Block+C+Journal+Michelle+Kim

**Journal 1**
The most intriguing aspect of the reading was the clear alteration of the social status of women from Korea's pre-Confucius stage to the introduction of Confucianism in 1392. In spite of some gender inequalities that existed before the introduction of Confucianism, it is evident that the introduction of the religion deteriorated women's status even more. With Confucianism's standardized relationship between men and women, men's capability to contribute to the society increased over time, making it inevitable for women to be viewed "less useful" for the society. As the author stated, Confucianism wasn't targeted towards deteriorating the social status of women, yet the fact that it assigned men to take the dominant role when interacting with women made women's inferiority more severe over time. In conclusion, men's growing societal contribution made women seem less capable of creating contributions. Thus, the story of the introduction of Confucianism into Korea demonstrates how much a new foreign influence can change the society.

**Journal 2: If Rabbit is too smart for his own good. Owl is the Brain, and so what are Piglet and Pooh?**
By observing his behavior when spelling Tuesday, Piglet symbolizes simplicity, yet uncertainty. While his hesitance towards new things or changes in life makes him seem uncertain, yet his ability to simplify and not over-analyze things makes him symbolize both qualities. Moreover, Piglet is definitely a follower, considering his tendency to be anxious and nervous at all times. Usually, he is unsure of what to do and worried about what might happen if he made certain decisions. To summarize, Piglet is an uncertain, yet simple-minded follower. Similarly and contrastingly, Pooh represents a Taoist; he is simple-minded, peaceful, and is able to find harmony not only in himself, but also with others. When facing certain adversities in life, Pooh is able to keep the usual tranquility in himself and peacefully face the problems. While Piglet is simple-minded, yet anxious at all times, Pooh demonstrates a better form of simplicity combined with tranquility. Thus, in comparison to Rabbit and Owl, Piglet and Pooh possess a lot more Taoist characteristics.

** Journal 3: The Tao says that the ruler should "rule by inaction" How do you make sense of this? Is it at all possible?**
The Taoist views on what a ruler should look like is quite different from the Confucian or Legalist views; a ruler is to rule the country with as little interference on the people's lives as possible. He is to "rule by inaction", meaning that he is not to be oppressive on the public. Also, he is to simply keep the natural order of people's lives, rather than attempting to forcefully changing the natural order. It is crucial that one does not interpret the Taoist views on what a just ruler should look like in a literal way. Ruling with the least amount of interference to allow people to maintain the natural flow of their lives would be the ultimate goal of a Taoist ruler. Thus, to rule by "inaction" doesn't literally mean that the ruler should do "nothing", but instead means that a ruler should rule with the least amount of interference in the people's lives.

** Journal 4: Explain right mindfulness and right concentration. Do you see how you could apply this to your daily life? Why or why not?**
Right mindfulness is the act of involving precision and clarity in our daily lives. For one to be rightly mindful is to be aware of even the smallest details of the way we speak, interact, behave, walk, work, and treat the people around us. Similarly, right concentration is the act of being completely absorbed in "nowness", the way things are at the very moment. Rather than having speculations, conjectures, and expectations, one should be rightly concentrated on our lives as they are at the very moment. Both paths can be applied to my daily life, although it would beget both positive and negative consequences. I can be mindful of the smallest details of my speech, attitude, and behavior, however, I may possibly become too self-conscious. Conversely, being rightly concentrated on the present, but not on the future or other factors of our lives that are not currently occurring, can possibly bring a positive change to my life.

===** Journal 5: 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.**===

By stating that it seemed as though 400 years have passed by in a short period of time, he is describing the rapid development, westernization, and industrialization that took place in Japan within four years. Normally, it takes an extremely long time for a country to go through any kind of change, or even decide to go through one at all. However, Japan was able to change the shape of its economy rapidly without having to sacrifice a huge loss of its cultural values. In other words, when coming into contact with the western world, Japan did not simply copy everything the west had, but changed some of the Western elements into a different form that was suitable for Japan only. Using such method, Japan became the fastest country to westernize in history (they did not simply westernize, but did so in a way that was beneficial for the country). Thus, Japan's original cultural values and traditions did not have to be sacrificed due to the sudden introduction of a foreign influence.

**Journal 6: "Japan had to westernize or be destroyed" Respond to the quote**.
Agreeing with the given quote, Japan did have only two choices when it first came in contact with the Western world: westernize or be destroyed. Primarily, Admiral Mathew Perry's "request" of opening Japan's ports to create an open trading system with the U.S. was evidently not a "request" but an "enforcement" or "threat", for he arrive in Japan with a powerful navy. Also, due to the West's industrialization, the West had a more advanced technology, which led to having a more advanced weaponry, which then led to having a more powerful military. Having witnessed the Opium War of China, Japan was clearly aware of what could potentially happen if Japan refused to submit to the Western mandates. Thus, not only was Japan weaker in terms of their military power (which, a majority of, was weaponry), but they knew the fatal consequences that might proceed after their refusal to westernize. Thus, it is both ideally and historically accurate to say that Japan had to westernize or be destroyed.

**Journal 7: W****hat do you find most shocking about what you have read so far? How do you make sense of such cruelty?**
Although many who have read about the Rape of Nanking might be most appalled by the various ways millions of civilians were killed and abused, what I find to be even more shocking than the massacre is the Japanese soldiers' willingness to obey such inhumane mandate of their leader. Having read how thousands of Japanese soldiers willingly massacred the Chinese civilians, I cannot make sense of what the soldiers were thinking and how they were feeling when doing so. It is part of human nature to feel pity, sympathy, and even horror when witnessing such cruel acts; however, the Japanese soliders, under their leader, were successfully brainwashed to massacre equal human beings. The education they received as children might explain their brainwashed way of thinking that Japan was supposedly the greatest Asian empire (egocentric view), however, it still does not explain how it was able to "numb" the soldiers when they were actually killing the Chinese civilians with their very own hands. In other words, it does not make sense to me how the Japanese soldiers were able to get rid of their "natural" human emotions and humanity in front of such inhumane acts being done by their own hands.


In my opinion, it was safer to be a communist during the Korean War, primarily due to the intervention of UN on South Korea's side. Because UN was expected to intervene with the title of promoting "world peace", it was also expected to treat its enemies (which would be the communists of North Korea) with humanity when they were captured. Thus, the UN actually built camps for the captured communists in South Korea, which were proven historically to have taken humane care of the prisoners. Contrarily, there was no expectation or obligation for North Korea to take humane care of its anti-communist prisoners from South Korea. Thus, captured anti-communists were abused and treated with inhumanity and brutality by the communists of North Korea. Thus, my conjecture is that "especially if I was a communist soldier" (which I couldn't have been because I'm a girl ...) that was captured by South Korea & UN, I would have received better treatment than the captured anti-communists in North Korea.

 **Journal 9: 4/30 Do countries have an obligation to compensate each other for injustices done in time of war?**
Speaking ethically, countries do have an obligation to compensate each other for the injustices done in time of war. Nonetheless, it is very unlikely that countries would be self-determined to compensate other countries for what they have done in the past during war times. Had all countries been legally obligated to do so, issues revolving around "Who is truly responsible for the war" or "Who was the initiator of the war" would become controversial and would lead to even further conflicts between countries. Thus, it is ethical that countries consciously volunteer (out of self-determination) to make compensations, however, it should not become an obligation that countries MUST compensate one another. It is more crucial that we look towards the future to move on, rather than being stuck in the past by continuously looking for war compensations.

**Journal 10: Explain the meaning of Shattered Faith**
The title Shattered Faith refers to the main character's loss of faith in her country. As her vision of having a bright future, filled with hope and joy gets destroyed by the Korean War, her faith in her life and country gradually gets shattered. Also, having her husband taken by her own country for gathering secret religious meetings acted as a factor that made her feel betrayed by her own country, thus, losing her faith. Thus, many of the tragedies that she had to suffer from due to the Korean War all contributed to shattering her faith. That is probably the reason why the author named the title of the document as Shattered Faith.

Journal 11: Responding to Images (Mao)

 * __1. Who is the subject?__**

The subject is Mao Zedong, who was the Communist leader of China in the mid 1900s.

__**2. Describe what you see**__

The image is a picture of Mao Zedong, walking on the the peak of a mountain, that supposedly seems higher than all the other surrounding mountains. He seems to be standing close to the sky, wearing traditional Chinese clothes with a red scroll in hand. He is also completely surrounded by nothing but nature. He is presented as a young, tall, healthy-looking man who seems determined and righteous at the same time.

__**3. How is he portrayed?**__

He is portrayed in a way that makes him seem higher than everything else, for he is standing on the peak of a mountain that seems higher than the other mountains. The fact that he is standing close to the sky also portrays how he is like an ultimate power in China. The scroll in his hand also seems to be portraying the importance of education.

Chinese Cultural Revolution Primary Source Discussion Notes
__**Reactions to Mao**__ 1996 - 1) Chinese middle school teacher & 2) 19-year-old student 1) positive attitude towards Chairman Mao - reveres Chairman Mao - describes how much of a good leader Mao is; shows how much the people of China were loyal to Mao Zedong; middle school teacher was labeled as a counter-revolutionary due to an unjustifiable reason 2) questions Mao's actions and shows resentment towards the leader - extremely critical of Mao's actions; sentenced to prison for criticizing Mao

__**Burning Books**__ Red Guards are invading libraries of China and eradicated any book that was irrelevant to Chairman Mao; Black Gang attack; soldiers severely abused the people in the library by making them stand under the sun all day - shows how books/education were controlled during the C.R. & how much people of proper education (that was not relevant to Mao) were persecuted

__**Changes during the Summer of 1966**__ written by anonymous author; Red Guards, anti-revisionism, anti-imperialism, red-flag, patriotism, work of soldiers - rise of propaganda reached its peak in 1996 source shows the significant change the CR brought to China; people were carrying national flags, Red Little Books, and red armbands - all symbolizing communism

Picture Analysis: What does it illustrate about the Cultural Revolution. Also, categorize the pictures into the different four olds.
The pictures are statues of religious figures, such as Buddha and Confucius, being burned and destroyed. Such portrayal of how the traditional religions of China were being eradicated shows how the Cultural Revolution put great emphasis on driving away anything "traditional" of China, not only because they wanted to look to the future for the answer, not the past, and also, some of China's traditional religions had set up systems that were against Mao's beliefs. For example, Confucius's resignation of the 5 relationships created a hiearchical structure where equality almost diminished. However, Mao's belief in creating an egalitarian society where everyone was equal (men, women, children) and where there were no social classes drove the Cultural Revolution to try to eradicate China's traditional religions. Also, the pictures of the persecution or arrest of nuns or any kind of religious leaders show how the Cultural Revolution sought to create an egalitarian society of equality by persecuting the previous ideologies of China.

Questions on Reflections on the Cultural Revolution pages 82-84
__**1) When was this document written and by whom?**__

It was written by the CCP in 1981.

__**2) According to the document, who was largely to blame for the excesses and mistakes of the Cultural Revolution?**__

According to the document, the blame for the excesses and mistakes was put on Lin Biao. They were blamed for putting setbacks to the cultural revolution. Nonetheless, Mao was still the one who had put Lin Biao and other leaders in charge, allowing them to work as they wished.

__**3) What errors does the CCP believe Mao was responsible for?**__

Mao made erroneous appraisals about the class struggles of China, which hadn't existed in the society in the first place.

__**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?**__


 * 1: Mao denounced some principals of being capitalist and revisionist, when they were actually Marxist and socialist.
 * 2: The confusing of right and wrong inevitably led to the confusing of the ally and enemy. Also, attacking and persecuting the academic intellectuals brought chaos to the society, for they were the people who were capable of taking significant actions for the society.
 * 3: Separating the party from the masses also brought chaos to the society, for the masses weren't given correct orders. Thus, there was constant chaos in the society without any order or administration.
 * 4: The document says that there was no reason in the first place to have a cultural revolution. Mao had an erroneous appraisal or made false judgements. Under socialist conditions, there is no economic or political basis for carrying out a great political revolution in which "one class overthrows another." It decidedly could not come up with any constructive program but could only bring gave disorder, damage, and retrogression in its train.