a sad story. One of the things I got from the reading was the importance placed on rituals. It is important to know that Chinese respect their elders and even after death they continue to offer offerings. They do not want offend their elders or bad luck will come to them.

 

The other thing I thought about was the disparity and the sad life that many women have in China because of their social economic background. I felt sorry for Xianglin’s wife because she was treated like property and was never given any self worth for who she was. In the first place a name was never given to her or at least no one remembered her true name, this took away her value. The value that was given to her was because of her capability of being a hard worker but the second time that she came around and did not work as hard she was basically put out on the street. This poor women seemed to have suffered all her life by being forced to marry a second time against her will and finally by losing her child. I believe many women in China face the same luck that Xianglin’s wife faces and they just live a miserable life at the expense of others.

 

I was a little confused by the story because it seems as the Xinglin’s wife appeared as a ghost at the beginning of the story and then her story was told.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

Tea and the organs

 

It is interesting to know the many uses of tea in Japan and China. Tea was used for medicinal purposes. When introduce in Japan in the 12th century it was used to promote good health. It was also used to fight drowsiness and cure hangovers. One of the things that stood out was the way the body was divided into five organs and that each organ had it own food taste preference. Therefore the heart prefered tea and when a person was sick or depressed tea would do the trick, it was medicine to the heart. For some reason this section reminded me of Chinatown and the medicinal herbs and items small shops carry. It would be interesting to go and see if they still practice the same believes for healing. It would also be an interesting topic to further invistigate and trace how tea is used in other cultures, if its medicinal uses trancends into other cultures and belives.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

The reading of sent down youth is only a glimpse of what the young youth endured under Chairman Mao’s “up to the Mountains, Down to the Countryside” movement.  One of the things that stood out from the memoir is the photograph of acts of humiliation teachers endured by the students that were being brainwashed to think that they needed to denounce anybody that went against the regime. As a teacher it always makes me think if something like this was to ever happen in the United States educators would probably be one of the first targets. It is sad to think how propaganda played such a crucial role during this time. Happy propaganda was mass produced to depict the youth learning, cultivating, and having fun in the countryside. I think it is important to teach our students about this time period. It would also be helpful if this could be made into a lesson of propaganda and relate this to all the media that they hear and see. Many of them take everything they hear and see as a fact.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

The reading assigned were quite interesting. China’s hairy crab scandal made me put a lot of things into perspective. For example the fact the crabs could be linked to causing cancer because of the pollution and the environment they find themselves in.. This reminded me of all the news segments that I have heard since I have recollection of the thousands and thousands of product that have been linked to causing cancer. It is scary to think that many of the things we are consuming are not safe. One of the things that stood out the most is that the pollution is in the air, water, soil, plants, animals it is just everywhere. Another thing the article touched upon was the regulation that were almost non existent and were allowed by local government the late 1990’s. I got a sense that people are more aware of the pollution and the government is taking small steps to try to fix the problem. I usually incorporate a section of environmental issues in my lesson. This would be a good read for my students in which they would have to come up with immediate solutions as well as long term.

 

 

[Laura Gonzales]

Tang Dynasty

 

Under the Tang Dynast China experience a growth in fine arts. They had poetry, calligraphy, writing. Poetry is a form of song or chant depending on what the writer is trying to convey. What I noticed from the reading is that most of poetry involves nature such as mountains, water, trees, birds. Figurines during that time period show musician on a camel. This demonstrates the emphasis that was placed in the arts. Most of the arts was reserved for intellectuals and people with a higher education. Even the tapestries show people out in nature. It would be a great idea to introduce the various forms of  poetry and arts during this time period. A gallery walk or stations would be a great activity to introduce students to.  

 

 

 

[Laura Gonzales]

Peach Blossom Spring was a short folktale that had a hidden message. The story of the lost fisherman that ended in a mystical town in which people had arrived during the Qin Dynasty and lived hidden or sheltered from the rest of the world seemed very mystical. The message I took from it is that secrets are not meant to be kept. “ Wen returned to his boat, after promising the people of the valley that he would tell no one about their existence” yet the folktale states that rumors began to spread about this place. This also demonstrates that oral traditions are spread if we are reading about this ancient rumor in the 21^st century.

 

This story reminded me of an older person perhaps a grandparent telling the younger generation passing this story down as a fact. It would be interesting to make a project out of this and have students share folktale stories from their parents childhood.

 

 

[Laura Gonzales]

I go two things from the reading the 1st thing is the importance that is placed on tradition and the taking care of the elders. In this case the stories message was to put your parents before anybody else even before yourself. These stories were portrayed as an act of bravery and sacrifice from the child and in the end they were rewarded for putting parents before them.

 

The second thing I thought of was, how much has society changed from those early teachings. I wonder if elder home care facilities exist in China and if they do, is it something that is stigmatized because the son or daughter is unable to take care of the parent. I think it is a good thing that from an early age children are taught that they need to honor and respect their parents I might not agree with getting bit with mosquitos but it is a good sign of respect that should be taught more to our younger generations.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

I arrived knowing very little about East Asia and I feel like I leave the seminar with a few things that I can pass along to my students. I felt like I was doing a disservice to my students since I would just rush along the East Asian content because I didn't have to much input. It was a pleasure being part of this years seminar, I had previously received emails about the seminar but I finally gathered all the requirements and signed up. I am glad I made time for the seminar this year, I was excited to attend every meeting and I left each meeting with lots of ideas, this is something I will encourage my colleagues to attend in the future.

 

One of the ideas that I will borrow and incorporate into my classroom next year will be the four schools of thought covered during the 3^rd session. I will definitely try the debate in class and assign group of students to Confusist, Mohism, Daoism, and  Legalism. Another Activity that I will incorporate more in my lessons will be picture analysis, gallery walks and discussions about the time period. Not only will I teach about China but I also learned a lot about Japan, in one of Professor’s Yamashita’s lecture he compared Feudal Japan with feudal European that would make a great lesson about comparing and contrasting.

 

I wrote down several ideas that I would like to use in my classroom but another one that is worth mentioning is the workshop in which Simba, Hornby, and Bikales  lectured.  I love to learn about history I think it is important but this workshop made me think about also teaching my student about current issues and teaching them about becoming civil minded individuals. I would like to show my students how to be activist by teaching them about Simba’s work and how they could be solution oriented by teaching them about China’s problems with pollution.

 

Overall I had a great experience attending the seminar. I leave wanting to further my education in East Asian studies. A special thank you to Catherine Gao and Professor Clay Dube

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Laura Gonzales]

Japan: End of the rice age.

To learn about the declining population and aging population that parts of Asia is experiencing is causing bigger problems in the economy. As discussed in the End of the rice age Japan has seen a decline on rice consumption. There are several factors affecting rice consumption from aging population, to aging farmers, to California rice competitions. It also seems as if the younger population do not want to eat rice instead they want to eat wheat. One thing that I would have liked more clarification from the reading would be about the aging farmers. It seems as though the younger generation are not willing to farm as if it is not considered an honorable job. The article stated that many farmers are in their 70’s which mean they are probably ready to retire. This article could be connected to Professor’s Yamashita’s mention that white rice was only made popular after WWII. This means that in fact the end of the rice age could really come to an end just like many things in history. I wonder what the new lucrative crop in Japan will be.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

The articles assigned in the 1^st reading were eye opening. I had read about mail-order brides from Russia or the Philippines coming to the US but it never crossed my mind that people in South Korea would also participate in this. After reading Asia’s demographic crisis it made more sense why males would seek out females from other countries to marry. What I found disturbing is that women from impoverished countries are willing to marry off in order to improve their social economic status, these women are willing to leave their loved ones behind in hope that they will have a better life. Even thought the women interviewed mentioned that they were in love I was a bit skeptical of this especially when the women couldn't even speak the language and needed to get trained on how to behave and get by in this new land. After reading this article I also watched a television documentary on mail order brides. I almost feel like the women are selling themselves off because of their social economic situation.

                                                                                               

[Laura Gonzales]

The Japanese American National Museum located in the heart of Little Tokyo was worth attending. I was able to go on the metro and I saved $2.00. I also learned that they offered free admission on Thursdays from 5-8 pm. A touching exhibit was a crane on display that was made Sadako Sasaki a victim of the atomic bomb. Sadako got Leukemia as a result of the bomb. She was able to make a little over 1000 origami cranes before she passed away. What I enjoyed about the exhibit is what the crane represents, which is peace and hope. Another exhibit I felt was heart touching was the common ground exhibition. This exhibition focused on the history of Japanese Americans all through the WWII forced concentration camps. It was sad to see that many people lost their belongings, life savings, and homes. The exhibit has an original barrack on display along with pictures and artifacts. It shows how the people tried to keep their traditions alive while in the camp and tried to do the best they could in the horrible situation they found themselves in. You could spend hours in the museum reading about 1^st accounts of peoples experiences.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

The Japanese garden is located in Long Beach, it is hidden behind the parking lot of CSULB. There is a small fee to enter the garden but it was woth it. When I fist walked in I was blown away with this tucked away gem. I right away felt the zen in the atmosphere. The place is not large but it is filled with a lot of detail. There are small statues throught out the garden I noticed a buddah statue.  My kids right away went straight to the Koi pond. The fish are large and for a small fee one could feed the fish. There is a large pond that sits in the middle of the garden and bridges through out the pond. There are benches along the garden so that one could sit down and take on all the beauty. What I liked and found helpful were the docent carts the encourage visitors to ask questions and they are very friendly and more then happy to teach you about the garden. They have a mini tea house that I recognized very similar to the one in the Huntington. The tea house was decorated with origami.  They also had a rock garden of dry garden. It was raked in a wavy designed. It was a tranquil environment and definitely worth going to.

 

 

 

[Laura Gonzales]

Simba the wild life conservationist mentioned that he considered himself to be a global citizen and not from China or Africa. The remarked made me think of what it meant to be a global citizen especially in a world that is now more connected through technological advancements and even pollution. As a teacher that teaches high school I think it is important to teach my students about being civil minded individuals. It could be challenging since many students only think about their immediate surrounding and it might be difficult for them to think beyond that.  To create awareness to this issue I could partner up with other high school students from different nations, it would be like a  pen pal exchange. Through the pen pal program the students could start off discussing their likes and dislikes as teenagers and later venture out to know  more about each other cultures and  perhaps even politics and how they are being affected by it. This is just a general thought but it would be a stepping stone to get students to learn beyond their hometown. It would be great if anybody could share of any programs that already exist that can help facilitate the pen pal program.

 

[Laura Gonzales]

Professor Yamashita lectured about the Japanese warriors as well as the mountain castles and flatland castles. The lesson was concluded with a discussion of food. Japanese government placed a lot of importance on their warrior men. In professor Yamashita’s lecture I was able to see the similarities between Japanese Feudalism and European Feudalism which is important to be able to compare since the AP world history could ask a question about comparing both.  I learned that the Samurai lived in the countryside and were independent, many of them controlled their territory by brute force, they were financially autonomous and by 1600 there were 200-300 daimyo.

 

The Samurai discussion led to the Japanese Castles, since they were built for defense. I was very impressed with the mountain castles because of the location they were built in and the detail that was put into them. However, Professor Yamashita did mention that Mountain Castles were not built to be defended in fact battles were usually fought elsewhere.  On the other hand Flatland castles were more common in the 1500-1600 and they were designed for defense. I thought that by that time since population had grown Japanese needed to expand and could no longer build in the mountains. Professor Yamashita explained that the transition occurred because of the development of centralized institutions and the tax system it also made it easier to control local commerce and their subjects.

 

The final subject discussed in the lecture was the puzzle of sushi. I learned about the origins of Sushi, which comes from southeast Asia or China. He mentioned that sushi is a fairly new concept introduced in the 1600’s. The first layer is cooked rice and the second layer is the topping usually a slice of raw or pickled fish or grilled eel. I found it interesting that people in Japan were into fast foods such as soba, tempura, and sushi. It would be nice for us in the U.S. to introduce these healthier options of fast food oppose to the hamburgers and fries we are so accustomed to .

 

 

 

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