HIS 384: Modern China

EXERCISE FOR FILM #1

MANDATE OF HEAVEN

Yin: ancient capital of the Shang dynasty, located in Anyang, Henan Province. Qufu (Ch'u-fu): hometown of Confucius, located in Shan-tung (Shandong) Province. Mt. Tai: one of the sacred mountains of China, located in Shan-tung Province. Gobi Desert: desert in East Central Asia in Mongolia & China. Xuan Zang (Hsuan Tsang): 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 (Li Pai) (701-62) and Du Fu (Tu Fu): (712-770) Tang Chinese poets; wrote anti-war poems, satires, "drinking" lyrics. Kaifeng: capital of the Northern Sung Dynasty (960-1127). Zheng He (Cheng Ho): 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 Taoism, respectively. By which means could one reach a Confucian state of harmony? A Taoist 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?