Michelle Hudson. Hist 3338: Psa 1. Dr. Fan. 02/18/2017.

Although medicine today is comparatively more advanced, that is a more recent change than one would like to think. For instance, not even 150 years ago, “Hippocrates and Galen would have recognized and largely agreed with most medical practices.” Barry addresses this topic of medical advancement at the beginning of his book by producing a well researched, albeit a little too long, history of western medicine. He provides examples of how medicine evolved from the teachings of Hippocrates, Galen, and Vesalius to a more “modern” form of medicine. This was done in order to explain how prepared the medical community was in the face of this impending virus. Unlike the other epidemics, the people of the early 19-century should have been prepared to face the influenza with all of their exciting and new medical equipment and practices, but there was something in their way of advancement—universities.

This book is an autobiography of a man who became The Emperor of the Manchu Dynasty, at two years of age, named Henry Pu Yi. He lived a life as an emperor up until China’s government became republic and seized his powers. Until then, he continued his life back in Tientsin and tried to continue his legacy by being head of a Japanese puppet state. In spite of all his hard work, he still encountered a lot of temptations along the way and problems which is the hardest to solve. This story narrates the unusual social transitions of a man who was born ordinary,

Both St. Augustine’s Confessions and Confucius’s Analects are influential teachings that have a vast influence on people around the world in the ancient time and currently. Both doctrines discuss ethical values of society back during the time they were written and leads us to find some similarities between the two. There are substantial distinctions between Confucius and St. Augustine’s experiences and beliefs since they are living in different environments and time periods. Their insightful differences are the influences that contributed to mold the distinct philosophies and traditions between the West and the East today. I

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is not just a book about cancer; it is a story about one disease’s ability to change the course of humanity. My father handed me the book when I was thirteen, and it changed the way I thought about medicine. This new perspective complemented my fascination with maps, which allowed me to understand the many places and people I could never see. After years of flipping through atlases and reading about cancer in my father’s office, I realized the remarkable role doctors have had in pushing the progression of the human race. I quickly became infatuated with medicine and its impact on the world. From stepping into the emergency room at my local hospital to see the effect of medicine on people first-hand to presenting a website about

Mao Dun, or rather his true name Shen Dehong, was a 20th century novelist and later the Minister of Culture of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1965. He is considered one of the most well-known and celebrated left-wing realist writers of modern China and is best known for two of his stories, Ziya and Spring Silkworms, the latter which will be referenced throughout this essay. Spring Silkworms tells the story of an elderly man named Old Tong Bao, his family, and his village as they prepare for the coming silk worm season. Throughout the story, we are able to get a sense of the desperation and turmoil that Old Tong Bao’s village is experiencing. From learning about the debt that his family has, how they had to sacrifice food in

Originally, Liang’s “parents were deeply involved in all the excitement of working to transform China into a great Socialist country” (4). Over a serious of unfortunate events, though, he became the child of a “Rightist’s cap” mother and a “Reactionary Capitalist stinking intellectuals” father (9, 51). Impacted by the shattering of his family and horrific bloodshed created by fighting, Liang Heng began to question the Cultural Revolution. He claimed that his “family had scarified so much… but it had given [them] nothing in return” (148). Liang Heng presents his shift in ideology to demonstrate that most Chinese were no longer in support of a Communist nation. His “troubles were common enough and anyone could see there was a discrepancy between the glorious words of the newspapers and [their] painful reality (232). Even Liang Heng’s father, after many years of devotion, found that he could no longer defend the Party’s policies after he experienced the ill-treatment of the peasants in the country

These two tragic deaths, both filled with dramatic irony, reveal Zhang Yimou’s critique of communist collectivist culture and the class structure and power in revolutionary China. Communist collectivist culture may produce benefits such as communal kitchens and giving poor townspeople a sense of hope. However, the class antagonisms between revolutionaries and counterrevolutions produces an environment where no one challenges authority and where blind patriotism sometimes morphs into hysteria like

Writer Shen Congwen is not as straightforward politically involved as Lu Xun is in his short stories. Shen Congwen writes about revolution through a series of lenses that is quite different from that of Lu Xun. Where Lu Xun takes a more rational stance on how things should progress in China through revolution, Shen Congwen wants the reader to see the beauty in revolution and life as a Chinese citizen. In his short story “The New and the Old,” the reader experiences a dramatic scene about a soldier who is called upon to carry out an execution. As the story continues, the reader discovers that this executioner is the best one in town, and that his executions are seen as a true art, not very many people can take off a head with one swing of the

In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.

The death of woman Wang is written by Jonathan D. Spence, a famous scholar of East Asian studies. This book is focus on the early days of Qing dynasty, when Qing dynasty had only been established for about 20 years, the government, even though the whole society, are in their infancies. The author discusses issues of a small county in northeastern China ---T’an-ch’eng, which is in the province of Shantung. The genre of this book is difficult to be identified; it consists of a component of fiction, since the author describes a large number of stories; as well as a component of historical reconstruction, since the author introduces the county’s environment and events according to reliable

A physician must be well rounded in a variety of fields to provide effective care. First, an interest in learning scientific knowledge must be accompanied by the ability to translate that knowledge into methods of treatment. Because science is constantly changing and improving, a physician should be continuously expanding their scientific learning within and outside of their respective fields. Most of the coursework that I have taken reflects my interest in the intersection between biomedical science and its applications through an anthropological lens. For example, I have performed public

Throughout To Live by Yu Hua, a metaphor exists between Jiazhen’s disease and the communism’s suppressive force. Along with the metaphor, Yu creates contradiction present in instances when the communist government is helpful to the lives of people, but also in instances when the communist government is not helpful and damages the lives of its people. However, this contradiction is turned into more support by the author because he shows how it is the people, and not the government, that brings help to their lives. Both, the metaphor and the contradiction are then used to show the author’s feelings toward the communist government. By characterizing Jiazhen as a sick woman confined by her disease, Yu Hua creates an extended metaphor that relates

A third narrative thread is created by stringing together the stories of young Chinese students, both men and women. Their optimistic visions of the future contrast poignantly with the stories of Chen Mengjia and Polat, who expose more of the dark side of China especially the Cultural Revolution. Chen Mengjia committed suicide during the Cultural Revolution. Hessler (2006) interviews an old man about the issue of personal responsibility and political activism and reveals the deeply conflicted nature

Lu Xun’s story “Diary of a Madman” serves to demonstrate his discontent with traditional Chinese cultural, not only by the fact that it clearly addresses the incidence of cannibalism that is believed to have occurred but also symbolizes the oppressive nature of Confucian principles.Lu Xun’s madman has the ability to recognize the oppressive elements of Chinese Confucian culture serves to mock established but out-dated traditional scholarship and symbolizes the greater wisdom of cultural reform, especially as it is advanced by modern intellectuals of the period.

The chapter also extends on to Confucius learning among the populace and its usage by the government, Confucian learning and its relevance to China’s modernization program, and connections between Confucian teachings and democracy. Essentially, the author’s purpose for chapter 1 is to establish an understanding on the importance of Confucian learning undergoing transformations and adapted to modern times.