15th Century Chapter Summaries

Before this assignment I never knew anything about Asian history until I got to this class and received this assignment. I can’t believe how much Asian history influenced the way we as Americans look at history now. In Steward Gordon’s When Asia Was The World, I found the story of Xuanzang very interesting. Xuanzang was a Buddhist monk who traveled all over to learn more about Buddhism until he became confused and decided to go to the center of Buddhism, along the way he faced many difficulties, he decided to go back to China and share what he had learned.

Emperor of China; Self Portrait of K’ang-hsi should not be read as a textbook or as a completely true historical

The reason that we are reading, “When China Ruled the Seas” by Louise Levathes is in order to help us create a better understanding of the Chinese rule and how they became such a great dynasty. It helps us to see how China rose to become a great maritime power and also how it its navy disintegrated. “When China Ruled the Seas” shows us why the Chinese emperors decided to destroy its navy. It helps us learn more about China’s voyages of exploration, including how long they lasted, the reason for them, how far they extended and the impact they had on China itself and

“To the rulers of China and barbarian states, far and near, should be kind to each other equally, adopt a friendly policy towards neighbors, and all will live in harmony as well as enjoy peace and happiness” (Emperor Hongwu 1405). “1421” was about the mystery surrounding the sailing exploits of the legendary Admiral Zheng and his 30-year command of a gigantic Ming fleet. Zheng commanded voyages from 1405 to 1433 sponsored by the Ming government on seven naval expeditions. The documentary examines Zheng He as he sailed past the Cape of Good Hope and crossed the Atlantic to discover the Americas, decades before Christopher Columbus.

One purpose of these voyages was to explore foreign lands unfamiliar to the Chinese.   In addition, China hoped to establish trade relationships with foreign countries and expand the Chinese tribute system.  The Changle Inscription, 1431, an inscription carved into a stone pillar in eastern China near the city of Changle shortly before Zheng He’s seventh voyage, stated that, “we captured alive and barbarian bandits who invaded and plundered we wiped out.  

History writing has evolved much over time with the contributions of many people. In the modern sense, it can be traced back to ancient Greece and China, where historians Herodotus and Sima Qian began keeping records of human existence. Although they were not literally the first people to write history, together they are named the first great historians of the Western world and the East because of their individual innovations and extensive work that has long affected history writing up until this day. There is much to debate when it comes to the greatness of these ancient historians, and although some believe they were both important and successful in what their works, The Histories and The Records of a Historian, accomplished, others

History is one subject that most people choose to believe blindly and not question. We learn from textbooks the proclaimed “truth” of the whole world. As said by Winston Churchill, a British politician and Prime Minister who led Britain to victory during WW2, “History is written by the victors” (“Winston Churchill Quotes”). He is suggesting that history is not always exact and that it is possible that history cannot be necessarily trusted. The novels The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas use their essential episodes, dialogue, and characters to epitomize the theme that history is written by the victors.

Though many had doubts about the truth of Marco Polo's writings, that did not change the fact that this young, brave adventurer authored a book that would alter European's opinions of the world beyond them. At the time of its publication, which has since been translated into over one hundred languages, it was one of the most influential sources of information available about China. With out a doubt, it was what inspired future explorers like Columbus to venture to faraway lands, and it changed the map of the world. This is why this young adventurer and storyteller, Marco Polo, is such an important figure in our history, and "he stands unchallenged as the world's most famous

Paul Cohen writes in his book A History of Three Keys that there are three different kinds of historical consciousness; history as an event, written by professional historians, history as an experience, based on people who were alive and involved with the actual event, and history as a myth, a manipulated past to serve in today’s world. This is the only way history is written according to Cohen, three distinct and very different forms of history. He argues them while explaining the events of the Boxer rebellion in China. Cohen argues that the three forms are very different in their very nature and have no bearing on each other. History as a myth has a direct purpose. Cohen writes, “When good historians

The famous Italian explorer Marco Polo is famous for his stories of the wonders and marvels of China and Central Asia. Although Polo is credited with introducing Europeans all that the East has to offer, it has also been claimed that the Italian explorer never even made it to China and faked his tales of his expedition in 1271. Marco Polo’s lack of mentioning key geographical and cultural features, his inaccurate accounts of his tale, and no existing Chinese records of Marco Polo’s existence in their history demonstrates that the Italian explorer never made it to China.

“History is the study of any past or present happening or events for which there is physical, written or oral evidence available to substantiate the happenings or events. Some students of history have difficulty with their motivation for the subject because they cannot identify with the personal value of history” (A Guide to Critical Thinking in the Social Studies 1). Clearly, there are many approaches to the study of an era or theme, but those most frequently relied upon in all levels of education are those which seek to present facts, documented from a wide number of sources, primary and secondary, as objectively as possible, a practice which detaches students from their studies and seemingly takes the “story” out of history. Relying upon

We have covered the general accounts of human nature found in Confucianism and Taoism in light of the historical backdrop of the Period of Warring States. Use your responses to the following general questions below as an opportunity to refer either to the Smith text and accompanying assigned scriptures(s), Smith video(s) on China, Confucianism, and Taoism, or any additional material covered in class. Look ahead to the next question on the chun tzu in order to plan on avoiding repetition of answers verbatim within each essay if there are areas of potential overlap.

The military classics of China represent a long and historical culture of the Chinese people. They represent the societal concerns and developments of China and within these texts are recurring tenets that occupied the philosophy of China. Five tenets will be analyzed to show the Confucian relationship across various military texts.

This paper focuses on the philosophy of the Qin dynasty and the Ming dynasty. For thousands of years, Confucianism had been the mainstream philosophy in Chinese traditional culture. It played a significant role to enlighten people’s thoughts in all periods of history. However, during Qin Dynasty, the thoughts of Confucianism, “Cultivating yourself first, then regulate your family, govern your state, and bring peace to world” was not accepted by Qin government; instead, in 213BC, Confucianism was devastatingly destroyed by Emperor Shi Huangdi.

Although Herodotus and Sima Qian lived hundreds of years apart on opposite sides of the planet, their respective impacts on their societies and humanity as a whole are tremendous. Herodotus was born in 480 BCE in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor (now Turkey). His family was wealthy, and immediately resisted the Persian rule after their conquest of the city, leading to his exile on the island of Samos – his first encounter with the trauma of war. He then wrote The Histories, a work of massive scope that focused on reliability and thoroughness unlike anything before it. Sima Qian was born in 145 BCE in Han-ruled China. His father held the title “Grand Astrologer,” a position concerned with preparing the yearly calendar. However, his father had begun writing a grand work of history: at his death, Qian promised to finish the work in his honor. The Records of the Historian, like The Histories, was revolutionary in that it covered far more spatial and temporal ground than any prior Chinese work. Because their purviews were so vast and recordings so comprehensive, Herodotus’ and Sima Qian’s respective influences were felt throughout their societies, thus facilitating their arbitration of moral judgment through interpretation of historical fact. In crude terms, they understood that the what was inconsequential without the why. Specifically, they saw their roles as interpreters as opportunities to become arbiters of moral judgment: moral leaders. Their works, and thus their mechanisms of