Thoughts about session 3

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Hi everyone,

Please reply to this message and share your thoughts about our April 20 by Clayton Dube on China.

-Xin

[Anonymous]

My history on China and most of Asia for that matter is very poor so getting the brief overview of the Chinese Dynasties was very helpful. I didn't know what defined one Dynasty from another either. Most of my knowledge of Asia is from the late 19th Century on and that history has most of its basis in American imigration experiences. One of my favorite books on that topic is "100 Years of My Chinese American Family".

Somthing else that stands out to me is that I had actually forgotten that the Great Wall had been rebuilt and expanded at one point, but when I started to think about it I did learn that when I was in Middle School. I think I could have my students do some research about the history of the Great Wall. That is always a topic that grabs their attention.

[Anonymous]

I find myself in Asia more than I have in the past (in my classes of course...) But it is great luck that I happened to be working on American Imperialism when we first met ( we are on a 4x4 schedule) and currently working on the Vietnam War in my A.P. class. So, I had to review the threat that America saw in Southeast Asia if Vietnam also fell to communism as did China in 1949.

When I participate in seminars such as this, I always look at the content matter as to how I can use the information in my class, so please forgive if all my posts are basically me "talking out loud" some ideas that I may have for the lesson plans for the class.

The information on the queue will be a tremendous help when in American history we look at the "new Immigration" from SE Europe in the East, and in the Asian, both Japanese and Chinese to the West in mid 19th century. I feel that I will be able to explain the significance of the San Francisco statute stipulating that all person imprisoned must have their hair cut (directed towards the Chinese) and why it was a terrifying prospect for the Chinese men caught in the legal system (since there was no legal way for them to become naturalized). With all the anti-Asian feelings in California, it makes the Yick Wo case even more extraordinary.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I am just soaking everything up like a sponge. My imagination runs free during class. I'm a Mongol on horseback flying over hill and dale (do they have those in Mongolia?), plundering and pillaging (but in a relatively harmless way). I'm an idealistic, anti-intellectual Maoist bringing my country a great leap forward... I'm a hyper-urban/urbane city kid of 2009 hanging out with my friends at internet cafes in Beijing, feeling invincible and super modern-smart... I may incorporate it into my classes later, but for now, I treat it like its all about me! I want to just enjoy the whole experience! I read and read and imagine...Then I come to class and let it wash over me like good tv!
If I make my learning meld into my Self, it will eventually overflow into the classroom in a most naturalistic way.

[Anonymous]

I am so glad that I am taking this class. There are just so many things that I am ignorant to regarding Asia and her history.
When I was reading, “ Ridding China of Bad Customs”, it was mentioned that “..if the woman dies, her husband only needs to tie his queue with blue thread.”
Now, from the contextual clues, I concluded that the husband was tying blue thread on his hair or beard. I search for queue on Google and didn’t come up with much. What a relief it was to learn in class what the queue actually is. I’ve seen them in movies, but I never knew what it was called. I just referred to it as a shaved ponytail.
I also didn’t realize that the Great Wall of China was rebuilt. I found it very interesting that Emperor Yuanzhang banned the word “pig” because its character was too close to his name and he didn’t want any association with it. It showed me how superior, the emperor was suppose to be.

[Anonymous]

I took a seminar called the "songs of language." The discussion was focused on the different song of language that students hear at home compared to the song of language in the classroom. We "tuned in" to not only the meter of the words but the range of tone. I loved it when Clay was giving the lecture - in English he was animated, the tone was full and the meter was of course English. Then he took a minute to speak in Chinese -- physically he changed. His posture was calm, the tone soft and melodic and there was a calm in presentation. I think this is a wonderful way to experience Chinese culture. Just listening to other cultures expression -- as a "song."

[Anonymous]

This class was really interesting partly because it has been awhile since I thought about the Mongols. Every time I would study history, my mind would go into fuzz mode because everything is so similar that I tend to blend all the topics together. But, this time around, I was able to conceptualize the trend of the the dynastic era--that it begins strong and slowly ease out during the great grand-son place. This reminds me a lot of the times I grew up watching Chinese movies (dubbed in Vietnamese--that was how I learned Vietnamese in the first place) where the King would be so young that his mother, the Queen would manipulate his power and control the country. Sometimes, the brother or the cousin or the uncle would attempt to kill the young King so he could gain power. I was also able to connect to the Qing era based off of the Chinese movies I watched where men would braid their hair in the back and their hair on half of the heads was shaved. This was the period where Opium was rampant? I wasn't able to make the connection until now--why and how that trend started. I also remember seeing in these movies the sandals that imitated "foot binding" method--these women would often wear a giant but beautiful headpiece on top of their heads. I can't wait until the next class!!! Oh yes, I forgot to mention about Marco Polo--interesting notion that he did not go to China. Perhaps, he was just an imaginative writer.

[Anonymous]

I was particularly fascinated by the period when the Manchus were ruling China. I had never asked why Chinese men wore their hair in a queue. I have never heard of any ruling nation forcing its subjects to deal with something so ... well, ridiculous. Certainly the Jews in Germany had to wear a star on their clothes and the point of it was abhorring, but to force all Chinese men to shave their heads to a point and then braid a queue is a real personal violation. What I find so interesting, however, is the idea that Chinese men in America wore the hair in a queue also. It wasn't just something that enabled a person to be labeled in China, it went much deeper than that. It was a mandate by the emperor, and to be Chinese was to obey the emperor, no matter where one is in the world. That is a serious sense of national pride, as well as patriotism.

[Anonymous]

I did not know that the Great Wall of China had been destroyed and rebuilt. I thought that it was intact from the beginning. My students are having to create a ceramic piece that addresses a social issue. Many of them are interested in immigration and are doing pieces based on the walls that divide people, the Great Wall being one of them.
The brief survey of ancient China left me wanting more. It is so nice to be able to sit back and enjoy a class!

[Anonymous]

An 8th grade student I am tutoring after school was assigned a large project about the history of China, I am so thankful that I can give him some insight now. Before this class I would have been just as lost as him. I have been able to give him direction and teach him some added information to help with his project. I can't wait till next class to continue broadening my knowledge.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed this session because it was all about what I teach in class. I now have a lot of "fun" interesting stories to tell my students as they learn the standards. My favorite was learning about Marco Polo because even though he is only two paragraphs in our textbook, he is the one my students are the most interested in (darn that Marco Polo game). The next day at school I told my students everything that we had learned in class. They were very intrigued by the fact that Marco Polo might not have actually gone to China. It led to a discussion about how we know what happened in history.

I also liked the information about the Jesuits. The next day my lesson was about the Catholic Reformation so it was nice to have more information that I could use in my classroom.

[Anonymous]

Yes great Wall is always what all Chinese people are pround of. Check this out if you are interested:

http://english.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20100426/103119.shtml

[Anonymous]

The last class was really interesting. It was very helpful to get the list of the different dynasties and the leaders. I did not know about the power of the mongols. I was always told but did not understand that most Asian came from Mongolia. My children were all born with a blue birthmark on their bottoms which they call the Mongolian spot. Now I see how that all orginated. I also did not know that the Great Wall was a rebuilt. I can wait to see it in person this June.

BTW, the Forbidden City covers 7,800,000 square feet.

[Anonymous]

Well presented, as has become the norm, information about the history of the area. I especially liked the connections to the dynasties and what each culture brought to China. BTW, I initially signed up for the Human Rights workshop on Saturday, but a family commitment will prevent me from attending. I hope that some of my classmates will attend and report back via the blog on what should be an enlightening day.- Victoria

[Anonymous]

Wow. That was really interesting. It would really be neat to go to the museum after we finish the course to cement some of the things we learned in class. And the museum is huge! Thanks Xjiang for including that link in our post.

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