Thought about the 9th session

Class was good! After listening to all the special 'teams' regarding 'Family Instructions' I found the part that noted, "One should correct those who have improper hobbies, such as indulging in playing musical instruments...composing, music, singing or dancing. All these hobbies destroy a person's ambition." It makes me wonder what role music played within their society and in the palace.

One of the many points I would like to mention in connection with this session was the one with Marco Polo’s travel to China. Although I support the position that it doesn’t matter whether he has been there or not (what matters is the idea of Marco Polo’s travel and its description), I find more interesting the presentation of the evidence pro and con and the conclusions drawn. It was an example of historical thinking; it was an example of how to approach mysteries of the past.

It was great to have Porf. Dube back in class. I had forgotten how passionated he is about China. He definitely raised a very good debate when he mentioned Marco Polo. He pointed out that there is no real proof. But, as a classmate defended the oppostion that an idea or concept was developed and generations have been affected by it. I raised the question of how many classmates have been to "famous sites in California?" I didn"t see a lot of hands go up. I believe there was travel and trade between the two continents. If not, we wouldn't have all the influences of clothing, spices, foods, plants, ...etc that are part of our culture.
It was interesting that China has had it's own internal expansion. I was surprised how much land each dynasty added. More important, it was the unification that occurred and has lasted over the centuries. There wasn't enough time to go more in depth on the subject. The time flies and we are left wanting to know more.

I really enjoyed this session. I enjoyed the controversy regarding Marco Polo. I have concluded that perhaps he did not go to China. After all, where is the documentation? After 17 years in China, one would think that there would be some tangible evidence of that life. Maybe his true motive was to get more Europeans to China in order to occupy and eventually colonize.

Professor Dube touched upon some interesting points and raised insightful questions regarding the possibility that Marco Polo did not visit China. This, as many of the other questions raised in the seminar pose fertile ground for discussion and intellectual debate. Unfortunately, the structure of the seminar and the scope of time prevents an in-depth analysis. I would be interested in exploring that various historiographic approaches and primary documents regarding China as refracted through the filter of European eyes juxtaposed with similar documents from the Chinese point of view to gain an approximation of how the various sides viewed their encounter. Moreover, a class discussion, similar to graduate seminars might prove more effective pedagogically since we can be engaged participants rather than passive observers.

Has anyone looked into the magazine Professor Dube passed out? It is so much fun! I found lots of good reading material for my students.

I also agree that the family instructions was very interesting. It would be a cool lesson to compare this with family structures of christian households. This could be done with either the introduction of Christianity as a religion, or even the growth of the nuclear home in Europe in the 19th century.

From the reading, "Radical Reform at the End of Qing", I enjoyed the need of reforming institutions in China. The author was pleading to the king to reconsider reformation based on the Mohist concept of universal love for the good of the people. For China to not become stagnat and follow the changing of the times and make the most of it's resources.

Until that evening I had no idea that there was ever any question about Marco Pollo going to China. It was interesting to hear about the theories of Francis Wood. I suppose if you place Marco Pollo in a modern day situation such as walking on the moon and encountering life forms, would we believe it hundreds of years from now? It would depend on present day evidence and how its preserved? Which is why some people place an enormous amount of faith in whatever shreds of evidence we have today and still believe Marco Pollo did visit China and revere him as a great explorer.