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AnonymousMy student's always ask me why China has so many people and I've never had a good explanation until today. The idea of 'fenjia' explains it perfectly. One thing we can do as teachers to help our students understand this is to put them in groups of four. Give each group piece of paper. Tell each group that they are siblings and their father has passed away. They are now dividing their land equally amongst themselves. They are to tear the paper into four equal sections. Now we fast forward some time and they have to leave land to their kids. They are to tear the paper into three to four sections. They do this one more time for their grandchildren. They get the idea of how large pieces of land get divided up quickly.
AnonymousThis can be followed up with a discussion of how the grandchildren would try to maximize their yield and what else they can do to make a living. The hope is that they would come up with the needed info. You can try to come up with an "advantages/disadvantages" for having a small parcel of land. They should eventually get to the idea that having land means you can get married and have children. The teacher can explain that this was unique in the world and a reason for China's large population.
Anonymous[font=Times]In response to the discussion and curriculum guide for teaching about early Chinese philosophy, many of these ideas have certainly had an impact on China’s social and economic structure. I think some of these are becoming more popular in America, as well. For example, in schools, we are trying to teach tolerance (mostly through anti-bullying campaigns). Zhuang Zi modified Daoist belief to state: “[/font]What [is] seen as good by one person, therefore could be seen as evil by another. Unlike the Dao De Jing which calls for the elimination of competing philosophies, Zhuang Zi called for complete tolerance of individual differences” (11). Ideally, I think our legal and political systems share ideas similar to that of the Legalists: “Han Fei Zi felt its ruler must choose officials on the basis of their performance in office. (Ideally, this would be democracy in action). The officials must suggest appropriate laws, publicize these laws, and carry them out completely. A ruler must not allow officials to sway his judgment with praise or eloquent language. The ruler had to guard against "yes-men"(12). Perhaps we could teach students that if American laws and politics actually worked like this, we could be much more productive and fair to each other as American citizens and human beings.
AnonymousWhen discussion taxation or census in a government or US history class, the info from China's census can be used. Students can be asked to conduct a census in a neighbor class (with the permission of your fellow faculty). Once the census is taken, you can ask them for the possible reasons for taking a census. If the info is available, show them the Chinese census. If they haven't come to their own answer, you can inform them that it's primarily done for taxes. You can have them come up with some questions to add to a census. Info that they might want to know from every house and why. You can show them what a current census looks like (show them one of the elaborate ones that ask a lot of questions). Ask them why the govt. might want to know this info. If they have not come up with the right info, you can give it to them.
AnonymousI don't understand why there was a significant population increase during 1950-2000 in China. 分家(fen-jia) is an old tradition that has lasted for hundreds of years. But there was not dramatic change of total population until 1950-2000. So, 分家(fen-jia) seems not to be the only factor that resulted in rapid population increase in China within the last several decades of twenty century.
AnonymousUsing visuals such as the maps and graphs presented in class today to show students the massive amounts of people that inhabit China are a great tool. We can use these tools to have the students identify and compare neighboring countries between China and US.
AnonymousI loved the connection between the US and China maps. The way they were made to overlap to demonstrate where specific US cities would fall on the China map was great. Some possible questions to pose to the students would be: How do the maps compare? Do they correlate? How does this affect the Chinese perspective of specific cities?
AnonymousThe discussion of "Fenjia" was very interesting. The idea of every son getting a piece of land sounds good, but the reality is not so great. The affordability factor plays a huge role. Fathers have to work extra hard to be able to leave an inheritance for their sons. This could be a great math lesson on fractions where the students can be divided into families that have to divide the inheritance; have sons and divide the inheritance, etc. Eventually numbers will become much smaller. We can make the connection that even though people in China may have land, it's very tiny and they have to find other sources of income.
AnonymousI was struck today when we were discussing the traditional land policy in China, fenjia. The policy of primogeniture that was used in both Great Britian and some of the American colonies had a profound effect on the development of both those societies and it makes perfect sense that fenjia had as serious an effect on the development of China. I will use this knowledge to bring in a discussion of land use policies and their possible effects on the formation of governments and the role of governments in a society. It seems pretty clear that primogeniture was a big factor in the British society remaining extremely stratified, and that when it was embraced in the American colonies it was a serious factor in the push for westward expansion. I am very interested in devoting more thought to the social and political ramifications of fenjia. The notion that this is partially responsible for population growth, and the development of and logistical calculations of the Chinese government is exceedingly thought provoking. I am sure this can be a good point of departure for a discussion of comparative politics in my classroom. This is just what I was looking for in this course, very excited to learn more.
AnonymousWhen teaching economics to students we can use the pie charts that compare the spending patterns of China vs. the US. Have students compare and contrast the differences. Where does the US spend 50% of their $$? How is that different than China? Have students analyze these questions and interpret the pie charts.
AnonymousWould love to find out how all this is taught in Chinese High Schools and would love to compare that to Taiwanese High Schools. I personally never took US History in an American school and now I teach it in an American school and I know that there is a world of difference. Probably turned me into a liberal by having to defend Reagan to an Australian teacher with a Marxist bent.
The question I will be asking my students is if they think that a nation with a population as large as China's can ever be democratic with protections of civil and property rights for the individual. How do you manage a country of 1.3 million? What should be the rights of an individual in that situation. We would never be able to build a Three Gorges Dam here... Is that good or bad? I am looking forward to the conversation and playing devil's advocate. Is it fair to make cultural judgements about a society with Confucian morals from our perspective of the value of the individual? I do not know but it is worth the exploration.
Immigration issues related to the overly male tilted demographics. Obviously if the Japanese and the Chinese could just have a rapprochement... That would solve the issue... But that is not happening soon. Do more males leave China and come overseas to study and one would assume... Procreate? What is the Chinese family situation like in America among Chinese-Americans? Are they tilted in a male direction as well? What are the social and political barriers to immigration to China? Who is immigrating into China?
Censorship in Japan in the 1920's and 1930's? What was missing that allowed the militarists to gain control? Was there a free press? Where was the indoctrination taking place? Were there people asking questions and writing editorials against expansionism? Or was the culture so deeply implanted that there were no voices of restraint... Would love to compare it to Germany and the China of today... What happened to opponents if there were any and why weren't there? I have only seen a couple photos and read a couple excerpts about how bad the depression was in Japan... I would love to have more sources so that the students can understand where this all came from... You have pictures of agermans burning Marks instead of firewood... Where are the resources to make people feel the Japanes pain that must have led to the support for expansion?
Just some thoughts...
clay dubeChen - fenjia helps to explain why marriage in China was early and nearly universal. It was early because families wanted to divide up property. It was nearly universal because all but those with no land whatsoever could marry and have a family. Early marriage led to larger families. Fenjia therefore helps explain the relatively large population, the intense cultivation.
After 1949, it was the great improvement in pre/post natal care that greatly increased the population and led to longer life expectancy at birth. Cutting infant mortality by 2/3 to 3/4 was a great achievement mainly through promotion of sanitation and provision of better informed midwives.
If the population growth rate is 1% a population doubles in 72 years. If 2% it doubles in 36 years. 3% it doubles in 24 years. (rule of 72, works for investment, etc.) So, a modest gain in the base growth rate, through compounding gives you 1 billion plus.
clay dubeFenjia came into being about 2500 years ago. A ruler wanted to make sure that rich folks didn't accumulate wealth over generations to challenge his state. So he ordered that you have to divide the property whenever you have two married couples in the same generation. This would keep the rich from getting too strong. Fail to divide: double taxation. So to avoid taxes, rich divided and others emulated the rich and a norm was born.
AnonymousI did some further research and found that from 1950 China has had a period of high fertility with the Total Fertility Rate around six Children per woman. This is mainly because of policy errors. In the 1950s, Chairman Mao rejected the need for family planning program, saying that China needed more labor power.
https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3006804.pdf
http://www.globalgeografia.it/temi/Population%20Growth%20in%20China.pdf
AnonymousI totally enjoyed all the information we were exposed to today. I'm the worst "student" in the world, but was fully engaged in the presentation. It's fascinating to see how the population and ratio of males to females will change in the near future and how that has been designed and crafted by the powers that be. With each session I'm absorbing details of history, culture, and demographics that shed a whole new light on China.