Hi everyone!
This
week we read poetry by Du Fu and poetry from the book Classics of Poetry. The
theme that is most emphasized from this selection of readings would be the
influence they have on Chinese culture.
The
poem, taken from Classics of Poetry, Plums are Falling, and the poem, Boat
of Cypress really displays the culture that was apparent at the time. In Plums
are Falling, it talks about a girl who is looking for a good husband. She
lists off certain qualities she is looking for in one, until she narrows it
down to the one quality she really wants.
"Plums are falling, seven are the fruits; many
men want me, let me have a fine one.
Plums are falling, three are the fruits; many men want
me, let me have a steady one.
Plums
are falling, catch them in the basket; many men want me, let me be bride of
one."
This
reflects the Chinese culture in which a young woman is hoping to find (or be
paired with) a good husband that treats her kindly, and as a good wife, which
she hopes to be. She has many prospects, but she is ultimately looking for the
right one.
Boat
of Cypress, another
beautiful poem from Classics of Poetry, shows a man who is troubled with
himself and his heart. It reflects the culture at the time because men are expected
to be manly and are held to the higher standards of feelings. It was viewed to
be more feminine to discuss feelings and if a man did that, it would
de-masculine him internally. In the poem it cites:
“This heart of mine is no mirror,
it cannot take in all.
Yes, I do have brothers,
but brothers will not be my stay.
I went and told them of my grief
and
met only with their rage.”
Those
lines suggest that the character went to his brothers and trusted friends to
try to sort out his thoughts and feelings but they only responded in the way
that they were taught to and that was
anger or teasing.
This
topic would be very interesting to teach to high school students. There are
many ways you could incorporate it into a lesson plan. You can take the theme
at hand and have students compare the works to a poet they know today. You
could let them choose from a select list. Have them pick two poems, one from
each poet (one from Chinese Poetry, and another of their own), and compare and
contrast the influences each has for the culture it derived from.
As
a fun perk, you could have them write some of their own, one from the
perspective of the Chinese culture, and one geared toward the culture of the
poet they chose.
The
types of pop culture that could be used to incorporate the theme in a fun and
educational way would be through the movie Mulan. The animated Disney
movie is about the legend of a girl who pretended to be a man in the army
during the Northern Wei dynasty. The story is derived from a Chinese poem
written in 386-534 when northern China was ruled by nomadic invaders.
The
poem is called The Ballad of Mulan, and the entire poem can be found
here [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/mulan.pdf]. This pop culture icon can be
used to connect that bridge that students usually refuse to cross because the
topic is “too boring,” or “hard.”
Everyone knows the movie Mulan and so it can be watched in the classroom
(It is free on Netflix), and then read the original poem and direct that to learn
about the theme at hand.
That’s
all for this week! Take care and I hope you have a blessed day!
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