Block+B+Journal+Jay+Park

__**2/19**__ Even if I am a Korean myself, I got to know more about how women were treated in the Choson dynasty. What really stood out for me was when Confucianism made its way in Korea. With the entrance of Confucianism, the status of women was subdued by a great amount. I do not think those facts are exaggerated at all since it is only recently when women were view equal as men in Korea.
 * 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?**

__**2/23**__ I would answer the question with this statement "If a rabbit too smart for his own good, owl is the brain and Piglet and Pooh are the wise men". Owl represents a Confucian scholar with his knowledge. The owl stresses the value of education and seeks further opportunities to learn. Throughout the book, Piglet and Pooh are seen as the "wise men". When Owl decides with his knowledge, Piglet and Pooh base their decisions on their experience. They are the ones who try not to make mistaken decisions with their past experience.
 * If is Rabbit too smart for his own good, Owl is the Brain, and Piglet... Pooh?**

__**2/26**__ Wu Wei, or the Pooh Way suggests people to rule by inaction. The way of Tao does not obstruct with things, but lets them figure matters out in their own way, to produce results naturally. Then whatever needs to be done is automatically done. The Pooh way basically suggests to not monkey around. In other words, avoid any unnecessary troubles and just go with the flow. Yet I disagree with how a ruler should "rule by inaction". If a ruler allows its subjects to figure every problem out by themselves, the society will fall into a bigger chaos. Conflicts will either remain unsolved or be dominated by a forceful party. I personally think not all humans are capable of making naturally correct decisions. Some form of order and justice is needed in any society.
 * The Tao says that the ruler should "rule by inaction" How do you make sense of this? Is it at all possible?**

__**3/11**__ Right mindfulness and right concentration are two of the Eightfold Paths in Buddhism. Right mindfulness is to be mindful and aware of what is going on around oneself. People should be mindful to even the smallest detail of their experience. When one is encountering another person or performing a job, one should be mindful. Right concentration is focusing clearly in one matter to find more depth into it. One should empty the mind without entertainment and speculations when one is concentrating. Without the concentrated discipline of meditation, one cannot follow the Eightfold Path from the beginning. I could definitely apply to this to my daily life. A good person should always try to be mindful of other people and concentrate well on jobs.
 * Explain right mindfulness and right concentration. Do you see how you could apply this to your daily life? Why or why not?**

__**4/2**__ The Japanese development from 1873 was so rapid and successful that the British Professor thought that it was equivalent to 400 years of continual development. After the Meiji restoration, Japan started to absorb Western technologies and ideas. Which later made them able to conquer nearby Asian neighbors to create a Japanese empire.
 * 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.**

**__4/3 and 4/6__ The Question is not unfrequently asked..., is not Japan going ahead too fast? In some respects we fear she is." What is the context of this quote, and do you agree with this quote?** The context of this quote is that Japan is taking the steps of industrialization way too fast. When European countries like Great Britain did it over a long period of time, Japan is westernizing by copying European models in a much shorter period of time. I do not completely agree with this quote because Japan has no choice but to industrialize rapidly. Japan needs to modernize in an extremely quick pace since if she doesn't, she will be overrun be strong western powers.

What do you find most shocking about what you have read so far? How do make sense of such cruelty?** The Rape of Nanking has terrifying stories from many perspectives such as the Westerners, the Japanese, and the Chinese. The Japanese soldiers were taught to perform cruel, inhumane actions during their conquest of Nanking. They occasionally raped women ranging from 12 to 80. A massive group of Chinese women, for instance, were abducted for just sexual purposes. Japanese soldiers were trained to shoot guns from a very early age. Also they massacred Chinese civilians without any doubt since they thought life meaningless next to their emperor - especially those of the enemies.
 * __4/13__****

Do you think it was safer to be a communist or anti-communist during the Korean War? B and C only** It was not safe at all to be either one of those. Both groups of people were massacred by the other side during the Korean War. Communists were killed on the island of Jeju. Later when the North Koreans came down, they murdered a load of civilians near the Han River. I personally believe the safest method to survive was to pretend to have the same ideology with the soldiers who are just about to kill you. When the communists are searching for non-communist, be a communist, and vice versa. There really can be no clear distinction whether one is a communist or a non-communist. Being a flexible mind during the war of two big political factions will most likely save one’s life.
 * __4/28__


 **__4/30 __ Do countries have an obligation to compensate each other for injustices done in time of war?** I certainly think countries have an obligation to compensate each other for injustices done in time of war. Since many innocent civilian lives and family members are lost during a course of warfare, the people who committed those crimes should pay back for the war. Yet the war guilt should not be focused too much on one country, like Germany after WWI. The Treaty of Versailles put tremendous amounts of war guilt and dept on Germany for their actions during World War I. This eventually made the Germans desperate and angry, causing the Second World War. Germany is actually a country that apologized for their Holocaust. Japan, in the other hand, have not made any official compensation for their cruel acts in the Rape of Nanjing and Unit 731 and they should.

__**5/7**__ Chinese Entry into the War The US had to consider whether China was going to intervene if the UN army crossed the Yalu River. The intelligence agencies of the United States did not think China was going to intervene in the Korean War. The US thought China was afraid of invasion of Manchuria. The CIA predicted that China would not get itself into a series of offensive operations since it would cause global conflict and wars. The event that happened that triggered China to intervene in the war is the crossing of the 38th parallel. China entered the war because the fall of North Korea will disregard the sacrifice of many Koreans in the Chinese revolution and the anti-Japanese resistance. The with massive Chinese intervention, the combined troops of the US, ROK, and UN could not hold their place in the war. Now the Sino-Korean (North) units were defeating the South and pushed them back to the 38th parallel. Now the UN troops were no longer “an organized defense”.
 * What did the US have to consider in regards to China and the Yalu River?**
 * According to the reading, what was the reason China entered the war?**
 * What effect did Chinese intervention have on the US, ROK, and UN troops?**

The meaning of "Shattered Faith" refers to the Korean people. Over the course of the Korean war, the Korean people's hope of survival and peace have been shattered. Hopes about life and family have been destroyed by the war. This relates to the story because Hongyong loses her faith in her family and in her situation. When Hongyong finds out that her son is most likely to be dead, she finally gives up her hope and ultimately faith. After a while, Hongyong rediscovers that her son is actual alive, but trapped in the North. Therefore the opportunities to meet sperated family members were gone in reality.
 *  5/8 Explain the meaning of "Shattered Faith" how does it relate to the story? **


 *  5/26 Explain what the main ideas of the last few paragraphs are, evaluate Biao's reasons for the revolution. Does his argument sense? Is it reasonable? should be about three paragraphs to answer.**

The last few paragraphs of Lin Biao's speech began with the youth and their role in the revolutionary process. He predicted that as the new generation of China, the young group of people would carry out the "new, proletarian world outlook". Biao also mentions the counterrevolutionaries, like the Liu-Deng line, who wish to return to the past. Yet the Liu-Deng line did not believe in the masses or Mao Zedong, and believed in "the bourgeois outlook" instead. As long as the peasants support Mao and his ideal of communism, Liu Biao strongly believes China can successfully be united under the Communist Party.

Lin Biao's reasons for the revolution was mainly based on the strive to grasp Mao's Communist, Marxist ideals. Communism in China sought to establish a more equal society, removing class differences and disparities. The revolutionaries leaders thought that the lower class people were constantly suppressed by the bourgeoisie. And thus they led the masses to revolt and attempt to reform the social structure of the society.

Biao's argument does not make much sense to me because his motivation and the process of the revolution is quite contradictory. The Marxist doctrine promises the leveling of society by getting rid of socio-economic classes. In other words, in a pure, ideal Marxist society, there should be no classes nor governments suppressing the peasant class. Yet Mao Zedong himself is considered "Chairman Mao" of the Party Center, therefore resulting in a society under the leadership of one party.


 * __Notes on Cultural Revolution Documents__**

Changes during the summer 1966 - anonymous, article, most people came into the Red Army - students, company workers praise Mao, emphasizes nationalism - criticizes capitalism and anti-communism - propaganda was used to portrait their radical ideas - the red guards put posters all around how the government effectively used propaganda to show ideas cult of personality of Mao - street and restaurants' names change for Mao - counter-revolutionaries windows -> dazibaos

The Sixteen Points by the Chinese Government 1966 Purpose: launch intellectual and imperialistic purges - changed and manipulated society: education literature and art - criticized the capitalistic and the old habits in society - used posters and debates to acknowledge political awareness - the city and the country side should work in close combination - Mao's will was to bring the workers peasants soldiers and intellectuals all together under the name of the Cultural Revolution

Reactions to Mao 1966 middle school teacher - seeing Mao - it was like his birthday, because he saw Mao, very excited - emotions and devotions to Mao - mislabeled as a counter-revolutionary, because an argument with Red Guard, beaten up, commit suicide 19 year old student 1966, letter to Mao - telling Mao about Mao's faults - not all people in China was for the Cultural Revolution - sentenced to prison for publicly opposing Mao
 * join Red Guard for 1) power 2) revenge

Red Guards smash the "Four Olds" - Red Guards wrote this, during the Revolution - planning how the Revolution should be carried out - destroy old ideologies - proliferate Mao's thoughts "to rebel is justified" - focus on peasants and workers, give no service to bourgeois - burn old books - emphasize on the quotations in the "Little Red Books" - images of Mao, propaganda - extremely radical revolutionaries - shows vision for "New China" - manipulated young student to do so

Burning Books - a daughter of a Black Gang, (enemy of the revolution, bourgeois) - during the chaotic stage in the revolution, August - Red Guards' true sides, what they actually did - lashing people with belts, took every book without Mao's face and burned them - labeled as enemy, not a decision

__**Responding to images What can you infer about the Cultural Revolution from these pictures? Try to conect some of the photos to the 4 olds. Images can be found on the morning sun website linked in the wiki. **__

As we watched all these pictures from the Cultural Revolution, we saw lots of public humiliation by dazaibaos, white clothes, dunce caps, and public displays. People who were labeled as "class enemies" were stepped by the red guards on the stage. They also show destroying of the four Olds: culture, custom, habit, ideas. Old religious figures has posters, or dazibaos, attached to them as shame. The Red Guards ransack monasteries, and beat up Buddha statues and Confucius statues. Anyone who criticized Mao or argued with the Red Guards were depicted as enemies of the revolution along with intellectuals, middle class, and teachers.

__**Questions on Reflections on the Cultural Revolution pages 82-84**__ 1) When was this document written and by whom? It was by the Chinese Communist Party on June 27, 1981, which was five years after the end of the Cultural Revolution.

2) According to the document, who was largely to blame for the excesses and mistakes of the Cultural Revolution? People like Lin Biao JIng Qing who were to blame in the Cultural Revolution. They were behind Mao's back creating chaos and troubles.

3) What errors does the CCP believe Mao was responsible for? Mao is responsible for the lagging and retrogress of the Chinese Society. The Cultural Revolution, in reality, negated much of the work of the CCP and the People's government, including Mao's work himself. His main ideas of the Cultural Revolution followed neither Marxism, Leninism or the Chinese reality. He also placed people like Lin Biao, Jin Qing, and the gang of four in important positions, which was one of his mistakes.

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? It is definitely not Mao who is blamed for the Cultural Revolution. The criticism lies with Lin Biao and Jin Qing, because they messed up Mao from the back in order to gain power. Also the gang of four is to be blamed, for similar reasons of Lin Biao and Jing Qing. Mao remains as a great leader with his Cult of Personality, as seen on taxi cabs in Beijing.

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 The lines dividing the definition between revisionist/capitalists and Marxist/socialist were very ambiguous during the Cultural Revolution. Many ideas denounced as revisionist ideas were actually socialist ideas some even from Mao Zedong himself. This struggle caused the slow progress of the socialist construction. The consequences of this mishap was that many were mistaken to be counter-revolutionaries when they were note in reality.


 * 1) 2 This is like the continuation of the first passage. Since there were no clear line between the people and the enemy, many were labeled as so-called class enemies. The "bourgeois headquarters" inside the Party, for instance, did not exist at all. Once again, this erroneous situation costed many talented intellectuals to be wasted.


 * 1) 3 The Cultural Revolution was supposed to be a revolution led by the masses. Yet in reality, it was divided into Party organizations and the masses. This resulted many activists and the large numbers of the basic masses being rejected by the Party later in the revolution.


 * 1) 4 In this passage there are some faults of the Cultural Revolution mentioned. The sabotages done by Lin Biao and Jiang Qing did great damage to Mao, although Mao eventually triumphed at the end. With the revolution, China went to a period of retrogress without much development. Lots of intellectuals and model workers were persecuted and scientific and technological progress was almost completely halted. But at the end, the author thinks that the Cultural Revolution was a beneficial incident for China because it established the socialist aspect of the government.

6) Why do you think the document mentions achievements made by China during the Cultural Revolution? In the end, Cultural Revolution is still praised and Mao is portrayed as a great leader and a fatherly figure. The people of China believed the Cultural Revolution was a positive movement since it was still part of communism.

7) Describe the tone at the end of the document. Why do you think it ends this way? The tone of the document at the end still justifies Mao's actions and decisions. It ends this way most likely because Mao's Cult of Personality remained with him even after his death. The tone was nationalistic in order to restore the nationalism of China that was brought down by the consequences of the Cultural Revolution.