[Tara Corral]

I can't help but think of Daoism when I read this story. Wen was suppose to be out fishing when he leaned back into his boat and decided to drink without a care. He did not care if there was a fish tugging at his line or that he had finished his wine and lost the cup. As he sat there in his boat and seemingly lost track of his needs he began to float upstream against the current and past the Peach Blossom Tree. I think this is the point in the story that Wen has found the way. 

I think its interesting that he found almost a sanctuary especially during a difficult time in China and he had "escaped the sins of man" but at the end of the story he is asked to leave and keep it a secret. My thought goes to the Daoism saying when you think you know the way you know nothing and maybe that is what happened. Also why did he not keep his secret about this secret village past the Peach Blossom Trees, what did he have to gain from telling? I wonder if its a testimate to how easy we as people can be distracted from our own goal in life or are just unprepared to really accept peace. 

[Tara Corral]

Thinking to the question where if I was Confucian and was in a scenario where my father had broken a serious law and it was up to me to decide what to do, I think the answer would be to turn him in despite my own feelings. I think that would be the response many Confucious individuals have because we believe in heirarchail society and though the father is at the head of the family, it would be my duty to empreror to turn him in. Especially if we think in the terms of the Empreror acting as a father figure for the whole of China he then becomes more important then my own feelings of daughter to father. 

[Tara Corral]

I imagine that nothing can really develop within a vacuum if there is no acting force to cause change. I think many of the things that come about from our life are only capable from the exterior influences that we experience as humans. In relation to the schools of thought developing in China during the course  of a couple centuries we can clearly see that these schools evolved out of some exterior influence. Whether that is a natural occurance or one caused by political turmoil the schools of thought came about in attempt to answer some problem the populace was experiencing. For example Confucianism comes about from respecting tradition and heirarchy we can maybe make the connection that within that time frame their was a lot of change. Or maybe how Daoism was created in response to Confuiousnism. 

[Tara Corral]

I feel like the only symbol I recognize or can think of at this moment is the Yin and Yang Symbol. Some of my students know this symbol and will use it in their artwork but I do get about half of my students asking what it was that I drew. 

I think part of the reason symbols like the Yin and Yang have persisted for so long could be because of its simple and effective understanding as well as it adoption into our pop culture very easily. 

[Tara Corral]

I feel like the only symbol I recognize or can think of at this moment is the Yin and Yang Symbol. Some of my students know this symbol and will use it in their artwork but I do get about half of my students asking what it was that I drew. 

I think part of the reason symbols like the Yin and Yang have persisted for so long could be because of its simple and effective understanding as well as it adoption into our pop culture very easily. 

[Tara Corral]

I had never heard of a cultural hero until this video and the idea of a cultural hero is quite interesting especially because I imagine its how we continue to build a character that is approved to by society. For example If you remove the religious cultural heroes that a connected to American cultural I think we can say George Washington and Abraham Lincoln serve as pillars for our youngest students as they are taught their importance quite early on. It helps continue the same mindset long past the first generation that established the civilization and continues to unify them using these Cultural Heroes as guides. 

[Tara Corral]

I imagine that archeologist look for advances in technological change as a way to also understand the civilization of that time period. I think using information from past digs and comparing what they know about how people act when their lives are threaten or if they are at peace can help fill in the missing pages of that civilizations story. The advancement of more elaborate bronze work most likely helps point to their success as a civilization. If you have the opportunity to make elaborate bronze sculptures instead of defend your life or look for food it must mean that you have a well established system in place that allows you that luxury. I think a great way for students to compare this is to camping and the materials usually brought along on a camping trip compared to the way ones home is. 

[Tara Corral]

The charts are incredible to compare specifically how Clayton referenced how the Education slice varied greatly from the countries like Japan to our own. I understand that our food and housing are very important and how much money goes towards each one are different but I believe as an Educator thats important to see the difference. I wonder how the chart will change with the way COVID 19 has changed and whether there will be a change moving forward. I thought it was interesting that food was so pricy in other countries, was that due to quality or lack there of becuase of fresh water. We could do a discussion and lesson on what food is there favorite and what can we not eat all the time due to its price and maybe draw our favorite plate of food. 

[Tara Corral]

I think this might be one of the more harder aspects to fit into my lessons or my curriculum. But i think it could be used to bridge our understanding, I think many of the benefits of having a healthy older generation comes with the knowledge and information they provide to our newer and younger students. For example there are a lot of things that you can learn from our elders such as traditions, history and family history, and tales and more. I think having that connection can provide so much information for our newest generation. We can use that information to help us learn about the past to considering a lot of history is an oral tradition. 

[Tara Corral]

I think as a person, I find it very important to focus on creating a safe and healthy living style that can be passed down to later generations. I do my best to incorporate that mindset into my students as we work in visual arts and I talk about using as much of our resources as much as possible. We live in a city where we don't have to think about how we get the water we do, but i know its a problem in other parts of the country and the world. My way of incorporating that into the Visual Arts is by asking students to be less wasteful with the water they use during water colored paintings. Most of my students really get mad at me for that but hopefully they will see the importance of this later on. Beside that I would like to create some lessons of art that focus on the importance of water. I can do that by looking for artwork that is geared towards it or the importance water plays on the development of a city. 

[Tara Corral]

Hi Everyone, 

My name is Tara and I am a Elementary Visual Arts Itinerant Teacher. This will be my second time participating in a class with USC US-China Institute. I really enjoyed the last session and was able to integrate some of the information I learned into my own classrooms. I hope to gain some more knowledge about other places to add to my own classroom.

[Tara Corral]

 I haven't finished the book, but their is a reading about the Red Scarf Girl which takes place in China during the Cultural Revolution. I keep thinking back to the reading. I am about half way through and it makes me think a lot about the playing cards and how easy it is to sway the minds of children. Using Propaganda against children is quite useful because I think as a kid I was raised to trust adults and not second guess the information they tell us. I mean they are your teachers you expect them to be right and tell you good infomration so that you can better the world. You know Peace, Love and Equality. But the book shows how the right propaganda can sway the mindset of individuals. The author Ji-Li Jiang goes on to explain how her opinion changed when her family began to be targeted.  Its a scary insight into the mob llike mindset. 

[Tara Corral]

Hi Susie, 

I was reading your comment and I was really intrigued about your comment on the current trends of U.S. Women during Covid-19. I hadn't thought of the affect that virtual teaching has taken on parents and their children but you are so right. Now this is not based on any hard data, but from what I witnessed more women are at home helping the children complete their work. I work with grades TK-6th and more often it is the Mom or Grandma who is home helping the student. And what is also interesting, the amount of students who are at their parents workplace usually tend to be at the fathers workplace.   I think its a good reminder to students to think about how equal is our economy and our mindset. Are we as equal as we imagine ourselves to be or do we have these thoughts so stuck that it becomes second nature. Ladies taking care of the house work without a seconds thought.  

[Tara Corral]

 

As an educator I love learning about history, I think it is such an integral part of any subject. As a Visual Art Teacher I hope to learn about history to help explain Art in its time period and its importance in our modern Era. I haven't taught any lessons previously about East Asia because I did not have a lot of information to teach it properly.  I think with what I have learned about China, Japan, and Korea I can teach a couple lessons properly without treating it as a craft not giving it the credit it deserves. 

 

I work with the lower grades TK-6th and I am always eager to find new ways to connect our art to a culture, country, or movement that way I can provide more representation. This class provided a lot of useful historical  information to help with my lessons but I will need to choose carefully considering the age level of my students and what is/what isn’t appropriate for those students. I will also need to find ways to connect to the Visual Arts since I am a single subject teacher. Some of the topics I would like to explore with my students are Ukiyo-e Prints, Minhwa Artwork, Chinese Playing Cards(Propaganda), and potentially a little about the political atmosphere. Once my students enter back into the classroom I would like to introduce them to Scratch boards as an alternative to Woodblock, its an easier material to manipulate, and have them create multiple color print. 

 

My goal as an educator so far has been to implement as much diversity and knowledge whenever possible for my students. Moving forward I would like to teach East Asian Art with European Art or just as much. It would be better for students to have more access to diverse groups creating art and learning how they have impacted the art world. Less of the European White Male.

 

[Tara Corral]

Hi Guadalupe, I agree that much of the Korean War is forgotten in the United States. I know that I had no knowledge of the Korean War or that their was even a Korean War prior to this class. I wonder if that's because our classes have a lot to teach or do they not care to teach the information that is sensitive or a bit uncomfortable. I think taking field trips to the "Friendship Bell" or the monument for Comfort Women in Pasadena would be a good eye opening experience for many students and to get them thinking about the world further outside our world and Europe. I also agree changing the word from sex slaves to comfort women does take away some of the seriousness that is or should be associated with the term. I would say that my first thought upon hearing the term was that it was a service preformed on their own will. I think the term should be changed. 

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