History Teacher from New Jersey Commend the Concordia School Teachers

Emily pictured right.

“Sometimes we are lucky enough in life to encounter teachers who get us excited about topics or studies that, until then, had little interest to us.  For me, it was my high school history class with Dr. Jones.  He seemed to have all the answers to our questions and would challenge us with questions that didn’t always have a right or wrong answer but instead forced us to think a different way as we brought our evidence to light with our answers.  As I finish this week spent with twelve Concordia students I can’t help but think that they are very lucky to have two excellent teachers of history in Mark Johnson and Mike Burns who had students “doing history” whether they knew it or not!

The goal was for students to understand the life of Mao Zedong by visiting important landmarks in his life as he rose to lead the Communist Party in China.  Most of the students were in 9^th and 10^th grade and had had Mark or Mike as a teacher for World History.  In these classes they learned the elemental skills needed for understanding history:  how to read sources, how to engage with questions and how to create an effective History Day project.  This is all great, but what separates this trip out is that students had to bring their skills learned in history class to each site visited, each encounter with a Chinese university student and each video watched.

On our visit to the site of the first, formal communist meeting in Shanghai, students were challenged to think about how the museum presented the foreign presence in China in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, general uprisings by the Chinese people and, finally, how communism began to appeal to certain groups in Chinese society.  They could not be passive observers, mindlessly walking by taking photographs of artifacts; rather, the teachers’ questions pushed them to be actively engaged with what they found.  Students scribbled notes in their journals, asked questions, brought their friends to look more closely at an artifact or consider why there were two foreigners at the table with the ten Chinese communists.

What we saw that day was revisited at night when students took in segments of a documentary on China in the 20^th Century.  Here students needed to reconcile things learned on our visits with a different narrative presented in the documentary.  On the visit to Orange Island in Changsha, the group stood in a pavilion listening to Mao’s poetry being read out loud by members of our group.  Students were asked not only to put the poems into context, but also to consider their artistic merit.

In Yan’an visits to the two headquarters of the Communists from 1935-45 presented students the opportunity to see the rustic conditions of the living spaces of the top party leaders.  From the conversations I overheard, students were imagining the hardships the party leaders faced as they struggled for leadership over China.  As Mark and Mike posed the questions for our final visit, to the Museum of the Revolution, students had five days of learning behind them.  In the museum they recognized faces, made connections between events and people that played a part in the making of history in the 20^th Century.  Put together with their encounters with two groups of university students along the way, students walked away with a much better understanding of the complexity of Mao’s legacy in China.  I imagine that this trip, under the patient guidance of Mark and Mike, will ignite a lifelong love of history for the students.”

–Emily, History Teacher, Lawrenceville, NJ

A Missouri History Teacher Stretching His Boundaries

Derrick pictured center frame

When I travel to other countries, I am always asked what surprised me the most.  Thus far, I have not been shocked by anything in China, however, what has impressed me is the extent of extremes I have observed.  For example, I knew of economic development in China, but did not consider the smog or the amount of constant construction of buildings, businesses, and infrastructure everywhere (America has some serious competition).  I knew the population of China, but didn’t realize the frequency of cities with populations with over a million people.  I knew I would experience new foods, but didn’t expect to eat whole fish, stinky tofu, and dozens of other items I have no idea what they were called or what they consisted of.

I have also been astounded by the historical accounts as well.  This started well before I came to China.  I knew about the Long March, but not the extent of the struggles of snow, hunger, and other extremes people endured and the distances they travelled.  I knew Mao Zedong had a primitive background, but didn’t understand the extent until I saw his childhood bedroom just steps from and in the same building as a pig sty.  I knew Mao had his picture published, but didn’t realize how prevalent it would be this many years after his death.  Finally, I knew Mao had written poetry, but hadn’t examined its complexity and deeper meaning until we analyzed it together.

From my experiences of what I have seen to what I have done, I have stretched my boundaries on this voyage.

 

–Derrick, history teacher, St. Joseph, MO

Outside of Concordia International School

Although students at Concordia International School live in China, many do not have the opportunity to visit the less tourist-like areas of the country.  The interim trips make it possible for students to see remote parts of the country which allows for a fuller picture and understanding of their host country.

Katelyn

“If I went to a school that didn’t offer interim trips, I probably would never see the real China. I wouldn’t pee in a trench, nor try Sichuan spicy hot pot, or even trek in the Gobi desert. These Interim trips that Concordia offers forces you to leave the city slicker lifestyle of Shanghai, and go on adventures in some of the rural parts of China. Over my high school career, I’ve been on several interim trips; two of them being in very rural Chinese provinces. Out of all the strange and bizarre smells, sights, and sounds I encounter, the thing that never ceases to amaze me is the attention foreigners get in these places. Of course, we Lao-Weis get our picture taken in Shanghai sometimes, but we are very common in the big cities. But when you venture past the outskirts of Shanghai, foreigners are treated very differently. On this trip especially, since we visited with local Chinese university students, I found out how sparse foreigners are in these rural places. The students took us on a tour of their school, and we stopped by the stadium where several hundred freshmen cadets were training for their mandatory military service China. It was a sea of camouflage, very intimidating; a lot of marching and shouting in synchrony. However one cadet would catch sight of one of us, and the rest would follow suit. A chant of Hellos! and Ni-haos! soon accompanied their surprised faces. I really enjoyed going over to a bunch of young students and shaking their hands, it was my Eisenhower moment, since they were all in military uniforms. I felt like FDR for a few minutes.”

–Katelyn

Learning Mao’s Mythic Status

It has been interesting to witness the way in which our students’ thinking about Mao evolved since we began our journey last week.  Their understanding of Mao changed from reverence to realistic assessment.  At first, after studying the younger Mao and first half of his leadership, our students seemed to be a bit awestruck.  But as we read, watched documentaries and examined sources, the students began to recognize that the Chinese have given Mao mythic status.

“Throughout history, the legacy of great men is often exaggerated by people to reinforce the significant impact of each individual.  Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, was no exception.  The people granted Mao a god-like status, celebrating his every achievement, remembering every little detail of his life, as well as creating mythical circumstances surrounding his life.

Similarly, the magnification of status is also applied to men from ancient Chinese history.  One individual is held above all, a man even Mao paid his respects—the Yellow Emperor.

Michele pictured right.

Living a suggested 5,000 years ago, the Yellow Emperor’s actual existence is often debated by historians.  Though his legacy may not be factual, the idea he embodies serves a greater importance.  Many aspects of daily life were said to have been granted to them by the Yellow Emperor—such as agriculture and hunting.  The physique of the Emperor is over exaggerated, with so-called large footprints imprinted on the ground and his height is indicated to have been a staggering two meters.  His rode a dragon to Heaven when he died.

The ideals surrounding the mythical Yellow Emperor earn him the respect of the people and serves as an influential figure to those who wished to rule over China.  Chairman Mao himself held the Emperor in high regard due to the unity the Emperor represents.  Even in modern times, families attempt to trace their heritage back to the Yellow Emperor.  The root of China and his existence strengthens the connection throughout China.”

–Michelle

 

“Every leader, no matter how great, will eventually make mistakes; these mistakes are bound to be projected on a larger scale due to the power of the leader.  Although Mao made many serious mistakes, only a few Chinese openly acknowledge this fact.  An air of discomfort and uneasiness still lingers when talking about the failures of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.  People know that the suffering and famine of these two events were caused by Mao’s poor decisions, but no one brings this up—there is still that mentality that Mao will somehow hear about your criticisms and punish you.  Chinese youth seem to be more outspoken, but for the most part, the failures of Chairman Mao are seldom brought up.  Because of this, our group could only watch foreign interpretations of the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution and Mao (as a person in general) in the privacy of our hotel rooms; we could only discuss the flaws of Mao’s leadership quietly among ourselves.  This may be because these events are still fairly recent and it is hard for a country to fairly and objectively analyze its faults when the wound is still fresh.  Give it a few years and China may open up more.

Sophia

However, we also learned how far China has come from being a closed-off, secret nation.  Some museums are starting to recognize and introduce the mistakes made during the reign of Mao.  For example, the Yan’an revolutionary Museum compares Mao in a lesser light to other revolutionary leaders (e.g. Zhou Enlai).  This is a step forward in China’s growth, as it is slowly opening up its past to the rest of the world.  Also, more and more of China’s youth are willing to look at Mao objectively, as our tour guide and other university students demonstrated.  With this, China’s past will soon be more fully revealed, and this allows foreigners a deeper understanding of China.  China is one step closer to being completely connected with the rest of the planet.

–Sophia

Day Two: Changsha & Shaoshan

We’ve spent the last two days in Changsha where Mao went to school and in Shaoshan, Mao’s hometown.  We were honored to have an audience with a former neighbor of Mao’s who was once so poor that she had to beg on the streets but is now the owner of 400 restaurants across China.  The following thoughts are from Mathias, Harrison and Haley, all students at Concordia International School in Shanghai:

Mathais

“Today, I encountered someone that I probably will never meet again.  She was no ordinary person.  Though small in size and stature, she was brilliant in knowledge and importance.

Her name was Tang Ruiren, neighbor of Mao Zedong and the first to be visited by Mao after his 32-year absence from his hometown of Shaoshan in 1959.  Mrs. Tang is one of the few survivors that once shook Mao’s hand, yet her memories and experiences from the era of Mao are still crystal clear.  The lessons and ideals Mao had given forth, even after more than 60 years, are deeply embodied in her thoughts and actions.

In our conversation with Mrs. Tang, she stressed that it is important for us to serve the people and the nation with all your heart.  Also, Mrs. Tang said that people’s lives got better and they got richer after Mao united China as one.  But something she said truly moved me.  Mrs. Tang said, “After Mao’s rule, I was changed.  When I set up this Mao Jia restaurant, I only had one yuan in my pocket.  Now, I own more than 400 restaurants and have more than 10,000 employees.  All the money I have, the nation has given to me.  So whatever the nation needs, I shall give in return.”

These words of wisdom from the mouth of Tang Ruiren have taught me a really important lesson.  That is, Mao Zedong is the real reason why China is what it is now and that the people of China believe in Mao Zedong.”

–Mathais

Harrison pictured right.

“Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS) gives students a wide variety of opportunities, especially with regard to a one week field trip known as interim.  Being new to CISS, I was impressed with the choices that were available to me.  Mao’s Long March appealed to me I thought I should learn some of the history of the country I have lived in for three years.

This trip is exciting because I am able to meet Chinese people with unique ideas about Mao Zedong and communism.  One example is our visit today to the 1^st Normal School, a university for students who want to become teachers or tour guides.  The main difficulty in communicating with these students was their confidence in English and our limited ability in Mandarin.  I hope we were able to provide a positive experience.

As part of our Mao’s Long March theme, we visited Yong Kai Hui’s house.  Yong was Mao’s second wife.  This showed us a personal side of Mao which was unexpected.  This deepened our understanding and I think it is important wherever you go to research and try to gain a deeper meaning from my travels.”

–Harrison

Haley

“Who knew a great political leader could be considered a god?  In many people’s eyes that is exactly how they would describe Mao Zedong.  Even though Mao was just a human, many people worship him and o come and visit his statute in Shaoshan (his home town).  This statute was built and unveiled in 1993 on Mao’s 100^th birthday, December 26.  It is claimed that although it was December, all of the azaleas were in bloom.  When the covering was removed from the statue, it is claimed that the sun appeared to one side of it and the moon appeared on the other side.  Many people think this was Mao’s spirit coming back.  (Although pictures of the unveiling created to prove this phenomenon were obviously doctored with to include the sun and moon over Mao’s shoulders.)  People come to visit the statute, lay flowers in front and bow and circle around the statute three times.  To me this seems like Christians worshipping Jesus or Muslims taking the trek to Mehka.

There are other stories that make Mao seem like a god.  Mao had a resort at Water Dripping Cave where there was a fish pond.  On the day Mao died, all of the fish were dead, although the day before they appeared fine.  This again was “proof” that Mao was like a god.

Mao Zedong is thought to bring good fortune to the people of China.  Many keep a statue of him in their homes.”  [This, despite his disastrous policies of the 1950s, 60s and early 70s.]

–Haley

Day One: No Internet, No Problem

Having secure and stable internet access is quite a challenge here in China.  My blog is blocked here, so I have to email text to my office to post on the blog—that’s when the internet is working!

We spent our first day with the students setting the context for the journey by watching and discussing a documentary about the end of the Qing Dynasty and rise of the Nationalist and Communist parties.  Then it was off to Zhangjiajie, a national forest for a 7 mile hike to shake off the jetlag.

On the trip are 10 students from Concordia International School Shanghai and two teachers and students from the US who were invited to participate in the study tour.  The following thoughts are from Kristin from New Jersey and Brooke from Missouri:

Kristin pictured left.

“The red-faced monkeys with their bright red bottoms stare intently at you with human-like eyes.  These monkeys in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park have learned the many tendencies of tourists—the clicking cameras, the plastic bags full of snacks.  And so they have developed a dependency on the endless stream of tourists entering the park to see the standstone towers day after day.  I watched two monkeys corner a poor tour guide, like they have done so a million times, and attack her plastic bag of food, which would feed their entire family.

And like the red-faced monkeys, the native people of Zhangjiajie have adopted a dependency on us tourists to feed their families.  Their livelihood depends on the people that the natural beauty of their surroundings attracts–the uneven set-up tables to display their plastic jewelry and embroidered bags, dressed in traditional, bright costumes and silver headdresses.  But the men—this broke my heart a little—carry makeshift thrones on their shoulders, eagerly calling out to passing tourists and offering a ride.  Old, wizened men, shoulders bent forward underneath the two bamboo poles, or perhaps weighted down and bent over by rigors I could never understand.  As I looked at these men hauling lazy tourists past the jagged, burnt-orange peaks rising from a sea of green—a beauty they do not have the luxury of appreciating—did tourism bring a blessing or a curse?  I can only speculate at the changes, for better or worse, that the past few years have brought for these people of Zhangjiajie.

Before I came to China, I expected to see natural and man-made phenomena—the sandstone towers of Zhangjiajie, the neon-lighted towers of Shanghai and Changsha—that would make me feel insignificant and fill me with speechless awe.  But I did not expect to become so invested and interested in the people of China.  In this country that is stuck between its sensitive history and its desire to move on, it is difficult to determine what the people want.  Hopefully through this trip, I will be one step closer to finding out.

–Kristin

Brooke

“My teacher and I had to do a lot of fundraising for the trip to China.  We received donations from local clubs, churches, businesses, and family.  We also had to prepare ourselves mentally.  I pictured China as bright and loud with busy streets.  I also had the beautiful picture of China from my favorite Disney movie, Mulan.  When I got off the plane it was dark outside, so I couldn’t see much but even the night sky couldn’t hide the smog and traffic.  At first I just thought it was fog, but when the sun rose the next day, the sky hadn’t changed.  It was grey and sad; nothing like my pictures.

The next day we took a tour of the school which was amazing.  The school is so modern and beautiful; I would love to go to school there.  That night we took a tour of Shanghai, and it made all the negative events disappear.  We went to the river walk and on one side there were glass skyscrapers and the other side were stone buildings.  They were beautifully breath taking.  After the first couple of days, I fell in love with the experience.”

–Brooke

The Long Haul and The Long March

I’m back in China to participate in a study tour focused on the Long March and China in the 20^th century with students and teachers from Concordia International School in Shanghai.  It was definitely a long haul to get here—2 hours from DC to Chicago and 14.5 hours to Shanghai.  Thankfully, we will be studying the Long March rather than walking it.

We started months ago reading several books and articles:

The Long March by Sun Shuyun

Mao Ze Dong by Jonathan Spence

Shanghai: the Rise and Fall of a Decadent City by Stella Dong

Unbound by Dean King

Wild Swans by Jung Chan

If you read only one of these, read Unbound which is a fascinating account of women’s participation in the revolution and Long March.

Look for posts by the students and teachers as our march proceeds.