Week 6
Due Date
1/19/25, 11:59 PM (CST)
discussion Topic
This week, we’re going to think creatively and consider history from a more personal vantage point. Your job is to consider the following question: Of all the premodern societies we’ve explored so far this semester, which would be best for you to live in and why?
Consider your age, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, interests, life experiences, etc.
With that in mind, choose a timeframe and a specific city or region in the society you’re exploring and tell us why that particular place and moment would be better for you than other societies. Show us that you understand both the big ideas we’ve explored this semester and how specific examples (people, events, key terms, etc.) fit into those big ideas.
You do not need any new research for this essay; instead, focus on showing us how well you understand our class materials.
You’ll start the essay with an introduction paragraph (that ends with a clear thesis statement), tie it all together with a conclusion, and likely need 3-5 body paragraphs (remember, roughly 6-8 sentences each) in between to flesh out your argument. This is an opportunity for you to reflect deeply on your place in our world and its history.
Your list of things to do this week:
Take an optional virtual field trip if time allows.
Read Chapter 8 in our textbook.
Review the PowerPoint from the textbook publisher if that helps you as you read.
Watch five short videos that highlight topics in your readings.
Take the self-assessment for Chapter 8.
Participate in our weekly class discussions with your original post.
Post replies to at least 3 of your classmates in the discussion.
Once the will is resolved, one’s spirit is strengthened. Even a peasant’s will is hard to deny, but a samurai of resolute will can sway ten thousand men.
~Yoshida Shoin
Readings
Please read the following chapter(s) in your course textbook and view any other listed resources:
Chapter 8, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources
These optional PowerPoint slides are a handy way to see the main points as you read.
Discovering China: The Song Dynasty, YouTube (6 minutes)
Youtube Link 1:
How did the Tang Dynasty of China dominate East and Central Asia? YouTube (0:15 minutes)
Youtube Link 2:
Japanese Reacts To “History of Japan”, YouTube (9:45 minutes)
Youtube Link 3:
All Korean kingdoms explained in less than 5 minutes ( Over 2,000 years of Korean history), YouTube (4:40 minutes)
Youtube Link 4:
History of Vietnam explained in 8 minutes (All Vietnamese dynasties), YouTube (0:30 minutes)
Youtube Link 5:
Virtual Field Trip (Optional)
Do you have time for a virtual field trip? The National Museum of Korea has many treasures on display from a proud nation. This field trip is optional, so feel free to browse as time allows. You might find something to use in your weekly discussions.
“Dear visitors, as Director General, I would like to welcome you to the National Museum of Korea (NMK), where history and culture are alive. NMK is designed to help visitors better appreciate Korean history and culture, as well as world culture. By fostering artistic and cultural sensitivity, it is a place that helps us fully appreciate and enjoy culture.”
Web Link:
Chapter Overview
Chapter 8 Overview
This chapter devotes some discussion to the issue of Song-era China as a golden age of prosperity and cultural achievement. This theme is worth exploring in greater detail, adding comparisons to other states that our class has already studied. Our objectives are to explore the cultural richness of the Song dynasty in China, to consider what part of the population was affected by this golden age, to examine in greater detail the ideological and economic underpinnings of this golden age, and to investigate whether any society examined thus far in this class had a comparable cultural efflorescence.
You might start with a political history of the Song dynasty (including the fact that there were two Song dynasties, one in the north and one in the south). Or you might begin with a brief review of the factors that make a cultural golden age possible, such as a tradition that values scholarly achievement, the existence of a leisure class, and an elite that values “higher” culture (by reading its works, buying its products, and patronizing writers and artists).
You can learn about the great inventions of the Song period and how they were applied in China, such as movable type and gunpowder. Other topics include the massive encyclopedic works of the era, such as the universal history Zizhi Tongjian, the outstanding literary figures of the Song period such as Zhuxi, Ouyang, Xiu, Su Shi, Sima Guang, and Shen Kuo, and civil officials who were also poets such as Su Dongpo and Fan Zhongyan. The topics are really almost endless, including painting, new government policies attempted by the Song dynasty, the Jin takeover of the northern Song territory and its significance for art and culture, the physical remains of Song dynasty culture, and the introduction of tea drinking. Some students might find the development of Neo-Confucianism to be engaging, especially the philosophers Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi, while others might be drawn to advances in mathematics or advances in architecture such as the Lingxiao Pagoda, the Liaodi Pagoda of Hebei, and the Song imperial tombs at Gongxian. There is something for everyone.
Is geography destiny? This chapter discusses two important points at which geography affected the development of East Asian societies: the presence of the steppes along China’s northern border and the one hundred miles of sea that lie between mainland Asia and the Japanese archipelago. You should be aware of the importance of geography in human historical processes as you examine what cultural or political factors can surmount the difficulties posed by geography. It is helpful to have a good physical map of East Asia as you read this chapter.
We know that China dominated the history of East Asia, so it makes sense to use China as the focal point. Examine each of China’s borders individually, keeping in mind the Tang and Song’s interactions with neighboring peoples, their attempts at conquest, and other forms of cultural interaction, as well as the geographical factors that either facilitated or impeded the process. Some points to consider include the role of the Himalayas in shaping history, though Buddhist monks still made their way between China and India; the steppes as both an aid and a hindrance to expansion; Chinese penetration into Central Asia; the presence of major river valleys along which agriculture could develop easily; and the role of the sea (especially noting the nature of the South China Sea, with its shallows and unappealing coastline).
Why did Japan unify? Japan in the period ca. 600–ca. 1300 is another topic covered in this chapter. As you learn about the history of Heian and Kamakura Japan, you can explore why the Japanese state, apparently so promising, failed to hold on to the centralization of the early unification period. Many American students are fascinated by the features of samurai culture and its relationship to Japanese culture more generally.
Are you a person who likes to select a topic for further investigation? This chapter can lead you to many topics, including:
Jimmu Tenno (the tale of the first emperor)
The Seventeen Article Constitution
The Taika Reform Edicts
The Diary of Lady Sarashina (1009–1059)
Taira Shigesuke’s Code of the Samurai, Chapter 9
China and the World
The foundation myth of the sun goddess Amaterasu and her gifts to the emperors
Imperial descent from Amaterasu
Competition between great clans to unify Japan and the importance of Japan as an archipelago in that process
Prince Shotoku
The Taika reform movement
The power of regents as a decentralizing force (especially the Fujiwara family)
The rise of the shoen (great estates)
The period of “cloister government”
The role of the powerful monasteries in weakening the government
Recruitment of warriors to protect shoen and monasteries and to coerce the government
The great power struggle that ended with the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Creation of a parallel administration, ruled by the shogun
The development of the samurai ethos
Last Completed Projects
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