It was a great privilege to attend USC US-China Institute program. All the professors had numerous interesting and personal stories to share with us along with the history lessons. Although commenting on the Forum was not my forte, but until the deadline, I was able to collect many creative ideas and further learn on East Asian Countries by reading other people's lesson plans.
I had been aware of the significant influence of China on Japan, even seeing that 'Kanji', a major component of the Japanese written language, is derived from Chinese characters, with the 'Kan' referring directly to the Han Dynasty in China and 'ji' for letters in Japanese. But with the program I had participated in UTLA, I had realized that was only a small portion of its general influence. I especially enjoyed Professor Dube's first session about the 4 Chinese philosophers and their respective ideas in Legalism, Mohism, Daoism and Confucianism. It was intriguing to see the numerous influences of Confucianism in Japan, its ideas being much more deeply ingrained in its culture than I had previously thought. For example, I, along with many of my Japanese friends, have always a ays thought that O-Bon, a major Japanese holiday , was a Buddhist event. But I had learned now that it actually has Confucian origins. This was just one of the many things I had begun to realize as I try to separate the different strands of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism in Japanese culture. So Japanese culture is like a single piece of string made up of different strands. I believe that incorporating China into the teaching of Japanese language and the culture, my students will be better able to understand the dynamics of multiculturalism.
Thank you again.
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