[Thomas Pineda]

I enjoyed video lectures and learning more about the intention behind the design and links to a cultural history of urban cities in East Asia that I have previously visited. Looking at the sprawling metropolises, I can envision now the idea that the cities place and relation to the natural landscape around it was a primary consideration. Another interesting point that was made was regarding the influence of colonialism on a city, but also that the city made its own impression on the colonialist style of the time and era in the locale. While the veneer of the city or neighborhood’s style may not seem authentic, its value is actually in the quality of life of those who make up that part of the city. When the temple in Nara, Japan was mentioned, I was interested in learning more about the historical geography and natural events of that area. I had learned that the original structure was much larger, but it had burned down. However, the one that remains, which is ⅔ of the original size and still the largest wooden structure built in the world, had been designed in a way to withstand earthquakes and seismic activity. As an earth science teacher, humans’ impact on nature and vice versa is a standard covered in my classes- this is an intriguing historical link that I’m sure my students would enjoy learning more about.

[Thomas Pineda]

Hi, my name is Thomas and I am currently teaching in San Bruno, CA after living in Los Angeles the past 3 years. I've been primarily teaching 6th grade Math & Science, and now am working remotely through Zoom. While it's often hard to link some of the topics related to Asia in my Math & Science classes, it's been an opportunity to collaborate with my students' ELA/History teachers and add to their ancient history units. 

Before COVID, I used to really enjoy playing team sports and running with my running club in Koreatown. Since then, we've moved back to the Bay Area and I've spent more quarantine time working in the garage or out riding my motorcycle. However, most of my time has been spent recently getting my new students up to date with their new virtual learning environments and providing "tech support".

[Thomas Pineda]

It was interesting to learn that Japan’s light governance of social programs (firefighting, charity for poor, etc;) was to be met or fulfilled voluntarily by population. I suppose it was similar to principals put forth later in the Charter Oath, that virtue and a sense of morals were expected of all members of society- so that communities were on their own to fill in the gaps for those types of social services. I suppose in that way, they could be designed to best serve the local community. Another interesting cultural norm was the idea of minimalism in urban areas, in terms of belongings. That urban aesthetic that is relevant now, and Marie Kondo is teaching people how to tidy up. It is a necessity in urban areas around the world, especially where housing is sparse. Some things that were brought up in class that would be interesting comparisons  for a science class would be disasters in terms of urban sense- what did they look like through time and how did humans impact these disasters vs. disasters impacting humans? Essential Question for a unit project: How do characterize disasters? And how do we respond? - examples of Kanto earthquake vs SF earthquake. Questions to students: How do we learn about ourselves through disasters, how do we build cities/how should we build them, how do we learn from other places? Collective culture v. Individual culture and community response?

[Thomas Pineda]

It was an interesting mention by Prof. Pitelka that ukiyo-e was used as wrapping paper and became refuse when shipping goods. Those woodblock prints being so ubiquitous and then discarded must have been exciting treats or souvenirs for those receiving the goods on the other end. Then that rediscovery of cultural art and rebranding as “tradition” is such interesting pivot of the artform. This would be an interesting comparison to bring up in a science class that talks about human impact on environment. Are there things that we “upcycle” or “reuse” that are refuse in our nation, but become useful, valuable or relevant to other parts of the world? I’m sure the list is very long, in terms of the vast amounts of consumer goods our culture creates and discards- but it is a helpful perspective to take in a science class, stepping away from the bubble that could be our culture to examine human impact all over the planet.

[Thomas Pineda]

This article was an interesting deep-dive on the use of iconology on currency as a way for nations to self-brand their ideology while showing their unity as a nation. Something that may be overlooked in the digital day and age of credit and electronic transfers, the origins of images on hard currency provide not just a look into the developmental stages of burgeoning nations, but also serve as tools for sharing those stories. Due in part to the Iwakura Mission to the United States, developers of Japan’s restructuring looked at the prosperity and modernity of Western nations and worked with them to emulate to look of that wealth on their banknotes. What was interesting was the input from both Japanese and Americans in the curating of Japanese images for their new paper currency. This “self-censorship” involved removing some of the religious imagery deeply entrenched in Japanese culture that was deemed too primitive to fit in with modern times. While some of it remained, more notes were branded with the ancient heroes or legends that supported Japanese nationalism and sovereignty. This curation at once celebrated the uniqueness of Japan’s culture and history while also avoiding anything that would seem uncivilized or backwards. In a way, this process reminds me of the way students go through phases of self-representation and rebrand themselves as they mature through time. Printed currency is somehow like those snapshots over time, how students or people in general can look back and say “Wow, I can’t believe I used to dress like that.” At that time in the Meiji Restoration, they were looking for ways that would carrying them away from the feudal society they were before, towards something that would long-lasting and continually express modernity.

[Thomas Pineda]

5.4 & New Culture Movement: Both of these highlighted shortcomings of the current ruling party in China and mishandling over the past 50 or so years. They catalyzed the acceptance of new ideas and technology (democracy and science) that China had previously been obstinate towards adopting. In Sun YatSen’s particular case, his training in medicine and exposure to Western culture made him a conduit for these ideas to be transplanted into a revolutionary movement against the Manchus.
The Communist and Nationalist parties mirrored similar situations that Leninists experienced. They were all ruled by an obsolete mode of thinking that had failed to adapt and left their country divided and picked apart by various foreign influences.

[Thomas Pineda]

• Defeat by Japan: This would be a role reversal in terms of power for China, a nation so large and historically dominant in Asia, to be defeated by a smaller or developing country. A way for my students to understand this type of power shift would be comparable to the United States of America ceding to another nation in North America. Or perhaps something more developmentally appropriate for my students would be a role reversal exercise, where they got to exercise the rights and “powers” of a teacher and their teacher became a student. Examining the thoughts or actions of both roles before and after the switch might model a similar shift in political power dynamic.

• Strengthen, Reform, Revolution: China was getting beaten by other countries continuously. They were ceding power and at the whim of multiple foreign influences. Their central leadership was failing to bring the country together or protect it, even from within (Boxer Rebellion). There were ideas of self-strengthening China from its core by advancing the technology and infrastructure by adopting more modern and western means without forsaking the nation’s Confucian ideals. There were reformers that wanted to move on from China’s “obsolete” ways of thinking and governing. Some looked to Western nations for inspiration but weren’t entirely sold on the idea that it would work well for their own nation. Then there were revolutionaries that wanted China to adopt a republic system of government like Western nations that had occupied China. They wanted the Manchus out of power and their empire dissolved, allowing the Chinese to establish their own democratic rule.

[Thomas Pineda]

This topic is highly relevant in society today and our students can look at events throughout American history with the same lens and recognize a recurring theme. The process of learning about these parts of history can easily evoke a range of emotions and responses from students and lead to what? A discourse or debate that can sometimes derail the class from the learning objectives. However, it can invoke a passion in history that leads to a deeper understanding of power struggles and the complexities therein. Often times, no group or country may end up looking perfect or without fault throughout their entire history, or even in current times.  It is the groups in which there is very little or no history written about that become the most interesting or disturbing. Through the experience of these events in a related class with a qualified teacher, students can hopefully develop a broadened world view that not only helps them navigate our current globalized society, but prepares them to be better global citizens. I’m still working on integrating that part into my Math classes at the moment.

[Thomas Pineda]

Treaty of Nanking: In this treaty, control of trade powers and lands/ports were subjugated to British rule, notably Hong Kong and 5 other large cities. China also got stuck with the dinner tab of 21 million 1842 dollars (pounds? Yuan? inflation adjusted?). It is interesting now to see all of that British “influence” in cities like Shanghai and obviously in Hong Kong. In a sense, it is a treaty as it ends the “misunderstandings” of not letting one group profit in a mostly unregulated manner which led to years of violence. However, it seems like a legal version of shakedown, and one that is well documented from both perspectives.

[Thomas Pineda]

Economic Growth v Development:It would be a great exercise for ELD students to compare the terms, but also find ways to relate it to real life. In a sense, they could view it as having to do busy work in class, where they were completing lots of work, but perhaps only learning the same thing over and over. They could also compare situations where work (whether manual labor or academic work) had to be completed with and without the aid of technology, and they could predict which way would be more productive.- If Manchu China was not able to expand gov’t control over a growing empire, then there would be a lack of central leadership and loss of control, eventually leading to revolt or fighting for independence?

[Thomas Pineda]

• Water scarcity: In our Next Generation Science Standards, Earth’s systems and resources are often studied with an increasing lens on human impact on these systems through time. I think some of the historical events presented in the historical “flow” chart of the Yellow River over time is a great observational tool students could leverage in our class. The changes that occurred naturally due to floods and others that were human influenced, such as the destruction of levees, are clear examples of the effect natural systems have on human life and vice-versa. I would use this as a jump-off point for students to find evidence of similar interactions around the globe through history. 

• Aging Society & Household Expenditures: The data presented in these sections would be great primary sources for my students to examine in Math during our Statistics or Ratio & Proportions lessons. Particularly, students get very interested in sharing their spending habits or examining others. It would be a useful activity for them to log their own household expenditures, or at least estimate it, and use that to make “percent of” proportions. They could compare their own to others’ in their class and then to different age ranges or cultures in general.

• Industrial Revolution: The 1800s occurs a lot later then my students would be studying in their Ancient history classes, but it presents a cross-curricular opportunity in Math class to research and somehow estimate what would have been the GDP for ancient civilizations hundreds or thousands of years prior. It would be an interesting discussion to see how they would quantify economics resources and compare them across continents or time periods.

• Qianlong letter: I think the letter was written in a well-prosed manner, carefully explaining the reasons for the denial of requests and littered with some zingers and ‘sick burns’, as the kids say these days. It did seem reflective of the tightly controlled and insular nature of China’s foreign policy, at least from what little I’ve studied. But it was a nice retort towards the colonizing nature of Western empire that usually got their way throughout history. 

• Barriers to Foreign Influence: Some of the advantages to restricting outside influence into these countries were the ability to remain wholly national and preventing colonization, foreign disease and all the other pitfalls that came with globalization. On the other side of the coin, the lack of shared ideas, technology and resources may have stymied some advances in society. It may also have promoted more xenophobia and homogenization of cultural ideas.

[Thomas Pineda]

After reading a few of the articles related to the demographics around East Asia, I found the particular issue of the labor shortages very intriguing since my classes often relate to STEM. A few of the issues that came up regarding the shift, or decline, in populations around this country seem to be related to current trends in our society as well, regarding an increase of women in the workforce and lower birthrate. However, I'm not quite sure my 6th graders have that type perspective on life quite yet. I do think that many of them come from large, collective families traditionally and may have many older adults or grandparents around their communities- so I think that could be a closer link to the trends presented in the articles. Where I'm most excited to involve my students is to see their thoughts on ways to innovate uses of machines, robots and "smarter devices" into different industries, like the examples presented in nursing homes. Relating the challenges they or others may face in taking care of aging populations, I wonder what types of ideas or innovations they might come up with. Our discussion could dive further into the ethics of using these types of machines for work, as well as the impact they would have on the population, planet and other resources in the future.

[Thomas Pineda]

Hi, my name is Thomas and I am currently teaching in San Bruno, CA after living in Los Angeles the past 3 years. I've been primarily teaching 6th grade Math & Science, and now am working remotely through Zoom. While it's often hard to link some of the topics related to China in my Math & Science classes, it's been an opportunity to collaborate with my students' ELA/History teachers and add to their ancient history units. 

Before COVID, I used to really enjoy playing team sports and running with my running club in Koreatown. Since then, we've moved back to the Bay Area and I've spent more quarantine time working in the garage or out riding my motorcycle. However, most of my time has been spent recently getting my new students up to date with their new virtual learning environments and providing "tech support".

[Author]

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