Trascending Time

The readings articulated a really interesting point, which is the fact that the work of Qiu Jin and He Zhen far exceeded their lifetimes. Something that I found online as I was reading about Qiu Jin is the fact that before she was executed, she left behind a poem saying: ""Autumn wind, autumn rain – they make one die of sorrow," to lament the failed revolution that she would never see take place." Something that the readings touched on was the fact that many of their works were reproduced in the cultural revolution and provided a strong platform for feminism throughout the late 20th century. A strategy that Professor Tran modeled really well was providing exerpts from each of their works - which I think can be great before providing any context behind Qiu Jin or He Zhen. It will really let students try to debate when these authors lived and the conditions they lived in as well. Where many would argue that they were alive during the cultural revolution, it might be a great suprise to students to realize they were around during the turn of the 19th century and that the foundations and seeds of communism were around as early as then in China.