Kristie

1) What is Saddha?

Saddha is one of Buddha's teachings meaning faith.

2) Why should one not have blind faith in the Buddha? Who is responsible for purification?

One should not have blind faith in the Buddha because the purity that will be given from Buddha to you is not guaranteed completely, therefore one should find purity for oneself. The Buddha is just an example of following the path of nirvana, therefore not being so trustful in making one's purity.

3) On page 22, the author mentions many “do nots”. What should you do? What are the benefits ?

First of all, you should know that "do nots" are immoral, ruining oneself. Also, you should know the right things to do which are moral. You will benefit from it by gaining health in your life by following Buddha's rules.

4) The author ends that section stating “therefore it is right to accept his word” Does this page make sense or is there a flaw in the logic?

This page does not seem to have any flaws, since the given statements came from enlightened facts and experiences.

5) How do Buddhists view the Bo-tree and Buddhist images?

Bo-tree represents the Enlightenment in Buddhism. The enlightenment takes a big part in Buddhism, appearing in all Buddhist behaviors and rules.

6) Discuss one way Buddhism differs from traditional religions like Judaism and Christianity. Think about the view of God and the function of prayer? What are the goals of each religion?

In the traditional religions such as christianity and judaism, the God is the center of everything, punishing wrong behaviors. People prayed for the God to grant their wishes and make their lives happy. The goal was to show faith in God and devote their lives to one God. However, unlike them, the Buddhist were not obsessed with Buddha. They actually thought of him as a role model and a leader of their behaviors which would lead them to reach nirvana. The goal was to follow all Buddhist rules reaching for nirvana, not devoting their lives in praising Buddha.

7) What is Buddhist morality founded on?

The morality in Buddhism is mostly founded within the Buddhist rules, or middle paths, which guides people into the way of living a moral life. Once one has crossed those rules for nirvana, it was believed that they could not reach nirvana.

8) Buddhists aren’t afraid of God, so what guides them into ‘proper’ behavior?

Resistance of desire and greedy thoughts will eventually lead them into a proper behavior, as in following moral paths. The Buddhists, since all they need to do is to follow proper behaviors, are not worried about being punished. Also, the Buddha was just an example of someone who has completely followed the path of morality, therefore the Buddhists were not really “afraid” of him. To be exact, Buddhism was more like a philosophy rather than a religion.

9) To be even more confusing, what is Buddhism according to the author?

The author states that Buddhism does not exist for worship of the God, requireing obedience and faith of all people. By seeing that the author is not enforcing people to believe in buddha and worship him, it seems that the Buddhism was just a philosophy rather than a religion.

1) Describe the relationship between the Chinese an early Portuguese settlers?

During the Ming dynasty, the Portuguese first arrived at Guangzhou in 1514. They eventually settled at Macao permanently, however, were called “Ocean devils” and did not leave such great impressions due to religious conflicts and others.

2) What sort of attitude does Lin show toward the queen in "Commissioner Lin Writes to Queen Victoria"

Lin actually shows respect towards Queen Victoria, asking politely if he could import opium to China. However, the queen states that it cannot be allowed since the British people were also banned to do so. He warns the queen of how Britain will gain control of opium trade later on, but the queen is still not moved.

3) How and why does Lin criticize the British Empire?

Lin states that the British empire is too hypocritical in opium sales, and criticizes how Britains have forbidden use of opium by commoners, while they allowed other countries to import them.

4) Some historians say that the steps Lin took against England wee too harsh. He did more than just outlaw Opium but severely limited trade all together. Do you think his actions were reasonable or did he go too far? Should he have foreseen the consequences? Perhaps if he stopped at just outlawing Opium the British wouldn't have attacked? Explain your point of view.

Lin’s steps perhaps were actually too harsh. He was not aware of the navy that the British empire contained. It seems that he felt that he could actually defeat the British army with his small army. In my thoughts, however, the Chinese failure was not only because of the army, but was also because of the economy and trading power that Britain has. Due to British opium trade, they were able to grow their powers, which made it more likely to defeat China easily.

Massacre at Nogun-ri (Reflection)
My opinion that the Japanese government should compensate Korea for what they have done has not changed at all though I read the article. The article stated that the Japanese textbooks were made by private publishers, and the government did not enforce them to rewrite the history but just told them to make it “fair.” Though the Japanese government state that they have officially apologized, their reactions toward the biased Japanese textbooks make it seem that they are acutually not making any big deals out of Korean frustrations. This situation is different in a way, because Japan is still showing some ignorance towards Korea because they lack power. They officially “apologized,” however, it was just to stop Koreans from raging, asking for apologies. The reason why Korea is extremely, or overlly in a way, is because they do not see Japan completely admitting their acts. Therefore, for all the psychological pains that Korea have gotten from Japan, the Japanese government should compensate Korea.