Beryl Yang & Peking Opera

Post the questions that you have for Beryl after her intriguing lecture on the Peking Opera. She is a specialist on the folk music from the villages of China.

Carl Polley visits/ Questions after visit

Post the questions that you have for Carl Polley after his visit:

Carl Polley/ Confucius & Zhuangzi

Post your questions to Carl Polley, from the University of Hawaii (PHD studies) under Comments after you have read his hand-out.

Questions for Egypt/Hosam El Metaher

Egypt & the Pyramids

Dear Hosam,

Here are a few lingering questions that we have about Egypt, her literature (love poems, leiden hymns, proverbs from the tombs and video (Kollena Ensan):

Post your questions under Comments:

Beryl Yang/ Ethomusicologist, Peking Opera and music

Beryl & Kelli

Carl Polley / Chinese Literature

Carl Polley answer to questions

Nicole said...

1. Many Confucian sayings and proverbs reflect Confucius' strong emphasis on government, structure, and education. Despite his stress on the importance of education and qualification for government officials, during his time, China still had an emperor, who was chosen via a blood line. How did Confucius feel about this structure of government?

[Actually, Confucius lived during the 5th century BC, about two hundred years before the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, who unified China in 221 BC. During the Warring States period when Confucius was teaching, the group of kingdoms that would eventually become China was ruled by kings, who generally came to power through military conquest. (Actually, the first emperor of each later dynastic period also came to power in the same way.) Confucius felt that rulers must have obligations to their subjects, in the same way that subjects have obligations to their emperors, and he taught that only benevolent rulers would be successful.]

2. What was Confucius' view/opinion on the role of women?

[Excellent question! There is a quote in the Analects of Confucius that goes something like "It is only women and petty persons who are difficult to provide for. Drawing them close, they are immodest, and keeping them at a distance, they complain." -- but an alternative reading of the same exact passage would be translated as being a comment about "handmaidens and servants" which would mean it's about how to deal with one's household servants, not women in general. So Confucius himself might have been rather sexist. In any case, he did not have much to say about the role of women, other than that husbands and wives should be respectful and benevolent to each other, and that mothers should be revered by their children.]

May 2, 2011 7:22 PM

Eri said...

1. Confucius believes that if people didn't follow the rules and did their own thing, the world will fall into chaos. But does he talk about what the people should do if the rules are corrupt?

[Confucius didn't have much to say about what common people should do, but he did point out that poor leadership that was either lacking in the six desirable qualities of character (benevolence, wisdom, integrity, candor, boldness, and firmness) or that failed to temper such qualities through continuous learning and self-improvement by the ruler, could only lead to a dissatisfied and unruly populace.

Mencius went a step further and said that it would be better for sages, advisers and officials to resign rather than serve a corrupt superior. He even went so far as to comment, when asked about his views on the assassination of King Zhou of Shang, that he had only heard that "a villain in Zhou was killed, which is not the same as murdering a ruler." In other words, he only recognized the authority of rulers who were benevolent.

Some of the greatest Chinese poetry was, in fact, written by disaffected officials who had lost faith in the political system of the fallen Tang dynasty. Du Fu's poetry is probably the best example of a Confucian intellectual's contemplative response to the problem of corruption and its effects.]

2. Ququezi says that the sage does not blindly cling to Tao. Is he trying to say that one must carefully analyze their beliefs? [Yes! The Taoists taught that one should be skeptical of everything, including Taoism.]

May 2, 2011 11:19 PM

naomi said...

1. Do you hold similar beliefs to the beliefs of Mencius? [I think I do. Mencius had a balanced view of how to live a meaningful and honorable life. He also believed that people are innately benevolent and compassionate; that such virtues are innate, and that the main function of government is to enable the manifestation of such virtue by each member of society. This was a view that opposed the teachings of another Confucianist, Xunzi, who thought that people are innately greedy and unruly, and that the main function of government is to suppress such natural urges. Personally I agree with Mencius and disagree with Xunzi on this point.]

2. Some of Mencius's sayings are a little confusing and hard to understand. Is Mencius's beliefs and sayings still popular in China today? If so, in what ways do people show their support toward him?

[The book of Mencius, which contains all of his extant teachings, was/is required reading for all Chinese schoolchildren and scholars for at least the past thousand years, from the Sung dynasty to the current day. Any Chinese critic of government corruption probably sees Mencius's teachings as one of the key philosophical bases for their views. One of his quotes, which my wife Beryl recited to me just now (she learned it in high school in Beijing) is that "water can float a boat, but it can also sink a boat;" in other words, common people can support a government, but they can also topple it.]

May 2, 2011 11:41 PM

Kyleigh M said...

In many other cultures, the youth in this day have strayed away from strict adherence to cultural traditions. Do young people in this day adhere to Chinese traditions as closely as past generations? For example; in gift giving, festival celebrating and religion? In what ways? [In mainland China, many many traditions have been essentially lost, especially religious traditions due to the upheaval of the cultural revolution from 1966 to 1976. In Taiwan, religious traditions are a bit stronger; for example it is common to visit Taoist and Buddhist temples to make offerings in Taiwan. Festivals are still celebrated both in Taiwan and mainland China, and gift giving is a core part of the culture. Anytime you visit someone's house, for example, it is assumed that you'll bring a gift, unless they are one of your best friends.]

If in any way, how does American culture affect Chinese youth culture? [Music, movies, television, and fashion are probably the most obvious ways. If you were to visit China, you might be very surprised to find just how much you have in common with Chinese people your same age, especially in relatively developed areas like Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern coastal provinces. But in the past 5 years, some of the latest developments of youth culture have been off-limits; for example, Facebook and Youtube are both generally banned. One's Internet connection will mysteriously cease to work if they try to visit a banned site. Chinese youth have their own Chinese language sites but the impact of the internet has not been as great (or maybe just not *yet* as great?) as in other places around the world.]

May 3, 2011 2:20 AM

Davin Tsubota said...

1. In your opinion, how do stories differ between Chinese and American cultures? [That is a really good question. I think one of the key differences is that traditional Chinese stories focus on each character's behavior, while American stories focus on their thoughts and feelings. Chinese stories very rarely (until the 20th century) would adopt a character's inner point of view. This might be because the Chinese prose tradition stems directly from a tradition of historical record-keeping. The earliest stories were biographies of historical people.]

2. What kind of impact does nature have on Chinese Literature? [A deep and ubiquitous impact, especially for poetry. This was due to the very heavy influence of Taoist philosophy on Chinese poets. You can also see the impact of Taoist attitudes toward nature on the Chinese tradition of painting.]

May 3, 2011 10:31 AM

Charis said...

1. Confucius says to obey authority, but what if authority is wrong and corrupt? [See my answer above regarding this. Another good anecdote about Confucianism and corrupt authority is regarding the descendants of Confucius. Through nearly every single dynasty of Chinese history, the lineal descendants of Confucius were honored by the emperor and government with noble titles and official appointments. In 1937, a man named Kung Te-cheng, the 77th-generation lineal descendent of Confucius, was offered a position as "emperor of China" by the Japanese military occupation, but he refused to serve.]

2. Is he forgiving for childhood innocence? [He doesn't say specifically, that I'm aware of. But he is credited with teaching the golden rule, "do not do unto others what you would not want them to do unto you" (Socrates and Jesus are also credited with teaching the same axiom). So he probably was an empathetic parent.]

May 3, 2011 12:12 PM

apleus11 said...

Wang Ni says "the perfect man is divine...unaffected by life and death". How does this belief shape Chinese culture? [There are various mystical sayings in the philosophical books that could be interpreted in a number of ways. One way to interpret this particular passage is that perhaps the perfect man is simply an ideal, something that exists beyond our mortal realm, though everyone can strive toward that ideal in our imperfect world.]

Do you believe in Confucius's teachings? [Yes, I think ranks right up there with Jesus, Buddha and Socrates as one of the world's greatest teachers.] How is Confucius seen in Chinese culture and literature? [He is very highly revered. The best parallel I can think of would be how Jesus is revered in many communities in Western culture. There are also Confucian temples in China. But the difference is that Confucius is remembered as being simply "the first teacher" rather than a divine figure. Historically, he is credited for opening the first private school in China (and, therefore, probably the first in the world) that accepted students regardless of their socio-economic background, since he thought that education and learning could be of great benefit to everyone, not just the wealthy.]