Session 15 & 16 with Dr. Dube

[Anonymous]

The Opium trade info caught my attention, particularly in context of the importation of illicit drugs from South America. There are clearly parallels to the impact of opium into China and importation of cocaine and related products into the United States. Another parallel is with the current economic crisis and the riots and unrest throughout Western nations is striking. Another example of history repeating itself and use of an East Asian example to teach on a point about drug abuse and civil unrest.

[Anonymous]

I was very interested in how the Manchus accomodated to the Chinese in order to better solidify their rule. How they simply moved into the Imperial Palace and took it over was such a smooth move. It is interesting, though, that through these accomodations, the Manchus lost their own distinctiveness. It seems that that was also a problem that the Mongols had. If I remember correctly, their empire grew so far that, even with their postal system, the communications among the four khanates eventually broke down. After that, those living in each khanate became more like the people they conquered than truly "Mongol". I bring up this idea of accomodation/assimilation in my class, and it always promotes good discussions. In particular, students like to speak of their own families own immigrant experiences. We discuss what cultures have settled around us, what they have given us, and so on. I think discussions like this help the students grasp the historical concepts a little better.

[Anonymous]

As we are learning about the Qing Dynasty, I just want to share with everyone my personal experiences of being a Manchus. Growing up, I felt both the sense of pride as well as the sense of loss of a former Manchus, specificly descends of the eight banners. In Qing dynasty, there are eight banners who are either the royal families or the ariscrats who receive money and ranks from the emperors. My family belongs to one of the banner. Any time when there are family gatherings such as weddings etc, the topics of the family origin as well as the rise and the fall of the Qing dynasty easily pop up.

Overall, the pride Manchus have is being one of the only two minority groups ruled China, which is a huge achievement. In addition, Qing did achieve to be the strongest empire in the world at one time as a dynasty, which did make all Chinese proud.

However, there were regrets as well. For example, Manchus lost both their ethnic and cultural identity gradually in the process of ruling China. Most of the written and spoken language of Manchus was lost. Cultural customs and practices were no longer kept till today. Worst of all, China went through the worst humiliation in the history at the end of the Qing dynasty, which both Manchus and other Chinese groups tend to put all the blames on the Manchus for the blame.

As for my families, especially the men sometime wish they still had all the wealth and the privilidges of being the Eight Banners and living on the Emperors' support so no one has to work so hard to make a living

[Anonymous]

I do not intend for this to be a political commentary, so please do not take it as such. I find it interesting that one contributing factor for the loss of power and eventual downfall of the Qing dynasty was that the Manchus tried so hard to accommodate the Chinese that they lost their own distinct culture. While it is incredibly important for us to learn, accept and welcome other cultures, belief systems, etc., the extreme political correctness of this in countries such as ours, could eventually lead to downfall as well. With students, you can compare it to dating: when you date someone, you eventually take on characteristics of theirs and sacrifice some of your wants, needs, etc. which, to a certain extent is normal, healthy and good for your relationship; however, you have to be careful not to lose yourself in your relationship - do not sacrifice all that is important to you, do not become someone you are not. In the case of a country, do not lose what made you strong in the first place, do not lose your core values, do not try to be so accommodating that you can no longer be defined and conflict eventually ensues. I am absolutely NOT saying that it is not necessary and beneficial to have a melting pot society such as ours - I am a History teacher, so I obviously think it is important , but people came here (and to other vibrant, developed countries) and continue to come here for a reason(s), so let's not lose sight of that.

[Anonymous]

Kelly-Agree with your desire to avoid appearing "policitical" given the explosiveness of the debate in this country and western Europe about assimilating immigrants from other cultures, but I think you've referenced a very useful example for our students if the issue comes up in class. You provide an East Asian example about the potential risks of melding cultures. Great opportunity to weave in the East Asia experience into a comtemporary issue.

[Anonymous]

When I learned Chinese history in the past, it has always been words in a book. I had always wondered how the Chinese people at that time look and did not realize that pictures of them existed. It's amazing today to see pictures of them and the way they lived. The images of crowded street with shops along the street, a person pulling rickshaw, a Chinese courtyard in the background and a picture of well-off family all touched me and made me feel that I am so in the part of it, yet so different.

[Anonymous]

Ying, thanks for telling us more about the modern day relatives of the Manchu and about the Eight Banners. The story brought home what Dr. Dube was lecturing on regarding the end of the Qing Dynasty. What a change people must have gone through at the time! I can see the men in your family having great pride at being able to point back to point back to their ancestors, though. The Manchu's achievement was amazing.

[Anonymous]

Yes, thank you, Ying, for providing us a bit of your personal family history/experience. It reminds of what Prof. Ye said about the myth of a "Han" people. Over thousands of years, nomads/semi-nomads and other groups had mixed and been sinicized and that's who the "Han" is. It seems inevitable that the minority cultures would be absorbed into the majority, or more accurately, the culture of those in power (in China's case, the central plain culture). Using Mandarin, the Beijing dialect, as the official language for all Chinese, for instance, is one example of this. This relates to the topic of globalization as well. As globalization and commercialization build increasingly a common culture for the world, the threat to local culture and tradition forces us to ask how much ought we to preserve. Should we emphasize and celebrate more our commonalities or our uniqueness? It's a delicate balance....

[Anonymous]

I agree with Kelly and Ken about the wisdom and potential risks of melding cultures. As human beings, we feel most natural to associate with people with similar backgrounds. Differences in race, language, values, beliefs, and socio-economic backgrounds upset and challenge our comfort zone. It shouldn't surprise us then that nationalism was and continues to be the major force behind wars and conflicts from the 19th century onward. So on the one hand, there's a lot of positives to multiculturalism and political correctness that comes with it. It teaches us to respect our own heritage as well as others. On the other hand, it disorientes people and threatens their sense of security in their own traditions. Misunderstandings, conflicts, and backlashes seem inevitable.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Ying for sharing your experience as being a Manchu. Because of your sharing, I studied the origin and history of Manchu from both Chinese and English websites after. I also agree with Kelly and Tony that in accommodating the culture, we also need to keep up with the traditions we have. Just like Professor Miyake said about Japanese mentality: "They (Japanese) never thrown anything away."
edited by vding on 8/11/2011

[Anonymous]

When professor spoke about how sacred and revered the temples are. It made me remember my trip to Beijing and the juxtaposition of the sacred Forbidden City with a Starbucks right outside the walls of the Forbidden City. http://files.me.com/danlau40/604vlq
edited by dlau on 8/11/2011

[Anonymous]

I have visited most of the temples and the castles mentioned in our seminar because I stayed in the awesome Kyoto area. However, I did not know much of the information professor Dube gave about these building because honestly I just went to visit those places because they are famous tourist spots. I am so glad that I have visited these places because I know the historical backgrounds of them now.

[Anonymous]

In the afternoon session, Clay brought up an important person in China' pre-modern history: Sun Yat-Sen He is viewed as "father of the nation." He was the founder of China's republic system. I would teach my students about Sun Yat-Sen by using the website http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/sunyat.html. This website provides the information about Sun Yat-Sen's biography, a brief introduction about the historical background at time. And the website also have some questions regarding Sun Yat-Sen. I would think this website has appropriate information and the questions that would help students think through while they read. In addition, I can also assign students to create a route map which Sun Yat-Sen did at time. He went to many cities in the U.S. and talked to the people in Chinatown of each city. He collected money for establishing his army. So students can see what cities he went in the U.S. and what he did in each city.

[Anonymous]

I was surprised to learn that corporations hire anthropologists to study the culture and habits of their potential foreign consumers. It really hammers the point that understanding of other cultures is not only relevant, but essential in the success of business. This fact helps justify to the students the relevance/pragmatism of study social studies.

[Anonymous]

Talking about corporations hire anthropologists to study the culture and habits of their potential foreign consumers, although I am not surprised that they do it, yet I am surprised about the way / ways they do it. Chinese people like to quote the saying "if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss" from The Art of War. However, to get information with all means is something else to me.

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