Cao and Li,
Thank you very much for your historical explanation. I feel more comfortable talking about the culture surrounding the movie And The Spring Comes now. I'll be working on improving my essay with your suggestions and comments. I've enjoyed working with you!
Megan
Cultural Essay
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1348831303
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Re: Cultural Essay
Hello Megan,
We are very interested in your mention of Yi and Li. In our understanding, Yi is the sense of responsibility and responsibility of one's own life. Can you talk about the meaning of these two Chinese words that you understand? We are very curious about how Confucian culture is taught abroad! And what do you think of Chinese Confucian culture? We believe that in different cultural backgrounds, the understanding of the same content will not be exactly the same. This difference is the most interesting part of formal cultural exchange.
Look forward to your reply.
Guo/Liang
We are very interested in your mention of Yi and Li. In our understanding, Yi is the sense of responsibility and responsibility of one's own life. Can you talk about the meaning of these two Chinese words that you understand? We are very curious about how Confucian culture is taught abroad! And what do you think of Chinese Confucian culture? We believe that in different cultural backgrounds, the understanding of the same content will not be exactly the same. This difference is the most interesting part of formal cultural exchange.
Look forward to your reply.
Guo/Liang
Re: Cultural Essay
Hi Guo and Liang,
When we studied Confucian rhetoric, we learned "yi" means to act in a proper and fitting manner, while "li" is observing ritual propriety/traditions. It's interesting to see that your understanding of "yi" means a sense of responsibility. Although it can seem like our interpretations are different, I can see how they are also the same. When we learned about "yi" we learned that Confucius believed in people treating one another with respect. In that way, I can see how "yi" can mean a responsibility to respect others and act appropriately. I enjoyed learning about Confucian rhetoric, and I'm curious to hear what you think of my interpretation of "yi."
Megan
When we studied Confucian rhetoric, we learned "yi" means to act in a proper and fitting manner, while "li" is observing ritual propriety/traditions. It's interesting to see that your understanding of "yi" means a sense of responsibility. Although it can seem like our interpretations are different, I can see how they are also the same. When we learned about "yi" we learned that Confucius believed in people treating one another with respect. In that way, I can see how "yi" can mean a responsibility to respect others and act appropriately. I enjoyed learning about Confucian rhetoric, and I'm curious to hear what you think of my interpretation of "yi."
Megan
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1348831303
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 1:53 pm
Re: Cultural Essay
Hi, Megan!
I think your interpretation of "yi"" makes a lot of sense. "yi" originally means "appropriate", that is, behavior is suitable for "li". Confucius used "yi" as the moral principle to judge people's thought and behavior.
In our opinion, "yi" refers to righteousness, which means that people should have a sense of justice and the spirit of acting courageously. No matter who has difficulties, they should try their best to help and solve problems. Be moral to your friends, be selfless and willing to help others, and never have the intention to do so. At the same time, I am curious about how you use English words to express "li" and "yi" in Chinese culture in American culture.
Guo/Liang
I think your interpretation of "yi"" makes a lot of sense. "yi" originally means "appropriate", that is, behavior is suitable for "li". Confucius used "yi" as the moral principle to judge people's thought and behavior.
In our opinion, "yi" refers to righteousness, which means that people should have a sense of justice and the spirit of acting courageously. No matter who has difficulties, they should try their best to help and solve problems. Be moral to your friends, be selfless and willing to help others, and never have the intention to do so. At the same time, I am curious about how you use English words to express "li" and "yi" in Chinese culture in American culture.
Guo/Liang
Women's Empowerment in Chinese and American Cultures
Women's Empowerment in Chinese and American Cultures
Both movies, Mona Lisa Smile and And The Spring Comes, are concerned with women’s empowerment. The main characters strive to meet their goals that break tradition (“li”) and are not considered appropriate ("yi") actions for women. In this essay, “li” is considered ritual propriety/tradition and “yi” is considered appropriate action as used in Confucian rhetoric. In Mona Lisa Smile, Professor Watson breaks tradition ("li") by attempting to talk young females out of marriages and convincing some to continue their education, which was an unfamiliar path for women in the 1950’s. Professor Watson is also not considered an appropriate ("yi") professor because her teachings break the school’s traditions ("li"). In And The Spring Comes, Professor Wang breaks tradition ("li") because she wants to become a famous opera singer even though her looks are not considered beautiful enough. Professor Wang is also unmarried like Professor Watson, and Chinese culture would see an unmarried woman as unusual. By showing the ambitious goals of the main characters, both movies bring attention to women wanting to be more than what their cultures expected of them.
Both of these professors are respected for their talents, however, they both endure the consequences of breaking tradition ("li") and acting inappropriately (“yi”). Professor Watson is supposed to be teaching from a syllabus that has already been written, however, she decides to teach her own lessons. Instead of teaching students to be good housewives, Professor Watson teaches her own lessons about art and culture. Professor Watson has to end up leaving the school because she broke those traditions (“li”) and it was unacceptable (“yi”) to the school for her to do so. On the other hand, Professor Wang tries to get famous without having the traditional (“li”) beautiful appearance famous women are expected to have. Her singing is powerful and should be enough to get her recognized. Unfortunately, her singing voice is not enough to carry her to fame without naturally attractive looks. Professor Wang puts on plenty of makeup when she performs in public in hopes to get attention by being beautiful showing that it’s custom (“li”) and appropriate (“yi”) to have proper looks in entertainment. Both of the main characters had to adjust their lives according to traditional (“li”) and appropriate (“yi”) expectations of their cultures.
Both of the main characters are expected to follow the tradition ("li") of marriage and reproduction. When Professor Wang visits her parents, they ask her if she has met anyone to marry in the upcoming year because it would be appropriate (“yi”) for her to marry at her age. In Chinese culture it is expected that women follow the tradition (“li”) of marrying. Similarly, Professor Watson’s students are all very concerned with her plans to be married. It was expected (“li”) of women to be married at Professor Watson’s age, even her students were getting married before her. Even though Professor Watson doesn’t want to be married, her student thinks it is appropriate (“yi”) to share the “good” news that she was engaged and the students congratulate her. They are shocked when Professor Watson tells them she doesn’t want to follow the tradition (“li”) of becoming married and the engagement is over. Unlike Professor Watson, Professor Wang did want to marry. However, the adoption of a child seems to fulfill that need. Typically, it would be appropriate (“yi”) for a woman to have a child with her husband. But, Professor Wang proves she doesn’t need to marry to have a family. Similarly, Professor Watson proves she doesn’t need a husband by refusing to marry her fiance. The characters broke traditions (“li”) of marriage and reproduction.
It seems that Chinese and American expectations of womens’ futures and lifestyles are similar. Based on traditions (“li”) and appropriate actions (“yi”), Professor Watson and Professor Wang were both expected to marry, have children, and conform to society’s expectations. Even though the characters had to deal with the consequences of not following traditions (“li”) and appropriate (“yi”) actions, they still shed light on the hardships of being your true self.
Both movies, Mona Lisa Smile and And The Spring Comes, are concerned with women’s empowerment. The main characters strive to meet their goals that break tradition (“li”) and are not considered appropriate ("yi") actions for women. In this essay, “li” is considered ritual propriety/tradition and “yi” is considered appropriate action as used in Confucian rhetoric. In Mona Lisa Smile, Professor Watson breaks tradition ("li") by attempting to talk young females out of marriages and convincing some to continue their education, which was an unfamiliar path for women in the 1950’s. Professor Watson is also not considered an appropriate ("yi") professor because her teachings break the school’s traditions ("li"). In And The Spring Comes, Professor Wang breaks tradition ("li") because she wants to become a famous opera singer even though her looks are not considered beautiful enough. Professor Wang is also unmarried like Professor Watson, and Chinese culture would see an unmarried woman as unusual. By showing the ambitious goals of the main characters, both movies bring attention to women wanting to be more than what their cultures expected of them.
Both of these professors are respected for their talents, however, they both endure the consequences of breaking tradition ("li") and acting inappropriately (“yi”). Professor Watson is supposed to be teaching from a syllabus that has already been written, however, she decides to teach her own lessons. Instead of teaching students to be good housewives, Professor Watson teaches her own lessons about art and culture. Professor Watson has to end up leaving the school because she broke those traditions (“li”) and it was unacceptable (“yi”) to the school for her to do so. On the other hand, Professor Wang tries to get famous without having the traditional (“li”) beautiful appearance famous women are expected to have. Her singing is powerful and should be enough to get her recognized. Unfortunately, her singing voice is not enough to carry her to fame without naturally attractive looks. Professor Wang puts on plenty of makeup when she performs in public in hopes to get attention by being beautiful showing that it’s custom (“li”) and appropriate (“yi”) to have proper looks in entertainment. Both of the main characters had to adjust their lives according to traditional (“li”) and appropriate (“yi”) expectations of their cultures.
Both of the main characters are expected to follow the tradition ("li") of marriage and reproduction. When Professor Wang visits her parents, they ask her if she has met anyone to marry in the upcoming year because it would be appropriate (“yi”) for her to marry at her age. In Chinese culture it is expected that women follow the tradition (“li”) of marrying. Similarly, Professor Watson’s students are all very concerned with her plans to be married. It was expected (“li”) of women to be married at Professor Watson’s age, even her students were getting married before her. Even though Professor Watson doesn’t want to be married, her student thinks it is appropriate (“yi”) to share the “good” news that she was engaged and the students congratulate her. They are shocked when Professor Watson tells them she doesn’t want to follow the tradition (“li”) of becoming married and the engagement is over. Unlike Professor Watson, Professor Wang did want to marry. However, the adoption of a child seems to fulfill that need. Typically, it would be appropriate (“yi”) for a woman to have a child with her husband. But, Professor Wang proves she doesn’t need to marry to have a family. Similarly, Professor Watson proves she doesn’t need a husband by refusing to marry her fiance. The characters broke traditions (“li”) of marriage and reproduction.
It seems that Chinese and American expectations of womens’ futures and lifestyles are similar. Based on traditions (“li”) and appropriate actions (“yi”), Professor Watson and Professor Wang were both expected to marry, have children, and conform to society’s expectations. Even though the characters had to deal with the consequences of not following traditions (“li”) and appropriate (“yi”) actions, they still shed light on the hardships of being your true self.
Reflection
Reflection
My expectations for the boarder crossing activity were that we were just going to correct cultural errors or grammatical errors. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chinese students made much deeper comments about my essay's content rather than surface level comments. My expectations were surpassed because the comments covered a lot of different topics like organization of my information and how I could incorporate "li" and "yi" more. The three things that struck me most when interacting with the fellow students were: how appreciative everyone was about each others' comments, the sophistication of Chinese students' English skills, and how the Chinese students' essays included personal opinion and philosophical points. I enjoyed reading that my fellow students thought my comments were detailed and helpful, and I made sure to let them know that their comments were helpful to me as well. I was surprised that the English was advanced in skill because I took Spanish for example and I could never write an essay that advanced in thought and sentence structure like the Chinese students did. I incorporated many comments into my final draft like changing the title, incorporating "li" and "yi" more including their definitions in the first paragraph, reorganizing my body paragraphs, and trying to incorporate my opinion and thoughts in the conclusion. The persona I portrayed in this activity is that of a peer writing tutor. I work in the writing center at Penn State and we help many international students. I try to focus my comments on content rather than surface level comments like grammar. I try to be as kind and polite as possible, so I try to compliment strengths and focus my criticism on things that only obstruct meaning. My Chinese peers also were kind and complimentary while critiquing my weaknesses that affected the meaning of my essay's argument. The three adjectives I would use to describe this activity are: helpful, effective, and surprising. I chose these adjectives because I was surprised how much helpful feedback I received when I didn't have high expectations for this activity and didn't expect to enjoy it. I think if I had more time, I could have suggested grammatical pattern errors or sentences/phrases that didn't translate well in English. I still was able to understand what the Chinese students were saying, therefore I didn't see explaining or taking the time to correct those errors as a high priority until other higher level concerns were taken care of like how I could help improve arguments and including more evidence.
My expectations for the boarder crossing activity were that we were just going to correct cultural errors or grammatical errors. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chinese students made much deeper comments about my essay's content rather than surface level comments. My expectations were surpassed because the comments covered a lot of different topics like organization of my information and how I could incorporate "li" and "yi" more. The three things that struck me most when interacting with the fellow students were: how appreciative everyone was about each others' comments, the sophistication of Chinese students' English skills, and how the Chinese students' essays included personal opinion and philosophical points. I enjoyed reading that my fellow students thought my comments were detailed and helpful, and I made sure to let them know that their comments were helpful to me as well. I was surprised that the English was advanced in skill because I took Spanish for example and I could never write an essay that advanced in thought and sentence structure like the Chinese students did. I incorporated many comments into my final draft like changing the title, incorporating "li" and "yi" more including their definitions in the first paragraph, reorganizing my body paragraphs, and trying to incorporate my opinion and thoughts in the conclusion. The persona I portrayed in this activity is that of a peer writing tutor. I work in the writing center at Penn State and we help many international students. I try to focus my comments on content rather than surface level comments like grammar. I try to be as kind and polite as possible, so I try to compliment strengths and focus my criticism on things that only obstruct meaning. My Chinese peers also were kind and complimentary while critiquing my weaknesses that affected the meaning of my essay's argument. The three adjectives I would use to describe this activity are: helpful, effective, and surprising. I chose these adjectives because I was surprised how much helpful feedback I received when I didn't have high expectations for this activity and didn't expect to enjoy it. I think if I had more time, I could have suggested grammatical pattern errors or sentences/phrases that didn't translate well in English. I still was able to understand what the Chinese students were saying, therefore I didn't see explaining or taking the time to correct those errors as a high priority until other higher level concerns were taken care of like how I could help improve arguments and including more evidence.