Message from ageisner

[Anonymous]

On page 240 of Sources of Chinese Tradition there was this sentence that just stood out:

If he has no other plan than to use loyalty and sincerity as armor, and rites and rightness as a shield, and such similar phrases, and if he says that these words could accomplish diplomatic negotiations and be sufficient to control the life of our enemie, your ministers indeed do not presume to beleive it.

Wow! Could this not be applied to so many moments in history, including the debate over our current situation in Iraq. I feel this would be a great sentence to give to the students to introduce a unit on Imperialism. One could ask their students to analyze what it is that is being said and what dilemma the country is being faced with. It could also be a great closer or an assessment to the unit as well. One could ask for their interpretation of the statement again and then ask the students what they think countries experiencing the threat of imperialism should have done, wage war or try and negotiate diplomatic relations. The debate over which measure should be taken is one that will be debated throughout the 20th century over and over again.