I read my chapter for Guns, Germs, and Steel yesterday during work. I did chapter... 16....? I don't remember right now but it was about how China has always been Chinese. I thought it was very interesting and though I did do my summary on it I feel really motivated to write more, so here it is.
China is one of the largest and fastest growing countries in the world. If my history classes in high school taught me anything, it was that China had many things going for them almost from the beginning. The chapter in Guns, Germs, and Steel talks a little about this but I kept thinking, "if China was so advanced compared to Europe early on why didn't they travel abroad as much as Europe did?". This is one of my questions asked along with my summary but I just can't figure out why they wouldn't travel out. Did they not feel the need to travel like the Europeans did? What would have happened if China conquered the world?
These are all additional questions to what I put in my summary, what do you guys think?
This is a great critical thinking question - because you are following his own logic and types of evidence and saying "But what about this other area that fits the same bill?"
ReplyDeleteApparently others have asked the same thing, and he addresses this question both in the Epilogue (pgs. 409-117), and then, when many were not convinced, in his 2003 edition Afterward section (pg. 430 in our book). See what you think - it seems to be still an open question.
I liked the direction that this question was taking in claws, and thought it was a very interesting idea that this could have stemmed form the basis of religion. Christianity was brought up from Rome by the armies, from an empire based on conquering and the spread of ideas. The dominant religion in China is Buddhism, and has a much more self oriented focus. There is goal of spiritual enlightenment brought about through meditation and self understanding. I'm wondering if these personal beliefs could have affected the thinking of the society as a whole which believed them.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I don't know very much about Chinese history nor Buddhism in particular, so perhaps it was something entirely different, I just thought that was an interesting idea in class and thought I would run with it.
I don't know much about China either, but I was thinking the other day in my Spanish class about systems of consumerism which led me to think about China. Luckily, your blog post was about this, and I did not post my own. However, what I think is most interesting about this is the lack of information publicly given about fair-trade. A website ( I do not know how trustworthy because it was not cited) says, "40% of all consumer products imported into the United States last year, nearly $250 billion worth of goods all made in China." I thought it would be more than 40% but regardless, many social systems are in play here. Why do the majority of US toys come with a "Made in China" stamp. What does American culture value? On our own campus, what social systems does Nike use to make a presence here? Where are those products made?
ReplyDeleteIf China were to have conquered the world first, would any of this discussion still be relevant?
According to wikipedia: "Nike has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45 countries outside the United States.[24] Most of the factories are located in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and Malaysia."
ReplyDeleteI feel that Nike uses the university as a whole to market itself. They are are single largest sponsor, every piece of duck wear that comes from the duck store has a Nike logo on it, and all the gear for the football team (that won second in the nation last season) is made by them. Nike and the UO have a mutually beneficial system of support, so who is losing? Is anyone?