China’s Spring and Autumn Period – Part 2/3

September 13, 2010

Ancient trees with many birds surround the Confucius temple.  

The platform where Confucius taught his students is called the Apricot Platform since there were once many apricot trees on the site.

Before Confucius, only the elite were allowed to receive an education. However, Confucius believed that education should be available to everyone.

He also believed that education shouldn’t be just for knowledge but to also cultivate good people.

Modern Qufu has cars, motorcycles, bicycles and a special mode of transportation, which the narrator of the video will show you.

If you visit Qufu, the three main attractions are included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The Confucian mansion is next to the temple and was the resident of Confucius’s decedents.  The mansion contains 460 rooms.  The narrator takes you on a brief tour.

See The Life of Confucius or return to China’s Spring and Autumn Period – Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to this Blog, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Confucianism, history | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Speaking Out about Education – Part 1/6

September 12, 2010

This series on education is a rant. I’m angry at something I watched on ABC news and I’ve included that news clip in Part 1. If you don’t want to hear what I have to say about education in America, avoid reading this series.

I taught in Southern California schools. The schools where I taught still have low rankings when compared to similar public schools in California.

Although I worked with students from the low end of the socio-economic strata, the district said that my students, on average, improved annually.

At the end of this ABC segment on YouTube, Marie Meyer, a parent, says, “If my child is getting an ‘F’, and I know that he is able to do ‘A’ quality work, then it has to reflect on the teacher.”

In fact, the responsibility for a child FAILING in school rightfully belongs to the parents and students, who are shirking his or her duties. 

If most Asian students can succeed in the same classroom, so can non Asians. It was my experience that Asian parents were the toughest and their children usually earned high grades.

Teachers cannot teach by themselves. It takes a community to teach a child. The most important element of the community is the parents, students and teachers and cooperation is the key.

– to be continued
See The Growing Education Gap between the US and China

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to this Blog, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Spring and Autumn Period – Part 1/3

September 12, 2010

The Zhou Dynasty (1126 – 222 B.C.) was still around when China’s Spring and Autumn Period arrived, but the Zhou king had lost his power to the nobles who often fought wars with each other.

The Spring and Autumn Period of the Zhou Dynasty took place from 770 to 476 B.C.

During this time, Confucius lived in Qufu, in Southwest Shandong Province, which was once the capital of the Lu Kingdom.

There were 150 kingdoms competing with each other. Constant warfare meant chaos and anarchy.

However, during the 5th and 6th centuries there was a period of learning around the world.  In Greece, there was Pythagoras, Sakyamuni (Buddhism) Nepal, and Confucianism was established in Qufu, China.

Today, Qufu’s ancient city opens each weekend with a large ceremony before tourists are allowed to visit.

Confucius home is inside the ancient city walls. Two years after Confucius died, the king of Lu turned his home into a temple to honor the sage.

To continue honoring Confucius, emperors of the Han, Sung, Ming and Qing Dynasties had more buildings built on the site of the original temple.

Sacrificial ceremonies have been held there for more than two thousand years.

See Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to this Blog, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Poverty and China’s Peasant farmers – Part 3/3

September 12, 2010

In rural China, the peasants do not earn much money.  They live in what the West calls poverty, but they have a home and a roof over their heads.  They are not homeless and seldom are hungry as the poor in India, which is touted as the largest democracy on the earth.

The peasant farmers in China grow most of the food they eat and sell what they do not need as the Amish do today in America and as 90% of Americans did before the Industrial Revolution.

If Chinese peasants, go to school, eat a nutritious diet and have access to basic medical care as China’s central government has promised, health will improve and life spans may surpass urban China where the air pollution is bad.

China is extending the electric grid and improving public transportation so rural China will have access to the same luxuries that urban people have. Before 1980, rural Chinese lived as most Americans did before the Industrial Revolution.

For thousands of years, the backbone of China has always been the peasant farmers and their collective lifestyle. What will happen to China if they all join the consumer oriented middle class?

Rural America must have been a collective culture before the Industrial Revolution. Consumerism and credit cards changed most Americans, except the Amish, into an individualistic culture where “I” is more important than “We”. 

The Amish are still a collective culture with free will to leave and become a modern American consumer. Why don’t they?

See Climbing the Dragon’s Back

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to this Blog, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | capitalism, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese middle class, cultural differences, education, family values, food, health care | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Poverty and China’s Peasant farmers – Part 2/3

September 11, 2010

Before the industrial revolution, there was no public education as it exists today and few could read and write.  Due to poor nutrition and living conditions, people didn’t live long.

However, there is nothing wrong with the rural peasant farmer lifestyle.  Who needs money to survive when you grow your own food and make all the things you need?

With a small community of family and close neighbors that work together for survival, what else is needed?

For example, there are the Amish in America, who live as people did before the Industrial Revolution. The Amish choose to live a simple life based on their religious beliefs.

The Amish seriously follow the Biblical commands to separate themselves from frivolous material things that many take for granted and can’t live without.

In addition, the Amish don’t have electricity and do not drive cars.

Why doesn’t the media report on how deprived the Amish are as they report on the poor, peasant farmers in China?

Does this mean the Amish are poor and live in poverty because they don’t have consumer products like computers, iPads or iPods, and expensive cars or trucks and all the other junk that we cannot eat?

See China’s Stick People

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to this Blog, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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