[Richard Cate]

Today we see a disturbing world wide trend to turn inward and become "National." We should look to what it cost the Chinese. 

The Mongols were truely multi-national. Trade brought wealth, security and control to them. It rduced the desire to attack them because they were essential to the other nation's economies. They were strong and the cost of attacks were too costly in men and money to do more than talk big talk. For the Mongols all the new territories were buffer zones protecting what they truely cared about.

For the Ming the voyages of Zheng Ho brought new trade partners but it brought foreign (Non-Chinese) thought to the Middle Kingdom, weakening its purity. So the fleets were moored and left to rot. Non-Chinese thoughts and inventions were purged. "Make China Great Again" was he desire. but the world passed them by. in the century to come Western military technology left them far behind, and their country would be carved up, controlled and her resources be raped for decades to come.. 

World War II say America creating the Pax Americana and for half the world prosperity reached heights never seen before. America as the world's policeman has prevented another world war. We now tire of the responsibility, and want to turn inward. The vacume will be filled, Do we want to hand it back to the Chinese? Life is a circle.

I do not believe it was in the best interest of the Ming to withdraw from the world. I do not believe it is in our best interest either. But servive to others, to a higher purpose is out of fashion, as it seems is honor, but that is a subject for a different day.

(Forgive this sounding disjointed I am writing during breaks between classes.)

[Richard Cate]

I have to say that I have been amazed by the number of resource attachments you include every week. Thank you for sharing your research with us.

[Richard Cate]

The Travels of marco Polo has many sections that can be used in class to get students to brainstorm things like the relative size, advancement, social norms, and so on beween cultures. It can be used to tie into the same comparisons of todays world. And bias in the observations can be shown by including a description of the capital done from Chinese eyes at the same time.

The problem with this specific excerpt is the emphsis on prostitution when used in middle schools. I can assure you there are parents that would make calls. So you couls edit that out or use another excerpt.

I like to include a look at bias in all source readings. With our students depending on the web for so much of the information that they depend on to give them their opinions, it is important to costantly reinforce the need to assess what was the reason a piece was written, what was the society that the author came from like, did they favor or oppose the subject of their work.

We see a desire to purge historical views that offend the delecate social sensibilities du jour. We do not seem to get across to our students tha people can only know what they CAN know. A time holds its own world view, we cannot judge that world view, even if we disagree with it based on what we know in our time. I remember what one of the couples I was traveling with the first time I went to Egypt. They were from the mid-West and "born again" Christians. After walking away from the temple complex of Karnak they said that it was too bad that they spent of of this time and energy worshiping "false gods." I couldn't help but think that they did not realize that from the religious point of view that they were worshiping according to what God had revealed to them in their own time. We can only know what our time knows.

[Richard Cate]

The question of the reality of Marco Polo actually traveling to Cathay as the Europeans called it is not actually a new debate. When it was published many if not most people believed it was a work of fiction. They had a very narrow world view, but they also lacked very much in the way of wonder and magic in their lives, so it was a popular book.

Why did he fail to mention the Great Wall, tea, bound feet or many other of the wonders of China? There are several logical reasons that were mentioned by Clay in the first video lecture. The Great wall wasn't so great by his time, much of it had only been tamped dirt construction and weather and lack of maintaining infrastructure would leave it much like it is today (No, the Ming Wall the tourists visit is not what is out in the West, there it is much like Hadrian's wall, just a mound with some ruins, it may not have existed where he entered China and he would not likely be able to envision it's extent. 

Two other reasons might explain his not taling about the wall. Frist, the people already not believe the size and scope of things in China, The Wall would just cause more scoffing of what he described. As it was he did not describe China as being so much more in every way than Europe. It would not have played well telling his audience that they were just dirty barbarian hicks when compared with Asia. Second, and a very important factor was that it was not healthy to challenge the view of the church. The Catholic Church was by far the most significant power in Europe and did not take well challenges to it's proclamations. For this reason people were very careful to not make waves at least not very high ones.

The other omissions were likely more due to the reality that he wa snot a high offical but rather just embellished his role. Who was going to go check on it and it made for a better story, as he was a participant with his "superior" European wisdom and skills helping the savages. 

"The Tavels of Marco Polo"is an interesting read. I enjoyed that one of the first things he wrote on when describing the capital was the professional ladies. Perhaps he did his generalship safely in their warm embrace rther thn on a battlefield. He would not be the first person in history to enhnce his own abilities and accomplishments. Of course, in our day and age we are past such behaviors.

And, Yes I do believe that Marco joined in the family business, and taveled to China. And, does it matter if he realy did what he aid? No, the inspiration he gave to generations of Europeans to seek out the new worlds that was there all around them changed the course of the world. 

[Richard Cate]

I found the book selection on Buddhism in Japan to be very comprehensive. I have a question I sak my students to make, Is this an unbiased souce of information? Are there other obversations of the history of Buddhism in Japan I should be looking at to get a balanced picture? That said I found that there was so much information and so very many names I have not encountered before that I felt like my students must when I run through my own lecture series of cultures they have never encountered before. It is good to be able to remember that things we find very familiar are to them all new and overwhelming.

Thgere are many things I learned from the excerpt that expanded my understanding of the depth of Buddhist influence in Japan. For example, that Zen practice came to Japan as early as it did. I had always believed that it came in the Kamakura Period. So, it was surprizing to me that it had been introduced in Prince Shotoku's time. That is the thing that keeps me coming back to the USC-China Institute, I constantly have my knowledge increased not incrementally but by leaps and bounds. I look forward to a second reading where I can explore the work more carefully.

[Richard Cate]

Many years ago when researching Japan for my lessons I came across a for of the Haiku that reflected the mental aspect of Zen warrior training. The "No Minds" philosophy. It was used in the Tokugawa period, but does not appear to be widespread, perhaps it was a lesson from a Zen Master. It is most challenging. The  goal is to seek perfection while knowing that you will likely never acheive it, It is the goal of a lifetime not of the moment. I try to teach my students that it is less important to succeed than to to keep working to perfect what you do. What is more important the journey or the destination. Which enriches your life and thouse around you more.

You may like to try my "Tokugawa Era Haiku" assignment:

A).  The Haiku format is 3 lines totalling 17 syllables,

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line 3: 5 syllables

It does not mean 6 syllables in one of the lines, it is a strict format guideline.

B).  It MUST be about nature...Humans and their creations are NOT considered nature!

C).  It must be POSITIVE. No negatives, no death, blood etc. (You can write about a butterfly but you cant squish it)

D).  It is a FROZEN MOMENT IN TIME, a photo painted with descriptive words. NO MOTION it is a single image.

E).  It is in the present, right now

F).  It does not need to be in proper English, in fact it is better to not be. you do not need to use connecting words ( Aszure Butterfly is just fine.

G).  The picture you paint cannot use emotional words, like love. However it needs to evoke a positive, calming emotional response in the reader.

H). NO ACTION WORDS may be used or implied--no movement of any kind, it is a frozen image. Also No evaluative words, such as pretty, as they mean something different to each reader. Be precise in your description of the frozen image you see in your mind so that you can convey it exactly into the mind of each of your readers.

Stay small, Zen art looks at a small piece of a thing to develop understanding of the whole thing. A single pair of bamboo leaves open the understanding of the entire bamboo forrest. Think of your Haiku, your frozen image as the first step on a journey of discovery  Each of us will take a different path  as events and our personal natures dictate in our quest for understanding, of oneness. But, as with the circle of life we all start with that first step. Your image, your Haiku is that first step. Do not be discouraged if the first attempt does not do that you have a lifetime to revise and perfect it.

I teach this to my magnet kids but My AVID and resident school kids also do it and can come up with some remarkable work. The drawback is it takes a lot of concentrating to grade it, comment and suggest and regrade the revissions. I have one student who is still working on his 3 months later.

[Richard Cate]

There is an oddity to war. To be in it it is indeed ugly, the things you see, the fear that most control but is ever present. The sights, sounds, smells never leave you and the men you kill never leave your dreams. If you are lucky then over the years the people in your nightmares become commrads, even friends. No one (talking about line soldiers) is left unchanged, the person who left home never returns.

And yet, the shared crucible creats a bond beyond man and wife or sibling, often even parent and child. That bond is compelling, it will never be achieved in civilian life and so it forms a special place in your soul. When old soldiers get together after many years have passed they embrace, they cry the feel the bond just as strongly, without the fear anymore, even the enemy you fought so hard is a brother because of the shared experience.

There is the fact that Man is never more dedicated to a single cause. Never overcomes such hurdles or is more inventive than when we are at war. It is the one thing humans do really well. Then we have a hundred thousand years of experience as Homo Saoiens, Sapiens (Man, Thinking, Thinking)

Then there is the glory, time turns the horror of being covered in the blood of what is left of your best buddy to be a badge of honor to have done your duty to "god and country" but more importantly to each other. A soldier fights for his buddys; to not let them down and to do extrodinary things that no rational person would do, just to not let them down. Look into the eyes of one who has been there on whichever battlefield we have ever spilt blood for, they have a special look. Part of it is to have been there, to have done what was done and to have survived. It is a feeling od accomplishlement and pride as the reality of those moments are filtered by the years. If you want to get a sense of it watch the movie, "We were soldiers." It gets it mostly right.

[Richard Cate]

I have always been a bit amused that the Tale of Genji is an approved book for middle School students to read considering the sexual content and adult themes. But parents who won't allow their children to read Anime will brag about how scholarly their kid is if they read a classic. 
 

I go over this book with my students and the development of written Japanese. I do not have the time to go into the books content beyond a general synopsis and connections they can observe in people's behavior in their own experience.

forgive my short commentaries as I'm writing during the showing of short videos while teaching my classes.

[Richard Cate]

I enjoyed the 2 lecture sections we were able to watch. I would like to see the whole series. Perhaps I just missed a link to them. 

[Richard Cate]

There are many questions as to what the goal of President Ci is. I make the assumption that he is the real driving force behind Chinese expansion in the multitude of directions he is moving. I don't think any but his closest confidants, if even they, know the full measure of his ambitions for China and himself.

Is Xi simply a believer in the greatness of China and is working to return it to the respect and power of China before the coming of Western Imperalism, and the diminishing of China. Is he an egotist trying to place his name among the greatest leaders in China's long history? Is he in such a hurry because there is no one prepared to succeed him and carry on with the ambitious programs? Perhaps a bit of each. He is one of the most farseeing, ambitious and skilled world leaders of our time.

Are the Chinese trying to create a Pan-Pacific economic zone with China as the primary power? Or, is it an effort to control the water, mineral resources or markets that make an economy run? Is it means to spread out pollution producing industries into distant regions in order to say we are green Otis others polluting. They may even be able to convince themselves they are nearing perfection by hiding the imperfect far out of sight and mind.

the Romans, British and Americans all used infrastructure to become the dominant nation in it's century. China is set to take their place with those nations if they can overcome the large number of internal problems that they face. That can be a task that proves much harder to accomplish than the road and belt projects. China's lack of being able to admit fault, loss of face or just facing a ingrained system that covers up mistakes rather than facing them. That was a major factor in not gaining control of COVID-19 when it could have been eradicated. 
the dominance of China is a fact the 21st century will deal with as a partner or a adversary. 

[Richard Cate]

I have been giving the historical and other current context much thought. One area we didn't cover was the exploration and control of space, from Earth orbit to Lunar and Mars colonies. The US won the space race over the Soviets of course, their economy could not maintain the cost of a wide focus of space exploration. While we have been piggybacking their space program to take crews and supplies to the International Space Station, Soyuz is technology developed in the 1960s. They have fallen out of competition and their place has been taken over by a VERY aggressive space program directly challenging the United States. 

it was pointed out in the 1960s that whoever controls the Moon controls the Earth. The military implications are enormous. Using Maglev rail launchers you can mine the Moon and of course asteroids and launch mountain sized rocks into earth or lunar orbit for processing for raw materials or launched as a weapon to Earth itself. A hydrogen bomb without radiation. There are a lot of rocks in space.

There is another Asian player. From the other side of continent, the UAE has become very active in space and other infrastructure projects. They control a great many of the West's port facilities, are into telecommunications, have one of the world's largest medical research school/ hospitals, and in a great many other areas. They realized early on that the world will move on from oil and they needed to diversify. Their just announced space project is to team with the Japanese Space Agency to launch a Lunar robotic Rover. They do work with NASA but are active in the development of launch vehicles as well that are independent of US interests and control. 
 

we need to be aware that the little guys are teaming up in response to the current lack of confidence in the US whose divisions will not be solved anytime soon and leaves us as a country that can no longer be depended upon to maintain world order. Perhaps it will be a good thing that there is a realignment of power. It will not a comfortable time for the US finding itself as an untrusted competitor in the scramble for resources and markets in the this new world order. Perhaps we can ask Britain what it is like to go from the most powerful country in the world who makes all the final decisions to an also ran that fights for the illusion of being important. We sure didn't learn from history. 
hopefully I've given you something to think of and debate.

[Richard Cate]

I'd love to see your Mock-Trial lessons, they sound really engaging. I used to do a mock-trial/board of inquiry on the sinking of the Titanic. The students are very surprized to find out that the owner was the American banker, J.P.Morgan (which was illeagle because the Royal Mail contract that gave it the prefix RMS required British ownership only. But without that contract White Star cud not hope to make a profit. That is why the information was whitewashed in the official inquiry.

[Richard Cate]

If her were a pure Taoist he would not be inclined to commit crimes, belief in law or not. But I am sure there are people who claim to be and may even thinkthemselves to be Taoist that do commit murder, rape, treason. You must break from your inclination to right the Chi and return to the path of the Tao. 

[Richard Cate]

The Family is all important but the first of the social relationships is the ruler and his subjects. The Emperor is the father of all the people by the Mandate of Heaven. If you break the law of the Emperor you are breaking the law of the gods and ancestors. You must place your duty to your own father in subserviance to your duty to Father of all the people. You must turn him in or you are a traitor to your gods, ancestors, the emperor and to your father himself. Who can only be returned to the correct path by receiving judgement and paying his debt.

[Richard Cate]

In thinking about the question: "Would you turn in your father for committing a serious crime," I started to look at China under Qin and China today under Xi. I see a china that has put on a shiny new facade, but is fundamentally little changed. Chinese law remains a servant of state policy rather than personal right. It is not as harsh but still rigid and often cruel.

And I look at the aims of China in 256 BCE and of today and it is still a relentless drive to unify all peples thought of as Chinese under one Rule. President Xi is probably the most formable political in the world today. He has vision, longevity, and almost total control of a powerful government, with a powerful military. I am just guessing but perhaps he feels he needs to get it done in his lifetime because those who follow might not stay the course. His solution to the perceived Muslim problem is unique. I guess it beats sending in the army to exterminating them.

I personally feel that he has made a mistake with Hong Kong. I am quite sure that they are an irritating thorn in his side, but if he wants to get Tiawan to rejoin the warm embrace of "Mother China" he has definitely sent the wrong message. He riske a war that could easily escalate well beyond alocal conflict to ehgulf us all. I don't think he believes America will actually fight to defend it but it is a great risk. Time will tell.

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