[clay dube]

Thanks, Steve, for your post about the new textbook adoption. I'm delighted that you've noted East Asia as not simply a land of tinkers and innovative cultivators. I think it is outstanding that you've got your students experimenting with shanshui paintings. That hands-on experience will likely endure in their memories. Having said that, it is helpful for students to know about the remarkable economy that emerged during this era. You've got the invention of paper currency, financial innovations in credit, technological innovations in iron and steel production, and unprecedented improvements in agricultural output. I imagine the textbook authors highlight these things, in part, to counter assumptions of European economic and cultural superiority. After all, it makes the Columbus venture far more comprehensible when one remembers how the stories from Marco Polo and others made Europeans imagine Asia to be the most advanced land in the world.

What do others think of the new crop of textbooks? Before you hit reply to share your thoughts, please locate the textbooks and their uses thread and put your opinions there. As I write this, that thread is on page 2 (scroll down to see the links at the bottom right). Once a new post is made to the thread, though, the entire thread moves to the start of the list.

Here's a link to the textbook thread:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/forum/showpost.aspx?PostID=2918[Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 22, 5:19:14 AM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

Hi Monique,

Thanks for noting the mistake! The Legalists are gaining strength.

[clay dube]

Julia,

I love the idea of conveying beliefs graphically. We routinely have students create posters, etc. to illustrate the teachings of the sages. I think that kids would enjoy making their own powerpoint presentations as well. What images do you use to illustrate Daoism?

[clay dube]

This program first aired a couple of weeks ago. It will be broadcast again on March 4. At the time of the first broadcast, Discovery's website didn't have many supporting features. Now it does. Head over to http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/firstemperor/firstemperor.html. The site has pages devoted to "how would you rule China?" and other questions, plus video clips and more.

If any of you have already seen the documentary (featuring reenactments), please let us know what you think of it.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
Please remember to put the title(s) of the film you are discussing in the subject line of your post. It's a clunky process (sorry, about that), but not difficult. If you are replying to a post with the title in the subject line, it's no problem. But if you are discussing a different film, please delete the RE:film festival (or whatever) subject and drop in your own. This helps folks scanning the forum for particular titles and also makes the forum's search engine feature work a bit better.

THANKS!

[clay dube]

I love the question -- who are the happiest Asians?

You may find the results of a massive comparative survey underwritten by Pew in 2002. The Asian portion of the survey is summarized with charts, etc. at: http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=2748 . Incidentally, among all the world's peoples, Filipinos had the most positive impression of the US.

[clay dube]

The market is an amazing place. Our teachers' tour visited in 2003 and we'll go back there this summer. You can see a couple of photos from that stop in the trip slideshow:

http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/slideshows/viewshow.asp?section_ID=126&slideID=43

Tim and Caryn Kelly were on the trip with us in 2003 and have created a useful website which includes a link to a video of the fish market. Please go to http://mrkellysclass.net/Japan/index.html.

[clay dube]

Confucianism
Corrine Bello
James DeLarme
Vincent Hui
Wilma Killian
Jennifer Reynolds
Richard Rodriguez
Shingo Saito

Mohism
Alex Aguilar
Jack Ashworth
Vimal Gairola
Antonio Garcia
Lara Jacques
Rebecca Puebla
Brad Stevens

Daoism
David Carrillo
Onunwa Iwuagwu (will miss the session, do we have a volunteer from the Confucian/Mohist ranks to join the Daoist team?)
Ernesto Laurell
Walter Rodriguez

Legalism
Richelle Boller
Julie Davis
Monique Galvez
Nathan MacAnish
Sachiko Padilla[Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 22, 5:04:46 AM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

We were only able to briefly review several important points for Confucianism. At the next session, I'll speak briefly about Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism. Then we'll give the groups a few minutes to discuss what they intend to highlight and the flaws they see in the other schools. And then we'll begin our four sided debate.

Through the primary source documents in the curriculum guide that's in the binder, those contained in the Ebrey Chinese Civilization reader, and (if you are so inclined) in the EWP East Asia textbook, you’ll be able to gain a sense of the richness of these teachings and how they are intertwined, how their advocates sought to address the problems they identified and realize, in some cases, shared aims.

If we had more time to cover the schools and for the debate itself, I’d have an elaborate debate format, with each group making presentations on several themes, each would also have a hatchet-man/woman whose responsibility would be to attack the perceived flaws in others groups’ thinking. We don’t have enough time to prepare and coordinate in this way, so we have to take a more informal approach. Please look at the following preamble and focus questions as you get ready for our debate on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Encounter: A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend

In capitals throughout the region rulers are consulting their advisors. It is a time of crisis, governments are crippled by corruption and war/war preparation is never-ending. States join schemes against other states and powerful families plot with others to improve their own positions. Little concern is shown common people. The elite tends to see them as a resource to be managed and marshalled in struggle against one's enemies. Commoners can only resist by running away. And they are doing this in great numbers, fleeing greedy lords and officials and brutal armies.

What has led to this danger? Technology has advanced so much. Agriculture has never been so productive. Our cities are sites of terrific trade (aided by new means of exchange) and places of a great cultural flowering. There is dance, music, and scholarly investigation.

But at the same time, weapons have been made even more lethal. Armies are larger and the devastation of war is greater than ever. Small states are being devoured by the large. Or they engage in secret diplomacy and espionage to undermine their neighbors.

In the past, in the days of the sage kings, our ancestors did not have to endure such chaos. There was order. There was peace. There was prosperity. Where have we gone wrong?

At our next session, devotees of Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism will gather to reflect on the desperate situation that has emerged. They will engage in a debate over what should be done to overcome this crisis.

Focus Questions

Ideologies have to provide three essential elements:

1. A description of how we arrived at the present situation (a history?) – what’s the problem(s)?

2. A description (proscription) of what should be – how things ought to be.

3. A description of what should be done to move from 1 to 2 – an action plan.

Begin your debate preparation by thinking about how your school of thought addresses these needs.

In the debate, I’ll ask questions of each school and you may ask questions of each other. In general, accent the positive in your doctrine, but it may be occasionally helpful to draw contrasts with the way other schools deal with issues you consider critical.

We’ll definitely explore the following:

Education
Is education necessary? Define a "well-educated" person. What would such a person know and be able to do? Who should provide this training?

Loyalty
To which people/institutions should a person owe his/her loyalty? What is the nature and what are the limits (if any) of these obligations?

Society/Government
Describe the ideal society and government's role (if any) in that society. Be sure to address issues such as stratification, relations between people, and qualifications/responsibilities of leaders.

You may find the chart on pages 44-45 (or that neighborhood) useful as you prepare.

[clay dube]

The Population Reference Bureau maintains a useful website and publishes an annual "World Population Datasheet." The datasheet for 2005 is 17 pages in length and offers easy to understand tables and charts documenting growth rates, access to resources such as clean drinking water, and income. These tables are produced using World Bank and United Nations statistics.

Download the 304 kb pdf at:

http://www.prb.org/pdf05/05WorldDataSheet_Eng.pdf

The site also offers articles on trends in Asia:
http://www.prb.org/template.cfm?template=InterestDisplay.cfm&InterestCategoryID=214

The educators section of the site offers lesson plans, handouts, and recommended activities:
http://www.prb.org/template.cfm?Section=Educators

[clay dube]

The Asia Society Museum (New York) has prepared a quite useful website on the transmission of Buddhism along trade routes. The site offers maps (simple, not interactive, but clear and easy to use), select works of art from different places, and clear prose. The glossary could be more substantial, but it is a handy reference.

See the site at:
http://www.asiasocietymuseum.com/buddhist_trade/intro.html

[clay dube]

For about $6-12/book, National Geographic offers its Reading Expeditions series. They are relatively thin volumes (e.g., 24-64 pages, full color, with downloadable teachers' guides). Have you used any of them?

Here's a link to info about the China volume:http://www.ngschoolpub.org/c/@j3PG232B9eGxE/Pages/product.web?nocache@3+record@P3002

Chinese Civilization
http://www.ngschoolpub.org/c/@j3PG232B9eGxE/Pages/product.web?nocache@3+record@P6990

Japanhttp://www.ngschoolpub.org/c/@j3PG232B9eGxE/Pages/product.web?nocache@3+record@P6457

East Asia

http://www.ngschoolpub.org/c/@j3PG232B9eGxE/Pages/product.web?nocache@13+record@P3420

Shingu, Japan
http://www.ngschoolpub.org/c/@j3PG232B9eGxE/Pages/product.web?nocache@13+record@P4140

West Asia (Afghanistan)
http://www.ngschoolpub.org/c/@j3PG232B9eGxE/Pages/product.web?nocache@16+record@P3450

[Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 4, 8:53:38 PM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

Arthur's right to note that China aims to educate more and more people. At this point, however, the number of Chinese with college educations is far less than the nearly 200 million he mentions.

In 1985 (when I was finishing my third year of teaching in a Chinese university), total university/college enrollment totalled 1.7 million. In 1990 it was about 2.1 million. In 1998 it was 3.4 million. It has shot upward in the past several years. By 2004, more than 13 million were enrolled. At this rate, however, it will be just a few years before China reaches the 200 million college grad target.

Statistics:
http://test.china.org.cn/english/en-sz2005/kj/biao/21-1.htm

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
A copy of the seminar schedule with tentative topics is attached.

[clay dube]

The folks below consented to sharing their addresses with other seminar participants. Please do not share this list with anyone outside the seminar or use it for purposes other than the sharing of ideas or making common cause (e.g., to prepare for our upcoming debate among Confucians, Mohists, Daoists, and Legalists -- see the Chinese philosophy section of the reader for a preview). If I've left your info off the list or if you want to offer a different address, please hit reply and post the new info.

Aguilar Alejandro
[email protected]

Ashworth Jack
[email protected]

Bello Corinne
[email protected]

Boller Richelle
[email protected]

Chan, Maria
[email protected]

Davis Julie
[email protected]

DeLarme James
[email protected]

Gairola Vimal
[email protected]

Galvez Monique
[email protected]

Jacques Lara
[email protected]

Killian Wilma
[email protected]

Laurell Ernesto
[email protected]

MacAnish Nathan
[email protected]

Padilla Sachiko
[email protected]

Reynolds Jennifer
[email protected]

Rodriguez Richard
[email protected]

Rodriguez Walter
[email protected]

Saito Shingo
[email protected]

Saum Regina
[email protected]
[Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 3, 3:18:02 PM"][/Edit]

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