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Han dynasty and Confucianism
Role of superstition in society
Han dynasty and Confucianism
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The original author of ‘Lucky and Unlucky days’ was a Chinese philosopher Wang Chong, although the text has been adapted and translated by several other authors over time. Wang Chong was a renowned philosopher from the Han dynasty, born in 27 AD and died in 100 AD. The text ‘Lucky and Unlucky days’ is written with the purpose to defame the ancient superstitions that ruled society and the government during the Han dynasty, specifically the act of taking action on days that were considered unlucky. This text is a piece taken from one of the many larger essays which Chong composed, which were eventually compiled into thirty books titled “the Balanced Inquires” . Because of the time period, the text’s targeted audience was most likely government
“Peanut’s Fortune”, a short story written by Amy Tan, is set in China during a turn into a new year. As the Chinese prepare for the New Year celebrations, Peanut and her sister stumble upon a prosperous fortune teller who offers to change Peanut’s fate. With Peanut’s consent, the fortune-teller takes away her fated marriage with a local man, and destines her to marry a wealthy man from Shanghai. The fortune-teller then shows Peanut’s sister a glimpse of her misfortunate future and offers to change her fate as well. However, Peanut pulls her away into the crowded market, leaving her sister to be stuck with her bad luck.
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
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.
On the other hand, Spence losses his reader as he introduces the spread of Confucius and other superstitious believes through out the county. He states that the Local History states that people became unusually superstitious in parts of T'an-ch'eng. Later on he presents the Confucianism and it influence. Confusion especially occurs then he quotes from many different sources and chapters. For inst...
In his book “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes a lot about luck by illustrating the importance of birthdays for Hockey players, by comparing the success of geniuses with super high intelligence, and by showing how successful people got opportunities and support because of their luck. At a glance, every reader can find out luck plays a crucial role in success, but does Gladwell wants us to believe luck is all that matters? Although he emphasizes a lot about luck in his book, I don’t think he believes that successful people are just lucky because every successful people he introduces in his book are not just lucky in their lives, but are great hard workers and risk takers.
The stories of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Summer Rituals” by Ray Bradbury are of tradition and gathering’s. During the summer, men, women, and children gather for an annual event.”Summer Rituals” has a positive family gathering on the front porch. “The Lottery” is a dark story that takes place in a village.The townspeople get together to draw a piece of paper and see who is chosen to get stoned to death. Each story has a connection to each other through their traditions
Book Critique of The Longest Day Cornelius Ryan, born in Dublin, Ireland in 1920, worked as a reporter covering the battles in Europe from 1941-1945 and then the final months of the Pacific Campaign. His articles were printed in both Reuters and the London Daily Telegraph. His first book was The Longest Day, published in 1959, selling over 4 million copies in 27 different editions. In 1962, a director named Darryl Zannuck made the book into a movie. Ryan's next book was The Last Battle, published in 1966.
Geographic luck, opinions of the natives, and cultural diffusion lead to conflict and Revolution in Latin America. Each of these variables play a major role in the cause of Latin America's conflict and revolution.
The other five autumn poems have references of Keats’s poem within them, yet they give much more than that. The poem Fr288 “My First Day Well – Since Many Ill” is written in ballad form with abundant usage of slant rhymes. While on the surface of the poem contemplates the passage of time, seasons, and illnesses, it actually describes an event in Dickinson’s life. In 1862, the year the poem was believed to be written in, she had been bedridden from an illness for months, which often left her wondering if her illness would end in death during the duration of her sickness (Mamunes 39). The Brazilian threads in the poem signify the red streaks of blood mingled in her sputum, but it can also signify the fall foliage. The final stanza reveals Dickinson 's insight into her life-threatening illness, where she looked the positives and decided it opened a path to deeper awareness of her own body. This poem has a lovely depiction of autumn and the poet is able to admire it, but thoughts of summer cast ponderous feelings of loss. In contrast, autumn hides death and decay. According
The title of Ray Huang’s book 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty Decline suggests that this book is a work based on a single year in which little occurred. But in reality, Huang’s look at the events of 1587 demonstrates the complex workings of the leadership during the decline of the Ming dynasty, giving the reader an insight into the societal structure, the governmental process, and the mistakes that occurred systematically to enhance the progression towards the seemingly inevitable downfall. Though nothing of historical significance occurred during the year 1587, Huang is able to demonstrate the way in which the existing culture and the smaller, more systematic elements of political leadership can be understood within the context of a seemingly unimportant period of time. 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.
Taoism has been a major influence in China throughout much of its history and The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, reflects this influence through its infusion of Taoist principals. One of the fundamental concepts within Taoism is that of Wu-hsing. Wu-hsing is a way of understanding a matter by dividing it into five and is often represented by five phases, elements of directions. This is an unfamiliar concept to a western perspective, which tends to divide things into four. Understanding this fifth additional element, however, is essential to understanding The Joy Luck Club.
Confucius’s counsel and guidance recorded in The Analects instilled wisdom when they were first recorded and continue to provide a thought provoking analysis of life and the checkpoints that guide it. The Master’s commentary on restraint, diligence, decency, and citizenship are well intended and relevant. Politics and the role of government also come under scrutiny as Confucius offers his insights in bettering the organization of power. His proverb-like admonitions use clear examples of everyday life allowing them to be understood and easily digested. Confucius’s own eagerness and willingness to share goodness he experienced makes it easier to apply and practice in one’s own life.
Lu Xun’s Diary of a Madman was China’s first real major modern short story. Xun unusually avoided traditional short story writing techniques. He tends to stray from the omniscient narration and replaces it with the author’s subjective, personal point of view. This can be seen as untraditional because it was almost completely unprecedented in Chinese literature of this era. Xun’s ‘I-narration’ (“at school I had been close friends with two brothers whose names I will not omit to mention here.”(p.21) This provides an effective way of further distancing himself from the text and creating a reading of the diary, which allows readers to form different perspectives on the literature. It could be argued that this is slightly ironic as he cleverly
Throughout the years american women have gone through numerous trials and tribulations to obtain the rights that we have today. It took countless strong willed luminary women to get us to where we are here In the 21st century. These women made it their life's work to have equal rights with the close-minded men around them that were stuck In a comfortable state. With all of our considerable advances leading up to where we are today, why can't every American woman say "I have it all?" Whether or not the American woman can have it all is strictly based entirely on one's perspective; one's outlook on life and her future, whether it be as a house-wife, mother, or a working women is dependent on the individual and will change drastically from woman