Block+B+Journal+Kristin+Chung

__**2/19**__ From our reading yesterday, I was able to learn about the origin of the Korean culture when it comes to role of men and women. The Korean society, compared to others definitely has a problem of discrimination between the men and women. However, this problem was not always existent from the beginning. I was quite surprised to find that women had more freedom before the Confucianist ideals were adopted. Women had the freedom of expression, and were allowed to be the head of their family. Also, women could inherit wealth from their parents and take care of it themselves so that she does not have to depend entirely on her husband to support her family.
 * Please take a couple of minutes to respond to the reading. What stood out for you? What do you think of it, is it exaggerated?**

If Rabbit is too smart for his own good, Owl is the Brain, and piglet... Pooh...?** Piglet is a quiet, humble and scared pig. While Pooh looks at life positively and follows the way of nature, Piglet depends on others to make the decisions, unable to find stability himself. We can say that Piglet and Pooh are both simple minded, but they do not both represent the Taoist beliefs. Pooh just is, and he follows his own instincts while Piglet is too scared to make any decisions of his own. For example, the part where Piglet, Pooh, and Rabbit are lost, Pooh suggests that he just trust and follow the ways of nature while Rabbit tries to use his brain and Piglet is too afraid to say anything. In that sense, Piglet is not a leader, but more of a follower(Using Mr. O's words :))**.
 * __2/23__

__2/26__ The Tao says that the ruler should "rule by inaction" How do you make sense of this? Is it at all possible?** Like we discussed last class, we should not take all the ideals literally. Rule by inaction just means not to force change, but going by the natural rhythm of things and let things happen the way they're supposed to. If you rule by inaction, then you are ruling according to the way of nature by just letting things happen spontaneously without the ruler having to do anything. This is possible because the ruler is still ruling according to the basic ideals, but not forcing any laws into the society. This ideal of "rule by inaction" is for a world where everyone truly trusts that following the rhythm of nature will resolve all problems. However, never in our society will anyone be true Taoists and and especially in our current society it is impossible for a leader to tell everyone to just follow their natural instincts.

__**Why is Backson not really healthy? Explain.**__ The bisy backson is always looking for work, and makes himself busy. They believe that in order to get something, they need to work for it. That is why they are the opposite of Taoists who believe inaction is healthy. They always feel as if they need to turn every single little thing into work. The busy backson also might be working all the time, but he doesn't spend his time wisely. The Bisy Backson never has time, so he tries to save time that he ends up wasting it. His efforts to save time are actually taking time away, and in the end, the Bisy Backson got nothing done but to think about how to save time. Because bisy backons go against the law of nature and interrupt the natural flowof things, they cannot truly understand the way of life and live a healthy life.

__**According to Taoism what seems to be more important, the journey or the end result? Explain.**__ According to Hoff and the Taoist ideals, the process that we go through to reach the goals is what makes us happier than actually reaching the goal itself. Once a goal is reached, then you start losing the excitement and the happiness because it is already in your possession. Pooh says that honey doesn’t taste so good once it is being eaten. The truly happy moments are the times before he actually gets to eat them. When you think about the rewards and the goals, there are not as many things as there are in the spaces between reaching your goals. The process of getting to the goal makes us happy, because you know that it is to make yourself go one step more towards reaching your goal and achieving it.

Explain right mindfulness and right concentration. Do you see how you could apply this to your daily life? Why or why not?** Right mindfulness, according to the handout, is being aware of oneself and focused on what is going on at each particular moment. We must be mindful of every little detail in our lives. This can be applied in our daily lives by being aware of everything around us and paying attention to our actions. Right concentration is focusing on object or concepts and being absorbed in nowness, in things as they are. They must not be absentminded and focus on what is happening now.
 * __3/11__

__**4/2**__ Japan went through rapid growth and change within a very short period of time. It modernized and went through so many reforms that would normally take a long period of time to do. The changes that Japan went through were so great so the Professor might have felt that he saw a 400 years worth of history in just a span of few years in Japan.
 *  In describing Japanese development, a British Professor in 1873 declared that he felt 400 years old by the end of the century. Explain the historical context behind this quote.**

__**4/13**__ **What do you find most shocking about what you have read so far? How do make sense of such cruelty?** It is usually hard to get a grasp of numbers in history. However, the numbers of killings mentioned in the book __Rape of Nanking__, was more shocking than I would ever have imagined it to be. Starting with the Japanese killing the prisoners of the war, the number of Chinese prisoners they have executed is so brutal that it is hard to imagine. The book mentioned that after the killing, it took the Japanese days to clean up the corpses. The way the Japanese were so indifferent to the deaths and showed no hesitance shooting thousands of prisoners, was much more cruel and brutal. They saw it as a necessary action to carry out, and they had no sympathy or any hint of human emotions towards them. They killed everyone that weren't Japanese, including children. They even treated their children with violence for the means of "training" them. The Japanese soldiers raping women and chopping off their bodies was too cruel to even read about.

__**4/28**__ Do you think it was safer to be a communist or anti-communist during the Korean War? I would say that neither being a communist or an anti-communist was "safe." The two forces were constantly trying to win over the other, both taking brutal steps to eliminate their enemies. There were so many deaths in South Korea, from the shootings of civilians, but there was as many deaths in North Korea for the same reasons. In the handout it even mentioned, "the South Koreans were capable of great cruelty to the North Koreans; equal to that meted out by the North Koreans during the Communist push to Koreans." There were shootings in the South by the communists that killed many Korean Civilians, and there were also shootings of anti-communsits and bomb raids in the North.

 **__4/30__ Do countries have an obligation to compensate each other for injustices done in time of war?** No country is //obligated// to compensate for the losses of other countries. It would be ideal and moral for a country to admit their acts of injustice and compensate the other countries. Especially for injustice during the time of war, I believe that they should recompense the loss of other countries. Injustice and harm to the other country and their nations is not moral, even during war, and the country should compensate for what they have done wrong.


 * __5/7__**
 * What did the US have to consider in regards to China and the Yalu river?**The US had to consider if the march to the Yalu river would provoke the Chinese to get involved in the Korean war. However, the US did not know that China was going to intervene in the war, and they continually said that China was too fearful of invasions in Manchuria for major offensive operations.


 * According to the reading, what was the reason China entered the war?**According to the text, China did not join the war because of its fear of invasion. China had the obligation to come to North Korea's aid when they faltered because so many North Koreans had lost their lives in the Chinese revolution and the anti-Japanese resistance.


 * What effect did Chinese intervention have on the US, ROK and UN troops?**Chinese intervention gave the North Korean armies new supplies and weapons to fight with, leaving South Korea incapable of defending their country. The the North Korean troops with the Chinese struck the UN lines with new weapons and had the US and ROK's armies retreat back south.

__**5/27**__ Lin Biao's reason for revolution comes from his motivation to develop and modernize China. He said that in order to keep up with the economic changes, such as the proletariats holding political power and collectivizing, social changes need to take place through a revolution. Lin Biao explains that a new revolutionary spirit needs to be revived in order to bring China into a developed, industrialized state under communistic ideologies. Lin Biao basically mentions political, economic and ideological changes that the Cultural Revolution should target. He strongly suggests that Mao's ideologies need to be studied and implemented, because Mao is the supreme example of what China needs. He mentions publishing books and literature in order to study Mao's ideologies. Also, he relies on the youth to carry on and lead China in the future.Another reason that factors in is Lin Biao's fear of counterrevolutionaries.

__**6/2**__ //Changes During the Summer of 1996// Early few weeks of the Cultural Revolution in Shanghai An article written by an anonymous reporter Main purpose: to inform people about the first few weeks of the Cultural Revolution Uproar of the Revolutionists More people became followers of Mao and many people were involved Radical Movement Propaganda Important information: The cultural revolution started indoors-- colleges, classrooms etc. different types of propaganda- sound of drums, gongs, slogans, songs, portraits, arm bands... Climax- when people were enthusiastic about the cultural revolution, the situation became so extreme and the Red Guards started posting posters in front of restaurants and stores and forced them to believe in Mao and become a revolutionary guards Everything was about the Red Guards, and supporting the cultural revolution As a result: more people turned to Mao and he gained more followers Significance: Explains what happens during the beginning of the cultural revolution and explains how propaganda was used. Cult of personality of Mao- a father like figure. Mao used extensive propaganda to brain-wash the people.

//Reactions to Mao// Written in 1996 by a 26-year-old middle school teacher He expresses his feelings towards Mao His support for him He was glad to meet chairman Mao, and he became more devoted He commits suicide later because he gets the label of a counterrevolutionary just for getting in an argument with the Red Guards There were conflicts between Red Guards and the anti-revolutionaries 19-year-old student writing to Mao asking for explanation for his actions Shows that not all people were devoted to Mao He was sent to prison for going against his ideas

//Red Guards Smash the "Four Olds"// • who wrote the doc and when Red Guards Start of the Revolution • For what purpose To enforce the importance of having revolutionary spirits. • summarize main points Revolution plans 1. destroy old ideologies (habits, culture) completely 2. Promote Mao Zedong thoughts by going against the bourgeoisie 3. Provide no service for the bourgeoisie 4. Emphasis on the "Little Red Book" 5. People must have pictures and quotations of Mao at home 6. China gaining global power • what important information does the doc give you radical revolutionary ideas from the students They had extreme faith in Mao Youth held the visions for future China • Consider the effect it may have had • Significance: Why is this source important? What inferences can you draw from this document? Ask yourself, “So What”? In other words explain what the doc adds to the understanding of the CR Shows how even students were so passionate and how they were trained and educated to think

//Burning Books// Written by the member of the black gang (group that went against the Red Guards) They explain that the Red Guards were getting rid of the books and abused members of black gang Shows the true side of the Red Guards behind their propaganda They had to burn the books that weren't approved by Mao People were beaten up and whipped Demonstrates the violent actions of the Red Guards Some of the important documents and books were destroyed and might have destroyed the culture First hand experience of people who weren't a part of the red guards This happened in Beijing No.11 Middle School

//Criticized the old habits of society// used posters for political awareness wanted to combine the city and countryside together to united htm bring workers, peasants, soldiers all together under the culutral revolution Significance: china was able to manipulate all the Chinese

__**6/2**__ //Responding to Images// Public Humiliation- holding Daozibaos and wearing labels in public, cutting hair Making them hold posters denouncing themselves in front of the public (on stage) Destroying monuments in monasteries Getting rid of the four olds They are being arrested, tortured, and dragged by the Red Guards Priests, intellectuals were probably accused of going against the cultural revolution

__**Questions on Reflections on the Cultural Revolution pages 82-84**__ 1) When was this document written and by whom? The document was written by the CCP Central Committee on June 27, 1981. It is an except from the article, "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Part Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China."

2) According to the document, who was largely to blame for the excesses and mistakes of the Cultural Revolution? The people who brought disaster to the Chinese Party and the state were people like Lin Biao, Jiang Qing, and other officials. They ended up going behind Mao's back, taking advantage of his mistakes and committing many crimes that brought disaster to the country. They tried to gain supreme power by forming two counterrevolutionary cliques.

3) What errors does the CCP believe Mao was responsible for? The main error that Mao Zedong's principle had was that it was neither based on Marxism-Lennism nor to the Chinese reality. His principles for the Cultural revolution lacked specific definitions of being revisionist or capitalist. It put people in a state of confusion trying to distinguish between the right and wrong ideas. Mao even went against many of the principles, policies and achievements that were correct. He even negated some of his own ideas that the CCP and the People's Government held. Also, it was his mistake for placing Lin Biao and other officials on high positions, because they were the ones who caused a disastrous Revolution.

4) Who seems most responsible according to the document? How does this play into the memory of Mao as a leader and his Cult of Personality? The ones held responsible for the losses of the Cultural Revolution are the officials such as Lin Biao and Jiang Qing. They are blamed for the Cultural Revolution being a major setback and not a progress for China. None of this was blamed on Mao, although logically Mao should be held most responsible for bringing in the struggle of Cultural Revolution to China. This shows Mao's Cult of Personality, because people are blinded to his mistakes and they still praise him and think of him as a great leader.

5) What does the CCP believe the consequences of the Cultural Revolution are? (4 of them) each person in your group read one, and explain it to others
 * 1) 1 Anything that was denounced as revisionists or capitalists during the Cultural Revolution were actually Marxist and socialist principles that Mao Zedong applied. Many things that the Cultural Revolution negated such as the correct principles, policies, and achievements of the seventeen years were mostly Mao Zedong’s own contributions.
 * 2) 2 Basically, by confusing the right and wrong eventually led people to confuse who are the enemies or victims. The cultural revolution brought disorder to the distinction between the people and the enemy. For example, The "capitalist roaders" were leading cadres of the Party and organizations, who formed the fore of the socialist cause. The so called bourgeois inside the party bu Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping simply never existed. Facts that were impossible to disprove proved that Liu Shaoqqui, was nothing but a frame-up by Lin Biao., Jian Qing, and their fellow followers. This failure of distinction led to cause accomplished intellectuals to be attacked.
 * 3) 3 The cultural revolution before relied on the masses, but after the movement begins, the masses the party relied on are rejected. This is because their is a standstill in these parties due to attacks from the movement. For example, cadres were subjected to criticism and struggle leading to such results. As people who previously lead the parties, if they are in "stalemate" or are not active, the party itself becomes unreliable.
 * 4) 4 the cultural revolution did not constitute neither a revolution or brought social progress. Under the socialist ideas, it could not have brought any progress of any sort, and it was inevitable that it could only bring damage and retrogression. However, China did make some progress in agriculture, industry and capital construction. Although China had to face the counterrevolutionaries created by Lin Biao and Jiang Qing, the Chinese people proved to be great by winning over the hardships.

6) Why do you think the document mentions achievements made by China during the Cultural Revolution? To explain that the Chinese people still were very hard working and to prove that the Chinese people are reat people and that the Chinese Party and the socialist system have enormous vitality.

7) Describe the tone at the end of the document. Why do you think it ends this way? It ends with a positive statement about China and its people. It compliments the strength of the Party and the socialist system and says that they are crucial factors for China's progress. It ends on a positive note and makes the Chinese government still look good.