Jessica

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 * Filial Piety Response:**

There is no question that the emphasis on filial piety made an impact on the lifestyles of the Chinese and its border countries. The Chinese stories on filial piety didn't surprise me, in a sense. I'd never encountered any of these stories per se, but I knew the basic idea on filial piety. In middle school, I was taught on the principles of the Chinese. I noticed that this idea on filial piety was not much different than Korean belief. Even as a Korean, I've become fairly westernized without a doubt. I had only gone to Korean school for half of first grade before I'd left; therefore, I hadn't reached the age to analyze Korean conservatism.

It's probably safe to say that this idea was derived from the Chinese to the Koreans. Even today, there are still signs of filial piety in modern day Korea. Examples such as, showing respect for parents, expressing affection to parents, and maintaining family honor has been traditionally cherished in Korea throughout history. All of these things are still top priority for Koreans and is considered very honorable and dignified.

Even though this principle is still very strong in modern Korean society, it has obviously become slightly weaker from history. For example, the stories of the Chinese seem to be excessively harsh and exaggerate the idea of filial piety. In modern society, all of these examples would be considered extremely bizarre, if not creepy.


 * Three Questions:**

1. The saying, "My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice", is referring to the simplicity of Daoism, that they don't believe in the need for fancy words. The second quote, "Straightforward words seem paradoxical" refers to the scholars who act intelligent - who in truth, are simple saying complicated words to make them sound intelligent.

2. Pooh represents the Uncarved Block, or Daoism, and his interpretation of Confucianism is briefly described in the poem. The last sentences of each of the stanzas all relate to each other. "That what is which and which is what?" is the last line of the first stanza and it basically means that Confucianist scholars sound intellectual, but don't make sense. "It's just that Something More, and that Something More is what life is really all about. Pooh believes that they provide a lot of information, but dull intellect wasn't the basis of life. Also, this referred to the Daoist view of knowledge, that people shouldn't seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but to let nature teach you. Pooh refers to the scholars questioning and analyzing, causing them to miss the beauty of nature around them.

3. The song, Cottlestone Pie, seems to convey many different messages and principles of Daoism. The main idea in this song is that people tend to overlook their limits and expect themselves to be able to do more. This is shown in the line, "A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly." This also refers to "Things are the way they are", or "Inner nature". If a man accepts his limits, then he would be better off because, then he could work with his limits, not against them. If a person were to break the flow of the world and go beyond their limits, then they were going against nature. Also by knowing your limitations, you would be able to know where you belong.

(It wasn't specified as to where we were to post this, so I hope this is okay)
 * 1) 8 DISCUSSION QUESTION

8) Write a short reflection of what you learned from these readings. With the benefit of hind site and knowledge of China and Japan, would Korea had been better off if it had “opened up to the west.”

From the start, the Koreans and the Taewogun were trying to repel all foreign influence from spreading ideas into Korea. They feared for an invasion, and isolated themselves from the West to maintain their identity. In response to Catholicism, a new religion was created - the Tonghak religion. It was a blend of all existing Eastern religions at the time. It's main focus was social equality. Unlike Japan, Koreans refused to give in to the "ocean barbarians" and remained isolated - for the time being. At this time, Korea was not very developed and was a fairly weak country. Because of this, if they had "opened up to the West", it would be a complete domination over a country. Korea was still in the process of developing its culture, and if foreigners were to have had much contact, much of the culture as we know it would've been lost.