session #8 with clay dube

[Anonymous]

Many questions I had concerning the spread of Buddhism from India to China were addressed by Clay in last evenings session. I became attracted to Buddhism when I spent a year in Siberia. Several teachers at my assigned school practiced Agni Yoga. This gave me an opportunity to travel about Siberia wherein I got to meet shamans, healers, etc. I came to admire the lives of these people and how with so little money they had such enthusiasm for life. So, professor Dube's presentation brought back many wonderful memories. The photographs were fantastic. What struck me most was the realization of how much of what Buddha believed in could help contemporary society adjust to the social challenges in a world population submitting itself wholeheartedly to the addiction of the Age of Computers. Human communication requires the development of essential morals and ethics. One's total reliance on machines does allow for enormous growth in knowledge but machines don't have morals or ethics. I wonder what Buddha would have to say about this!

[Anonymous]

So the history nerd in me liked looking at Perry Link's theory. I have not read the article but it did appeal to me. It was the cyclical nature of events that caught my attention, and it does appear to have some merit. The periods of state controlled regimes with enormous public projects, harsh control etc., followed by periods of reform. Interesting to see if we will see the Chinese government fall. I am not sure that will happen in a globally interdependent world that we live in. Even if reforms come to China, it would create dramatic political ramifications, and probably even more critical economic issues. So who knows about Link's theory.

[Anonymous]

Another interesting thought, I loved the idea that the Chinese capitalized on a western idea of Shangri-La even though it was an Eastern idea first. As was stated in class, a case of life imitating art imitating life, quite amusing to me. Don't know why it tickled me so much. So even though there is a state sponsored city, they are dying at the opportunity to get western dollars and sell condos to people, ah Shangri-La indeed.

[Anonymous]

The meta-reality of Shangri-La is amusing at the very least, but I'm left wondering if it points at a deeper question involving the commodifying of cultural identity (especially since the identity being bought/sold is a function of the orientalist gaze). That was an interesting departure. One question I was also left with was the reason behind the geographical spread and the chronology linked to it. What were the relationships between these striking carvings and their proximity to centers of political power? It fascinates me to think about the tension that must exist between the historical significance of the Buddha carvings and the contemporary sense of national pride they must engender in a population ruled by a government that rejects religion and who (not too long ago) at one point effaced or re-wrote history as it saw fit. The vast majority of visitors to these sites are Chinese: what do they see?

Perhaps the most notable point for me was the immense scale of all of the undertakings. It's amazing to me that all of this was done by hand and with what would be considered today as rudimentary tools.

[Anonymous]

I've been fascinated by the Great Wall of China ever since I saw an image taken from outer space of the earth and the wall being the only visible man-made object. I was happy to learn about the history of the wall since I never learned the facts before. The theories of why the wall was built in the other posts were very interesting to me- especially the theory of wanting to keep the population in check. I did not realize the Northern border was the only one that does not have a natural boundary/barrier. My goal is to one day visit, but by judging from Clayton's photos one must be prepared for a lot of foot traffic!

[Anonymous]

I don't know what Buddha would have said but it is possible to communicate ethically and courteously with each other by modern technology. We are doing that even in this forum and in our email and texts to family and friends. Where and when people are able to communicate in person, we still do. This age is more an age of hyper- communication where sometimes we communicate what we assume others will be interested in but probably they are not, which I may be guilty of at the moment.

[Anonymous]

During Monday’s lecture, Dr. Dube mentioned that Guan Yin (or Guan Shi Yin) was depicted as a man in India, but as a woman in China, Korea and Japan. The Guan Yin I know is a female wearing a white flowing robe, holding a vase in her left hand and a willow branch in her right hand. She is also known as Goddess of Mercy or Compassion. According to research, Guan Yin was clearly a male from as early as the 5th century, but by the 9th century, Guan Yin was usually considered as female.

Here’s a picture of Guan Yin as a male with a mustache.

http://www.menstuff.org/logos/kuanyincloseup.jpg

[Anonymous]

Jumping ahead to the readings for Saturday, May 19th's session, I am hoping to better understand the time period in which Zhang Han wrote his essay on merchants and when he refers to the "capital" is he talking about Beijing? What was it called then, (before it was called Peking?) He speaks of it being the "most prosperous place in the empire" and mentions how the merchants have contributed to that.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks -- Please use this thread to discuss ideas examined in our Monday, May 14 session.

Here's the link for the Year of the Dragon stamps (plus links to the year of the rabbit issue, etc.):
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2663

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