I had a little bit of a hard time focusing on these documents because they don't seem as interesting to me as the previous documents have been. They seem to be a bit different than the other documents we looked at but this could be because it is harder for me to relate to them in anyway. Apparently these documents are more based off of Axum, which I know idea what or where that is, and it seems to be one of the only places in Africa that seem to have valid documents that we can learn from.
The first documents seems to be a descriptions of different locations that a caption may have journeyed through. He seems to give descriptions of locations and land marks and different places he may have visited, I guess this may come off as boring to be because it is more like someone's personal journal of places they have been, but really has nothing too interesting to say, which can only be interesting to those who can relate to it or want to read it, or even know the person personally. However, these documents do contain a great amount of importance, which can be very intriguing to historians because it talks about cultural topics such as clothing, animals that are killed, governors, literature, all sorts of information that may be useful.
The next set of documents talks about the achievements of Axum and all that it had taken over. It sounds like it was a pretty powerful empire. It had even taken some of Egypt's territory, if I understand properly. It is puzzling to me that I have never heard of such a successful empire, but this could be one of the regions that you don't learn much about in grade school because of the lack of documents that exists about them.
The third documents was a bit more interesting for me. It was about a story of two children who studied together and when their ship attacked before it left port, they were the only two who were spared. They were taken to the king and worked for him until his death. They later were set free and one returned to his parents while the other preached the word of God. It was a nice little story and something a bit different compared to earlier documents. I am not too such how much relevance this story has on the chapter but I suppose it explains the spread of Christianity in this particular culture, and that it was so widespread that stories like this began to spawn because of it.
This written last document shows proof of the value of gold and how people used it to trade. When I give it thought, it seems that gold has always been valuable and may always will. Even today gold is still pretty valuable and worth a lot of money, but what is it that makes it worth so much? Is it because of it's beauty or is it because we made it valuable with no true reason? It isn't much of a resource (who ever would make a house completely out of gold? maybe decorate it but I don't it would be stable enough to completely make it out of gold from the ground up). It maybe that gold is always worth something because there are people in the world who are willing to pay a lot for it. It is now used for jewelry and for glamor and that may be why is it so valuable.
by Andrew Murillo
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
My Apology
Hello this blog is a different kind of blog this time and it doesn't reflect on any assignment or readings for class. I know this is kind of long but I urge you to please, if you begin reading, please read it from beginning to end so that my point is clear, I would greatly appreciate it and your time.
I have noticed how I have shown a sense of bitterness in some of my blogs and it may be my crankiness taking a big affect on me. I did mention how I guess the things that are taught in class can be pointless but I shouldn't had said that. The topics brought up in class are actually quite interesting and are relative with modern discovery. It gives us something interesting to bring up as discussions or to begin small talk. With that being said, I must admit that this is my favorite history class I have ever taken to date and we have one of the greatest and caring history teachers we can ever ask for. I have come to notice that I am getting out of hand with my blogs and may be expressing too much and perhaps some of it I don't really mean.
The only excuse I can give for my outside class behavior could be from certain things I have been dealing with while living in the dorms. I admit, I have not had the best experience living in the dorms, but please note this isn't my first time far from family and living on my own. There are several situations that I am stuck facing that I feel are ridiculous and unnecessary and could be definitely avoided if the proper measures are taken, and if this school was to actually follow its proper procedure that it blindly does not this can all be a much better experience for, and I can give many examples of this.
Please take accept my apology and I promise I will be more accepting for now on. Things could had been far worse. Really I think my critical behavior may be coming from the fact that I can say almost anything I wanted and just behind my words (writing) since I don't have to say them in person or answer for them; however, that is were I am being unfair and taking way too much advantage. The blogs are actually an excellent way for us to express ourselves, and I have actually grown to like them very much, compared to when class first began I was nervous about this new way of doing things.
Well thank you for talking the time to read my blog, I hope I made a difference or at least made sense to whoever is reading this.
Andrew Murillo
I have noticed how I have shown a sense of bitterness in some of my blogs and it may be my crankiness taking a big affect on me. I did mention how I guess the things that are taught in class can be pointless but I shouldn't had said that. The topics brought up in class are actually quite interesting and are relative with modern discovery. It gives us something interesting to bring up as discussions or to begin small talk. With that being said, I must admit that this is my favorite history class I have ever taken to date and we have one of the greatest and caring history teachers we can ever ask for. I have come to notice that I am getting out of hand with my blogs and may be expressing too much and perhaps some of it I don't really mean.
The only excuse I can give for my outside class behavior could be from certain things I have been dealing with while living in the dorms. I admit, I have not had the best experience living in the dorms, but please note this isn't my first time far from family and living on my own. There are several situations that I am stuck facing that I feel are ridiculous and unnecessary and could be definitely avoided if the proper measures are taken, and if this school was to actually follow its proper procedure that it blindly does not this can all be a much better experience for, and I can give many examples of this.
Please take accept my apology and I promise I will be more accepting for now on. Things could had been far worse. Really I think my critical behavior may be coming from the fact that I can say almost anything I wanted and just behind my words (writing) since I don't have to say them in person or answer for them; however, that is were I am being unfair and taking way too much advantage. The blogs are actually an excellent way for us to express ourselves, and I have actually grown to like them very much, compared to when class first began I was nervous about this new way of doing things.
Well thank you for talking the time to read my blog, I hope I made a difference or at least made sense to whoever is reading this.
Andrew Murillo
PreHistory Packet and Personal Reflection
Here is a quick blog touching up on a couple things I found in that large packet about the earliest people to ever travel by sea.
Ordinarily it was believed that the earliest people to ever travel by sea took place around 10,000 years ago. The reason why people never believed it was earlier than that was because during the ice age when most things were frozen, people would travel on glaciers or large ice caps before it melted. These ice caps were everywhere during the time of the ice age, and where it is impossible to travel by foot now, was possible then. Now, archaeologists how found more and more evidence that it is possible that people may have traveled by sea even earlier than we predicted. When they did this they came across small Islands, and later traveled even farther to reach the Americas. There is in fact different possible dates of when the earliest peoples may have traveled to find new lands. These dates go as early as 50,000 years ago when people would start to travel across the Pacific ocean. The packet gives estimations of the different possible times that these early travelers may have reached several distant islands, such as Japan around 25,000 years ago. It also states how these discoveries were found, by finding really old DNA and old human fossils.
Now, a lot of this can be interesting and exciting, but what purpose or affect does this have on our own lives? I actually had a talk with several family members during some of my recent trips back home over the months, talking about new things I have learned and talking about what I have been studying in classes. It has been brought up recently and quiet often "why should it matter?" This question has been more common when it came to talking about the earliest days, why does it matter? What affect does it have on us because we can't ever truly know what happened during that time but just predict it. As a future engineer there is actually no purpose or use of this to me. I give the people who make these discoveries credit but I can guarantee that in a couple years there will be a new guy saying something completely different, contradicting everything we finally started to follow. This same thing is very similar to when I took Earth Science. There is so many theories and contradictions' who knows what is the truth. My teacher kept stressing that the polar poles are going to flip and our magnetic field is going to disappear and that we are all going to burn to death and die of radiation poisoning. But hey! we are still here and as far as I know, if there is a such thing as a magnetic field, it is still there protecting us. This goes hand in hand with my first blog when I talked about the many MANY different theories of the beginnings of everything. I am sure if I was still at the community college they would be teaching me completely different things about history just like how the history book we are reading and the New Testament class I am taking don't agree with each other.
by Andrew Murillo
Ordinarily it was believed that the earliest people to ever travel by sea took place around 10,000 years ago. The reason why people never believed it was earlier than that was because during the ice age when most things were frozen, people would travel on glaciers or large ice caps before it melted. These ice caps were everywhere during the time of the ice age, and where it is impossible to travel by foot now, was possible then. Now, archaeologists how found more and more evidence that it is possible that people may have traveled by sea even earlier than we predicted. When they did this they came across small Islands, and later traveled even farther to reach the Americas. There is in fact different possible dates of when the earliest peoples may have traveled to find new lands. These dates go as early as 50,000 years ago when people would start to travel across the Pacific ocean. The packet gives estimations of the different possible times that these early travelers may have reached several distant islands, such as Japan around 25,000 years ago. It also states how these discoveries were found, by finding really old DNA and old human fossils.
Now, a lot of this can be interesting and exciting, but what purpose or affect does this have on our own lives? I actually had a talk with several family members during some of my recent trips back home over the months, talking about new things I have learned and talking about what I have been studying in classes. It has been brought up recently and quiet often "why should it matter?" This question has been more common when it came to talking about the earliest days, why does it matter? What affect does it have on us because we can't ever truly know what happened during that time but just predict it. As a future engineer there is actually no purpose or use of this to me. I give the people who make these discoveries credit but I can guarantee that in a couple years there will be a new guy saying something completely different, contradicting everything we finally started to follow. This same thing is very similar to when I took Earth Science. There is so many theories and contradictions' who knows what is the truth. My teacher kept stressing that the polar poles are going to flip and our magnetic field is going to disappear and that we are all going to burn to death and die of radiation poisoning. But hey! we are still here and as far as I know, if there is a such thing as a magnetic field, it is still there protecting us. This goes hand in hand with my first blog when I talked about the many MANY different theories of the beginnings of everything. I am sure if I was still at the community college they would be teaching me completely different things about history just like how the history book we are reading and the New Testament class I am taking don't agree with each other.
by Andrew Murillo
Monday, October 21, 2013
Chapter 5: Women
Chapter 5 was an interesting chapter for me because we are looking into documents that show evidence of how women during the first century were viewed and how they viewed life. It also explains the duties of a woman with her family and outside their family life. What makes this interesting is the fact that we don't hear very much about women, or their roles in society. These documents were actually written by a woman so we can get a clear idea how a woman during the first century may have viewed life.
According to the book, it is hard to get a complete clear idea of a woman's perspective during the first century because there are a small amount of sources and a lot of the sources that are taken about women are written by men. The reason to this is because women normally didn't write because it wasn't a common value as it is today. The documents we do have about women are written by elite women and therefore we are unsure of how life may have been viewed for women who were bellow this class.
Ban Zhao was what the book considers an elite woman. She wrote several documents about her views and thoughts. They are extremely interesting to read, and if this is a direct translation, she was quite a good written when expressing her thoughts and views. Reading her documents made me feel pretty bad because a lot of the time she is putting herself down as a woman and she seemed to have had a lot of pressure. Her perspective of her life and of herself are pretty negative. She seems to accept the fact that (according to their ear's society) she is lower than a man and that she is not as smart, not as productive, and weak. She talks about her role of passing on the fact that women are weak to her daughters.
In her first documents she is writing of how a woman she act, and how she should view herself. She is giving lessons for other woman because she felt as if she had failed with her other daughters. It is believed that if the woman was to stray from her role, than the ancestors may frown upon her and her family. It is considered to be a disappointment to not follow strict tradition. A husband is to control his wife, and she is to respect him, and serve him.
Reading these documents must be hard for a girl to read, especially in today's world. A woman was viewed very differently, and what was considered a proper woman was very different as well. I am a boy and it is even hard for me to see how unfair it was to be a woman. I may not agree with the way woman view themselves today, but what is shown in this document is not how a woman should be viewed or have to act. Woman should be respected and do deserve a much bigger place than they were given during this era. After all, it was up to the women to populate the world. Life must had been very harsh to be a woman during the first centuries.
by Andrew Murillo
According to the book, it is hard to get a complete clear idea of a woman's perspective during the first century because there are a small amount of sources and a lot of the sources that are taken about women are written by men. The reason to this is because women normally didn't write because it wasn't a common value as it is today. The documents we do have about women are written by elite women and therefore we are unsure of how life may have been viewed for women who were bellow this class.
Ban Zhao was what the book considers an elite woman. She wrote several documents about her views and thoughts. They are extremely interesting to read, and if this is a direct translation, she was quite a good written when expressing her thoughts and views. Reading her documents made me feel pretty bad because a lot of the time she is putting herself down as a woman and she seemed to have had a lot of pressure. Her perspective of her life and of herself are pretty negative. She seems to accept the fact that (according to their ear's society) she is lower than a man and that she is not as smart, not as productive, and weak. She talks about her role of passing on the fact that women are weak to her daughters.
In her first documents she is writing of how a woman she act, and how she should view herself. She is giving lessons for other woman because she felt as if she had failed with her other daughters. It is believed that if the woman was to stray from her role, than the ancestors may frown upon her and her family. It is considered to be a disappointment to not follow strict tradition. A husband is to control his wife, and she is to respect him, and serve him.
Reading these documents must be hard for a girl to read, especially in today's world. A woman was viewed very differently, and what was considered a proper woman was very different as well. I am a boy and it is even hard for me to see how unfair it was to be a woman. I may not agree with the way woman view themselves today, but what is shown in this document is not how a woman should be viewed or have to act. Woman should be respected and do deserve a much bigger place than they were given during this era. After all, it was up to the women to populate the world. Life must had been very harsh to be a woman during the first centuries.
by Andrew Murillo
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Chapter 4 Documents
I thought that after reading about Confucius and learning a bit more of him in class, I would be able to understand more of what he had taught, but this doesn't seem to be the case for me in the documents. I have almost no idea what the heck is going on. I am not sure if that is because I have a cold or if it is because it isn't really written in a modern way. I have a small grasp of what may be meant in the documents and I am going to give my best try to try to explain what it means to me.
The beginning is talking about government and basically this is what I am getting out of it. If you are to rule over many, but must have a good understanding in economy, business, sincerity, and you must love your people. Other passages also talk about what he believes is the proper way a child should behave. That child must study, and practice respect and then practice that respect in public. I have absolutely no idea what he referring to when says north polar star but it could be about the heavens or perhaps saying a strong government shines brightly and all the smaller governments will follow by its great influence. I am lost when the Analects talks about submitting, so lets skip that one, when he answers the question about how to have a emperor's people be faithful in him, he answers by saying to be fair and honest with the people and teach them to be virtuous and righteous. So other quotes that are written sometimes feel like common sense such as those who are virtuous will have no wickedness. My response to that is: isn't that the point? these are all a couple that are listened in the documents found in chapter 4. I could keep going on looking at more of them, but that would take all night and there is still more of the chapter to go through.
A quick conclusion on the documents that are devoted to Confucius is I personally feel that since it is from the distant past, and lot of it when it is translated comes off as gibberish. I have a hard time understanding what is being say, and why it is said, and for what point. The possible reason why I feel this way may be because a lot of it deals with the common curtsies that we value today. These are natural things that we may not give a second thought about, but the ancient past was a very different world and many people may have not had these values during their time.
One thing that caught my attention with the Hindu reading was the fact that the diety at one point had said to break away from attachments and then you will become a free man. This belief is actually used in many philosophies and religions. Freeing yourself from all attachments, in some beliefs, believe that you will become free and will be well rewarded in the afterlife.
The Apology, written by Plato, is the words of Socrates, who never wrote any of his teachings. The word apology during the ancient days didn't mean that the person was asking for forgiveness, but in fact the person was saying that they are right. It is in fact the exact opposite of what he understand an apology means today.
by Andrew Murillo
The beginning is talking about government and basically this is what I am getting out of it. If you are to rule over many, but must have a good understanding in economy, business, sincerity, and you must love your people. Other passages also talk about what he believes is the proper way a child should behave. That child must study, and practice respect and then practice that respect in public. I have absolutely no idea what he referring to when says north polar star but it could be about the heavens or perhaps saying a strong government shines brightly and all the smaller governments will follow by its great influence. I am lost when the Analects talks about submitting, so lets skip that one, when he answers the question about how to have a emperor's people be faithful in him, he answers by saying to be fair and honest with the people and teach them to be virtuous and righteous. So other quotes that are written sometimes feel like common sense such as those who are virtuous will have no wickedness. My response to that is: isn't that the point? these are all a couple that are listened in the documents found in chapter 4. I could keep going on looking at more of them, but that would take all night and there is still more of the chapter to go through.
A quick conclusion on the documents that are devoted to Confucius is I personally feel that since it is from the distant past, and lot of it when it is translated comes off as gibberish. I have a hard time understanding what is being say, and why it is said, and for what point. The possible reason why I feel this way may be because a lot of it deals with the common curtsies that we value today. These are natural things that we may not give a second thought about, but the ancient past was a very different world and many people may have not had these values during their time.
One thing that caught my attention with the Hindu reading was the fact that the diety at one point had said to break away from attachments and then you will become a free man. This belief is actually used in many philosophies and religions. Freeing yourself from all attachments, in some beliefs, believe that you will become free and will be well rewarded in the afterlife.
The Apology, written by Plato, is the words of Socrates, who never wrote any of his teachings. The word apology during the ancient days didn't mean that the person was asking for forgiveness, but in fact the person was saying that they are right. It is in fact the exact opposite of what he understand an apology means today.
by Andrew Murillo
Monday, October 7, 2013
Chapter 4 second part
After Chapter 4 talks about Confucius and his words, and what he has achieved, the chapter goes on talking about the origins of many other religions. The ones I will talk about is when it brings up Buddhism and Christianity. This wont be a very long post since I have already posted another short blog prior to this.
The interesting thing is the first sentence says how neither Jesus or the Buddha had any intention of founding a new religion. I know for sure that this is vaguely true about Buddha, though he still expects people to follow his way and believe he becomes supernatural (sound contradicting to me). I remember learning when I took a eastern philosophy class that Buddha didn't intend to create a religion but in fact a philosophy, or a way of life; however, I only partly ever believed this was his true intentions. As far as Jesus goes, it is true he may have not wanted to create a new religion, but in fact he never did. I am actually in a New Testament class right now and this isn't exactly true.
If it is further broken down, Jesus actually asked his disciples when he was resurrected to spread the word to the ends of the earth. So that was his intent. If you call it another religion, well that's a matter of opinion because his words were directed to Jews and non-Jews, basically whoever was willing to listen. Christianity is actually said to have come even before his time because Moses actually, and several other prophets in the Bible, predicted of Jesus' coming. Which is evidence that Christianity (which if the roots are taken apart it meant belief in Christ) was actually started far long before his point. Also Jesus never said he had Divine status in those exact words but he did say he was the Son of God, Son of Man, the Messiah, and many other ways of explaining his status. I guess him healing people and sending out demon (which even the demons knew who he was) wasn't a big enough hint for the authors since I guess just anyone can do that these days with the touch of a finger or a call from our tongues.
So I feel that sometimes this History book can be a bit misleading or has another way of delivering the material, such as my arrangement in my first blog about the beginnings of the world. The rest said about Saint Paul sounds about right but it almost seems as if the person who wrote this history book was more concerned with the second half of the books of acts than the actual gospels found in the new testament (Mark, Matthew, & Luck) which would basically contradict some of the chapter's claims.
by Andrew Murillo
I am sorry if my blogs have been harsh, but I feel that not all sources these days are not as valued as I may have remembered them to be since no matter where you look you will always find something saying the complete opposite. Since this is a (supposedly) Catholic school, I take the Catholic approach. After all, I am Catholic and that is why I choose to come to this school.
The interesting thing is the first sentence says how neither Jesus or the Buddha had any intention of founding a new religion. I know for sure that this is vaguely true about Buddha, though he still expects people to follow his way and believe he becomes supernatural (sound contradicting to me). I remember learning when I took a eastern philosophy class that Buddha didn't intend to create a religion but in fact a philosophy, or a way of life; however, I only partly ever believed this was his true intentions. As far as Jesus goes, it is true he may have not wanted to create a new religion, but in fact he never did. I am actually in a New Testament class right now and this isn't exactly true.
If it is further broken down, Jesus actually asked his disciples when he was resurrected to spread the word to the ends of the earth. So that was his intent. If you call it another religion, well that's a matter of opinion because his words were directed to Jews and non-Jews, basically whoever was willing to listen. Christianity is actually said to have come even before his time because Moses actually, and several other prophets in the Bible, predicted of Jesus' coming. Which is evidence that Christianity (which if the roots are taken apart it meant belief in Christ) was actually started far long before his point. Also Jesus never said he had Divine status in those exact words but he did say he was the Son of God, Son of Man, the Messiah, and many other ways of explaining his status. I guess him healing people and sending out demon (which even the demons knew who he was) wasn't a big enough hint for the authors since I guess just anyone can do that these days with the touch of a finger or a call from our tongues.
So I feel that sometimes this History book can be a bit misleading or has another way of delivering the material, such as my arrangement in my first blog about the beginnings of the world. The rest said about Saint Paul sounds about right but it almost seems as if the person who wrote this history book was more concerned with the second half of the books of acts than the actual gospels found in the new testament (Mark, Matthew, & Luck) which would basically contradict some of the chapter's claims.
by Andrew Murillo
I am sorry if my blogs have been harsh, but I feel that not all sources these days are not as valued as I may have remembered them to be since no matter where you look you will always find something saying the complete opposite. Since this is a (supposedly) Catholic school, I take the Catholic approach. After all, I am Catholic and that is why I choose to come to this school.
Chapter 4: Confucius
After reading a bit of chapter 4 I now have a better idea of who Confucius is than I thought I did from before. This chapter allowed me to understand how little I know of his true purpose and why he wrote like he did.
Thanks to taking in the reading from this chapter I have learned to appreciate Confucius and bit more. He believed that his writings and lessons could make a difference with the way the Chinese government ruled over their people. He wanted to do this with what he considered as "Superior". He felt that this influence would in fact change the way people interacted with each other and respect between a father and son would be stronger.
He understood that the world was filled with ranks, or as he stated it "unequal relationships". He believed that his teaching would bring harmony between these relationship if the higher ranks would treat the lower ranks in specific ways. If the higher ranks were to show greater concern for the lower ranks, then the lower ranks would show more respect for the higher ranks.
Confucius was also a very educated man, who studied in pretty much everything you could think of during his time. He used his knowledge for the better good of the people. His words are still practiced today and is used for success and inspiration. He has done a lot for the Chinese culture and I now have great respect for who he is, what he represented, and for what he has done.
by Andrew Murillo
Thanks to taking in the reading from this chapter I have learned to appreciate Confucius and bit more. He believed that his writings and lessons could make a difference with the way the Chinese government ruled over their people. He wanted to do this with what he considered as "Superior". He felt that this influence would in fact change the way people interacted with each other and respect between a father and son would be stronger.
He understood that the world was filled with ranks, or as he stated it "unequal relationships". He believed that his teaching would bring harmony between these relationship if the higher ranks would treat the lower ranks in specific ways. If the higher ranks were to show greater concern for the lower ranks, then the lower ranks would show more respect for the higher ranks.
Confucius was also a very educated man, who studied in pretty much everything you could think of during his time. He used his knowledge for the better good of the people. His words are still practiced today and is used for success and inspiration. He has done a lot for the Chinese culture and I now have great respect for who he is, what he represented, and for what he has done.
by Andrew Murillo
Friday, October 4, 2013
The Superior Man (the Late Night Response)
Hello all...I am not sure if anyone actually reads my work but I decided since I am ill and can not sleep, that what better can I spend my night than posting an extra blog for history.
While reading the selected points that was taken out of the The Superior Man can you automatically tell that Confucius was a kind of philosopher. Not all of it makes sense to me but some of it does. Like many philosophers, they normally wrote words to live by. They also wrote about how to live a wise life or even wrote things that made people stop and give it another thought. These points that are posted seem a lot to do with righteousness or what Confucius considers the way to live a righteous life. If you were to follow these laws, you would be a "Superior Man", which may mean that this philosophy may have been more directed towards men, since Confucianism is a major Easter Philosophy.
Even though philosophies are meant to convey a positive nature, I feel that a lot of these, ah sayings?, written points are a single man's oppinion. Not following these laws shouldn't make you unrighteous since no one can be perfect, but also following all these laws doesn't make you righteous either. Let's take an example: "The superior man undergoes three changes. Looked at from a distance, he appears stern; when approached, he is mild; when he is heard to speak, his language is firm and decided." This passage just seems to put a lot of pressure on a person to have to follow, but in no way does it define righteousness, maybe only in his eyes it does. This passage just seems to be someone's simple guideline of how to act outside the house. Also we must consider another person's view of this. Maybe someone who tries to follow this point may come off as arrogant or negative. Imagine everyone talking acting like that!
Here is one that makes me laugh: "What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others."That must mean Confucius found a lot of people mean, most notingly his Teachers. Seeking something in someone isn't always a bad thing, but it can mean you are encouraging someone. Maybe you trust that they can do a good just and so you seek that in someone's work. I enjoy watching Chess Blitz competitions, and when I watch my favorite competitor, I expect him to give it his best of his abilities, just as a mother wants their children to succeed or do their best in their activities. This doesn't make them mean people. I am guessing Confucius had a bad history of people expecting too much out of him or pushing him too hard so now he is taking out all of his grief with this biased passage.
I don't mean to attack this philosopher at all, in fact I am sure he was far wise than I am and most people who live in our (rather lacking) generation. A lot of what he has to say I greatly agree should be followed, such as his points on respecting the heavens and what is high and above us. What my point is, is that not following these guidelines does not make a person more righteous than another. It is simply one man's interpretation of it. He is neither a prophet or a great divine but just another person, just like me and you. Just like everyone has their own definitions of justice or love, this passage is just an example of a man's view of what makes a person righteous.
by Andrew Murillo
While reading the selected points that was taken out of the The Superior Man can you automatically tell that Confucius was a kind of philosopher. Not all of it makes sense to me but some of it does. Like many philosophers, they normally wrote words to live by. They also wrote about how to live a wise life or even wrote things that made people stop and give it another thought. These points that are posted seem a lot to do with righteousness or what Confucius considers the way to live a righteous life. If you were to follow these laws, you would be a "Superior Man", which may mean that this philosophy may have been more directed towards men, since Confucianism is a major Easter Philosophy.
Even though philosophies are meant to convey a positive nature, I feel that a lot of these, ah sayings?, written points are a single man's oppinion. Not following these laws shouldn't make you unrighteous since no one can be perfect, but also following all these laws doesn't make you righteous either. Let's take an example: "The superior man undergoes three changes. Looked at from a distance, he appears stern; when approached, he is mild; when he is heard to speak, his language is firm and decided." This passage just seems to put a lot of pressure on a person to have to follow, but in no way does it define righteousness, maybe only in his eyes it does. This passage just seems to be someone's simple guideline of how to act outside the house. Also we must consider another person's view of this. Maybe someone who tries to follow this point may come off as arrogant or negative. Imagine everyone talking acting like that!
Here is one that makes me laugh: "What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others."That must mean Confucius found a lot of people mean, most notingly his Teachers. Seeking something in someone isn't always a bad thing, but it can mean you are encouraging someone. Maybe you trust that they can do a good just and so you seek that in someone's work. I enjoy watching Chess Blitz competitions, and when I watch my favorite competitor, I expect him to give it his best of his abilities, just as a mother wants their children to succeed or do their best in their activities. This doesn't make them mean people. I am guessing Confucius had a bad history of people expecting too much out of him or pushing him too hard so now he is taking out all of his grief with this biased passage.
I don't mean to attack this philosopher at all, in fact I am sure he was far wise than I am and most people who live in our (rather lacking) generation. A lot of what he has to say I greatly agree should be followed, such as his points on respecting the heavens and what is high and above us. What my point is, is that not following these guidelines does not make a person more righteous than another. It is simply one man's interpretation of it. He is neither a prophet or a great divine but just another person, just like me and you. Just like everyone has their own definitions of justice or love, this passage is just an example of a man's view of what makes a person righteous.
by Andrew Murillo
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Chapter 3 Documents and Guided Response
Hello again. It's time for another big blog. I am sorry that I am posting this so late, I have been busy with many things such as shopping and studying for other classes (life in the dorms, maybe I will post a video like I did at the community college: just look up "Life of a Chaffey College student" on YouTube"). the first civilizations are interesting in their own respect but I never really had much of a personal interest in them. Greece and China both have great and exciting histories with all their wars, control, and ideas, and even though I have learned about this in my past classes, it never really appealed too much to me. It could be because of hearing about it so many times but wars and conquering has always been boring to me when it was taught in school. I think others would agree with me when I say it's really nothing when compared to live stories that come from someone who actually witnessed the events. Of course no one could possibly have lived long enough to tell any of these stories but still, I always had trouble really being intrigued in this time in history. So please forgive me if this blog isn't as detailed and full as it normally is, I may have been having trouble concentrating on the reading. Maybe if we were to look more deeply into Greek mythology I would be more interested.
The Greece, Roman, and Chinese empires during the ancient had shaped up the way governments behave today. This is shown through the Chapter 3 Documents.
The first document is written by a man named Pericles and how he views Athens' form of government. He calls Athens' government a democracy and I actually remember learning this may have been one of the earliest forms of democracy and that the United States may have modeled after it. The way Pericles describes Athens' makes it sound almost perfect and completely equal. From this document, Athens seems to have been to source of many ideas, they seemed to have the strongest army, they respected their neighbors. They were aware of poverty and tried their best to address the situation. This kind of empire sounds nearly perfect but it is only the view of one man. As it is mentioned earlier, Athens is later defeated in battle and so that may be a small clue that this document may have been written by a higher class with a large bias towards the government that he lives in and respects.
The next document is written by Aelius Aristides who seems like a well educated person. Aristides traveled into Rome and praised the achievements of the Roman empire. He writes about Rome's great size, and this is definitely valid since the Roman empire did conquer a lot, and loved to fight. They were an extremely aggressive civilization and I am sure if they really could, they would had conquered the entire world. For most of the document, Aristides admires Rome's enormous size. Rome is seen as a competitive empire, were the strongest are in control. I am sure rule over this empire is very controlled and may not be the best place for me to live. Towards the end of the document, Aristides claims how Rome is a combination of all constitutions, and depending on who you ask, they would give you a different answer to what kind of government governs over them.
The next document was written by Han Fei, who felt that strength came from a strong law and to those who follow it. This document definitely shows the values of the ancient civilization, especially since this is written from someone who lived in the Chinese civilization, unlike the last document.
The Indian Empire was once filled with violence but later takes a turn in another direction. Laws are laid out so that the violence is not to be repeated and that forgiveness should be valued. The documents repetitively speaks about the Beloved-of-the-Gods. The documents also talk about care for not only humans, but also the practice of caring for animals. The author of the documents, Ashoka, also writes about respect for mother and father. What had caused Ashoka to write all of this is from one of his past battles. It was so brutal that it traumatized him and had caused him to change completely and follow Buddhism. This, in effect, caused him to follow and set a more peaceful empire that doesn't focus on violence, fear and death, but on respecting life and all that it has to offer.
These documents are contain a pretty interesting views of how several of the ancient cultures were ran. It gives us an idea of how things may had been during their time, but it is only one account from each empire. While reading them I can definitely sense a bias in some of them. The empire that may be the one I would consider living in would most likely be the Indian Empire after Ashoka had completely changed his values and ways of life. This empire seems to be the most fitting, especially since the documents is coming straight from its own ruler and it seems to be the most peaceful. Buddhism is a a peaceful philosophy and it is about ending suffering, so if the Emperor follows that, it must had been an excellent place to settle in.
By Andrew Murillo
The Greece, Roman, and Chinese empires during the ancient had shaped up the way governments behave today. This is shown through the Chapter 3 Documents.
The first document is written by a man named Pericles and how he views Athens' form of government. He calls Athens' government a democracy and I actually remember learning this may have been one of the earliest forms of democracy and that the United States may have modeled after it. The way Pericles describes Athens' makes it sound almost perfect and completely equal. From this document, Athens seems to have been to source of many ideas, they seemed to have the strongest army, they respected their neighbors. They were aware of poverty and tried their best to address the situation. This kind of empire sounds nearly perfect but it is only the view of one man. As it is mentioned earlier, Athens is later defeated in battle and so that may be a small clue that this document may have been written by a higher class with a large bias towards the government that he lives in and respects.
The next document is written by Aelius Aristides who seems like a well educated person. Aristides traveled into Rome and praised the achievements of the Roman empire. He writes about Rome's great size, and this is definitely valid since the Roman empire did conquer a lot, and loved to fight. They were an extremely aggressive civilization and I am sure if they really could, they would had conquered the entire world. For most of the document, Aristides admires Rome's enormous size. Rome is seen as a competitive empire, were the strongest are in control. I am sure rule over this empire is very controlled and may not be the best place for me to live. Towards the end of the document, Aristides claims how Rome is a combination of all constitutions, and depending on who you ask, they would give you a different answer to what kind of government governs over them.
The next document was written by Han Fei, who felt that strength came from a strong law and to those who follow it. This document definitely shows the values of the ancient civilization, especially since this is written from someone who lived in the Chinese civilization, unlike the last document.
The Indian Empire was once filled with violence but later takes a turn in another direction. Laws are laid out so that the violence is not to be repeated and that forgiveness should be valued. The documents repetitively speaks about the Beloved-of-the-Gods. The documents also talk about care for not only humans, but also the practice of caring for animals. The author of the documents, Ashoka, also writes about respect for mother and father. What had caused Ashoka to write all of this is from one of his past battles. It was so brutal that it traumatized him and had caused him to change completely and follow Buddhism. This, in effect, caused him to follow and set a more peaceful empire that doesn't focus on violence, fear and death, but on respecting life and all that it has to offer.
These documents are contain a pretty interesting views of how several of the ancient cultures were ran. It gives us an idea of how things may had been during their time, but it is only one account from each empire. While reading them I can definitely sense a bias in some of them. The empire that may be the one I would consider living in would most likely be the Indian Empire after Ashoka had completely changed his values and ways of life. This empire seems to be the most fitting, especially since the documents is coming straight from its own ruler and it seems to be the most peaceful. Buddhism is a a peaceful philosophy and it is about ending suffering, so if the Emperor follows that, it must had been an excellent place to settle in.
By Andrew Murillo
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