Blogg entry #3

Talk about a bold, but truthful statement, “China will be the next superpower.” As I read about China, which I had previously no idea about its history, really made me think what that statement might indicate. I wondered whether Strayer meant superpower, as in, industry, technology, education, political power and as I continued reading, what he meant was all of the above and then some. As mentioned before, I didn’t know much about the history of China and certainly had no idea of their ability to influence, so strongly, those around them until I finished reading this chapter,

            Sadly, China had the power to construct boundaries around their land, destroy habitats for expansion, displace freed animals such as the elephants, and exhaust resources due to wanting to conquer other areas around them. I say sadly because constructing boundaries to keep, as Strayer puts it, “barbarians” out of their territory created animosity amongst other people who once were able to wonder freely and now were facing a different way of moving around the world. Not only were things changing, but also China began the shift of putting an end to freedom and labeling places as, “this is my area, this is yours. So, stay out!” Also, with this new power, China began to expand and in doing so began to burn off forest land to construct homes and support their ever growing agriculture. Along with this migration came the displacement of animals that once roamed freely and now were being moved due to China’s disunity. These new ideas of being all Chinese also prompt the wanting of conquering surrounding areas. In doing so, they exhausted all their resources and in turn created other problems. As time advances, we can clearly identify where problems began and how history continues to repeat itself. Now, not only do we continue to claim areas as “mine or yours” but we continue to exhaust our resources, kill our planet by using those resources and battling other countries to better their own people when frankly, we should be more worried about bettering our own country and life.

            What mostly caught my attention was how China influenced the view of women in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. In China, because of Confucius thinking and practices, women during the Tang Dynasty lived more freely and viewed by men as equals but once the Tang Dynasty ended and the Song Dynasty emerged women had strict rules and job titles that were just designed for them. Women’s lives began to change and with this change came submission and passivity images of woman. China soon influenced Vietnam in terms of culture and the way they lived their lives. Vietnam adopted Chinese religious practices and in doing so brought on rebellion. Showing how powerful women still were, two sisters famously addressed soldiers that they will avenge their country, restore what once was in better times and avenge the death of their husbands. Showing this much strength was bittersweet since the rebellion was crushed but these two sisters will always go down in history for showing how brave they were and stepping forward in what they believed in. Japan on the other hand, because it was more separate from China, their women continued to live freely and owned property. Japan was selective in Chinese goods and culture and Japan continued to live and expand their culture and uniqueness. As Strayer nicely concludes, “what comes from beyond is always transformed by what is encountered within”. If we, as a country kept this in mind, we would be so occupied in copying one another and creating so much of a power structure between one another.