Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that focuses on the Tao or the way of the universe. It was heavily influenced by the ancient scared text, the I Ching. The foundation of Taoism is based on the teachings and philosophy of Lao Tzu. He was credited with the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, which is considered to be the “keystone work” of Taoism. The Tao Te Ching is the sacred text in Taoism. The teachings in the book are what make up the philosophy of Taoism. Some Taoist ideas include Yin Yang and Wu Wei. Yin Yang represents the balance in the universe, of darkness and light. Wu Wei is effortless action. It’s the idea that events will occur, without the your actions or efforts.
The Tao is literally translated to the way of the universe. It is the idea that the universe has its own path for everything in our lives and the universe. It is very interconnected with the idea of Wu Wei in the sense that the universe's way will prevail, and that it would be effortless action to do so. Many think that the idea of Yin Yang is that everything in the universe has an opposite. While this statement does have some truth to it, Yin Yang is more about the balance in the universe. It is about how everything in the universe has a balance, and that we need to find that balance in our own lives. All of the main philosophies in Taoism are there to support the way of the universe. Finding a balance and keeping it allows the universe to find its own way without throwing it off course because of the unbalance. Li is the idea that there are patterns everywhere. It is interesting to go out and look for patterns in nature, because it is a very visual representation for Li. They can be found in plants, mountains, the sky, and almost anywhere you look. But Li also appears in life. It is important to look for patterns throughout our lives as well to be aware of everything around us. If there is a pattern of something in life (for example, you keep getting fired) an adjustment can be made to improve upon life. All of these ideas that Taoists have, all connect back to the Tao, and support the action of the universe. I also feel that it is important to note that effortless action does not mean that one should not make an effort, but that sometimes in life, something will happen without you having to do anything. But that does not mean that effort is not needed. It just means that the universe has its path, and doing one thing in specific does not mean that the desired outcome will necessarily happen.
Monday, December 14, 2015
In the upcoming year Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 8. Though it is at the beginning of February for our modern day society, the New year actually takes place on the last day of the last month according to the Chinese calendar. The holiday is also known as the spring festival and has only recently been modernized and adapted into "Chinese New Year". Even so, it is a very traditional celebration and usually important to Chinese family's. The holidays many traditions encompass around an ancient legend. It tells a story about a man-eating beast called Nian. Nian lived deep underwater but every Chinese New Year he would come out of the sea to eat livestock and humans. One year, though, an old man asked to be left in the village on the New Year with the promise that he will scare away the beast. When Nian came into the village the old man shot fireworks at the beast, scaring him back into the water. When the villagers returned the old man was gone but had left the fireworks for the villagers. From then on Chinese families would light firecrackers and hang red banners to ward off Nian. A common celebration of Chinese New Year is a parade with dancers, fireworks, and beautiful floats. People frequently hand out red envelopes with money to children to ward off evil and keep them in good health. Many will also decorate their homes to welcome the New Year, adding lanterns, red patterns, and more. On the first day of the New Year some people will stay inside all day while others will go out to greet everyone they meet. On the second day married women will visit their parents and religious ceremonies will be held. On a third another ceremony takes place, and on the fifteenth people celebrate the lantern festival. A Popular food eaten on Chinese New Year is Yú, or fish. The way the fish is prepared is very important. The head should be placed towards guests or elders to show respect. The meal can be enjoyed only after the person who the head is pointing toward has finished his meal. The fish can not be moved either. Dumplings are also served in Northern China but are rare in Southern China. Spring rolls and noodles are also traditional and have their own important traditions as well. A traditional Chinese saying on the New Year is 福禄寿, or fú lù shòu, meaning happiness, prosperity, longevity. People say this
during and after the New Year in hopes of brining good luck to those people. Chinese New Year
interested me because I had heard the mythological tale before but had never looked into it. The festivals seem exciting. I also found it interesting that Chinese New year connected with gunpowder.
during and after the New Year in hopes of brining good luck to those people. Chinese New Year
interested me because I had heard the mythological tale before but had never looked into it. The festivals seem exciting. I also found it interesting that Chinese New year connected with gunpowder.
Journey to the west blog post - Angus Gosman
The journey to the west is a story of an enlightened monk in search of sacred sutras by traveling to the west. he was assigned to do so by the Buddha. The monk is also accompanied by the monkey King, sent on this to rid himself of sin, a pig man, accused of assaulting a fairy and a used-to-be sea monster. Throughout the book the monks companions show their puissance, most of which the monkey King.
The journey to the west involves aspects of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism all in one story. The idea of the story came from actual events about a real Buddhist monk in search of sacred sutras. The monks name was Xaunzang, it was told that he spent over four years of his life in "western regions" searching for these sutras. The western regions were mostly India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. These aspects displayed in the story have much of a presence in modern China. Having the book being somewhat comical, it is easy to read and a very effective way of showing Chinese ideals.
The journey to the west tells of many adventures and shenanigans, and in the end of each there is usually a message behind each, obtained through cooperation and teamwork. Each character in the story is separate and unique, helping in their own ways. Since the story was very popular, it had many different adaptations, from movies to comic books, this old story of a monk and his misfit companions has become a very prominent part of Chinese culture.
The journey to the west involves aspects of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism all in one story. The idea of the story came from actual events about a real Buddhist monk in search of sacred sutras. The monks name was Xaunzang, it was told that he spent over four years of his life in "western regions" searching for these sutras. The western regions were mostly India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. These aspects displayed in the story have much of a presence in modern China. Having the book being somewhat comical, it is easy to read and a very effective way of showing Chinese ideals.
The journey to the west tells of many adventures and shenanigans, and in the end of each there is usually a message behind each, obtained through cooperation and teamwork. Each character in the story is separate and unique, helping in their own ways. Since the story was very popular, it had many different adaptations, from movies to comic books, this old story of a monk and his misfit companions has become a very prominent part of Chinese culture.
Camilla Taylor
December 14, 2015
Global Studies
Mid-Term Final
Gunpowder
Gunpowder was invented by Chinese alchemists who were in search of a new medicine to help improve their lifestyle. The first mention of gunpowder was written by a man named Wei Boyang, in 142 AD during the Han Dynasty. He wrote about the substance as if it was a myth that was a mixture of 3 powders that would "fly and dance" violently in the air (almost like a firework).
The process to make the powder happens to be a rarely simple task. To start, these substances are all ground together. The recipe is: 15 parts saltpeter, 3 parts charcoal, and 2 parts sulfur. They found the use of sulfur by mining it out of the ground because it happens to exist in yellow limestone. Potassium Nitrate, or saltpeter, was made by letting animal manicure decay and then using the Potassium Nitrate crystals that grew from the substance. The charcoal was used easily due to that it was common and its massive amount that was available.
Originally people made use of it in a medical way. They created large mixtures of sulfur and saltpeter which resulted in fatal medicinal conditions. First, people discovered that when burnt the mixture would create a purple flame, which was not common given the time being. The mixtures began to be a hazard to people. Some cases resulted in the loss of homes and skin being very badly burnt, due to mistaking the substance for a type of herbal fragrance or tea.
The start of using Gunpowder was in 904 AD, during the T'ang Dynasty. They mainly used it for firework displays to entertain the civilization. They began to realize the idea that the substance was supposed to be used as a source of weaponry, but they used the it to help build weaponry as opposed to helping use it. It as used for the construction of bombs, flame throwers, rockets, and land mines. The first real use if gunpowder involving weapon dr was the use of rockets for attack purposes because of their similarity to fireworks.
This new discovery, led to a whole new change in society. The Chinese emperors attempted to keep the invention a secret, for their advantage, but soon the Roman and Islamic Empires learned of the secret and began to learn of the use o these powerful weapons. Not to long after, the European Empire leaned of gunpowder and quickly used the information to their advantage. In 1400's AD the European Empire attacked West Africa, who didn't have the knowledge of gunpowder at the time, and defeated them due to their lack of defense.
December 14, 2015
Global Studies
Mid-Term Final
Gunpowder
Gunpowder was invented by Chinese alchemists who were in search of a new medicine to help improve their lifestyle. The first mention of gunpowder was written by a man named Wei Boyang, in 142 AD during the Han Dynasty. He wrote about the substance as if it was a myth that was a mixture of 3 powders that would "fly and dance" violently in the air (almost like a firework).
The process to make the powder happens to be a rarely simple task. To start, these substances are all ground together. The recipe is: 15 parts saltpeter, 3 parts charcoal, and 2 parts sulfur. They found the use of sulfur by mining it out of the ground because it happens to exist in yellow limestone. Potassium Nitrate, or saltpeter, was made by letting animal manicure decay and then using the Potassium Nitrate crystals that grew from the substance. The charcoal was used easily due to that it was common and its massive amount that was available.
Originally people made use of it in a medical way. They created large mixtures of sulfur and saltpeter which resulted in fatal medicinal conditions. First, people discovered that when burnt the mixture would create a purple flame, which was not common given the time being. The mixtures began to be a hazard to people. Some cases resulted in the loss of homes and skin being very badly burnt, due to mistaking the substance for a type of herbal fragrance or tea.
The start of using Gunpowder was in 904 AD, during the T'ang Dynasty. They mainly used it for firework displays to entertain the civilization. They began to realize the idea that the substance was supposed to be used as a source of weaponry, but they used the it to help build weaponry as opposed to helping use it. It as used for the construction of bombs, flame throwers, rockets, and land mines. The first real use if gunpowder involving weapon dr was the use of rockets for attack purposes because of their similarity to fireworks.
This new discovery, led to a whole new change in society. The Chinese emperors attempted to keep the invention a secret, for their advantage, but soon the Roman and Islamic Empires learned of the secret and began to learn of the use o these powerful weapons. Not to long after, the European Empire leaned of gunpowder and quickly used the information to their advantage. In 1400's AD the European Empire attacked West Africa, who didn't have the knowledge of gunpowder at the time, and defeated them due to their lack of defense.
Chinese New Year is a Chinese holiday celebrated at the turn of the Chinese calendar. Another name for the festival is spring festival because it is celebrated between January 21 and February 20. Chinese New Year is celebrated in many countries and territories with great Chinese populations such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, and the Philippines. The celebrations of Chinese New Year include family reunion dinners, decorating the windows and doors with red paper-cuts and couplets with themes of good fortune, health, and longevity. Some other traditions are to light fire crackers and to give and receive money in red envelopes. There are also many colorful parades that take place on Chinese New Year.
The Chinese year 4713 began on February 19, 2015. It is said that Chinese New Year originated during the Shang Dynasty which is 1766 BC-1122 BC but it is still unclear what the dates are exactly.
According to tales and legends there was a mythical creature called the "Year". On New Year's Eve the beast would come out and harm people. The only way to scare away the "Year" was to be loud, bright and red because the creature was afraid of those things. From then on it became a tradition to light fireworks, and decorate with the color red. Fireworks are lit on New Year's Eve to celebrate the coming year, and to scare away the evil. It is said that the first person to light the fireworks will obtain good luck.
Chinese New Year was traditionally the most important festival on the Chinese calendar. It was originally a time to honor deities and ancestors. The Chinese New Year dinner is very large and normally includes dumplings, chicken and pork. Traditionally there is also a fish served but internationally it is not finished to bless the new year.
The lantern festival is another celebration of Chinese New Year that takes place on the 15th day of the lunar month. To celebrate, people carry lanterns at the festival at which there is a famous dragon dance. Children also carry the paper lanterns to temples at night to solve riddles on the lantern. In ancient times these lanterns were very simple, yet now everyone is able to have ornately decorated ones. They are almost always red ones to symbolize good fortune. In Hong Kong the lantern festival is like Valentine's Day.
Over all, Chinese New Year is a very valuable and important holiday that showcases Chinese culture worldwide.
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Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the most important festival in China. It is the time where families reunite and celebrate the start o a new year. Every year is the year of a zodiac animal, and the animals change every year. The zodiac animals in order are: Rat,Ox,Tiger,Rabbit,Fragon,Snake,Horse,Goat,Monkey,Rooster,Dog,Pig. This year (2016) is the year of the Monkey.
The date of the Chinese New Year changes every year because the Chinese follow the Lunar calendar. Chinese New Year is day one of the first month o the Lunar calendar. In 2016, Chinese New Year begins on the 8th of Febraury and ends on the 22nd of February. It is an official public holiday, and most Chinese people get 7 days off of work.
Before the big celebration, Chinese people would prepare by thouroughly cleaning the house and it is called 'sweeping the dust'. Cleaning the house represents saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year. Popular decorations include fancy cut-outs, red traditional lanterns, kumquat trees and couplets. The most popular decoration is an upside down good forturne sign called 'fu', and has been used for many years. The tradition of the upside down good fortune sign was from a mistake, as a family hung their good luck sign upside down by accident and a neighbor corrected them say "your fu is upside down" and in Chinese upside down also means 'pour out' so they misunderstood and thought the neighbour said "your fu is pouring out" which means your luck is pouring out.
On the day of the celebration, families get together and reunite over dinner. Some of the popular foods that are eaten on Chinese New Year are fish, dumplings and noodles. Fish in chinese also sounds like surplus, so peole eat fish to have surplus at the end of the year. Dumplings are eaten because they are in the shape of a gold ingot which represents weath and the noodles represents a long life, and is believed to be lucky when eaten on a special occasion such as Chinese New Year. Adults give the children red envelopes filled with money inside for good luck, and the envelopes are red because red is China's lucky color and red is also used to scare the monster Nian so the money inside is called 'lucky money'. After dinner, the whole amily would usually go outside to watch a lion dancing show and light firecrackers.
The legend of the monster 'Nian' is a very important part of Chinese New Year. before, the monster used to eat people and the crops in China but the survivors found a way to ward off the monster by setting off fireworks and putting up red because the color scared the monster. This is why it is a tradition to set off fireworks and decorate the house red on Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year is the most important festival in China. It is the time where families reunite and celebrate the start o a new year. Every year is the year of a zodiac animal, and the animals change every year. The zodiac animals in order are: Rat,Ox,Tiger,Rabbit,Fragon,Snake,Horse,Goat,Monkey,Rooster,Dog,Pig. This year (2016) is the year of the Monkey.
The date of the Chinese New Year changes every year because the Chinese follow the Lunar calendar. Chinese New Year is day one of the first month o the Lunar calendar. In 2016, Chinese New Year begins on the 8th of Febraury and ends on the 22nd of February. It is an official public holiday, and most Chinese people get 7 days off of work.
Before the big celebration, Chinese people would prepare by thouroughly cleaning the house and it is called 'sweeping the dust'. Cleaning the house represents saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year. Popular decorations include fancy cut-outs, red traditional lanterns, kumquat trees and couplets. The most popular decoration is an upside down good forturne sign called 'fu', and has been used for many years. The tradition of the upside down good fortune sign was from a mistake, as a family hung their good luck sign upside down by accident and a neighbor corrected them say "your fu is upside down" and in Chinese upside down also means 'pour out' so they misunderstood and thought the neighbour said "your fu is pouring out" which means your luck is pouring out.
On the day of the celebration, families get together and reunite over dinner. Some of the popular foods that are eaten on Chinese New Year are fish, dumplings and noodles. Fish in chinese also sounds like surplus, so peole eat fish to have surplus at the end of the year. Dumplings are eaten because they are in the shape of a gold ingot which represents weath and the noodles represents a long life, and is believed to be lucky when eaten on a special occasion such as Chinese New Year. Adults give the children red envelopes filled with money inside for good luck, and the envelopes are red because red is China's lucky color and red is also used to scare the monster Nian so the money inside is called 'lucky money'. After dinner, the whole amily would usually go outside to watch a lion dancing show and light firecrackers.
The legend of the monster 'Nian' is a very important part of Chinese New Year. before, the monster used to eat people and the crops in China but the survivors found a way to ward off the monster by setting off fireworks and putting up red because the color scared the monster. This is why it is a tradition to set off fireworks and decorate the house red on Chinese New Year.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
The Great Wall of China
Sofia Sani
Global Studies 9B
December 8, 2015
The Great Wall of China
By Sofia Sani
The Great Wall of China, or the Chang Cheng in Chinese, is one of the largest and most amazing pieces of architecture in our world. It is located in China. China is the largest country in Asia and is the worlds most populated country. China has created many many great things including gunpowder, paper and printing, porcelain, silk, and the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China is made up of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood and many other things to creat a series of fortifications. Fortifications are military constructions or buildings built as defense for the territories in warfare. It is not all one wall but many walls built and compiled over 2,000 years. It is built along the east-to-west line of the border in northern China. The Great Wall started out as many small walls that were then joined together to make a stronger and bigger wall. The wall is there to protect China from raids and invasions from outsiders. It also works as border control and allowing goods to be transported in and out of China along the silk roads. The Great Wall stretches from the east to west, from Dandong to Lop Lake. The watchtowers are 30-40 feet high and the base is 40 feet wide. The watchtowers are connected by a couple miles of wall. The Great Wall stretches around 13,000 miles and was built in 206 BC.
When China became an empire under the rule of Qin Shi Huang, he ordered the construction of the wall to keep the Moguls out. The wall surrounded Beijing, which was thought to be the center of the empire. The wall wasn't as stable as it is now and soon the defenses became weak and China was taken over by the Ming Dynasty. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Jaijing, had sat on the throne of the Ming dynasty since 1522. Back then the Ming Dynasty didn't trade with anyone, they just traded with each other and grew crops in the empire. Jaijing tasked general Weng Wanda with the task of building on the wall and making it greater, taller, longer and stronger. He wanted to protect the empire from the Mongols and their raids. The Mongols were constantly asking to set up trading posts to trade with Jaijing. In 1549 a Mongol peasant led a raid to try to break down the wall. The Great Wall was thought to be impenetrable. Finally, the Mongols found a weak stop on the wall and broke through. For three days they burned, terrorized, and ruined the city. On September 30, 1550, the Mongol raiders got to the center of the city. The Mongols sent a prisoner of war with a message to Jaijing. The message only asks for trading posts to be set up, nothing more. Confused by this meager request, the emperor question the validity of the letter. Soon Jaijing decided that he will not negotiate with murderers so he said no and to send a formal request. Years later they opened up some trading posts in the watchtowers of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall of China follows the mountain lines and travels many ups and downs, from the tops of the mountains to the bottoms of the valleys. The workers who worked on the wall were treated terribly and under very harsh conditions. They were abused physically and verbally and the pay was terrible. The rates they were forced to work at were crazy, three kilometers of the wall was created in 6 days with under 3,000 workers! So many of the workers died and were buried in the wall. Finally, when the wall was finished, they got guards to stay on watch. The guards who stayed on the wall were payed very little, if at all, for the Great Wall bankrupt the Ming Dynasty. Smoke signals were used to tell other guards that invaders were coming and the guards would then gather together and fend off the invaders. Even through the countless deaths and all the bloodshed, an amazing architectural feat was accomplished that is still standing strong today.
Global Studies 9B
December 8, 2015
The Great Wall of China
By Sofia Sani
The Great Wall of China, or the Chang Cheng in Chinese, is one of the largest and most amazing pieces of architecture in our world. It is located in China. China is the largest country in Asia and is the worlds most populated country. China has created many many great things including gunpowder, paper and printing, porcelain, silk, and the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China is made up of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood and many other things to creat a series of fortifications. Fortifications are military constructions or buildings built as defense for the territories in warfare. It is not all one wall but many walls built and compiled over 2,000 years. It is built along the east-to-west line of the border in northern China. The Great Wall started out as many small walls that were then joined together to make a stronger and bigger wall. The wall is there to protect China from raids and invasions from outsiders. It also works as border control and allowing goods to be transported in and out of China along the silk roads. The Great Wall stretches from the east to west, from Dandong to Lop Lake. The watchtowers are 30-40 feet high and the base is 40 feet wide. The watchtowers are connected by a couple miles of wall. The Great Wall stretches around 13,000 miles and was built in 206 BC.
When China became an empire under the rule of Qin Shi Huang, he ordered the construction of the wall to keep the Moguls out. The wall surrounded Beijing, which was thought to be the center of the empire. The wall wasn't as stable as it is now and soon the defenses became weak and China was taken over by the Ming Dynasty. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Jaijing, had sat on the throne of the Ming dynasty since 1522. Back then the Ming Dynasty didn't trade with anyone, they just traded with each other and grew crops in the empire. Jaijing tasked general Weng Wanda with the task of building on the wall and making it greater, taller, longer and stronger. He wanted to protect the empire from the Mongols and their raids. The Mongols were constantly asking to set up trading posts to trade with Jaijing. In 1549 a Mongol peasant led a raid to try to break down the wall. The Great Wall was thought to be impenetrable. Finally, the Mongols found a weak stop on the wall and broke through. For three days they burned, terrorized, and ruined the city. On September 30, 1550, the Mongol raiders got to the center of the city. The Mongols sent a prisoner of war with a message to Jaijing. The message only asks for trading posts to be set up, nothing more. Confused by this meager request, the emperor question the validity of the letter. Soon Jaijing decided that he will not negotiate with murderers so he said no and to send a formal request. Years later they opened up some trading posts in the watchtowers of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall of China follows the mountain lines and travels many ups and downs, from the tops of the mountains to the bottoms of the valleys. The workers who worked on the wall were treated terribly and under very harsh conditions. They were abused physically and verbally and the pay was terrible. The rates they were forced to work at were crazy, three kilometers of the wall was created in 6 days with under 3,000 workers! So many of the workers died and were buried in the wall. Finally, when the wall was finished, they got guards to stay on watch. The guards who stayed on the wall were payed very little, if at all, for the Great Wall bankrupt the Ming Dynasty. Smoke signals were used to tell other guards that invaders were coming and the guards would then gather together and fend off the invaders. Even through the countless deaths and all the bloodshed, an amazing architectural feat was accomplished that is still standing strong today.
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