19th century China -- clayton dube

[Anonymous]

Foot Binding
The practice of foot-binding is painful but is done to signify the Chinese idea of beauty in a woman with small feet. Although such practices may come off as ridiculous to the American Culture, foot-binding may be an idea that can be bated into an interesting discussion of the hypocrisy in our society’s popular culture as it often encourages certain painful beauty augmentations as well.

In our seminar handbook on page 130, the reading describes an anti-foot-binding society that is created so “girls who do not bind their feet will not become social outcasts.” As the idea of foot binding is thought to be created with the Song Dynasty between the 10th and 13th centuries, the custom was seen into the 20th century. In our seminar handbook on page 167, the author describes, “Both my sisters had bound feet, as did most (80 Percent) of the women around here, some until the late 1940’s.”

With the idea of foot-binding being an easy sell with our students as being bad, we can introduce our culture in America in seeing women getting propelled to some type of fame or special attention when they get procedures such as breast augmentations. Though our culture hasn’t seen any serious protest against these acts yet, I am curious to if it will take the same cultural path as foot-binding did with China. In foot-binding, it was generally a procedure of the rich, just as it costs roughly $3,000 to get a breast augmentation here in the States. Though both procedures are painful, both are justified in attracting male suitors and/or better financial suitors. Though this is not always the case in either of these procedures, it would be an interesting discussion to be brought up in a proper classroom setting.

How? In introducing the idea of foot-binding, ask the students the pro’s and con’s of the procedure after they examine a variety of resources. After they have had a chance to take in the information and develop an opinion (possibly with prompts), introduce it in comparison with our popular culture today and ask them if either is okay, why, and how they both compare.

It’s always fun to expose hypocrisy in the classroom with the goal of getting kids to think for themselves.

[Anonymous]

WORLD HISTORY STANDARD 10.4.2
Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism in at
least two of the following regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China,
India, Latin America, and the Philippines.

Question:
In what way should China have deal with “external” issues?

Being bound with its rich history and tradition of being a world power that had no need for outsider goods, the many attempts at transition turned into a lengthy civil war.

World History for 10th grade standard four covers Imperialism. Both Japan and China were faced with similar options when westerners came, reform the trade traditions.

I have students compare China and Japan during Imperialism and after students have examined materials on the subjects, I ask, “What should this country do, open their ports or continue with tradition?”

In the big picture, Japan reformed with less resistance than China did and in the end, China was forced into unfair treaties with European powers and while Japan began to expand their empire.

Though it is important to note that it is much easier to create a unified Japan than a unified China, in the modern world, history has proven that you must reform or someone will do it for you, without your best interests in mind.

Evidence of Japan's Westernization

[Anonymous]

I loved todays session, i do not know much about east asia, that is why i took this class. the foot binding, treaty of Nanjing, and the people u mentioned were all interesting, but by far the best thing mentioned was the student short films. i just saw several, and will never forget them.

[Anonymous]

I've often heard the 18th and 19th centuries referred to as the 'rise of the west." It is a fitting title for the topics discussed in today's lectures. There was a fairly difficult essay prompt given on an AP World Exam a few years ago regarding the economic consequences of the silver trade during this time period. I find it fascinating that the discovery of the New World in the 15th century gave European powers access to two of the largest silver mines ever discovered: San Luis Potosi in South America and Zacatecas in Mexico. This silver lubricated global trade for most of two full centuries. Being that China was the center of the trading world in the 16th and 17th centuries, it isn't surprising that most of this silver eventually found its way there to buy such commodities as silk, laquerware, porcelin, art, and a myriad of other things. The Europeans didn't have anything else to offer in return other than silver. When the Chinese showed an increasing interest in opium, it gave europeans the commodity they needed to recover some of the silver that had found its way into the East.

After the Opium Wars and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, China's main problem was dealing with foreigners on her soil. There was conflict as you would expect considering China's huge population.

[Anonymous]

I believe the Taiping Rebellion to be one of the most seminal but under-studied events of the nineteenth-century in World History. I'm trying to brainstorm an activity that will help students better understand the fascinating variables involved: Jesus, Civil Service Examinations, Manchus, British, French, gender empowerment, 30-50 million deaths, Nanjing being held hostage, Treaty of Nanking, etc. What would posses someone in southern China to join ranks with such a seemingly irrational rebellion? Such a simple question could lead to a better understanding by students of the historical forces which produced such horrific results. But any ideas for a more involved activity?

[Anonymous]

Today I asked a question about whether the Soviet Union contemplated helping China fight against Japan in 1931. More than one person in our seminar cited that Stalin was more interested in what was happening with Germany than he was with Japan at this time. However, in 1931, Germany was being devastated by economic depression while the Soviet economy was relatively healthy. Also, Hitler wouldn't even come to power in Germany for another couple years. Russia had challenged Japan in 1904, why would it seem so unreasonable that they would again in 1931 when the fate of their Communists brethern to the south seemed so precarious?

[Anonymous]

One of the best books I've ever read is The Private Life of Chairman Mao by his personal physician Li Zhi-Sui. Li explores Mao's psyche and peasant mentality. FASCINATING READ!!!!!

[Anonymous]

I found the presentation on the Opium War and the Treaty of Nanjing to be interesting. The ethical question of waging a war to protect the illicit trade of opium would certainly provide a teacher the opportunity utilize critical thinking skills of his or her students. An instructor could organize a debate or create a t-chart that could present arguments for and against the waging of this conflict. Examining the Treaty of Nanjing presented a picture of a dictated treaty that the Chinese were expected to accept. It would be interesting to compare this treaty with others that were dictated upon groups such as in India and South Africa (the Zulus for instance). This could lead to discussions such as the level of effort the British need to exert to enforce these treaties, how would the native peoples react to the terms and how these treaties would impact future events in these nations. Rob

[Anonymous]

This book might give some answers. Just did a quick search on Google:

Chinese-Soviet Relations 1937-1945 by John W. Garver

It's an older source, 1988, so maybe Clay can provide a more up to date resource.

QZoFmDl0St8VFmOPOIc-f4ylvw&hl=en&ei=MVVaTJbBMpL6sAP4me3DAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Anonymous]

With the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, the door is swung open for a takeover of the Chinese Nationalist capital of Nanjing. The atrocities committed there by the Japanese came to be referred to as the "rape of Nanjing." What were the factors that contributed to the Japanese decision to commit such barbaric acts against what were largely Chinese civilians? Did the Japanese act on beliefs of racial superiority as the Nazis did with the Jews in Europe? The Japanese post-war response to this incident bears similarities to the Turkey's post-war response to acts of genocide carried out against the Armenians during World War I. An examination of the factors behind why neither Japan or Turkey have taken accountability for their actions might make an interesting dual study on ethics. With the limited international response to these two atrocities in the years following the wars, what steps could have been taken by the world community to address these two horrific events? This could be used as a "warm-up" assignment to begin a class and incite a discussion. Rob

[Anonymous]

Today provided a great amount of information on China before 1945. With our world history (non AP) text, it seems to fly by China in the 19th century (very gross generalizations), stopping at imperialism and going into a bit more detail, and starts to talk about "things before Mao" with Sun Yat-Sen. Again the key pieces are the May Revolution, the founding of the CCP and who supported Mao, the invasion of Manchuria, the Civil War and Long March, and then the invasion of Nanjing. Everything is is very general terms and much explanation is missing.

Over the past two years, I have used the TCI activity that goes through nearly 150 years of Chinese history to get to 1945 in a one-day activity. I did this because my knowledge of the period was scant and because I thought the material on the Cultural Revolution was so fascinating (ala the Red Violin clip). Now, I feel more confident that I can bridge this gap and provide a much more complete and nuanced view of the time period and introduce students to this tricky period with great resources to pull from. I have to say that I am impressed with the work of Sun Yat-Sen and loved reading his political theory material. This is difficult stuff and I could see using the passage in our reader in an AP Gov course. I need to come up however with an activity that is more detailed than the TCI material for World that covers each period we discussed today with more explanation but makes things clear as well for the students. Tough. Maybe it could be an activity where the history is presented and then we explore "what if" questions, where students come up with alternative histories. What if Sun Yat-sen was unable to unify a major portion of China before the early 1920s? What if the war lord of Manchuria's son had not kidnapped Chiang Kai-Shek? What if the Japanese were defetaed at Nanjing? (what would it have taken to defeat them there?), etc.

[Anonymous]

In the sequence of events leading to Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Stalin signed the non-aggression pact with Hitler. I have read in a few different places that Stalin signed this treaty with Hitler not as a friend, but for the idea of buying time. Stalin's military purges crippled his military and left the Soviet Union in an unfavorable place to involve themselves with supporting communism in East Asia. Of course, this all changed with Stalingrad, but that's another story.

Why Nations Go To War by John Stoessinger

[Anonymous]

The article on the television show Yearnings brought up some interesting issues that Chinese intellectuals wrestled with such as what constitutes art? Is art the avante guard literature authors referenced in the article or is art a more popular medium which can inspire the emotions of a nation? Were the authors of Yearnings sell-outs or genuises? Mozart or Miley Cyrus?

[Anonymous]

Nihao,

To begin, the transliteration discussion was AWESOME!!! My students always ask about spellings and pronunciation of Chinese. Thanks Clay!

The Opium War and its impact on China in "awakening the dragon" to the realities of external threats was clearly developed! I can understand why it is seen by students in China as the beginning of the "modern age". The silver inflation rate example was eye opening! It reminded me of our current situation in the states where drug addiction keeps many people from contributing financially and physically to our country's tax base!

The response by the Chinese to the opium problem also reminded me of the steps our govt. has taken to fight the "War on Drugs". History is repeating itself!

The Treaty of Nanjing documentation clearly shows the how British business interests took the Chinese "to the cleaners"! I will use this document in my classroom. The "Unequal Treaty" period discussion clearly outlined how other nations took advantage of China after Britain had the empire "on the ropes". Extraterritoriality is like other things, still with us today. The impact on the common man is often far worse than on the leadership class - hence causing internal conflicts to arise over governmental policies.

I thought the examination of foot-binding and the discussion as to wether it should be seen as an act of empowerment of women or barbaric was thought provoking! I will raise this topic with my students. The chronology Clay presented is exactly the type of Grad level info I was hoping to obtain in this seminar!!! It is not included in text books, just the concept.

Likewise the history of Hong Xiquan and the Taiping Rebellion was also developed very skillfully! I am enjoying Clay's continuing thread in the saga of China about "Internal and External factors" and this event was a huge internal disruption. I knew Hong Xiquan believed he was the brother of Jesus, but did not really understand why. Awesome info! 😀 Also viewing the life of Chen Long, the emperor as a contemporary of George Washington gives me a great new perspective.

How the "Ever Victorious Army" arose was also fascinating and enhanced my understanding of the Empress Ci Xi Dowager. My students were really interested in her life and this will help me make her even more intriguing.

Keepers AM

Mao's youngest son currently a Major General in military.

For most Chinese all drugs are "opium".

Tiannamen square explanation by Chinese govt, "Act of hooliganism led by counterrevolutionaries joined by misled students".

British on Opium War, "It's the principle, not the particulars that matter".

The Chinese used torture to get info from criminal suspects- "Jack Bower's world"

Foot binding - "How does culture define beauty?"

On the accumulation of Silver in China- "Which is better, too be the wealthiest and richest cultural nation in the world, or to be the most technologically (militarily) advanced?" China focused on the former, rather on the later prior to the 20th century.

TTFN

[Anonymous]

In China and Taiwan, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen is respected as a national father. He is a great leader with reform ideas. He wanted to drive out the Manchus, restore China, and establish united government. He created Three People's Principles which is a must-study course for all the college students. After the failure of ten time of revolutions, finally on Oct. 10, 1911, the Wuchang uprising succeeded. When I was at elementary, our history teacher always loved to use Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Xinhai Revolution as an example to teach perseverance and the great attitude of "keep trying".

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