tuesday (7/30) afternoon readings and discussion

[Anonymous]

I have not seen any posts on tonight's movie. Any ideas how this can be used in class? If so, what class would it best apply too?

[Anonymous]

I continue to be fascinated by the Mohism, which does seem to drop out of sight but I think shows up in more subtle ways in Chinese culture than the other big traditions. To my mind, ideals of Mohism - for example, universal love, the significance of personal actions - maybe at least as much as Daoism, lay the groundwork for Buddhism's success centuries later. Maybe the ideas of Mo would have been a better fit after the fall of the Han Dynasty. I think Mohist ideas, maybe they're Buddhist - appear in the many Asian movie endings, in which people's duties and place in hierarchy lead to their unhappiness or often death in the end. Even today, in modern China, there are so many people writing about and struggling with the pervasive, Darwinian society in which they live, wishing for stronger communities once again, "like in the old days." I think Mohism, with less modern baggage, might have some useful ideas, though I won't hold my breath.

I plan to include more discussion of Mohism in my future presentations of the 100 Schools.
edited by dmillians on 7/30/2013

[Anonymous]

I did not know that America carried out its own Opium Trade. It surprised me to hear that in class today.

[Anonymous]

The decline of Qing..does history repeat itself with cities going bankrupt...Detroit, san bernadino, corruption...police chief getting paid more that LA police chief what city was that? just asking>>>

[Anonymous]

In Africa we do the same. Only the sons inherit property. This old custom is still carried out today.

[Anonymous]

As in earlier periods of Chinese history, modern China has strong affinities with Legalist and Confucian teachings, but it's out of balance. The vocalized ideals are more Confucianist with exhortations for reform of corruption and a more upright citizenry. Many heed these calls, but many do not. The strong Chinese state apparatus certainly has a heavy dollop of Legalism, may be primarily Legalist, but enforcement is so spotty and even capricious that the system fails to serve its purposes and loses its hold on people's behavior. I've always recognized that many ancient traditions still manifest, often in new ways, in modern China. I feel that ability to articulate this for my students is improving.
edited by dmillians on 7/30/2013

[Anonymous]

Africans believe in rituals like the Confucians. The most expensive is when someone dies. Families sometimes borrow money to bury their loved ones. It is unbelievably extravagant.

[Anonymous]

China is more diverse than I thought. I am amazed that they do not have more civil wars. How can they sustain communism for as long as they have?

[Anonymous]

Stephen thanks for the recommendation. Will surely check it out for my review assignment.

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if there is a list I can use to teach proper pronunciation of common Chinese names and Key terms.

[Anonymous]

I'm a little confused on The Three Ages. Are the Age of Order and The Age of Great Peace supposed to be time periods Confucius sees happening in the future or time periods from China's past?

I thought the explanation of lynching powerful. It is so sad to read about a foreigner coming into America and seeing such disgraceful behavior by some Americans. I believe that reading could be used in my class when we talk about the Industrial Revolution and the haves and the have nots. He gives a very good description of tenements.
edited by amarkovich on 7/30/2013

[Anonymous]

After reading this speech on national identity, I better understand the purpose of tonights movie. This speech was a great pep rally for nationalism. Jiang thought China is far superior to Japan in every way. Judging from the history of the past and the national consciousness and strong morale of our people today, China cannot be conquered." The Barbarism of the Japanese" will arouse the saying of "prefer death to disgrace". These attitudes were shown very clearly in this evenings movie. The baseball team as well the guy who was being arrested were happy to risk death before dishonor. This speech could open a great discussion with our students about nationalism. Many times students thing that nationalism is a bad thing until it is explained to them. It is okay to be nationalistic as long as we respect other nations. I am not talking about respecting those who are attacking us, but those with other nationalities in our midst.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if one of our novelists visited Liangs China in the same period if they would be reporting some of the same conditions. We tend to be ignorant of the nastiness going on in our own back yard. I am sure that many in our country were unaware of how people were living in NY and that people were being Lynched. He may be unaware of injustice in his country as well. Non the less, the things that he was righting about were an embarassment to our nation. This is an area where the philosophy of legalism has helped stem greedy people from taking advantage of those who are less advantaged for what ever reason.

[Anonymous]

After learning about Confucius yesterday morning and understanding the importance of ritual and place in society, I also was wondering about the “peeking order” of my students. It was fascinating to me when one of my students explained to me last semester that all the Chinese students in our program had naturally placed themselves in a hierarchy in turns of wealth, family history, and English language ability. At the time, I couldn’t understand why, but now I am beginning to see the connection with how Confucius is still observed in the culture.
I would like to teach the philosophies we learned about today to the ideas found in Europe for my British Literature class. We can discuss similarities and differences and look for examples in the texts we read. We can also do some different writing assignments such as the one Clay suggested where we answer questions or respond to situations in the mind set of a particular philosophy.

[Anonymous]

Looking at bmartos's post on Chinese philosophy made me realize that we didn't discuss Communism and it's influence on culture and government. How was it introduced and how long has it influenced China? Why did it appeal to them?

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