GUIDE
QUESTIONS FOR FILM
MANDATE OF HEAVEN
Yin: ancient capital of the
Shang dynasty, located in Anyang, Henan Province. Qufu: hometown of Confucius,
located in Shandong Province. Mt. Tai: one of the sacred
mountains of China, located in Shandong Province. Gobi Desert: desert in East Central
Asia in Mongolia & China. Xuan Zang: Chinese Buddhist pilgrim
who traveled in India 629-45, collecting Buddhist sutras (teachings). |
Pali: an Indo-Aryan language
used as the liturgical and scholarly language of Theravada Buddhism. Li Bai (701-62) and Du Fu (712-770): Tang
Chinese poets; wrote anti-war poems, satires, "drinking" lyrics. Kaifeng: capital of the Northern
Song Dynasty (960-1127). Zheng He: the early Ming admiral
who led seven ocean voyages for the Chinese court between 1405 and 1433. |
#1.
Describe and compare the two states of harmony envisioned by devoted
practitioners of Confucianism and Daoist (Taoism), respectively. By which means could one reach a Confucian
state of harmony? A Daoist state?
#2.
According to the film's narrator Michael Wood, what function did writing have
in the development of Chinese civilization?
How is Chinese calligraphy, as Wood puts it, an expression of a Chinese
view of the world?
#3. State your own argument why the Ming court
abandoned efforts to send large armadas overseas for exploration. Was the court justified in making this
decision? Are Western scholars
justified in largely criticizing this decision? You can limit your response to material presented in this film,
or you can include materials from the textbook and lectures.