Category: Chinese Culture

The issue of same-sex marriage arouses a considerable discussion nowadays, contrasting argument show up in different countries, discourses between LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) and anti-homosexuality seem more problematic. It could be argued that the grand narrative of sexual orientation still strong in the world. In 2019, Taiwan becomes the first place in Asia which legalised same-sex marriage. The constitutional court introduced the law ‘Press Release On the Same-Sex Marriage Case’ in 2017, after 2 years, it has been processed by parliament. However, there were many anti-same-sex groups and citizens against this law, they claimed that the ruling party ignored public consciousness, since the consequences of referendums show that majority of the voters was refused same-sex marriage. According to the Central Election Commission (2018), more than 7 million citizens disagreed with this law and it was a gigantic gap between the two-party votes. Therefore, this essay will discuss the grand narrative of sexual orientation, and focus on two firm ideologies which namely that Chinese culture and Christianity. This essay first describes the concept of the grand narrative introduced by Lyotard, then analyses how both Chinese culture and Christianity are the opposite of same-sex marriage in Taiwan. Finally, it will infer the grand narrative of sexual orientation in Taiwan and discuss the changing narrative of same-sex relationships.

Grand narrative, also known as metanarrative or master-narrative, is a term used by Lyotard in his notable work “The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge” (1979). According to Lyotard, cited in Taylor and Winquist (2001), grand narrative is a story which could legitimate itself and lead to conformity in society, for instance, Marxism, Capitalism and Christianity, these narratives provide their own meaning and truth, it also supplies a ‘framework’ and involve all other cultural narratives can adapt it. This is an idea whereby dominant discourse spreads across society or a big story that can explain everything in the community, and people tend to follow without doubts (Sim 1998: 8). In the postmodern period, Lyotard argues that people no longer rely on grand narratives, ‘I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives’(1984: xxiv), he argues that grand narrative is not to be admired but instead it will be disintegrated by ‘little narrative’, which is composed by a small group of people who have specific goal (Sim 1998). However, I maintain that the grand narrative of sexual orientation in Taiwan seems not collapsed and still lasts right now.

The hegemony of heterosexuality seems to have dominated worldwide until recent years, it appears in diverse ways such as religion, family, laws, and media. According to Pew Research Center (2019), there are only 29 countries that possessed legal recognition of same-sex marriage which means most countries in the world maintain the opposite attitude for the LGBT. In Taiwan, major citizens’ perspectives considerably harbour suspicions on same-sex marriage, I suggest that one of the greatest reasons is tradition of Chinese culture, which presents the conventional concepts that ‘Family existence is for produce a babies who could carry someone’s name’, ‘Marriage just for male and female’, and this ideology resembles engrave in certain generation. In addition, family is an important basis in Chinese culture but is also could restrict the emergence of LGBT, the core value of Chinese family could be considered as ‘Filial piety’ which in Hanyu Pinyin calls ‘xiao shun’, this word in most clarifications which mean that children should devote themselves to their parents, be respectful, be faithful and not against their wishes, it implies the duty of children in Chinese culture. As stated in Martin (2003: 121), the principal work of the Chinese family is the succession to the ‘paternal surname’ and it also is a part of the ‘xiao’, this ideology is indeed existed in contemporary Taiwan and had negative influences on homosexuality. For example, Gu Minlun, cited in Martin (2003), referred that:

“The parent’s generation’s financial and emotional investment will be repaid in the form of the children’s feelings towards the parents. … Any deviation from this form breaks the rules of behaviour specified by the contract, is ‘unfilial’, the ‘greatest offence’ and very unfortunately, ‘being homosexual’ is one way of breaking the contract.” (2003: pp.121-122)

Consequently, it is obvious that the ideology of Chinese culture seems to have been dominated, most individuals follow this grand tradition in Taiwan and pass on countless generations. However, in this term of grand narrative, children who are different sexual orientations from heterosexuality would appear severe confusion between the self-identification and role of family, and it also deepens the difficulty of ‘coming up of the closet’. I believed that the narrative ‘xiao’ has a positive and negative side, it is a virtue of Chinese culture whereas it ignores every human being are the independent individuals, either child.

Christianity is a grand narrative that has appreciable influence in the world. Demonstrated by Pew Research Center (2015), Christianity is the largest religious group in recent years and has over 2 billion followers. In Taiwan, Christianity is not a mainstream religion in which it possesses multiple religions and cultures. Nevertheless, Christian Churches seem still have great power in society and some civil groups are strongly supported by the Christians, also, Christianity was permeated into the politics and business. For instance, anti-same-sex marriage groups in Taiwan such as “Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups for Family Protection” and “Faith and Hope League”, which have close-knit relationships with Christians (Ho 2016). As Chen and Wang (2010: 403) suggested that ‘Christian Church in Taiwan is extremely adept at using nonreligious values and the traditional views of the local people to promote itself.’ Meanwhile, they expanded their authority to politics. It could find consistency with another argument by Victoria (2015: 159), the anti-gay groups in Taiwan appear big capability than the LGBT movement, and former is close to the politicians, it is a plight for LGBT. Explore in more detail, it is surely that reason for homosexual has been refused which connects with Christian beliefs and their own narratives, they believe the Bible is the sacred text, which is a word of God; most of them followed this holy text without suspicion. However, some contents in the Bible appear opposition to homosexuality, ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.’ (Leviticus 20:13). In addition, number of Christians had seriously against the same-sex marriage which is noted in Locke’s (2005: 145) work, Christians like Schmidt, Hays, and Stott interpreted the Genesis’ (the first book of Bible) passages, one of them argued that “Since homoerotic behaviour falls outside of these four biblical affirmations regarding sex and marriage, it is sinful and must be rejected by all Christians.” (Schmidt 1997). While these discourses were stated by certain Christians, I believe that it is undeniable fact that similar narratives frustrate the LGBT groups in society. Back to Taiwan, I argue that the grand narrative of Christianity spread extensively and persuade the public to conform with the ‘framework’ in society, we could see the number of comments and advertisements show up on mass media by Christians, they cited the Bible and interpreted in a specific way. Moreover, they used ‘family value’ to decorate their idea and strongly exert this value to influence the public, and it has coincided Chen and Wang (2010) said, they are adroit to do that.

In conclusion, LGBT could not be extensively acknowledged in Taiwan due to these two grand narratives of Chinese culture and Christianity. The grand discourses appear in many places like news, social media, and superiors who from well-known groups or administration, sometimes the importance of this discourse will be exaggerated to the public, and ignorant rhetoric may be conveyed by certain legislators and civil groups today. I argue that perfect integration of Christianity with Chinese culture is a key that nearly dominates the social atmosphere in Taiwan, thus same-sex marriage is seen as wishful thinking in public discourse; though the legalisation of same-sex marriage is an important step for LGBT rights, there is still opposition throughout Taiwan. However, it is worth noting that people who are against same-sex marriage generally composed of an older generation, and many of the younger generation no longer fully accept the grand narrative. I truly believe that the grand narrative of sexual orientation will have a significant change in the future, same-sex marriage is just a starting point, tolerant society still has a long path to go, but the dominance of the grand narrative will have weakened, the future in Taiwan and the world would be better.

There are some great things about my Chinese heritage. However, there are some negative aspects that also give me some negative feelings about my culture.

The two positive factors include our strong work ethic and the teamwork aspect we have as Chinese. Part of what I have learned from my heritage is that one has to work hard. I have a strong capacity to perform a lot of work. I believe as long as I want excellent grades, I have to work for it. That ideology has been installed in me ever since I was young. We are not lazy and always strive to be self-disciplined. A strong work ethic, together with an understanding of the importance of learning, ensures I keep my head high. That is the first decisive factor that relates to my culture. The second positive factor is the teamwork aspect. As Chinese, our culture dictates that we should always focus on progressing as a team, not as individuals. I believe in a system where the needs of a group or a team are more essential than that of one person. Family is necessary compared to anything else. I believe working as a team always assures me that we are more likely to go further when compared to when working alone. That culture of showing concern for my neighbor is among the decisive factors which I associate with my heritage. We always show interest in the elderly as part of showing interest in our neighbors and working as a team. Both the strong and weak should work together.

Speaking of the negative aspects of my Chinese heritage, they include a lower emotional reaction and minimized ideologies by people. The suppressed emotional reaction we showcase makes us offer an evaluation first before giving a response to an individual. When growing up, our culture and heritage did not allow us to showcase cases of emotional attachment to something or someone. All one had to do is take concern and care for your neighbor and always work as a team. When it comes to the moving part, were emotionally suppressed. We had to analyze the response I gave before making them. Emotion is a form of weakness, according to my heritage. However, the concept is soon shifting. And the second negative factor is the ideologies in our heritage. Before the revolution, there were many religions, such as Taoism and Buddhism. These religions formed the basis of the doctrines we had, and they created social order. However, after the revolution, most of these religions were prohibited. That created a culture shock since people did not know what to believe, and public behavior shifted from that point. The criticism aspect allowed people to become atheists. The practice is vivid today, and the aftermath of such action is exhibited by some people.

Although the Chinese culture has presented both positive and negative aspects, I believe our good heritage culture overweighs the negative ones. That is what makes me and China great as a nation.

As in all ancient societies, religion was a significant factor in the culture of early Chinese dynasties. Another important factor in the development of Chinese society was the geography of the region. During the Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, China developed two religious systems. The culture included arts, inventions, and important political achievements.

China was very isolated from the rest of the word. The west and southwest side of china was blocked by the Himalayan mountains which consists of some of the tallest peaks in the world, Also the Tien Shan both large mountain ranges isolating the west side of china. Not only are there mountain ranges there with large peaks there are also some intense deserts you must face if trying to get into china. The Southeast side has something completely different than desert it has a vast rainforest that divides Southeast Asia and China from one another. To the North there is the arid region called the Gobi desert. The Gobi desert provides China with lots of isolation considering that it is one of the largest deserts in the world. East of china there is the world’s biggest body of water the Pacific Ocean. Even though it seems nearly impossible to get anywhere near China the Chinese managed to have trade with their neighbors allowing them to learn new things and for them to be able to spread their already found knowledge. Despite China being very isolated they were still able to trade and such through later what would become the silk road. Through trading and sharing the knowledge of iron working became more familiar to the Chinese. By being able to make nice iron tools the farmers were able to make more food and be more successful. Knowing how isolated china was it still doesn’t seem like they had any troubles expanding into a great civilization.

Religion was used to elevate the kings and emperors above the common people. They did so by using what is called the mandate of Heaven. The Zhou leaders when they rebelled against the Shang dynasty said it was because the Gods were furious at the Shang leader because of his cruelty. The Zhou leader said that the Gods wanted him to have the mandate of heaven because he would be a good fair leader. Later on the mandate of heaven was more widely spread and used more as a reason for the rise and or fall of something like the dynastic cycle. People said that as long as the rulers were fair and the government was good then the mandate of heaven would be in their favor and the gods would approve and give them good crops. However if there was a shortage of crops or famine the people would think that the mandate of heaven no longer approved of the rulers and the government. That’s how dynastic cycle worked in the eyes of the people if the crops weren’t good or any catastrophe happened the gods must be mad but if crops and everything was good the gods must be happy. Religion played a big part in the culture of the people and how they chose a ruler. All because someone said the gods were unhappy gave him the right to rule.

Religion was a big part of Asian culture. The religious beliefs where different under different rulers. During the Shang dynasty the people believed in many gods and spirits that they prayed to. The king at the time Shang Di believed he had the link between him and god. So as long as you prayed good to Shang Di god would answer your prayers. Later on people started to believe that only few were great enough to pray to Shang Di such as the ancestors of late kings or nobles. They thought that the ancestors would bring good luck and good crops to the community. However this was the thought process when the Shang dynasty was ruling but when the wars broke out things changed. Emerging form the war were two things Confucianism and Daoism. Confucius the man behind Confucianism and Daoism had longed for a job in court has an advisor. However he didn’t end up finding a job as an adviser so he started teaching his beliefs and as he did that more and more students started wanting to learn from him. Confucius didn’t make a new religion but a way of life a philosophy to go by. He had focused on making sure social order was strong and government was good. Confucius made emphasis on social classes and acceptance of your social class. He believed that if we had correct social class and we obeyed them there would be more stability in our lives. He taught that rulers had the responsibility to make sure the government was good and fair for their people and in return the people would give him loyalty. Confucius taught a way of harmony and peace he really effected the way the China thought of the world.

China was greatly affected by the religious beliefs of the people and the rulers. Religion is so powerful that it affects the rise and fall of a whole dynasty. People want to be better because of religion and rulers want to be better rulers because of religion. Words and thought process can be very powerful and influential like Confusion and Daoism. China would not have had such a rich history without the influence of religion.

My sinological research project is on how Hip Hop culture is influencing Chinese youth culture through music, fashion and entertainment ? This will be my main question for my project however it will be clearly split between fashion, music and entertainment.

The first subtopic that I will be searching into is music. I will research into this by listening to Chinese Hip Hop music by prominent Hip Hop artists such as VaVa and Kris Wu. I will first do my research into Vava and how she is one of the only female Chinese Hip Hop artists at the moment. I will use sources from “https://www.google.com.hk/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2160493/crazy-rich-Asians-gives-Chinas-Hip Hop-Queen-Vava-international” [1]. From this source you can take in how Vava became popular internationally from her contribution to the Crazy Rich Asians soundtrack. “And how Vava has also become a fashion icon as well as the face of Chinese Hip Hop across the country.” [2] source 3 will also focus on why and how Vava choose Hip Hop and how she is influencing youth culture especially for young Chinese women. Primary sources that I will use for this is the lyrics to Vava’s songs, I have chosen two songs for research as I feel these two songs best describe the influence of Hip Hop in Chinese youth culture. The songs are “我的新衣” [3] and “life’s a struggle”[4] both of these songs in their original content are in Chinese.

The other Chinese Hip Hop artist that is prominent already is Kris Wu, I will employ the same research and approach and methods into this as I did with Vava, so I will listen to Chinese Hip Hop songs, but as Kris Wu is more prominent I will also use some of his video interviews. “He headlines the rap of China”[5]. Which is a prominent reality show in China, however I may have to change some of my methods or approaches due to some restrictions the Chinese government have placed upon Hip Hop culture, but I’m sure I probably won’t encounter any problems.

The second sub topic that I will be researching into is fashion. I will research and approach this by using methods such as reading fashion magazines articles and researching clothes by Chinese designs that are influenced by Hip Hop and Western brands such as Off-White that have Hip Hop influences and that are worn a lot by Chinese youths. A small research under this umbrella sub topic of fashion is how many more younger people are wearing Hip Hop style clothes through the influence of Westernization, as a question to think about while I continuing my research. A primary method that I will use is to for example a shopping mall and survey how many people were wearing Hip Hop style clothes. But I will not interview people.A source that I will also use is “ streetwear brands and Hip Hop fashion are growing in China.” “ young Chinese people are very affected by Hip Hop fashion.” “ Alibaba collaborated with two of the most popular players “in the Rap of China” to make a rap music about Alipay.”[6] source in which details Hip Hop influence in fashion and how it influences the Chinese youth.

The final sub topic that I will be researching into is entertainment. I will research into this by watching the Chinese reality TV show called ‘The rap of China’. This topic does slightly overlap into the first sub-topic. “ The rap of China is a Chinese rap competition show producers by IQIYI. The show has been credited for making Hip Hop widespread and mainstream in Mainland China.”[7] so the research method I will use is to watch the show and analyze the influence of Hip Hop on this show.

However there will be some controversy about Hip Hop due to restrictions placed on by the Chinese government. “A memo from the Chinese government has said programmes could no longer feature any Hip Hop content or artists.” “ Hip Hop culture does not fit into socialism ‘core values’” [8]

The possible conculsions I hope to be arriving at is that I should discover is that the Hip Hop style clothes should be worn more by teenagers and young adults rather than children. How music in Chinese songs are using more Hip Hop beats and they are also using the more typical Western Hip Hop style music videos. Hip Hop in Chinese music been influenced by way of Westernization. Therefore I do hope to come to a conclusion that Hip Hop culture is influencing Chinese youth culture through music, fashion and entertainment.

Bibliography

1. https://www.google.com.hk/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2160493/crazy-rich-asians-gives-chinas-hip-hop-queen-vava-international
2. https://esquiresg.com/features/vava-the-female-chinese-rapper-on-difficult-childhood-chinese-hip-hop-government-censorship/
3. https://open.spotify.com/track/2D2pqz9UjxOsLbucKFAHTV?si=TRpu01npRNKdVnvVMp8QOAs
4. https://open.spotify.com/track/5k0rH5wWg40mlDHBkhhJPv?si=FrBQcHieRSWeOK8rkIjReQ
5. https://m.scmp.com/magazines/style/people-events/article/2124433/who-kris-wu-meet-millennial-idol-bringing-chinese-hip
6. http://fashionchinaagency.com/hip-hop-culture-used-marketing-china/
7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rap_of_China
8. https://www.google.com.hk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/blogs-china-blog-42800032
9. https://www.power106.com/2018/10/11/kris-wu-talks-the-hip-hop-culture-in-china-working-with-travis-scott-his-upcoming-album/

There are many areas to Chinese culture, and the three paths of faith have played a large role leaving a great impact on their traditions, culture and society.

Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism have all brought beautiful paintings, art, sculptures and pottery. Many styles of Architecture were introduced including pagoda houses that have been designed from the influence of Buddhism. Buddhism brought a variety of cultural and social behaviours and Taoism brought in influences of literature, medicine and philosophy. Confucianism focused heavily on education and government politics. Teaching methods became introduced and government and private schools were established.

Music, dancing and poetry were also extremely important in all faiths, many of these traditions and activities are still popular today. Confucianism began from a Chinese wise man and philosopher called Confucius who lived between 551 to 479 B.C.

Confucius was born in conflict and war, he felt that people did not respect each other, he wanted to teach people to be good and to be well behaved. Confucius wanted to have a good government and he believed in order to have this you needed a good and superior ruler.

Confucianism was more of a philosophy rather than a religion, they did not have a church or god. Confucius would teach men to become Junzi (a superior person), to respect each other, to be noble, to be kind and to know the difference between right and wrong. He had an important rule “that people should treat others as they would like to be treated themselves”.

Years later with the influence of Taoism, Confucianism’s values changed and focused more on the importance of daily life and a way to live with nature and in harmony.

From about A.D. 200 to 600, Confucianism became less desired and Buddhism and Taoism became more popular. Buddhism is a popular religion founded in India in about 500 B.C. by a teacher called the Buddha. The word Buddha means “Enlightened One”, the first Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama, born in Nepal.

Siddhartha Gautama was a prince full of wisdom, he decided to leave his palace life and go travelling for many years. During this time he became enlightened and finally understood how to be free from any suffering. He taught others what he had learnt which became known as the Four Noble Truths.

The Four Noble Truths:

1. That suffering is common.
2. That suffering is caused due to being greedy and ignorant.
3. That you can end suffering by not being greedy and ignorant
4. To follow the “Eightfold Path” to end any suffering.

Buddhists respect and follow what is known as “The Three Jewels”.

The Dharma (the Buddha’s teachings) – Buddhists believe in being reborn and that there is rebirth after death. The dharma preaches that how you are reborn is determined by how you have behaved in your previous life.

The Buddha (the enlightened one) – The Buddha preaches that you would remain in suffering whilst in this cycle of life but that you could avoid the suffering if you became a more honourable person by following the “Noble Eightfold Path”. The “Noble Eightfold Path” taught how to know the truth, resist evil, to not hurt others, to respect property, to hold a job, to free your mind of evil, to control your thoughts and to be able to concentrate properly. By following these guidelines this would lead to obtaining Nirvana which means being released from any suffering.

The Sangha (the community) – The Sangha is the Buddhist community that existed during the time of the Buddha. It consisted of monks and nuns and focused on a simple live of discipline, meditation, study and to honour the Buddha.

Today, there are several types of Buddhist schools teaching Buddhism traditions with over 350 million followers.

Taoism, which is also referred to as Daoism is a Chinese religious tradition and philosophy that began around 400 B.C. founded by a Chinese philosopher called Lao-Tzu Taoism beliefs are different from that of Confucianism. Confucianism believed that people could only live a good life if they were orderly and disciplined where as Taoism believes that people are all born good and worthy and that it is the effects of the life around them that destroys peoples goodness. They believe in leading a simple life, living in harmony and close to nature. By living in this natural way they will be at harmony with the Tao.

The word Tao is known as a road or path, it is not a name but more of a thing, it is the mother of all things, the natural cycle of the universe. Taoism has influenced the Chinese for many years, today two types of Taoism exist the Zhengyi Tao, or Zhengyi Dao where priests read, sing, dance and pray to the gods and the Quanzhen Tao, or Quanzhen Dao where monks meditate, read, pray and take part in physical activities to live a harmonious life.

The three paths of faith all used literature to express their values, beliefs and ideas. Literature and writing became very important to the Chinese and they considered it a very important form of art. Poetry, calligraphy and painting also became an important form of art and collectively they were known as the “Three Art Perfections”.

Poetry was considered as the highest form of literacy and calligraphy was considered as the highest from of art with its very beautiful handwriting. Sophisticated paintings were painted on to vessels, silks and paper which would show beautiful landscapes of mountains expressing nature and harmony.

Buddhism dates back to the late 6th century BC, making this the oldest of the three ‘Paths of Faith’. It was founded by the “Buddha” Siddhartha Gautama and has become a very important religion throughout many Asian countries. Confucianism followed Buddhism, which originated in China in 551-479 BC by the philosopher Confucius. However, the principles of Confucianism were thought to have been started earlier, during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC). Taoism formed into a religious system in China around the 4th or 3rd century BC. Lao-tzu was said to be the first Taoist philosopher, who wrote Taoist texts known as “Tao-te Ching”.

I. Introduction, context and importance of the problem

The Mongol conquest of China was a sequence of military attacks by the Mongol Empire in order to invade China territory. The Mongols were nomads which were able to grow and expand by constantly conquering more lands and adding many peasants to their army. They migrated, moved and conquered based on climate conditions, they always lived with their animals and very close to nature, and produced manufactured goods in order to trade with conquered civilizations. They were very skilled at archery, shooting arrows, and riding horses which helped them for war and for hunting, they were brutal and violent and had great military skills. By the year 1279 CE, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan began the Yuan dynasty in China and ended the last Song dynasty, which started a new beginning of the Yuan dynasty over the entire Chinese territory. So now in the year 1279 CE, the mandate of heaven has been lost by the Song emperor and I am here as a Chinese government official in order to advise the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan what are the right steps to take now that his Yuan Dynasty rules over all of China. The Song dynasty was separated in two different parts, Northern Song and Southern Song, and the main causes for its dynasty to fall were that there was a lot of political corruption, invasions from external civilizations, rebellions from peasants which mostly debilitated the Song dynasty. Because of a fragile army, they were not able to defend themselves from the external tribes’ invasions, in particular the Mongol’s.

II. Introduction and critique of policy options

Legalism, prominent during the Warring States (475-221) BCE and influenced by some philosophers such as Shang Yang, Li si and Hanfeizi, was the Chinese philosophy of the Qin dynasty (221-207 BCE). These legalist philosophers had three main points: putting in action strict and disseminated laws, intelligent methods in decision making such as responsibility and the good use of political acquires. The Legalists thought that the political foundations should be changed based on how humans behave and that individuals are egocentric and short-sighted. This social morality cannot be afforded by the people through the integrity of the ruler but only by strongly managing the state and absolutely obeying to authorities. The Legalists promoted administration through an organization of rules that contained rigid punishments or recompenses for particular behaviors. Their main goal was to give the ruler and the state more power. The cruel application of Legalism from the Qin dynasty conducted to the end of this dynasty and the dishonor of Legalist philosophy in China. This policy’s main advantage is that every person respects all laws in order to live in a social harmony but there are also disadvantages such as too brutal and strict methods of obeying and punishments were maybe too rigid.

The following policy is Daoism, also known as Taoism. It is a Chinese philosophy that helped religious people mainly in the countryside of China and, under the Tang dynasty, it was the main religion. Therefore Daoism can be considered as a philosophy but also as a religion. It focuses on doing natural things and being relaxed following the Tao, a cosmic force. Fundamental Daoist ideas include effortless actions, naturalness, how to become a perfected person and the mysterious Dao itself. During the Tang dynasty, it flourished (618-907 CE) and the emperor Xuanzong ( 712-756 CE) affirmed that it was a religion. When the Tang dynasty fall down, Confucianism and Buddhism took its place. Daoism has more disadvantages than advantages because to make a country work, people need a ruler and strict laws to respect, not just believing in naturalness and becoming a perfected person.

Confucianism is considered more a social and ethical philosophy than a religion, and its main statement is: “Do not do to others what you would have them not do to you.” It is build on being kind and respectful and an admiration for honesty and integrity. Its main point is that a society can grow and develop only if people can positively interconnect with each other. Its founder was Master Kong (Confucius), in 551-479 BC. However its principles began during the Zhou dynasty: the goal of respect and interacting positively were present but spiritual matters were also emphasized. The main goals were to integrate people, establish peace and be safe from any rebellion. Confucianism can have many advantages because people are united, respect and interact positively with each other and can prevent rebellion but the main disadvantage is that some people may rebel because of there is too much kindness, loving of people and there are not strict laws or harsh punishments in certain conditions.

Under Genghis Khan’s rule, people felt very united and passionate, with the thought that he came from gods. They were used to be governed by tribes and, to rule them, Genghis Khan organized his Mongol army and created its code of laws called the Yassa, a mix between his laws and tribal customs. The Yassa focuses on three points: obeying to Genghis Khan, an assurance with the nomad clans, and rigid sentences for negative behaviors. Unless someone confessed of wrongdoing, he was not considered guilty except he was saw acting a crime. For the Mongols every man’s word was an important thing. Genghis Khan’s ruling system has more advantages than disadvantages because everybody obeyd and honoured either the ruler and themselves, every man was important and there were rigid punishments so that everybody respected the laws. The main disadvantage for this policy may be that the ruler is considered too much important and the punishments that he gives are too harsh.

III. Policy recommendation

My policy is made up of three principles: a strong and stable government which contains strict laws and rigid punishments, every person is free to speak and to express their opinions always respecting laws and obeying the ruler, and finally interacting positively with each other in order to live in a social harmony. I consider these three points the most valuable because they can all make up a good society based on moral and ethical principles and everybody following the system of laws but at the same time every single person in our society has the freedom to speak and to express themselves, always without offending either our country or our ruler.

The first criteria in order to have a high-minded society is that our government will remain strong and stable by taking firm decisions and establishing strict laws and if laws are not respected and followed by the people then inflexible punishments will be taken into consideration. This connects to Genghis Khan’s ruling system in fact for every wrong action made by the people, he punished them with merciless penalties which helped him having a respectful country that follows all the laws in order to live better. I hope that adopting this type of ruling system under Kublai Khan’s rule, our society will be more respectful and will not break the laws because they know that there will be rigid punishments and some people can also be rewarded for positive behaviors or actions such as military accomplishments.

The second principle is freedom and it can be developed in many two ways: freedom of speech and to express opinions but also the freedom for a person to have his own thoughts and culture. The first one is for our society in fact they are free to say what they think and to express their opinions but always respecting the laws, without offending the ruler and not going against our principle while the second one is only for the conquered civilizations: after we conquer a piece of land or a country, the people that lived there are free to practice their religion, keeping their culture and having their own thoughts, with two conditions: they have to obey the ruler and they do not have to offend our culture and principles. This again connects to Genghis Khan’s ruling style because when he conquered a country, he let that civilization free to have their culture without imposing to follow his religion and culture. I think that under Kublai Khan’s rule, this will be very effective and will prevent many rebellions because the conquered people can still have their culture so that they don’t feel oppressed by us.

The third and last principle is interacting positively with others and this principle is based entirely on being kind and respectful toward each other. The ideas of respect and the well being of others are extremely important in our society because they help us live in peace, without any problems or issues. This principle connects to Confucianism in fact this Chinese philosophy is based on the thought that a society can grow and develop only if people learn to live peacefully among each other. It also focuses on the importance of daily life and the human interaction and our society also underlines the values of each person’s life and how they interconnect together in the society. I hope that this will help us preventing any internal conflict or civil war because if people love each other and live positively together they don’t have any reason to put themselves against each other.

Some limitations and difficulties that we might encounter during time are that people may rebel because of the too much freedom they have or because they don’t accept some rigid laws put into action and another difficulty we may find is that an internal conflict may be caused because of the different cultures between the conquered civilization and people from our country, but if everybody respect the laws and people positively interact with each other, this will not happen and we will live in entire peace.

IV: Annotated Appendix

The first primary source I used came from Mencius, written by Confucian scholar Mencius in the 4th Century BCE. This document helped me a lot for my recommendation policy because it is about about a Confucian scholar which talks with King Hui and King Hsuan about what as a king he can do to make life better and to be a very good king who really wants to help his people. It is very relevant to my recommendation policy because, from this source, I understood how people could positively interact with each other by being fair and respectful: “If Your Majesty can practice a humane government to the people, reduce punishments and fines, lower taxes, make it possible for the fields to be plowed deep and the weeding well done, men may cultivate their filial piety, brotherly respect, loyalty, and faithfulness.”, from Mencius, written by Confucian scholar Mencius in the 4th Century BCE. This quotation explains how Confucian people were reciprocally useful to each other when they needed something and how there was a lot of brotherhood, respect, loyalty and dedication between them which made them live in peace, without internal conflicts and full of respect, honour and trustworthy.

The second primary source that I found really useful for my recommendation policy came from The Confucian Analects: The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, recorded by the disciples of Confucius between 551 and 479 BCE. This document helped me understand more about Confucianism in general and especially for their main principles: interacting positively with others and respect. It talks about the Duke Ai which asks the Master about what should be made in order for people to obey. He replies by saying to set aside dishonesty and uprise correctness which will help the people to always be fair. Then Ji Kang asks the Master how to make the people able to respect their ruler, and he answers: “Let him rule over them with seriousness; – then they will respect him. Let him be final and kind to all; – then they will be faithful to him.”, from the Confucian Analects. From this quotation I understood a lot more about how Confucian people treated each other, with faithfulness, kindness and also seriousness which caused them to live in a world of honesty, respect and where everybody follows the law.

V: Sources consulted

1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Legalism
2. https://www.iep.utm.edu/daoism/
3. https://asiasociety.org/education/confucianism
4. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/genghis-khan/
5. Overview discussion of Political philosophies of the Han Dynasty
6. https://www.ancient.eu/Legalism/
7. https://www.ancient.eu/Taoism/
8. http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/mongols-sup.htm
9. https://study.com/academy/lesson/confucianism-definition-beliefs-history.html
10. https://www.ancient.eu/Confucianism/
11. Dynastic Cycle and Mandate of Heaven Slide Presentation
12. Shang and Zhou dynasties background reading
13. Did Shi Huangdi Improve China? documents
14. Crash Course – 2,000 years of Chinese History
15. Confucianism and Daoism Primary Sources
16. Confucianism and Daoism Slide Presentation
17. Han Dynasty Slide Presentation
18. Han Dynasty Chapter Reading
19. Han Dynasty Fall Reasons
20. Han Dynasty Tea Party
21. Mongol Empire Slide Presentation
22. Here Come the Mongols Primary Sources
23. Here Come the Mongols Crash Course
24. Matching Claims and Evidence for Impact of Mongol rule
25. Trial of Genghis Khan documents

Growing up children are told stories by their parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, caretakers, and what is the most important is what is learned from the story. Whether it’s a moral lesson, information about the narrator, or cultural traditions, children learn from these stories they’re told from young ages. In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Kingston, she includes a chapter about her mother, Brave Orchid, titled “Shaman”. Kingston uses many different types of practices and symbols of Chinese culture to portray her mother as a Chinese role model for Kingston herself as well as many other Chinese Americans who read these memoirs. Kingston’s mother practicing these cultural traditions and even being compared to traditional elements provides Chinese influence on Maxine through not only content but the imagery of Brave Orchids “talk-story” and experiences shared with her daughter. In the “Shaman” chapter, we are introduced to Brave Orchid, Maxine’s mother, as a young woman attending medical school for midwifery, here is where she has some of her most notable experiences to later on share through her “talk-story” with her children.

Opening the chapter, Maxine speaks about her mother showing Maxine herself and her siblings her medical diploma and begins telling her story about her medical journey which brings us to the first major “talk-story” Brave Orchid tells her children. It begins with the haunted room in the medical school’s dormitory, Maxine’s mother is unamused by her roommates and colleague’s reactions towards small sounds they deemed to be “hauntings”. When she decides to prove to them the room is not haunted she is compared to a dragoness. Maxine describes her mother approaching danger as a dragon would “…she fanned out her dragon claws and riffled her red sequin scales and unfolded her coiling green stripes…like the dragons living in temple eaves, my mother looked down on plain people who were lonely and afraid.” (Kingston, 1989, 67). This meticulous comparison of her mother to a dragoness is relative to traditional Chinese culture. In Ancient China dragons were “associated with rulership…seen as benevolent creatures” (Cartwright 2019), which can closely relate to the way Brave Orchid is portrayed throughout the rest of the experience with this haunting. The visual imagery of Brave Orchid as a dragon in the accompany of danger is so detailed there’s many ways to imagine her as more than just a human. Not only do we get the color descriptions of red and green but the red is described as “sequined scales”, “sequin” alone provides so much visual imagery but Kingston jumps back in adding “coiling green stripes”. Kingston isn’t just providing visual imagery of color but also texture the sequin, a shiny smooth scale on the dragons’ body, the stripes that are coiled, wrapping endlessly around and around the dragons’ body. Although we are given this description of Brave Orchid as this rough and ruling dragon it contrasts her name deeply. Her name, “Brave Orchid” seems so delicate, the orchid being a flower, with petals that are smooth and magenta colored is being compared to a large red scaled dragon the complete opposite of a delicate flowering plant.

The first we are introduced to Maxine’s mother as “Brave Orchid” is when she is being “called back” to her living body after her experience with the ghost that haunts the room. Her friends chant “Come home, come home, Brave Orchid, who has fought the ghosts and won.” (Kingston, 1989, 71) firstly, let’s address the meaning of her name. Merriam-Webster defines Brave as “having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty: having or showing courage” which can be closely compared to her actions as a dragon when confronting the dormitories haunting. The second part of her name “Orchid” is defined as “large family of perennial epiphytic or terrestrial monocotyledonous plant” (Merriam Webster) but, let’s look at the meaning of the orchid in Chinese culture. Orchids are often linked to “Confucius and the representation of honorability.” (Chinese Flower Meaning, 2017). These associations of the Orchid directly relate back to Brave Orchids character, she is viewed as honorable by her friends for confronting the ghost of the dormitory, and furthermore viewed as honorable to her family as being female and being a medical professional, especially by attending a school that practiced both eastern and western medicines. We can also analyze this “chant” her friends take part in to “bring her back” form her ghostly experience. This sort of ritual of providing stimulation to the person who has possibly been “driven out of my body and mind” (Kingston, 1989, 71), by taking the persons “earlobe between thumb and forefinger, wiggling them” (Kingston, 1989, 71) brings the story to life for Maxine’s readers. Again, the visual and auditory imagery of someone rubbing your earlobes between their fingers and chanting your family descent line while commanding you to come back is sensitive to the reader and makes you feel as if you are experiencing it alongside Brave Orchid.

Another Chinese tradition we can relate Brave Orchids ghost encounter to is the final climax of the haunting of the dormitory — the exorcism. When we reach this final climax, Brave Orchid is leading the residents of her housing hall to fight and ward off this “Sitting Ghost” with buckets of alcohol and oil to burn it until it’s nothing. “My mother directed the arrangement of the buckets and burners into orderly rows and divided the fuel. ‘Let’s fire the oil all at once,’” (Kingston, 1989, 74), the way Brave Orchid is leading her roommates and fellow residents is similar to the way Fa Mu Lan led her soldiers in war. They both show absolutely no fear, both being female, and succeeding in their leadership is all too similar to not have this sort of comparison. This comparison is important to Maxine and many other Chinese or Chinese American readers because the story of Fa Mu Lan is so well known within the Chinese community and by Maxine herself as we know from her “White Tigers” chapter. The comparison we can make of Brave Orchid to Fa Mu Lan can really influence Maxine to keep up the Chinese Traditions in her life especially since she so closely relates herself to Fa Mu Lan in the earlier chapters. In the next paragraph, Maxine’s description of how her mother and her friends go about this exorcism includes horror movie like imagery. Maxine writes “The smoke curled in black boas around the women in their scholars’ black gowns.” (Kingston, 1989, 75), this color theme of black is important here because of what the color is normally associated with. When seeing the color black in drawings or when it’s used in imagery it is usually associated with fear or evil. More so the imagery of the smoke being described as “black boas” surrounding the girls performing this exorcism can be interpreted two different ways. Merriam Webster defines “boa” as “1: any of a family of large snakes that kill by constriction…2: a long fluffy scarf” (Merriam Webster). The difference in the two definitions is vastly large but also similar in that boa constrictors wrap around their victims much like scarfs may wrap around one’s neck. Considering again black being associated with the feeling of fear, it is ironic that the smoke they are covering this haunted room in is black because although it is linked to fear, the “Sitting Ghost” itself is made up of black hair. So, they in conclusion are trying to exorcise this ghost by scaring him with fire and the black smoke when he is in fact already completely black and essentially covered in fear. Another detail I’d like to analyze when looking at this paragraph is the chapter title itself, “Shaman”, which is defined as “a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America. Typically, such people enter a trance state during a ritual, and practice divination and healing.” (Lexico Dictionaries). This definition can be closely related with the way Brave Orchid goes about handling the ghost and exorcism, something that priests often carry out. This also has many connections to the tradition brought up throughout this part of the chapter of bringing one’s soul back to its body or “home” when coming back from a fear filled experience. The fact that a Shaman is closely related to people of northern Asia connects this figure of being one to Maxine’s life and could perhaps even influence her and her imagination to carry on this influence into the spirit world that her mother obtains.

After the exorcism, Maxine explains how her and her siblings have experienced these sort of rituals as mentioned earlier also. “When my mother led us out of nightmares and horror movies, I felt loved. I felt safe hearing my name sung with hers and father’s…her anger at children who hurt themselves surprisingly gone.” (Kingston, 1989, 76). This quote describes the auditory imagery from the ritual performed on Brave Orchid from before but under less extreme circumstances. “Not when we were afraid, but when we were wide awake and lucid, my mother funneled China into our ears…’Don’t forget. Just give your father’s name, and any villager can point out our house.’ I am to return to China where I have never been.” (Kingston, 1989, 76). Again, we are shown by Kingston the visual imagery, here it comes from the simple word “funneled”. Readers are able to imagine a mother whispering information into a funnel whose lesser end is pointed into her child’s ear, while lying on her lap as if she were soothing them to sleep, creating a more intimate experience for the reader possible even imagining themselves as these children. More importantly we can look at the timing of this action. When these sorts of things are mentioned before the person receiving the information and being “performed” on is usually not fully aware of their senses. As we’ve seen in past quotes, they have to be physically stimulated. Here though, we see that Maxine and her siblings are wide awake and ready to process the information Brave Orchid is “funneling” into their minds. The significance of this is so that in future situations, if they ever need a ritual performed on them, they will know what to tell surrounding people to chant so their soul will not get “lost” as Maxine mentions her mother had because of her residents not knowing details about her such as her descent line. The last line of the quote is important to Maxine, “I am to return to China where I have never been.” (Kingston, 1989, 76), obviously with this information we can see how this is ironic since her mother has been feeding them information about China continuously yet she has never been there. By Brave Orchid doing this she is sharing their traditional values of Chinese culture and further feeding it into the lives of her children as to influence them not to conform to western cultures and ideologies. This is important to Maxine because she has grown up in America, never been to China, yet she is being told to practice these traditions and remember these facts about China so her soul can return safely to a “familiar” home she is ultimately unfamiliar with.

In the “Shaman” chapter of The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Kingston thoroughly provides the reader with descriptions of her mother as “Brave Orchid” and her mother’s “talk-story” talents that affect and influence Maxine through Chinese traditions. Kingston includes these stories of her mother to show the outside world what she grew up knowing her mother as. Although the stories told of her mother may seem fictitious, they’re based off of Maxine’s knowledge of her and her mother’s life as The Woman Warrior is defined as a memoir. The remarkable amount of imagery that is included just within these few quotes that relate back to Maxine or her mother more often so in some way really makes this chapter much more intimate to the reader. The reader can imagine themselves as one of Brave Orchids children, friends, or as Brave Orchid herself. This sort of intimacy further pushes the sharing of these Chinese traditions and elements to the reader. This is more importantly appreciated by the Chinese or Chinese American audience that come across these memoirs. They may closely relate with these memoirs or view Maxine or Brave Orchid herself as a role model of their traditions they may have forgotten to keep up with. With Kingston’s vast incorporation of imagery throughout the text and her comparisons of her mother to many Chinese elements and the practicing of Chinese traditions her mother takes part in provides an integration of her life into ours.

Works Cited

1. “Boa.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boa.
2. “Brave.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brave.
3. Cartwright, Mark. “The Dragon in Ancient China.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 6 Nov. 2019, https://www.ancient.eu/article/1125/the-dragon-in-ancient-china/.
4. “Chinese Flower Meanings.” Flower Meaning, 22 Mar. 2017, https://www.flowermeaning.com/chinese-flower-meanings/.
5. Kingston, Maxine H. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Childhood Among Ghosts. Vintage International, 1989.
6. “Orchid.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orchid.
7. “Shaman: Definition of Shaman by Lexico.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, Lexico Dictionaries, https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/shaman.

Many Westerners are unaware that the yoga classes they attend, the martial arts they practice, and even the yin-yang to which they refer are derived from traditions set forth by the early Indo religion-philosophy, Daoism. Although this system has had a profound impact on Chinese culture, its impact has also transcended and established its influence internationally. Though the philosophy may seem somewhat abstract and metaphysical, this open-ended system has created a long struggle for scholars to decide on its classification. In this essay, I will first give some historical background to Daoism to better understand its origin. Once a brief timeline is established, I will then describe the principles that comprise and define Daoism and use those governing principles to argue whether this tradition would better be classified as a philosophy or a religion.

Daoism is a Chinese religious/philosophical system that dates back to the 5th century BCE and can be traditionally traced back to the mythical Laozi (Hansen). Laozi was a wise old sage who was believed to have founded Daoism and is still referenced by emperors and Chinese people to this day (Nadeau). While he is the founder, many historical scholars doubt the existence of this historical figure. Although written by his disciples and contemporaries, he is said to be the reputed author of the Tao de Ching (Hansen). This widely cited text is a short series of declarative statements and intentional contradictions. The book is the governing basis for Daoist thoughts, showing an attitude towards life that can be seen as accepting, yielding, joyful, and carefree (Strickmann). While many messages can be extracted from this text, its underlying message can be grouped into 3 main principles: The Dao, Value of Life, and Yin & Yang.

At the center of the Chinese vision of the cosmos is the Dao, which is defined as “The Way” or “The Path.” The Dao was essentially set to emphasize the vast size of nature and dim humans in comparison to it. They believe that the whole world revolves around nature and that the only human actions that matter are the ones aligned with nature. Zhuangzi believed it was important for humans to abide by the Dao rather than create their way of doing things (Daoism/Taoism). More than Lao Zi, Zhuangzi was aware that humans carried certain amounts of sentiments and subjectivity. The universe is naturally undifferentiated, therefore one is encouraged to refrain from “naming” anything as this would create distinctions. As a central force in the Chinese community, the Dao helps define the everyday actions and demeanor of the Daoists giving them one common purpose (Daoism/Taoism).

As believers in naturalism, Daoists prefer the simple and spontaneous and vow to live plainly and modestly. One of their most prized images is the reference to an uncarved block because it represents the ultimate purity, uncut, uncarved, and whole. To implement this ideology, the followers of Daoism focus on a concept called the Wu-Wei that teaches non-action and non-selfishness. Rather than contradict certain conditions predestined in life, it is most encouraged to let things run their natural course (Mark).

The third characterizing principle that many are probably familiar with the is ubiquitous yin-yang, a symbol that holds its roots in Daoism and is where the system drew its cosmological notions. The Chinese concept of the yin-yang orders nature in duality, with every force having its complement and opposing force. The world is defined in balance and Daoists consistently make sure this balance is maintained, as it is believed that this balance is what allows one to find harmony in themselves and others. One who understands the essence of these patterns in themselves allows their lives to become a lot more steady (Mark).

Although Daoism claims to be considered both a religion and philosophy, I would not go as far as to consider it a religion. To better understand whether or not it should be classified as a religion, it is important to first bear any bias and assume a definition of religion for this argument. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, “Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe; A particular integrated system of this expression; The spiritual or emotional attitude of one who recognizes the existence of a superhuman power or powers.’ Although several definitions were discussed in class and religion is a topic that deserves an essay in and of itself, I feel that this one specifically encompasses several of the aspects I feel should characterize a religion. The definition recognizes three aspects that I feel holistically encompass the definition of religion: a supernatural creator, an explanation of the aspects that go beyond what is seen, and the attitude of one who is deemed a believer. To argue between religion and philosophy, I must also state the definition of philosophy to contrast. Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of philosophy states that it is “the study of the nature of reality and existence, of what it is possible to know, and of right and wrong behavior, or a particular set of beliefs of this type.”

Now that we have established the assumed definition of religion, we are now able to go through the definition progressively to see if Daoism suitably conforms. The first critical part of this definition implies that religion must have a creator. When I think of the three Abrahamic religions, they all share a commonality in claiming some God, some figure that is all-knowing, all-encompassing. In our definition, a religion must have a leader or creator, a mastermind behind all things. Although Daoism refers to the Dao or “The Way” as their governing force, it does not list a concrete figure behind nature or creations. Even Lao, who is a tremendous figure that is said to support all these concepts is not sure to have existed. From an outside perspective, it becomes difficult to find credibility in a system that seems to have no owner. Moreover, a religion must be able to explain the inexplicable and give context for why life exists. While Daoism is successful in giving wisdom to its followers, its advice and outlook on life are too abstract to be undermined. For example, Daoism emphasizes the yin-yang concept urging humans to live in balance. Although this is said to be the yin-yang, it can be taken as “well-roundedness” and “wholeness” in more common terms. This is a concept that can transcend beyond Daoism into any other culture. The very abstract concepts presented by this system give little room for anyone to disagree. The concept of living a life being non-materialistic is not seen as complex, it is seen more as wisdom that anyone can acquire. Lastly, a religion must explain concepts beyond life itself. What is the point of this life? What happens after? Someone said we must not focus on life after, we should put our energy into life right now. Since Daoism focuses more on explaining the world we live in and does not allude to the afterlife, it does not give grounds to be considered a religion and better fits a philosophy.

All in all, there is no question that Daoism is a very influential system that has drastically impacted Asian culture and several others. However, Daoism lacks the structural requirements to be considered a religion; rather, its lack of a well-defined deity, metaphysical qualities, and short-visioned principles cause it to be better characterized as a philosophy.  

Honoring parents is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and it is the responsibility and obligation of those who are children. In Chinese history, from ancient times to the present, no dynasty did not pay much attention to filial piety, Confucius put ‘filial piety’ in the first place of all morality, as ‘the head of standing’ and ‘the source of self’. Many contemporary ethicists regard filial piety as the first step in dealing with interpersonal relationships in life, the basic requirements for life, and the basis for the formation of moral qualities such as caring for others, consciously advancing, and loving the motherland.

Mum and dad are the people who give life to us. They nourish us with the most selfless love in the world and make us grow up. Honoring parents is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation. Each of us should honour and respect our parents.

Mom and Dad give us life. How much time and effort have been sacrificed, and how much energy and financial resources have been sacrificed by our parents from the moment we fell to the ground to become today’s students. Mom and dad have a deep and unselfish affection for us, and honoring our parents is the minimum morality of our lives.

Some people say that it is human nature to forget gratitude. When we came to this world by chance and had no time to do anything, we have begun to enjoy all the material and spiritual results that our predecessors brought us.

Gratitude is little virtue, and gratitude is great evil. In life, there are always many things that affect our emotions, joys, or worries, so what kind of mentality to choose to face life, we also choose what kind of life to live. Gratitude is my attitude towards life. Gratitude is not limited to remembering the benefits of others, but extends to all aspects of life

The same goes for the success or failure of the cause. Gratitude is not a preaching of a negative fatalism, but a positive way of life! Learn to be grateful and don’t remember to hate people who are bad for you. The writer Yu Jie said a word: hating one person hurts himself far more than hurting the other person. Learn to be grateful, know that En Tu Bao does not forget the ungratefulness, the grace of dripping water should be reported by the Yongquan, and the people will return to the mountain.

Learn to be grateful, know that giving others a chance is giving yourself a chance, and giving someone a rose to leave a scent. If you are in trouble today, someone will be in trouble. Life is a mirror, learn to be grateful, keep a smile on life, and life will give you a smile. Honoring parents starts from bit by bit. It is not the honour of honoring parents.

Silk is the material comprised of slender and a continuous strand called fibers that was recognized by a human being and attained from plants which are produced by silkworms. The most popular silk is called mulberry silkworm. It releases the fluid form as single filament by a caterpillar known as silkworm which is used for silk production, Silk has only four stages in its whole life which include eggs, silkworm larvae, pupa and moth but man interferes in its life cycle to make more silk within a short period that is used for various purposes such as commercial goals.

The life cycle of silkworm

The life cycle of silkworms begins when the female moth lays eggs and after some days each egg turns into a silkworm larva that eats mulberry plants and grows larger the larva spins a cocoon of silk threads around itself inside the cocoon the larva transforms into a pupa, and the pupa transforms into a moth, the moth comes out of the cocoon then the adult moth mate with each other, and the life circle begins again.

The huge number of silk comes from a deliberate production process, known as sericulture that extends over all stages of production, in the sericulture the life cycle of silkworms depends on temperature, the higher the temperature the higher the life cycle of silkworms will be decreased and many silks will be produced in accordance with the care that is given to them.

Types of silk

There are mainly two types of silk which include mulberry and non-mulberry silk. Mulberry silk is mostly used in silk product because of its availability. Other types that don’t feed on mulberry leaves are known as non-mulberry silks.

Mulberry silk is is produced by the genus Bombyx mori silkworms which eats the mulberry plant and they are the principal source of silk, the silk threads produced by Bombyx Mori silkworms is white or yellowish. The fibers used for manufacturing purposes are exclusively produced by the silk-moth of China and it is the most requirements and contributes as much as 90 percent of world production.

Non- Mulberry silk include all other types of silks that are solely not fed on the mulberry plants, the most known economically Non-mulberry silk comprise Tasar silk produced by the worm called Tasar silk in which the silk threads are brown colored It is mostly found in India, China and Sri Lanka, Eric silk this type of silk mainly feeds on castor plants to produce a white or brick-red silk popularly known as Eri silk, Muga silk this type of silk produces golden-yellow silk thread which is very captivating and vigorous.

Silk in ancient Chinese culture

Silk is one of the developments in ancient China that brought a lot of contribution to the development of China. In old times, the Chinese used silk in many ways such as decorations, clothing and it was even used as currency and a reward. Silk became very important and due to that silk factories were built up for more silk production and due to that, it was exchanged to other nations for more advantages.

The Silk Road

The Silk Road was associate ancient mercantilism route that passed off throughout the Han Dynasty (207 BCE–220 CE) when the silk production had reached the high technical stage. The Han dynasty expanded the Central Asian section of the trade routes around 114 BCE through the research and operation of the Chinese imperial envoy Zhang Qian as directed by the Emperor. Silk road consist of both the land Silk Route divided into three main routes within the territory of China (North Route of Tianshan Mountain, North Route of Western China and South Route of Western China) and ocean Silk Route with three main navigations of the Maritime Silk Route (East Route from China to Korea and Japan, South Route from China to Southeast Asia, West Route from China to South Asia, Arabia and East African coastal countries).

Silk Road was essential in Chinese culture because economically, it helped China in trading with the west, east and Europe, and due to that the Chinese were able to trade their commodities and made money hence economic development to the Chinese and because of that completely different technologies were introduced like gun powder, paper making and lots.

Culturally, it introduced additional cultures to the people living on the Silk Road and later it extended to people that are not living close to the Silk Road. Some cultures that were introduced through Silk Road include dancing, the ways of dressing and many artworks.

Socially, new ways to communicate to the people were brought whereby numerous languages were introduced in the process of making the trade effective and completely different belief were brought forward through the Silk Road which includes Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity.

Silk clothing

China is the first nation that recognized silk production. The idea of silk arose from the queen named Leizu around the year 2696 BC the wife of Yellow Emperor who was having her tea underneath the mulberry tree, when a cocoon suddenly fell into her hot tea from the mulberry plant and unraveled producing silk threads around itself that when she discovered that the cocoon was made of long threads that were both soft and strong Leizu then discovered how to combine the silk fibers into a thread and hence the disclosure of silk.

The wealthy and the poor dressed quite differently, the individual of upper class like high ranking officials; member of the emperors’ court wore garments made of silk. The silk cloth was valued in Ancient China, wearing silk was essential and was recognized as a status symbol and due to that only the noble class was allowed to use silk cloth. Merchants and peasants were not allowed to wear silk, it was even used as cash throughout some Ancient Chinese dynasties.

Silk was used to make clothing which was valued in ancient Chinese culture, the wealthy and also the poor dressed quite differently, the people of higher status wore garments fabricated from silk and the social class were not allowed to wear silk later silk unfold through Chinese culture and so to several countries around the world were able to wear silk garments.

Silk as writing material

in very old China silk was considered as writing material, from the Period (475-221 B.C.) silk was much lighter and could be divided into different volumes and with different figures according to the need and be folded easily and many materials could be carried all at once, the better to be kept and carried than other previous writing implements such as wood slips and bamboo though it was exceptionally costly. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907 B.C), it was normal to make the lines into white plain silk to be used completely for writings that were chiefly for educational purposes and handing down knowledge to their descendants.

In ancient times Chinese were writing on woods which were very large and uncomfortable to be moved from one place to another and it was also less expensive compared to other writing materials that were used in ancient times because of its accessibility in all most all areas of China and it was sized according to the need it depended on how long the writings had to be, then, later on, they started writing on silks which were more useful than wooden plates and after using silk for some Chinese invented paper that was less costly than silk.