Teacher's Guide for CALLIOPE: The Qing's Golden Age. December 2004

Transcription

1 Teacher's Guide for CALLIOPE: The Qing's Golden Age December 2004 Teacher guide prepared by: Mary Cingcade, who has a master's degree in China studies from the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. She is the author of curriculum materials on the Song dynasty and Modern China. Mary is the Assistant Director of the East Asia Resource Center in the Jackson School of International Studies where she runs professional development programs for elementary and secondary educators. INTRODUCTION The Qing Dynasty issue of CALLIOPE offers a rich collection of articles on China's last dynasty with an emphasis on the Qianlong emperor and Qing society and culture. This teaching guide provides discussion questions and suggested activities to develop students' critical thinking and research skills through their study of this important period in Chinese history. A broad range of questions offers teachers multiple directions for class discussion and small group or individual work with the issue. OBJECTIVES Students will: TEACHING IDEAS Understand how major institutions functioned during the Qing dynasty. Explain the goals and impact of the Qianlong emperor's rule. Describe China's foreign relations during the Qing dynasty and make some contemporary connections. Articulate advancements in arts and culture during the Qing. Understand how the Qing period influenced China today. Exercise skills in reading comprehension and critical thinking. Express complex ideas in a variety of forms. Part One: Warm-up Activities What is a dynasty? Start by holding a brief discussion with students about the Chinese dynastic cycles and explain that students will be studying China's last dynasty before China became a modern nation. (Teachers may want to have students examine a timeline of Chinese dynasties and make observations.) What is a dynasty? (Teachers might emphasize the following characteristics of a Chinese dynasty: emperors from the same family rule in succession, the dynasty experiences a consolidation and decline of power, the territory under control may change over time as the rulers defend themselves against other groups, and the dynasty may be overthrown by internal or external forces, etc.) Also, see the CALLIOPE issues on the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuangdi, as well as the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Map Activity and Brainstorming Have students examine the map of the Manchu conquest on pages two and three. 1:29:31 PM]

2 Explain that the Manchus, who they will learn about in their study of the Qing dynasty, were a separate group from the Han Chinese. The Manchus ruled the Qing dynasty from Ask students to look at the key of the map and make observations about the expansion of Manchu power. Why might the Manchus have wanted to takeover the territory they did? What can you tell just by studying the map? The Manchus didn't just takeover the land, they ruled the Han Chinese and others who lived there originally. What difficulties do you anticipate the Manchu rulers might have had in ruling over a large Chinese empire? Brainstorm with students and record ideas on butcher paper for reference at the end of the unit. Part Two: Questions and Activities for Individual Articles "Clothed to Rule the Universe" Describe the key features of a dragon robe. When were the dragon robes created and why did the Manchus wear them during their rule? Name the changes in the traditional court costume made by the Manchus. What reason did the author give for the changes? What types of symbols did the dragon robes have and what did they mean? (Hint: Think of the placement of the dragons, the decorative trim and opening for the head, and the cut of the garment.) Why would this type of symbolism be found on court costumes? Describe the ideal order of the universe according to the Chinese. "Rebus" (page nine) Ask students to think of present-day uniforms worn in our culture that have symbols which reflect our values and beliefs. Have them bring in examples of the symbolism in modern military uniforms, and explain the values and beliefs they reflect. To create a map of the jingtian system, have students fold a piece of paper into thirds, turn lengthwise and fold into thirds again. Have students open up their papers and label: the fields of ordinary farmers, the field of the lord, the well, and compass points. Discuss the reasons this arrangement was considered ideal. See the rebuses on page nine that feature bats. Photocopy a picture of one of the bat illustrations for each student. Review the meaning of the rebuses and the double-meaning of fu, blessings or good fortune. For homework, ask students to take their bat papers home, and with their families, think of five characteristics of good fortune in our culture. Students should record their five characteristics and illustrate at least one of the characteristics with simple drawings or pictures from a magazine. Compare the students' five characteristics of good fortune (above) with the

3 five characteristics represented by the "five blessings" rebus, i.e. longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue, and a peaceful death. See the online guide to the rebuses for more information! "Building on the Past" & "The Peace-Bearing Son of Heaven" How did Hongli gain the throne? What was the role of the emperor according to Qianlong? What do you think were qualities of a successful Qing emperor? What are some weak points of the Qianlong emperor's rule? You read about the Qianlong emperor's attention to art and architecture, and you had a chance to examine pictures of the holiday palace. From these clues, what can tell you about the level of advancement of Chinese civilization at the time of the emperor's rule? Writing Activity: Write an obituary for the Qianlong emperor. Try to accurately depict his attributes and weaknesses. "The Manchus in China" & "Life Under the Manchus" Have students review the two articles on the Manchus and fill out the rubric on Manchu relations with other groups. Group Benefits reaped by Types of the Manchus from Interaction interactions with this group Problems caused for the Manchus from interactions with this group Chinese and Koreans European Jesuits Russians Japanese, European, Central Asian merchants Tibetans, Mongols, other groups in the

4 "eight banners" Activity: How would you describe Manchu relations with the groups in the rubric? What policies did the Manchus have to regulate contact with other peoples and maintain their relations with them during the Qing? Were the Qing rulers effective or ineffective in their handling of "foreign relations?" Take a position and support it with evidence gathered in the rubric and from the articles. It took a lot of work for the Manchus to defend themselves against their neighbors and other outsiders. Describe the Manchu army. How did one become a Bannerman? Do any of the qualities expected in a good Bannerman surprise you? Why or why not? As a class or in small groups, have students pretend they are in charge of the Qing army. Have them create a poster of desirable qualities in a good Bannerman to remind the troops of their purpose. (Remember to include the characteristics that Qianlong wished to see in his soldiers!) "The Forbidden City" & "Chengde" Discuss the history of the Forbidden City. Why would the Manchu rulers want to live and rule from a palace that had been built by the Ming emperors? In earlier dynasties, did the new emperors live in palaces built by the previous dynasty's rulers? Describe the symbolism of the Forbidden City. Who built the palace at Chengde and what was it used for? How does its symbolism differ from the Forbidden City's? The Forbidden City is currently being renovated at a cost of $12 million per year. Why do you think the Chinese government would spend so much to renovate it? Is this amount of money worth it to preserve important cultural places? Why or why not? Explain to students that they have been asked by a travel agency that books trips to China to create one of the following: 1. A brochure for tourists who plan to visit the Forbidden City in Beijing. The brochure should include a map of the palace, a description of the rooms and their purposes, and a brief description of the history of the palace. 2. A speech for the tour guide who will lead tourists through Chengde. Offer students the option of researching other UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China and presenting answers to the following questions: What are the criteria for making the list of World Heritage Sites? What possible problems might there be for historic sites to receive large numbers of visitors?

5 "Qianlong as Collector" & "Building a Cultural Great Wall" 1. On slips of paper, reproduce the quotes below about the Qianlong emperor's collections. (One quote per slip.) 2. Distribute a slip to each student and have them react to the quote in a writing exercise or in small group discussion. 1. What is the quote referring to? 2. Do you agree or disagree? "Scholars maintain that Qianlong held the worst record for suppressing free speech in recent centuries." (page 31) "Modern researchers praise the project (the giant book project) as the best and most comprehensive effort ever attempted in cataloging, preserving, and assessing all the extant books and manuscripts." (page 32) "The emperor repeatedly reminded himself that collecting could corrupt one's mind and take away time for more worthy purposes." (page 29) "Some historians even suggest that the book project was actually a systematic literary cleansing movement." (page 31) What was the impact of the Qianlong emperor's collections on Chinese culture? Why does the author describe the book project as a "cultural great wall?" What proof would you need to prove or disprove the assertion that the book project was a "literary cleansing movement" as some scholars suggest? Art museums across the globe contain pieces of art that were catalogued by Qianlong. Have students look over the issue or go to the website(s) of art museums, (perhaps those of some of the authors in this volume), and select an art object that they would like to collect and catalogue in the spirit of Qianlong. Ask students to write a catalog entry that includes a description of the object, when it was created, and why it is important to Chinese history and culture. Include a thumbnail, or project the image for the class to see. Research other empires at the time of the Qing, such as the Romanov and Ottoman empires. How did they record their history? "The Story of the Stone" Restate in one or two sentences what The Story of the Stone is about. (Compare responses.) What do you anticipate you could learn about the Qing dynasty from a novel about a family that has not already been discussed? Why do you think The Story of the Stone was popular during the Qing period? Is this classic novel still popular today? How could you find out? The author recounts a quarrel between Baoyu and Daiyu and describes

6 "On the Road" family dynamics in Baoyu's family. In what ways are the issues raised in these anecdotes universal to people and families? Based on what students know of the Qing dynasty, have them create a historically accurate plot for a novel set in the Qing period. With a small group, have them write and act out a scene. Or, coordinate scenes and topics for a full production about the Qing period. Ask students to research the first novel in China and write a blurb for an online bookstore to use in promoting the book. Students should discuss the author, time period in which the book was written, and plot. (Bonus: Is the novel still widely read today?) The author states that the Qianlong emperor was the most traveled ruler in Chinese history. Name at least four purposes of the emperor's travels. In the course of his journeys, Qianlong would sometimes stop at tombs and temples to pay homage. What examples does the author give of places Qianlong would visit to pay his respects? (Qianlong stopped at the tombs of his Manchu ancestors at Mukden, the ancestral home of the great philosopher Confucius, and Tibetan Buddhist temples.) What do the Qianlong emperor's spiritual practices tell you about belief systems in China? "Yin Yu Tang" Split the class into three groups. Have each group research one of the groups of people that Qianlong entertained at Chengde and encountered in his travels around the empire. Students can research one of the following groups and present their findings to the class: Mongols, Uighurs, Tibetans and Han Chinese. Questions for research: Who are these people? Do they still live within China's borders today? Describe relations between these groups and the Chinese government today. Qianlong was a student of Tibetan Buddhism. Have students research this tradition, list a few basic ideas, and speculate on why Qianlong might have been attracted to this religious tradition. Using knowledge gained from the entire issue, have students create an illustrated travel log of what Qianlong might have seen or done on one of his expeditions. What did the men of the Huang family do for a living? Why did they become merchants? What was the basic layout of the house? What purposes did the layout serve? Based on what you know of Chinese culture from this issue, how do you think merchants were regarded in traditional Chinese culture? Were they held in high esteem? Why or why not?

7 Direct students to the Peabody Essex Museum website to search for examples of symbols in the architecture and d' cor of Yin Yu Tang. In discussion or in a writing exercise, ask students to compare and contrast the symbolism in Yin Yu Tang with the symbolism in imperial architecture. Suggest that students research the merchant class during the Qing dynasty and write a letter from the point of view of a merchant father to his family back home. Questions for research: What was life like for merchants? How did their lives compare with the lives of soldiers, scholars, or farmers? "Macartney's Mission" Activity: "Legacy of the Qing" Recall from "Life Under the Manchus" that the British weren't happy with the international trade system set up by Manchu rulers. What was the system and why did Britain object to it? How would you characterize relations between the British and the Qing rulers? What were the goals of each in relation to the other? Sometimes what an author doesn't say is as important as what the author does. The author describes Macartney's mission with care, but ask students to think about the significance of Macartney's failed mission. Does the author provide his answer to this question in the article? Students can investigate the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the later Opium Wars between China and Britain to find clues as to why this mission is important to our understanding of the Qing dynasty. (Hint: There are many possible answers to this question!) What is a legacy? Come up with a definition and provide an example from your family, community, or school. In your own words, what does the author say is the legacy of the Qing? Based on your study of Qianlong, what would you add to this list? The article states: "The impact of the Qing dynasty that had carried Chinese civilization from its height to its darkest moments did not melt away after 1911." What do the Qing dynasty's "darkest moments" refer to? Screen scenes from the film "The Last Emperor" and use parts of Puyi's autobiography to help students compare the reign of Puyi with Qianlong. Question for discussion: How were the challenges that Puyi and his contemporaries faced in the final years of the dynasty similar or different from those that Qianlong did? Have students search online for newspaper articles about the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and present-day challenges surrounding the return of the territory to the Chinese mainland. In small groups, students should

8 Part Three: Culminating Activity prepare a newscast about Hong Kong. Their breaking story should include the history of Chinese-British relations during the Qing dynasty, a discussion of how Hong Kong came to be controlled by Britain, and a relevant current event. Note: As an alternative to using this project as a culminating activity, teachers may want to organize their units on the Qing dynasty using the categories below to create stations at which students read select articles, peruse supplementary materials, and answer discussion questions or complete activities from the guide. Activity: As a class, students will be challenged with creating a culminating project on the two and a half plus centuries spanning the Qing dynasty. Through their project, they will need to represent the following aspects of the Qing dynasty: economy and politics arts and culture people and society foreign relations and defense places and territory other(s) of students' choosing The class should discuss the form they want their project to take. Examples of what they might do include: designing an expo creating a stage production making a series of posters or a powerpoint presentation writing and performing lyrics set to popular tunes for an album of songs on China's last dynasty other of students' design Finally, students will want to invite other students or classes to share the fruits of their labor!