Session Four (Fall 2019)

I appreciated being able to "take a side" and make a case for that position.  I can see this kind of activity being adapted to a classroom setting, albeit with different subject material for my third graders.  For this assignment I was one of the Self-Strengtheners.  As I read, I took notes (I read all the positions, and got just as many notes from the opponent positions to support my case as I did from the readings about Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong).  In brief, here is what I feel the Self-Strengthener position believes:  

1) While China has fared poorly in recent international interactions, it will only be from a position of strength that China will be able to reverse these failures and stop having to make concessions in the treaties it signs.

2) China needs more "emperor power" not more "people power".  We do NOT need a parliament, elections, or a Planning Board.

3) China has a fundamentally sound system of morals and government.  Defensive additions and military advancements need to be made rather than abandoning our foundation.  Anything that weakens the basic relationship between a husband and wife, a father and son, and a ruler to his/her subjects is to be avoided.    

4) China can be strengthened by adapting Western technologies, restoring agrarian production with new scientific discoveries, reviving traditional education, eliminating corruption of some officials, and stimulating better communication between the provinces.