Reflection

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

In my 7th grade World History class I teach about East Asia.  One unit is supposed to be: East Asia, 300–1300: China during Tang and Song, Spread of Buddhism, Korea and Japan, Quanzhou.  Much of the framework’s focus is on how Chinese imperial powers gained and maintained power over the people, and how Buddhism spread and changed across Asia.  I think the topic of Gender and Generation fits well here, as the hierarchical systems developed and spread from China to Korea and Japan in different ways.

 

We already study how the Tang dynasty returned to Confucianism and instituted a system of civil service examinations, so here I will introduce the five relationships in Confucianism and discuss how this hierarchy worked to control the people of China and to keep women in their place. At the same time, I would like to have students read (or watch video clips of) some of Confucius’ Analects and then the story of Mencius’ mother, and compare the gender and generational roles in each. I might introduce the writings of Ban Zhao, to show that not only men held these ideas. I will also be able to incorporate the ideas taught by Dr. Yan in Session 1, regarding the importance of human reproduction to the eternal nature of a family, to help students understand where these ideas come from and why they are important in Asia.  I’m sure a clip or two from the beginning of Mulan will help illustrate the importance of the ancestors and of marriage.

 

Professor Miyake’s discussion of Japan was one of the most useful for me, since it covers exactly the period of Japanese history that I teach. I am definitely going to look for some Manga or Animé versions of stories and more traditional woodblock versions of stories that will help students understand gender roles in feudal Japan. One thing I realized was that I have been wrong in my instruction on the Heian period, when some artistic forms I was teaching about, such as haiku or kabuki theatre, are actually from much later periods, so I also need to fix this. At the end of the unit I would like to bring some of these concepts and traditions into the present by looking at modern aesthetics of beauty (ie, androgyny) and some of the movie clips we saw from mid-century Japanese film, because I think they will help students understand how certain concepts have transcended time.

 

Finally, I was very interested in the early Korean history prior to Chinese influence, where Korean women had greater power.  It was only last year that I started teaching about Korea based on the updated History Framework, so the information about the three queens of the Silla reign was interesting to me and something I will need to work to incorporate.  I think it will be important for students to see how Korean women were more empowered than they might have thought, and I look forward to breaking down stereotypes.