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Personal leadership and leadership styles
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Personality traits and leadership styles
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Including recounts and anecdotes from around 2600 BC to 85 BC (McMillin), Ssuma Ch’ien’s completed Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji (McMillin), should cover all the aspects needed to qualify a good government official. One of Ssuma Ch’ien’s intentions in writing these records was to emphasize the role of individual men in affecting Chinese government. The biography of magistrate Pu-shih in particular, holds several attributes concerning the emphasis on the roles of individual men in affecting Chinese government, or more specifically, the question of what qualities make a person a good government official. A summary, contextualization, inference, monitorship, and corroboration will aid in the answering of this question.
Although the Records of the Grand Historian were compiled through the perspective of Ssuma Ch’ien himself, it was a privately written collection, which simply meant that he was not obligated to only write official history covering only those of high rank. This was considered a veritable record for it was written in a moderate and objective manner that later became an official format in the writing of Chinese history (McMillin). Ssuma Ch’ien’s primary account of how and why Pu-shih became a government official, gave a proficient insight to what qualities make a person a good government official. The most significant detail is when Pu-shih replies to emperor, “Every worthy man should be willing to fight to the death to defend the borders, and every person with wealth ought to contribute to the expense (Ch'ien and Watson).” And, “If there are poor men in my village, I lend them what they need, and if there are men who do not behave properly, I guide and counsel them (Ch'ien and Watson).” These two statements co...
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...y Ssuma Ch’ien, the most prominent qualities in this source are loyalty, humbleness, and wisdom. These are the characteristics that will not only make a person a good government official, but also a successful leader.
Works Cited
Ch'ien, Ssuma and Burton Watson. "Pu-Shih." Ch'ien, Ssuma. Records of the Grand Historian. 6th Centuray BCE. Volume II.
Guide, Travel China. Liu CHe - Emperor Wu of Western Han. n.d. 27 Febuary 2014 .
Kids, Britannica Online for. Han Dynasty: Location Map. n.d. 27 Febuary 2014 .
McMillin, Maggie. Sima Qian(Ssupma Ch'ien). 15 October 2013.
Riegel, Jeffrey. Stanford Encyclopaedia: Confucius. 3 July 2002. 27 Febuary 2014 .
There are little to no direct accounts of how individuals’ lives were a couple thousand years ago in Ancient China. With a wealth of information on the rise, decline, and fall of empires, Michael Loewe, a sinologist who specializes in oriental studies and theology, writes an imaginary story about a hero named Bing set around 70 BCE. Bing: From Farmer’s Son to Magistrate in Han China is Loewe’s fictional portrait of life during the Han Empire. It is by no means a comprehensive historical account of Han times, in fact, it was written with those readers who are not familiar with Chinese in mind, however through the life of Bing we can gage how the lives of laborers, those involved in military service, merchants, and government officials might
P’u shamelessly addresses the fact that despite preaching honor and virtue, the nobility were the most lawless, yet only an idealized account would be recorded in history, as has always been. The author mocks this relinquishment in his own stories, as the moral is driven to immorality as rebels receive little to no punishment for their flagrant abuse of others and adultery against virtue. He describes the turmoil as “the ways that misery spawned recklessness and sudden, unreasoning violence that were almost impossible to deal with” (Spence 79). Laws themselves proved to be as wicked and depraved as their creators. For example, a horrific clause even encouraged men to take advantage of widows for profit. While the peasant class resisted their struggled by simply trying to survive, the upper nobility fought their problems by making the existence of those below them harder to bear. Enforced laws were done so with no due process, yet were made flexible by their own creators. Therefore, Spence exhibited the lawlessness and the government and its constant effort to contain this disorder. By hand-selecting the sources and settling on rural China, Spence felt the format effectively depicted his purpose. He effectively detailed history in relation to the average person of 17th century China and created a personal perspective that imbued the historical events with meaning. He most fully and accurately captures the greed, vision of morals, unaltered by elite preference and ironically one can draw parallels to our modern times. His purpose results in a richness of detail seldom observed in Chinese history. The principles of the time are captured through the poverty within the peasant class as every moment of their lives was set forth
One may wonder exactly what it is that qualities a strong leader possesses. A strong leader is determined, and strong willed. They must be of good judgment, and without bias. They cannot easily be persuaded, and they are firm, yet at the same time, a good lead must also empathize with his subordinates, and have the best interest at heart for said subordinates, at all times. However, with that being said, a good leader cannot be afraid to discipline his subordinates when necessary. Unmistakably, being a leader is a very difficult feat – one which not everyone can accomplish. A leader must be an authority, a friend and a counsellor, all at once. They must be responsible, and always take into account the disadvantages of a situation. Not everyone is suitable to be a leader, whereas, just about anybody can be a good role model.
Zhang Tao would become a mid-level bureaucrat during the later-Ming period. Written about only once, Zhang Tao is considered to be a minor figure in Ming Dynasty history (Brook, p. 6). Nevertheless, Brook uses Zhang Tao as the hindsight for the nearly three centuries of dynasty before him. However, as a moralist, Zhang Tao romanticized the early Ming period. His commentary is gathered from his writings in the Sheh county gazetteer (Brook, p. 87). Borrowing this format from Zhang Tao, Brook uses the seasons to divide various periods of the Ming Dynasty.
...he Confucius Way. The secretaries will trust in him again, and thus, good relations amongst the Emperor and the secretaries will be positive again. This unity will allow more focus on other important issues, and therefore better decisions will be made for the people of China. This will lead to happiness among the people and prosperity in our government. Master once said, “If a man sets his heart on benevolence, he will be free from evil.” I have set my heart on benevolence by grounding my viewpoints from the depths of Confucius’s teachings. Confucius’ teachings clearly show that choosing Changlou as an heir and removing Lady Zheng and Kang Hua will clear the dangerous cloud of evil covering our city. If I have insulted you in any way, great Wan Li, I apologize. I only hope to advise you in the best way possible. Emperor, I hope you find benevolence in my memorial.
Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 55, House of the Marquis of Liu.
Chapter 1: The Wan-Li Emperor, begins by explaining the major premise of the work: The concept of looking at a single year in the history of the leadership of China and evaluating the implications for understanding other aspects of history, including the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In this initial chapter, Huang provides an anecdotal history of some of the events that occurred, and includes within it a discussion of the set up of the leadership, the repercussions that occurred in the event of certain actions, including the prospects of an audience with the emperor. Huang reviews these issues as he considers that actions taken by the Wan-li emperor, who was only twenty-four in 1587 and who had been a veteran of ceremonial proceedings, and considers his history as an element of understanding the progression of leadership.
The first Memoir of 1795 was addressed to the heir of her natal family and took the form of a public appeal in her effort to reestablish her family’s moral legitimacy and honorable family tradition. Before we explore her memoir, it is important to note that she felt responsible for her family’s downfall – believing that her marriage into the royal house had led to directly their suffering and decline. Beyond the scholarly merit of her stories, they are important in the view Lady Hyegyong provides of the court life and the strict Confucian beliefs that stress filial piety, loyalty and virtue. To being with, the move from
During the Ming dynasty, Chinese literati were educated officials and scholars (Ching 1987, 24). Many were involved with painting and calligraphy. Some were officials in the Ming government. In order to obtain a position as an official or cabinet member, a student must pass the “imperial exam.” An imperial exam is exam paper used to find the best potential for an administrative position. The government designed these exams with three levels. After the student has completed the third level, they will have an opportunity to meet the emperor in person. If the emperor were to approve the student, then the student may obtain an admintrative position in the government. Most people who took imperial exams came from a rich family (Murphey 2009, 136-137). The rich were able to afford private tutors for there children who needed to take the exam. Peasants would have little to no chance at achieving an administrative position. Painting and calligraphy was another characteristic of the Chinese literati. Chinese artist ...
Sit, Tony. "The Life of Empress Cixi” (from Issue 10 of the China in Focus Magazine). Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), 2001. .
Pu Yi, Henry, and Paul Kramer. The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China. 4th ed. New York: Skyhorse, 2010. Amazon.com. Amazon.com. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
The early nineteenth century was the beginning of the Qing Dynasty’s downfall. During this century multiple issues, including economic pressures, corruption, domestic rebellions and foreign wars, challenged ...
Jonathan D. Spence creates a memoir to show K’ang Hsi from the first person narration. This technique immediately brings the reader into this remarkable emperor’s world. K’ang Hsi (1654-1722) was the third emperor in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and he ruled China for 61 years (start from 1661 and end at 1722), which was the longest period throughout Chinese history. Han Chinese was the majority ethnicity in China and they ruled over China since the start of Chinese history. However, until Yuan D...
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* Ancient close East, ed. Jack M. Sassoon. New York: Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1995: 1883-1893.