China: The relationship between Taiwan and China

Taiwan is an island off of the mainland of China. China has many people who believe in the teachings of Confucius where a ruler must protect his people and in return his people must obey him. The relationship between Taiwan and China is interesting because both of them think they are the ruler in the relationship. Taiwan  think they rule China, but China has been taken over by an alien and corrupt government and China thinks the same thing of Taiwan. For this reason they will never sever the relationship between the two, because they believe in order to be responsible rulers they cannot abandon their people. China has other "provinces" which they believe are necessary to be looked after. Two examples of this are Mongolia and Tibet. It is sometimes difficult for western countries to understand why China would continue to rule these countries after they  have made it clear that they want independence, but through looking at the teachings of Confucius we can see the China is doing the responsible thing according to their religion. Probably eventually China and Taiwan will have a war, with America sending airplanes and weapons to Taiwan, but for now it is just a tense relationship between the two. To make matters Taiwan doesn't even have a representative in the UN, and they haven't since 1972 because the Un recognizes the two as part of the same country and therefore they are only allowed one representative. 

China - Great Leap Forward

What happened to China was a complete result of internal issues dealing with Mao. However, they stemmed from a desire to be better than everyone else. I'm talking specifically about the Great Leap Forward. Mao wanted to use, what seemed like good ideas to push China to be surpass the U.S. but ironically hurt them even more. Mao wanted to do this with industrialization and agriculture. He thought that he could take advantage of China's vast numbers and collectively work together to achieve his goals. Many things changed under Mao's command. Private farming ended, and anyone who chose to take part in their own farming was counter revolutionary. Instead, they were groups of farming communities (Communes) where no specific person owned the tools. They all would work together to produce as much grain as possible which would be taken by the government to feed other people, like those in cities who do not grow any of their own food. The government did a good job of convincing each commune to produce as much grain as they could by almost pitting the communes against each other. Mao also established communal kitchens. Like the farming communes, it involved no one owning their own tools such as pots, pans, kettles etc. Instead these were all taken by the government to help them create steel. Instead of cooking at home, people would go to a public kitchen where they would all be fed the same meal. The consequences of all this were much greater than any benefits that were intended by Mao. It, along with the droughts and flooding of the Yellow river, led to extreme famine where about 2 million Chinese people died.

China's Internal Problems

I believe that most of what happened to China was as a result of their internal issues. The biggest issue that China had was the communist government that they had at the time. One of the first things that happened because of China's communist beliefs was that they were forced into the Korean war. The Korean war started because the Americans invaded Northern Korea which was communist. The Chinese felt the need to fight because they thought that maybe they would be the next ones to get invaded if they didn't try and fight off the annoying American Armies. 400,000 chinese citizens ended up dying as a result. Another big problem that China created for themselves was the Great Leap Forward. This was pretty much the idea that everyone in China should work together to one day surpass the Americans. The Chinese set up a good number of competitive communes to try and increase the harvest of China. While the idea of a group of people sharing a farm sounds alright it ended up being a terrible idea. Communes promised way much more harvest than they could produce to show power among surrounding communes. Since they didn't produce enough food, the government took all they had promised leaving them to starve. People died of starvation, and at the end the number of dead people rose to 20 million. 

China: events were a result of internal issues or external influence?

China was led through many issues in their country in which the country's social and economical aspects drastically changed. At first, all these things occurred only because of the internal issues. After WWII, China returned to the Civil War in which there were two groups: Nationalists(GMD) vs. Communists(CCP). The Nationalists were led by Chiang, who fled to Taiwan, and the Communists were led by Mao. Up until now, all issues were happening because of the internal events in the country. On the other hand, the U.S. decided to bomb the coast line of China because their goal was to contain communism. This became a threat to China, and marked the point of where external influence was causing changes in the country of China. Mao made a plan called the "Great Leap Forward" in which everyone worked to "surpass America" in any way they could. As a leader, Mao retires for a short period of time and returns to re-seize power with the support of the army. There was lack of sufficient years of academics in which Mao decided to  eliminate the "4 Olds." The old thoughts, culture, customs, and habits were all changed to allow students to learn from the core farmers. This strategy was not enough years of academics, so a new leader Deng Xiaping took over after Mao and modernized the education and lifestyle to focus on agriculture, science, industry, and defense. As you can see, China was influenced by both external and internal issues. 

Mao: His Impact and Leadership

Some of the main issues that caused a downfall for China were mostly tied to Mao who was for Communism. He thought that everyone should work together and that way they could over power the United States. He tried to get involved in the Korean war but many thousands of soldiers died. He also tried what he called the Great Leap which ironically caused them to fall or go backwards. He wanted everyone to work together so that they could "surpass America" by killing the sparrows because they ate some of their grain. Mao didn't really think of the "then what" or what came after he killed the sparrows. What ended up happening was that then there were too many insects and they ended up eating a lot of the grain which cause a famine. Mao failed to think ahead and that is why many of his ideas were failures. The plan sounded great the problem resulted after the plan had been achieved. Like when he tried to increase harvests. He thought that having people work harder would make them produce more and indeed it did, but it was more of a unrealistic competition. They would say they would produce a ton and so the government would take that as a promise that they could collect a certain amount of what they were going to produce. But when it came time for the government to collect, they hadn't produced what they thought they would and so the government would take what they were promised and left the country workers with nothing.

Mao had great ideas like getting them motivated with competition and to work together to be more efficient, but as I have said before it only lead to disaster. Mao wasn't a good leader in the sense that he didn't think ahead. He thought of what they could do at that moment and then he would try it out. He experimented but it was like testing ideas with people's lives. If his plan failed, which most of them sort of did, then lots of people would die. He was not aware that some many people of the country side were dying when they were supposed to be prospering because of the hypothetical amounts of grain. But the people were actually dying of starvation. A leader needs to be in contact with all the different parts of land and all the different kinds of people, that way he can prevent a chain of deaths from starvation. A leader also needs to be able to think ahead of what could happen if I did this, or what might go wrong and if it does go wrong what can I do to help the people. I think he was so consumed in his own ideas that he got overwhelmed with how well he thought things would turn out.

Who was involved with the Korean War

On June 25, 1950 the Korean war reached the climax of the battle. Once North Korea bombarded and invaded South Korea the finances and other countries began to get in the middle of the war. The US and UN helped North Korea with the chaotic army. Since World War II ended about five years after the US had a lot of military material which was helpful for the korean army because their weapons were up to date and powerful, Airplanes, machinery. Because the UN army swiftly moved through North Korea, China jumped ship thinking it would be a careless win, however the soviet union was not as willing to join the war. In the middle of the war the South Koreans fought back and pushed them back making china "give up" essentially. The US army became even more stronger and powerful but very expensive. The war came to closure on July 27, 1953, the USSR concluded it was a waste of financial resources and needed to end. It was considered a waste for four decades, until they were able to make up for all the wasted money.

Indian National Anthem

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
Mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by
The waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny,
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

The Indian National Anthem is written in a style in which all the languages of the country can be given respect to along with the most popular places in the country. The tone of the anthem is saying how the country has so much goodness in its roots, and almost thanking the country for creating some popular places like the Himalayas or the Ganga (Ganges) River. One line in the national anthem translates to, "They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand." Even though its not said in much detail, this line tells us how the people of India worship their country so much, and how much honor and pride they hold in their hearts. Hearing some things about India, a good example of pride for one's country, are all those men and women in the army. When I hear about the Indian army, it astonishes me how dedicated they are. In conclusion, the Indian National Anthem does a great job interpreting the wonders in their country and thanking their motherland for it.

  

China National Anthem

I chose the Chinese national anthem from 1911-1912 this was the first ever national anthem and it was used for a short amount of time. Although it was officially adopted on October 4, 1911, it was used centuries before. It was created by Bo Tong, officer from the Imperial guard, and Yan Fu, commander of the Qing Navy. The anthem speaks of happiness, and celebration with Qing rulers. Throughout the anthem they call the empire the golden and enlightened empire which shows their pride in their country. They believe their empire to be great and in a way holy because they mention the will of heaven. However something that threw me off a bit was when they say "all of mankind will be filled with happiness."(You can see this in the translation below) Is it truly all of mankind that will be happy when Qing is in rule? Or is mankind in their belief just the Chinese? I do not know how to interpret this but in all I understand that they believe happiness, and prosperity comes with the Qing ruling. Encouraging people to believe and support the Qing Empire.

Lyrics:
Gong jin'ou,
Cheng Tiandao,
Minwu xin fuzao,
Xi tongbao,
Qing shi xingzao.
Zhen xi hao,
Diguo cangqiong bao.
Tian gaogao,
Hai taotao.

Translation:
Solidify our golden empire,
Follow the will of Heaven,
All of creation will celebrate,
All of mankind will be filled with happiness,
As long as the Qing rules.
May the enlightened empire,
And its vast boundaries be protected.
The sky is high,
The sea is turbulent.

http://www.nationalanthems.info/cn-12.htm

Japanese Portrayal in Film

Hi,

I think that a lot of people liked my last presentation on Native Americans in film, so this time I'm going to do one on the Japanese (and how they were portrayed by the US). I haven't finished it yet, but it will be ready by tomorrow. I'm just posting this blog so that Ms. Xia knows what I'm planning on doing, and I will post the actual presentation as soon as I'm done making it.

kobe beef

Kobe beef comes from wagyu cattle. For hundreds of thousands of years, people living in Japan lived soley off of rice, vegtables, and seafood. However in 1868 the ban was lifted. Buddhists were the ones who mainly wanted the ban to stay in place for religious reasons. For the next 100 years, people hardly ate beef. Some people believe that KObe beef was around in feudal Japan, and that emporers would secretly eat it. The switch to eating meet was made because they wanted to fatten up to become on par with the western imperialists, part of the westernization that took place during the Meiji Restoration. Recently Macdo as it is called in Japan, or McDonalds has become very popular. Most enjoy beef cooked in a traditional way and thinly sliced, eaten of course with chopsticks.

The Nagasaki Port

Originally founded by the Portuguese, the Nagasaki Port became a huge part of culture in Japan. Goods such as tobacco, textiles, bread and castellas (a type of Portuguese cake), became a new popular part of Japanese culture. Being a Portuguese owned city, Jesuit Leader, Alexandro Valignano wished to keep the control of Nagasaki out of the hands of a "Non-Catholic Daimyo." So for a short period of time, Nagasaki became a Jesuit colony. Nagasaki soon became a refuge for Christians escaping Non-Catholic regions of Japan. Nagasaki was becoming more and more Christian. In effect the daimyo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, attempted to unify the Southern and Christian part of Japan with the rest by exiling the Christian missionaries. But his commands were so weakly enforced that Nagasaki remained a Christian city. As you can see from the image, Nagasaki is extremely close to China, thus creating the perfect environment for cultures to move between China, Japan and Portuguese.


Image from World-Guides.com

Tokugawa Shogunate

As we all reviewed once again in class today the Tokugawa Shogunate was the military ruler. He assisted the emperor to rule over Japan. However this was not true, because the emperor was never seen and he only did religious ceremonies hence forth the Shogunate was the one with the real power. Even though the Emperor was not ruling over the land, he was still revered. The Emperor was descendant from the sun god and because he was holy they could not get rid of him. The Tokugawa Shogunate ruled until the Meiji Restoration. The Westerners were affecting many countries, they saw what happened to China and because of that it was time for the Shogunate to go. The Meiji Restoration was a period where Japan was westernizing and many of its old ways had to go including the Shogun. A group of daimyo took this responsibility they made an alliance and in 1868 the Shogun was overthrown. Afterwards the Emperor came back into power and he was once again in charge. The Shogun was old and they needed to move on they could not afford to fall behind.

Strayer pg 578
http://encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com/pages/22332/Tokugawa-shogunate.html

Japan Westernized

In class we watched a short snip it of The Last Samuria. In this clip we were able to identify the how Japan first put their eyes on western ways as the ship from America pulled in. When the characters were riding through the local town, you can observe and find a variety of advancements and also traditional items. There were some ladies wearing traditional Japanese clothing but at the same time, there were two men wearing tight fitted suits that had a western touch. When they reached the emperors place, his room and place to sit was arranged in a Japanese style, but the emperor himself was also wearing sort of a suit. 

After watching this, towards the end of class we discussed the question, "Does Japan still have its own national identity?" In result it turns out that Japan definitely has adopted western style but we can still find traditional ideas throughout the country. When the samurai were trained to be strong soldiers, the Japanese wanted to eat a diet like Americans of beef, but even today Japan still has their traditional meal of fish and/or rice. Japan also adapted technology from the west, but their amazing skills led them to further advancement. Even though they used another countries ideas, they were greatly benefitted with it. Another aspect that was changed while Japan modernized was religion. Religions like Buddhism and Confucianism was found in Japan, but it was then settled and adapted for Shinto to be the main religion of Japan. 

Comparing Old Japan to New Japan

We looked at a movie today, the first things that caught my eye about how they westernized were the buildings arising in the city they were traveling in. Stores were started making profit off their goods and people were beginning to get more sophisticated jobs. When we saw the scene of the Generals coming to see the Emperor, it switched back to the old Japan. Everyone had to bow before you entered the room, you weren't allowed to wear shoes, and there was still a translator for the Emperor. However, after that scene, it showed the Generals helping the Japanese learn how to shoot a gun and be able to fight in a battle. All of these examples relate to Japan westerinizing. I personally believe that every single country should have westerinized the earliest they could because every country that did became 50 times better (exaggeration) while the countries, like China, either stayed where they were or even became less advanced and people didn't think China was the center of the world any more.

Meiji Restoration, a Brief Overview

Japan was governed for hundreds of years by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Tokugawa Shogunate was feudal and was led by the Shoguns of the Tokugawa family. Many people of Japan recognized that Japan had to westernize to survive, because they didnt want to end up like China. So people agreed that it was time for feudalism to end. In 1868 The Tokugawa Shogunate was toppled, and feudalism was abolished. This was known as the Meiji Restoration. All the power was restored to the emperor for imperial rule. In reality, Japan was being ruled by an oligarchy made up of the most powerful daimyos who helped lead the restoration, and the emperor was used for a symbol of national unity, and a sanction for the great changes that would be introduced into society, but that is not what is most important. During the rule of Meiji, much westernization occured, and that became one of Japan's main focuses. A large focus on education and military conscription was introduced, and Buddhism was discouraged heavily by Shintoists. Western influence swept the nation and railroads were built, industries came to life, ports were open to western trade and ships, and large fleets of ships and large armies were built based on those of the west. Samurai were no longer allowed to wear swords around, and did not hold as much power. During the Restoration Japan was quickly growing much stronger and was earning the right to be treated on the same level and Western powers.

http://alumni.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/simons/historyweb/meiji-resto.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Meiji

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_shogunate

Responce to GG's Samurai post

Your blog included very interesting details about the Samurai's role in society. In particular, I liked your point that the samurai were not only strong warriors, but that they were connected to the government as well.

I would like to add on that the Samurai class was taken down because of that same point you stated about them being part of the government. Being part of government means that you have a great amount of power, and this was something that Japan at the time wanted to avoid. They were afraid of civil wars happening because of unhappy people from lower classes, and by taking away the samurai class it would have everyone be that much more equal. The samurai lost their ability to carry swords, and it was taken well by most of the samurai. This was they way that the samurai class was modernized.

Samurai

The life in Tokugawa Shogunate consisted of different levels and groups of people. They played a different role and society and each individual had a job of his own. At the top sat they great leader called the shogun, then were the daimyo or the local landlords who took care of the land. These lords had their own numbers of samurai who worked for them. Samurai in small towns could play the role of guards to a castle, advisors, or men in the army also. In larger cities their role changed to more functions such as a police officer or working inside the Shogunate government.                                                                  (haha its Tom Cruise!)

When we first think of samurai, we think of skillful fighters, not men who work almost like security guards for the government! But in Tokugawa Shogunate, there was one group of samurai called the ronin or also known as "masterless" samurai. They would live alone and find a small town to live in where they can teach their skills of fighting and fulfill duties to others who are interested.

Samurai used a variety of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears, guns, and most importantly the sword. Living the life of a samurai was not a simple task. They were true warriors who honored their leader in any circumstance and fought bravely. Their ethnic code is, "the way of the warrior." One example that really exemplifies the respect and discipline samurai have is the action they take when they know they are soon to be captured or killed. When a samurai realizes that his skills cannot overtake the power of the enemies around him, he commits suicide to honor is bravery and to his leader rather than getting captured and showing shame.

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/TOKJAPAN/SHOGUN.HTM

http://www.anime-pictures.info/samurai-7/samurai-71.jpg

Genro Statesmen

The Genro statesmen were a group of elders who collectively rules Japan, beginning at the end of the Meiji Restoration (around 1868) and ending in 1932. These new leaders were all "westernizers" and they modernized the Japanese society ever more when they came to power. A cabinet was first assembled in 1885, although the statesmen had been acting together since 1881, and the genro statesmen drafted a Constitution in 1889. The genro were the also ones to to choose the prime ministers of Japan. The statesmen ruled Japan successfully for twenty years, until they gave away their leadership in 1901. During its prime, this system worked very well, but after a few decades, a new system consisting of four prime ministers and court officials took over.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-genro.html

Sepoy Rebellion: Ways of the World vs Handout

There is many things that Ways of the World didn't cover on the Sepoy Rebellion, that other sources did. This source that I used other than the book, was the handout that we were given in class, and I found that it varied greatly from the book reading.

When I read the pages from Ways of the World, I got the impression that the Indians were only mad at the British because of the animal fat smeared cartridges. I know that it was really offensive to the Indian's because of there religion, but it was hard to believe that just this triggered such a massive rebellion. It was only after I read the handout that I was fully able to understand the Indian's situation. It took many years of the British pushing the Indian's around for the Indian's to react.

It all started with the Evangelical Christians who had no respect and were ignorant about India's ancient faiths. One way in which the disrespect by the Christians is shown is the Act of XXI which would only let Christian's inherit lands. This was a way for the Christians to force the Indian's into doing something that they did not want to do and that was dropping their ancient faiths. The British were really rude and arrogant towards the Indian's, even though the British were the ones inside foreign lands. Unfair government systems set up by the British would let crimes committed by the British slip by, and Indians would be the only ones getting arrested. The last thing that the British did before the Cartridges incident occurred, was that they completely impoverished the Indian's by setting administrative laws that only they would benefit from.

It was all of this that got the Indians fired up, and not just the animal fat cartridges. The cartridges incident just helped the Indians come to their senses and realize that they would no longer take the unfairness of the British.

Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry was an commander in the US navy around the nineteenth century. He was in the service of the navy for forty two years and was crazy about it.

Matthew Perry traveled to Japan on an expedition trying to open japan for use of a base to stop, do unloading, renew their coal and it would be great. Japan was the perfect location because it had the same latitude lines as san Francisco which means it would be a straight shot.

And of course having a port in Japan would help trade tremendously as a way to stop their and trade the US' goods. It was just a perfect stop for the american ships.

Griffiths, Ben. "Commodore Perry's Expedition to Japan." Griff World.
http://www.grifworld.com/perryhome.html (accessed January 13, 2010).