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Salbador GonzalezI intend on using East Asia in my teachings by using some of the content I have learned in this course to introduce my students to the rich history East Asia has. I want to use the many movies and sports I was exposed to not through the lectures but through the research I completed while trying to find more information about East Asia.
This course overall was eye-opening in regards to making me realize that China has the vast population due to the length of its history. I was able to admire the history of East Asia through the lectures from the various great professors specialized in the history of China, Korea or Japan. I was introduced to an entire new world that I wasn’t too interested before, but who I want to learn more of. I enjoyed hearing Professor Ye Yang and his Chinese poetry, the Sijo poems, the Samurai history from professor Hirano, the origins of Buddhism from Professor Meeks, and the great lectures Professor Dube had by using more pictures in his powerpoint presentations than words. Professor Dube was great to listen to in regards to all the knowledge he knows about East Asia.
I would have wanted to learn about more traditional dances and sports from these East Asian countries, but I will take it upon myself to research more information that I can share to my diverse population of students. I appreciate East Asia more than when I started the course, and am interested in all the smaller countries such as the Philippines and Taiwan. Based on the eco-friendly trends and spiritual practices of East Asia, I do believe East Asia will always be a part of our ongoing history.
Salbador GonzalezThe topics that caught my attention during this session was the information regarding the forbidden city and the temple of heaven. I had heard about the forbiddent city but not known why it was called so or what was in it. The temple of heaven was interesting in regards to it being the only blue building in the forbidden city as well as it not having any nails in it.
I had not thought about why certain asian characters in martial arts movies had a shaved front of the head with a long braid on them. Now I know it came from the Ch'ing dynasty whereas cutting your braid was a revolutionary act. Time and time again, it shows how each emperor had their own ideas of what their empire should consist of, which makes China have so many customs from many years ago.
Marco Polo's story makes me wonder as well if Christopher Columbus did actually get influenced to go to China, but Professor Dube convinced me based on all the details he missed when describing the people and clothing.
Salbador GonzalezHello Marcos, thank you again for sharing yet another article but giving me an idea for my physical education class. In comparison to the language extinction of the Manchu, I jsut thought about creating a game regarding many sports or games that have been extinct as time has passes. The only game I can remember is the Mesoamerican Ball Game, which the Aztecs used to play. It's similar to soccer but with different goals and ball. I can have students learn how to play the Mesoamerican Ball game called today as Ulama, then I would have them compare to another native american game, and then have them research for hw the answer to this question, Why did these games become less popular in society?
Salbador GonzalezThank you for sharing this article! Even though this article only shows 9 of the worlds most endangered languages, this made me think of the many languages that are close to being endangered and the many that have already been extinct and only mentioned in history books. This idea also brought to mind about the major lanaguages being spoken in certain countries and what can happen to them in the future if not taught to a vast population. I wonder why is it that people allowed the Manchu language to begin an extinction trend. was it government officials choosing to use other languages they knew and focus more on the cantonese and mandarin that most if not all Chinese speak nowadays? Lots of questions that only time will tell, unless languages spoken becomes a priority of the Chinese people for Manchu.
Salbador GonzalezI would use this concept in Physical Education and apply it in my class by playing a game I just named, "Great Wall Ball". I would have a wall out of bowling pins be created with a group of students trying to protect it. I would have another team trying to knock down those pins while sitting down on a scooter. It would be a similar game to dodgeball but no targeting on each student, rather targeting on the pins. I can also make the game consist of everybody guarding a pin, meaning their part of the wall. If their pin is dropped, they are out, meanign that part of the great wall has been destroyed.
Salbador GonzalezThank you for sharing your idea! I would make this marco polo game as a team building activity with my students. I can use the concept used in the swimming pool Marco Polo game and have students only be allowed to give one direction instruction(forward, back, right, left, stop, go) to a blindfolded student on a scooter. The student on the scooter is responsible for 4 different objects within the class or within a contained area. I can either make this a partner game or a group game depending on the size of the class.
Salbador GonzalezThank you for sharing the video. Even though it might be a bit difficult to use in my Physical Education classes, it is a great video I can share with other teachers who can use it to enhance their lessons.
Salbador GonzalezWill China Save the Planet? Hopefully they do with the help of the rest of the world. Whatever China and the rest of the Asia do, the US will be the second to benefit from, since their pollution does carry over to our nearby sea and west coast. We are faraway neighbors with a hug sea in between.
The first time I heard about China's air pollution was when they were hosting the Beijing Olympics. I'm glad to hear China has made a change in their pollution trends. Not only are they leading the way today, but putting pressure on the US to take the lead or follow their lead. Unfortunately, the US doesn't have the appropriate leader at the time to reduce the amount of damage we as a nation are imposing on the planet.
I felt prividedge to be lectured from one of the very few people in China going over the coal companies and their contamination tactic coverups to not be fined for polluting to a certain extent. I enjoyed how Barbara described her personal experiences while in the middle of China's movement for a cleaner environment.
Salbador GonzalezProfessor Meeks lecture on Buddhism was great to be a part of. After browsing through the Chinese philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Mohism, Buddhism had come to mind, especially since Professor Dube had showed us a slide of buddhism but not lectured us any on it during one of the first two sessions. Well, buddhism made me think about its relation to yoga as both are into mindfulness, especially after learning that there is more than one form of buddhism. Professor Meeks had a great lecture on Buddhism but it only created more interest in learning about this very popular world religion. Professor Meeks answered many questions I had regarding Buddhism such as where did it originate from and what are their beliefs.
Salbador GonzalezThank you for sharing your idea. I will use the same idea but in comparing how a sport is played in various countries. Everybody has their own style of play and comparing a style of play in a sport based on at least 3 countries can help my students decide on what style of play they are more comfortable with when playing an specific sport.
Salbador GonzalezThank you for sharing these interesting numbers about buddhism. Made me think about why is it that the birth location of a religion is sometimes the least location it is kept being practiced after many years of existence, mainly regarding catholicism/ christianism in Israel, a place I've been interested in visiting.
Salbador GonzalezThis session was my favorite above all due to the eye opening information about samurai not being who they were portrayed as in "The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise. It was humbling to find out the samurai in the movie were actually bushidan and that samurai were never warriors of war but only warriors that served their masters.
The bushi were used as the warriors helping the aristocrats of early day japan with controlling resources such as water. Being a bushi was more rewarding than being a samurai during the Heian period (794-1191).
Salbador GonzalezGreat appreciation to Professor Ye Yang and his poetry which was great to hear. First time I experienced Chinese poetry in person and plan on using it as a lesson in my physical education class. One can break down a game, movement, or sport through a poem, therefore allowing future students to learn much quicker through poetry.
Anybody correct me if I'm wrong but I can remember during this session a picture of a river where certain individuals woudl be drinking a specific drink while wearing a robe and then writing a poem. I'm in the correct session right? Well, if I am, it was interesting to see that sitting by the river, relaxed and with a writing tool has been a tradition that has or used to happen in China. Makes me wonder if there were many traditions in Japan or Korean poetry similar to Chinese poetry.
Salbador GonzalezI enoyed being introduced to korean poetry in the form of sijo poems. I will have students get in groups and choose a sport, action or movie they can break down and explain in a sijo poem while also describing the words in the poem with body movements, gestures or body signs. Although I did enjoy learning about the history of Korea and the differences it has with Japan and China, my favorite part was learning about how to create a sijo poem and being able to teach it immediately to my students. It was great to learn about all the Korean art available through the resources that break down what the animals, colors and symbols overall mean. Simple to read and share to students to use as a resource in understanding Korean culture from religion and symbolism.
Salbador GonzalezSession #4 on the part of the history of Japan was eye opening in making me realize the limited amount of history I know about Japan compared to China. What caught my attention was the changing of the capital from Yamato, to Nara and Kyoto, to Tokyo in present day Japan. This session made me realize that all I know about Japan is sushi and samurai's. This realization only makes me wonder about the many questions Japan has about their history as well as the rest of the world.
Professor Hirano stated a great question about always questioning who wrote the history, women, men, the poor, or natives and how different would each perspective seem to the public. Japan's history should make the world question their own history writers as well as we all write based on what we're read from certain historians.
And paraphrasing Professor Hirano, Walter Benjamin’s statement, “there is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism,” means the following: any civilizations have the history of barbarism precisely because they produced barbarians by demonizing, marginalizing, conquering or annihilating other civilizations.
This statement made me realize that we are all a product of barbarians who have demonized someone to worship another.
