1 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,880 This isn't really the official start of 2 00:00:15,279 --> 00:00:19,198 class, but I just thought I wanted to 3 00:00:16,879 --> 00:00:21,198 start with this new like big game that 4 00:00:19,199 --> 00:00:23,600 just dropped and it's like making waves 5 00:00:21,199 --> 00:00:26,560 I guess in video game communities across 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,920 the world. And this game for the if you 7 00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:30,479 haven't heard of it, that's totally 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:33,359 fine. The main character is Sumuku Kong 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:35,439 and the the game is based loosely on 10 00:00:33,359 --> 00:00:38,000 this great Chinese novel of the 16th 11 00:00:35,439 --> 00:00:41,599 century Journey to the West Cog. Yeah. 12 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,679 And the thing is uh so have you heard of 13 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,960 the Monkey King or Sumukong? Some of you 14 00:00:43,679 --> 00:00:46,960 have heard of him. Some of you may have 15 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,600 not have heard of him. That's okay. He's 16 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:53,039 like a real iconic figure in Chinese 17 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:55,760 culture. You could say literature. 18 00:00:53,039 --> 00:00:57,679 uh he's not a historical character 19 00:00:55,759 --> 00:01:00,079 although the journey to the west is a 20 00:00:57,679 --> 00:01:02,159 historical journey uh taken during the 21 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:04,879 Tong dynasty to India to retrieve 22 00:01:02,159 --> 00:01:07,599 Buddhist sutras and all of that um but 23 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:09,600 starting in like the southern song 24 00:01:07,599 --> 00:01:11,839 dynasty don't worry you'll know all of 25 00:01:09,599 --> 00:01:13,919 these dynasties pretty soon we cover all 26 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,680 of them this semester starting in about 27 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,320 like I'd say the 11th century this 28 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,880 figure of a monkey uh as kind of the the 29 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:23,839 the sort of accompany the the the 30 00:01:20,879 --> 00:01:26,158 accompany of this main t uh you know 31 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,920 monk character came to the foreground 32 00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:29,840 and his character evolved over the 33 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,240 centuries and I think one of the reasons 34 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,960 why he's so beloved in China is he's 35 00:01:32,239 --> 00:01:36,399 like this fearless person right he's he 36 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:39,199 laughs in the face of danger because 37 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,960 he's like a monkey right so it makes him 38 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:44,240 very beloved and makes him like sort of 39 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:47,438 very interesting um he's also kind of a 40 00:01:44,239 --> 00:01:50,000 force of chaos in a sense uh is that he 41 00:01:47,438 --> 00:01:51,758 literally makes a mess of heaven even uh 42 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,680 he gets in trouble with the Jade Emperor 43 00:01:51,759 --> 00:01:56,079 all of these really great stories, but 44 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:58,799 in that sort of his sort of causing 45 00:01:56,078 --> 00:02:00,399 chaos where he goes, he forces truth to 46 00:01:58,799 --> 00:02:02,719 come to the surface. He's got the power 47 00:02:00,399 --> 00:02:05,118 to see evil where evil is sort of 48 00:02:02,718 --> 00:02:07,118 latently present. Uh so you can see 49 00:02:05,118 --> 00:02:09,360 here, I just thought I'd say a few words 50 00:02:07,118 --> 00:02:12,239 about him. There's a there's a big 51 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:14,239 debate in Chinese history about where 52 00:02:12,239 --> 00:02:16,878 monkey comes from. where the character 53 00:02:14,239 --> 00:02:19,280 of Sumukong comes from. Hooser, the 54 00:02:16,878 --> 00:02:21,039 great early 20th century intellectual. 55 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,759 You don't have to know him exactly, but 56 00:02:21,039 --> 00:02:25,359 he's a big name. He actually envisioned 57 00:02:23,759 --> 00:02:29,199 that monkey may have come from the 58 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:32,160 Ramayana, from the character of Hanuman, 59 00:02:29,199 --> 00:02:34,639 the sort of protector of King Rama. Uh, 60 00:02:32,159 --> 00:02:36,959 and there are there is a serious theory 61 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:39,199 that that is actually the origin of his 62 00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:41,439 character. Lucin disagreed with that 63 00:02:39,199 --> 00:02:43,199 theory. Actually the other big 20th 64 00:02:41,439 --> 00:02:45,120 century great writer of Chinese history 65 00:02:43,199 --> 00:02:46,719 had another theory. You can see over the 66 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,840 centuries this is from a very early 67 00:02:46,719 --> 00:02:52,159 edition of the novel. This is from the 68 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,560 uh summer palace in Beijing. Right? So 69 00:02:52,159 --> 00:02:57,840 the literally depictions from the novel 70 00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:00,479 like sused you know uh big you know 71 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,959 artistic uh scenes in late imperial 72 00:03:00,479 --> 00:03:04,878 China. Uh this is from a temple in 73 00:03:02,959 --> 00:03:07,039 Vietnam and you can see here this is 74 00:03:04,878 --> 00:03:09,280 monkey and shrines right. So he enters 75 00:03:07,039 --> 00:03:11,359 religion, popular religion and of course 76 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,199 big opera, right? Opera for performances 77 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,280 of Journey of the West, the character of 78 00:03:13,199 --> 00:03:17,280 Monkey and all of that. So I thought 79 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,400 that I would just say just really if 80 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,158 you've been thinking about this video 81 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,319 game or you want to go check out this 82 00:03:20,158 --> 00:03:24,799 video game at the beginning here, he's 83 00:03:22,318 --> 00:03:27,199 been beloved across generations. Every 84 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:29,120 era sort of reinvisions him. You know, 85 00:03:27,199 --> 00:03:30,798 this is Princess Iron Fan. This is a 86 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,640 story from Journey of the West. 87 00:03:30,799 --> 00:03:35,760 Incredible. This is China's first 88 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:37,839 animated film, 1941, made in Shanghai 89 00:03:35,759 --> 00:03:39,759 during World War II. And it's kind of 90 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,280 like Monkey at that time. You think 91 00:03:39,759 --> 00:03:43,439 about the War of Resistance against 92 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,039 Japan, right? All of the symbolism with 93 00:03:43,439 --> 00:03:47,680 that. Somebody mentioned that they saw 94 00:03:45,039 --> 00:03:49,919 the 1986. Oh, where's my 1986? There's 95 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,760 my 1986. Journey to the West. This a big 96 00:03:49,919 --> 00:03:54,479 TV series. You can get it all on YouTube 97 00:03:51,759 --> 00:03:56,399 for free. Really fun. This actor who 98 00:03:54,479 --> 00:03:58,079 plays Monkey is really incredible. Like 99 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,400 he's comes from like an oporatic 100 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,799 tradition. He really carries that forth. 101 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,319 Late editions of Monkey, recent editions 102 00:04:02,799 --> 00:04:06,719 of Monkey have kind of shown him to be 103 00:04:04,318 --> 00:04:08,719 like hyper masculine and muscular and 104 00:04:06,719 --> 00:04:10,639 everything like that. It's actually not 105 00:04:08,719 --> 00:04:12,479 necessarily how he's been portrayed 106 00:04:10,639 --> 00:04:14,000 historically, but again, it tells us 107 00:04:12,479 --> 00:04:16,639 something about how his character 108 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,560 evolves over time. All right, that is 109 00:04:16,639 --> 00:04:20,079 the sort of prelude. Now, let's actually 110 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,358 get into dynastic China. This is 111 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:23,600 probably how you thought I would begin 112 00:04:21,358 --> 00:04:25,680 the class, which makes total sense, 113 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,280 right? Forbidden City. Some of you went 114 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:30,478 to Beijing this summer. Some of you have 115 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:32,000 been to Beijing, I'm sure. This is like, 116 00:04:30,478 --> 00:04:33,758 you know, the tragedy with the Forbidden 117 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,918 City is once you see this palace, you 118 00:04:33,759 --> 00:04:38,240 can't go visit any other palace. They 119 00:04:35,918 --> 00:04:40,159 all just look so silly in comparison to 120 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,600 this Versailles. I mean, forget about 121 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,360 it. It looks like a house. [music] I 122 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,840 mean, seriously, this I mean, it's the 123 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,560 largest palace structure in the world. 124 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:51,279 It's I've been I've visited probably 125 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:53,439 five times over my lifetime, and every 126 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:56,079 time it's different. 127 00:04:53,439 --> 00:04:59,120 When you go in the summer, there's not a 128 00:04:56,079 --> 00:05:01,680 lot of shade. You get killed by the sun 129 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,439 in the crowds. I went on an academic 130 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,959 sort of with an academic delegation this 131 00:05:03,439 --> 00:05:06,560 summer. So, we went to all these like 132 00:05:04,959 --> 00:05:08,239 secret places and that was really, 133 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,759 really fun. But this is a place you 134 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,680 absolutely have to visit. There's so 135 00:05:09,759 --> 00:05:13,840 much of Chinese history [music] in this 136 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,280 palace in the center of Beijing. And 137 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:17,599 I'll just say actually one funny thing 138 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:19,519 about it is this palace was so nice that 139 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,439 when the Mans [music] invaded China in 140 00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:24,000 the 17th century, they said, "We'll keep 141 00:05:21,439 --> 00:05:25,519 the palace." They moved right in. How 142 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,879 often does that happen when somebody 143 00:05:25,519 --> 00:05:28,478 invades say we'll keep the White House? 144 00:05:26,879 --> 00:05:30,800 No, no, I we could do better than the 145 00:05:28,478 --> 00:05:32,639 White House. They kept this one. Okay. 146 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,038 Okay. So, this is actually a Ming 147 00:05:32,639 --> 00:05:36,639 Dynasty palace that was used right up 148 00:05:35,038 --> 00:05:39,599 until the early 20th [music] century. 149 00:05:36,639 --> 00:05:41,120 Today, a museum. Okay. All right. I 150 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,439 thought I was thinking about like how do 151 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,360 you even introduce this subject? Right. 152 00:05:43,439 --> 00:05:46,959 This is like it's I love this subject. 153 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:50,560 I'm sure you got that from my email. 154 00:05:46,959 --> 00:05:52,799 Okay. Uh I I I'm so excited to share 155 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,120 about this subject with you. And I 156 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:57,120 realize there's never a good way to get 157 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,879 into this subject because it's so big. 158 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:01,120 It's so much to cover. But I'll just 159 00:05:58,879 --> 00:06:02,879 say, let's look at a map right here. 160 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,038 Okay, this is, as you could imagine, 161 00:06:02,879 --> 00:06:06,240 Beijing, right? This is the Forbidden 162 00:06:05,038 --> 00:06:08,318 City. This is the palace. I think this 163 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,199 map is from about the 1950s or something 164 00:06:08,319 --> 00:06:14,960 like that. And there's these three quote 165 00:06:11,199 --> 00:06:16,560 unquote high to the to the left, right, 166 00:06:14,959 --> 00:06:19,198 to the to the western side of the 167 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:21,680 Forbidden City, right? Anybody know what 168 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:24,879 those three high are? with those three 169 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:27,759 lakes. Anybody have you anybody visited? 170 00:06:24,879 --> 00:06:29,839 Have you been to Bay High Park? It's 171 00:06:27,759 --> 00:06:32,800 okay. It's okay. Let me just tell you 172 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:35,918 there are three lakes there. Okay. The 173 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:38,160 top lake is the northern lake. Okay. 174 00:06:35,918 --> 00:06:40,159 That was an imperial garden and that is 175 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:43,600 today a public park. You can access that 176 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:46,000 one. The second one and the last one are 177 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:49,199 the middle lake in the southern lake. 178 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,639 That's Jong Nan High. Have you Have you 179 00:06:49,199 --> 00:06:53,120 ever heard of Jong Nan High? That's 180 00:06:50,639 --> 00:06:55,360 where the head of the communist party 181 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,120 is. That's basically where the nominally 182 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,479 the Cinping lives and everything like 183 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,879 it's kind of like the White House and 184 00:06:58,478 --> 00:07:03,120 the Kremlin together. Okay. Very very 185 00:07:00,879 --> 00:07:05,199 big place. Those two lakes are not open 186 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,598 to the public. That area is like the 187 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:09,280 compound of the I think you know the 188 00:07:07,598 --> 00:07:11,839 center of the party's power structure 189 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,598 basically. So there's so much right just 190 00:07:11,839 --> 00:07:16,799 in this little how many kilometers of 191 00:07:13,598 --> 00:07:18,959 space. Okay. China history from th 192 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:22,079 hundreds of years ago all the way up to 193 00:07:18,959 --> 00:07:25,038 history going on today. Right? So the 194 00:07:22,079 --> 00:07:31,198 thing I love about this term is that the 195 00:07:25,038 --> 00:07:34,000 word high means sea, ocean or lake. In 196 00:07:31,199 --> 00:07:36,319 Mongol actually this distinction you can 197 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,879 imagine why is not really made between 198 00:07:36,319 --> 00:07:40,479 ocean and a big body of water. And sort 199 00:07:38,879 --> 00:07:43,360 of some Chinese dialects over the 200 00:07:40,478 --> 00:07:46,639 centuries adopted that or also had that. 201 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:48,400 So you can kind of see here I I think 202 00:07:46,639 --> 00:07:50,000 and I know this might be sort of a 203 00:07:48,399 --> 00:07:51,439 little corny to say but I want to just 204 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,160 say it here at the very beginning and 205 00:07:51,439 --> 00:07:56,879 I'll just say it once. It's like Chinese 206 00:07:54,160 --> 00:08:00,000 history is like a sea or an ocean. Okay. 207 00:07:56,879 --> 00:08:01,840 That's it's big. It's how do I say it? 208 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,680 It's vast. It's beautiful and it's 209 00:08:01,839 --> 00:08:05,198 difficult. It can be dangerous. Right? 210 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,120 Of course I'll talk about how history 211 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:10,080 can be dangerous in just a second but 212 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:12,319 it's not like perhaps other kinds of 213 00:08:10,079 --> 00:08:14,159 history you've studied thus far. Um, 214 00:08:12,319 --> 00:08:15,919 I'll just say that, you know, I started 215 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:18,240 studying it however many like almost 20 216 00:08:15,918 --> 00:08:19,918 years ago. I will be a student of it for 217 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,079 the rest of my life. I'll never be able 218 00:08:19,918 --> 00:08:24,240 to master this, right? It's not 219 00:08:22,079 --> 00:08:27,198 something you master. It's just too much 220 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:30,160 stuff. Okay? But that's the thing. This 221 00:08:27,199 --> 00:08:32,320 class, what I can do is I'll take you to 222 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,680 the ocean and I'll say in that first 223 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,039 time you see the ocean, right? Think 224 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,239 about that. Think about where you were, 225 00:08:35,038 --> 00:08:37,759 especially if you didn't grow up near 226 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,120 the sea, right? The first time you saw 227 00:08:37,759 --> 00:08:40,559 the ocean, you say, "Wow, that's a 228 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,679 beautiful site." Or, "Wow, that's so 229 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,278 interesting. Look at the waves. 230 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,120 Whatever. Whatever. Whatever. That's 231 00:08:43,278 --> 00:08:48,240 what this class can do. It's like we're 232 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:50,080 I'm going to show you across time, okay? 233 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,919 From the Joe dynasty, from the origins 234 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:54,560 of writing in China, which is Chong 235 00:08:51,919 --> 00:08:56,879 Dynasty, but whatever. Han dynasty, the 236 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,639 medieval period, all the way up to the 237 00:08:56,879 --> 00:09:00,240 early modern era. I'll show you 238 00:08:58,639 --> 00:09:02,080 something about every era that I think 239 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,000 is interesting, okay? That I think 240 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,800 you'll appreciate. And then it's up to 241 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,559 you to go from there, okay? So, so I'll 242 00:09:06,799 --> 00:09:11,278 take you to the sea. You can swim 243 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:13,759 however you want to you however far you 244 00:09:11,278 --> 00:09:15,039 want to swim. I'm still swimming. Okay. 245 00:09:13,759 --> 00:09:18,958 So that's what we're going to do. This 246 00:09:15,039 --> 00:09:22,000 is okay. Dynastic China 2024. Okay. So 247 00:09:18,958 --> 00:09:23,518 let me say something at the outset here. 248 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,278 What I'll do today is I'll introduce 249 00:09:23,519 --> 00:09:27,039 Chinese history in the broadest possible 250 00:09:25,278 --> 00:09:28,879 terms. How do we think about it? Some 251 00:09:27,039 --> 00:09:30,639 key terms. We'll go over the syllabus, 252 00:09:28,879 --> 00:09:31,759 the requirements for the class, and then 253 00:09:30,639 --> 00:09:34,319 I'll talk we'll I'll give you a 254 00:09:31,759 --> 00:09:35,759 geographical tour of China, which is 255 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,760 really fun. Actually, it's really fun 256 00:09:35,759 --> 00:09:39,200 just to go talk about food and here's 257 00:09:37,759 --> 00:09:40,319 this province and here's this province. 258 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,680 The rest of the class won't be like 259 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,200 that, but you do need to know the 260 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,958 geography of China. There will be a quiz 261 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,480 in a couple of weeks. Okay, this is the 262 00:09:44,958 --> 00:09:48,639 forbidden city that we were just talking 263 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,360 about. And you can see here, this is 264 00:09:48,639 --> 00:09:54,159 this is I think the largest single hall 265 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,560 within the palace complex. This Taiuen, 266 00:09:54,159 --> 00:09:59,278 the hall of supreme harmony. Okay, this 267 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:01,439 a Ming dynasty structure. That's don't 268 00:09:59,278 --> 00:10:03,759 get overwhelmed. Uh that's like let's 269 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,600 say a 15th century structure. Okay. Uh, 270 00:10:03,759 --> 00:10:07,759 and this is basically where the emperor 271 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:10,159 had major audiences. Weddings were held 272 00:10:07,759 --> 00:10:12,080 here. Enthronements were held here. And 273 00:10:10,159 --> 00:10:13,600 you can see it's right here. It's right, 274 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,759 it's kind of like in the almost looks 275 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:18,079 like the center. It's like right in that 276 00:10:15,759 --> 00:10:19,919 central access. Okay, that's where it 277 00:10:18,078 --> 00:10:21,838 is. There's another place and it's not 278 00:10:19,919 --> 00:10:24,639 like a famous place. The place of 279 00:10:21,839 --> 00:10:26,640 everlasting spring. This chun. 280 00:10:24,639 --> 00:10:28,799 Okay, it's in the back. It's right over 281 00:10:26,639 --> 00:10:31,439 there. I highlighted it right there. I 282 00:10:28,799 --> 00:10:34,479 bring out these two sort of parts of the 283 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:37,040 palace to you because in a way they kind 284 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:39,360 of represent two tides of Chinese 285 00:10:37,039 --> 00:10:42,399 history or two ways of thinking about 286 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:45,278 Chinese history. Okay, there's junction, 287 00:10:42,399 --> 00:10:47,120 right? Official history. What is 288 00:10:45,278 --> 00:10:48,559 official history? Now, when you think 289 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,759 about history in China, don't just 290 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,278 think, oh, I'm sitting down. I'm 291 00:10:49,759 --> 00:10:55,600 thinking about history. Oh, that's so 292 00:10:51,278 --> 00:10:58,720 fun. No sh refers to a k a kind of 293 00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:01,600 writing. It's a genre of writing. There 294 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:04,639 are officially 24 official histories 295 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:07,200 across China, Chinese history. The 296 00:11:04,639 --> 00:11:08,799 dynasty that follows the previous 297 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,160 dynasty writes the official history of 298 00:11:08,799 --> 00:11:14,319 its predecessor. Okay. Ironically, we do 299 00:11:12,159 --> 00:11:16,639 not yet have an official history of 300 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:19,040 theQing dynasty, the last dynasty. 301 00:11:16,639 --> 00:11:21,838 That's an ongoing big football project 302 00:11:19,039 --> 00:11:23,838 of of a game of, you know, tension 303 00:11:21,839 --> 00:11:25,680 within China today. Okay. How to write 304 00:11:23,839 --> 00:11:28,959 that history of the last dynasty. but 305 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:31,039 quoteunquote we have 24 um that's this 306 00:11:28,958 --> 00:11:32,958 official history you know emperors 307 00:11:31,039 --> 00:11:36,000 dynasties battles natural disasters 308 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:38,159 recorded by state authorities okay but 309 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,200 then there's something else okay that's 310 00:11:38,159 --> 00:11:42,879 not all we look at that's not all we 311 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:47,759 talk about there's also this kind of 312 00:11:42,879 --> 00:11:50,240 idea in Chinese of yes wild history 313 00:11:47,759 --> 00:11:52,000 that's outside things that happened in 314 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,000 the past that are not in those official 315 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,679 histories but are still worthy of 316 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,440 talking about that are still worthy of 317 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:59,599 remembering. Okay. And that's like 318 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:02,959 folklore, families, women, popular tales 319 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:06,079 not recorded by state authorities. And 320 00:12:02,958 --> 00:12:08,239 you know, so you one way you can think 321 00:12:06,078 --> 00:12:10,638 about Chinese history is that it's the 322 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:12,320 tension between these two things. Okay? 323 00:12:10,639 --> 00:12:14,159 It's like also going back to the sea 324 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,920 metaphor, high tide and low tide, 325 00:12:14,159 --> 00:12:17,919 whatever you want to say. Okay? There's 326 00:12:15,919 --> 00:12:19,599 the stuff that's officially recorded. On 327 00:12:17,919 --> 00:12:21,120 this day, the emperor said this, but 328 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,879 then there's all this unofficial stuff 329 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:26,000 that we piece together and say what was 330 00:12:22,879 --> 00:12:28,320 really going on. Okay, this what is so 331 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,519 great about Chinese history is that you 332 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,920 actually don't need a textbook. There 333 00:12:29,519 --> 00:12:34,159 are so many sources. There's art, 334 00:12:31,919 --> 00:12:36,159 there's so much writing, there's private 335 00:12:34,159 --> 00:12:38,159 writing, there's writing by scholars, 336 00:12:36,159 --> 00:12:41,600 there's debates, there's so much you can 337 00:12:38,159 --> 00:12:44,078 look into. But take a look at again that 338 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:46,159 sort of palace. What I said is that 339 00:12:44,078 --> 00:12:47,599 looking at itself at the palace, it kind 340 00:12:46,159 --> 00:12:49,600 of tells you a story about Chinese 341 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,000 history. This is that sort of like 342 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,680 juncture type of place. The things that 343 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,519 happened in the hall of supreme harmony 344 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:57,919 are recorded in official type of 345 00:12:55,519 --> 00:12:59,759 histories. But the stuff that happens in 346 00:12:57,919 --> 00:13:02,399 the rear of the palace, this is the 347 00:12:59,759 --> 00:13:05,120 hogong. That's where the imperial family 348 00:13:02,399 --> 00:13:06,078 lived. Okay? That's actually where they 349 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,120 lived. They didn't live in the front of 350 00:13:06,078 --> 00:13:08,879 the palace. This is a that's an 351 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,399 expression in Chinese. Hogong, the back 352 00:13:08,879 --> 00:13:11,679 of the palace. That's the imperial 353 00:13:10,399 --> 00:13:13,120 family. That's where they actually 354 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,799 lived. And that's where all of By the 355 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,799 way, if you watch Chinese dramas, family 356 00:13:14,799 --> 00:13:18,240 dramas, they're all about that. Okay? 357 00:13:16,799 --> 00:13:19,439 Nobody really cares about this, but 358 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:22,240 they're all about that, right? What's 359 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,800 going on? the the romance, right? All 360 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,399 this stuff, you know? Yeah, sure. Wild 361 00:13:24,799 --> 00:13:28,479 history has a lot more to it than just 362 00:13:26,399 --> 00:13:31,600 that, okay? I'm not endorsing any drama, 363 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:33,600 by the way. Uh but but but it's a way to 364 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,680 think about it. This is an incredible 365 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:38,320 hall. We will return to it in the last 366 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:40,719 class of the semester because in this 367 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,879 palace of everlasting spring and the 368 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,519 rear of the palace, on its walls are 369 00:13:42,879 --> 00:13:47,600 depicted murals of the probably the 370 00:13:45,519 --> 00:13:50,720 greatest novel of Chinese history, Hong 371 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:53,600 Mong, A Dream of the Red Chamber. images 372 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:56,160 from that novel uh were painted on the 373 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,399 walls of this kind of residential 374 00:13:56,159 --> 00:14:00,399 complex for the imperial family uh you 375 00:13:58,399 --> 00:14:04,240 know one of the consorts in the 19th 376 00:14:00,399 --> 00:14:05,919 century that sort of uh p that that 377 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:08,399 those scenes or that novel is all about 378 00:14:05,919 --> 00:14:09,599 a family in decline right so it's 379 00:14:08,399 --> 00:14:11,519 actually I've always thought it's 380 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:14,159 extremely moving and thoughtprovoking to 381 00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:17,519 think that the emperor that the imperial 382 00:14:14,159 --> 00:14:20,958 family has these images on that wall 383 00:14:17,519 --> 00:14:23,120 okay all right So let's talk about why 384 00:14:20,958 --> 00:14:25,198 would you even take this class? Okay, 385 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:28,399 why talk about dynastic history? Why get 386 00:14:25,198 --> 00:14:30,078 into it? Well, the the answer could be 387 00:14:28,399 --> 00:14:31,759 because like China's a really important 388 00:14:30,078 --> 00:14:33,120 place today, right? I think it's going 389 00:14:31,759 --> 00:14:34,480 to have the largest economy in the 390 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,078 world, whatever. It has the second 391 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,680 largest population. It's an important 392 00:14:36,078 --> 00:14:39,278 place. There's a lot of interesting 393 00:14:37,679 --> 00:14:41,439 technological developments going on with 394 00:14:39,278 --> 00:14:44,958 that, you know, all of that stuff. My 395 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:46,639 favorite of which are these like robots 396 00:14:44,958 --> 00:14:48,559 that I'm sure if you've been to China 397 00:14:46,639 --> 00:14:50,959 recently, I'm sure you've encountered 398 00:14:48,559 --> 00:14:52,879 these. If you stay in a hotel and you 399 00:14:50,958 --> 00:14:54,719 get takeout, 400 00:14:52,879 --> 00:14:56,879 somebody brings it to the hotel front 401 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,199 desk and then this this Gichi red this 402 00:14:56,879 --> 00:15:00,639 robot sends it to your room so you don't 403 00:14:59,198 --> 00:15:03,519 have to actually talk to any human 404 00:15:00,639 --> 00:15:05,519 beings. Okay, this was a this was a 405 00:15:03,519 --> 00:15:07,360 thing that came in during COVID, I 406 00:15:05,519 --> 00:15:09,039 think, and now it's just like standard 407 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,800 across the country. So, I mean, you 408 00:15:09,039 --> 00:15:12,559 could set you get medicine, you get all 409 00:15:10,799 --> 00:15:14,719 this stuff like that, but it was like my 410 00:15:12,559 --> 00:15:16,479 first night in China this summer. I was 411 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,560 I arrived at like 1:00 a.m. for a 412 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,039 conference and then this like I got a 413 00:15:18,559 --> 00:15:22,638 phone call and this it was like a 414 00:15:21,039 --> 00:15:24,159 robotic voice and it said, "I'm here." 415 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:26,000 And I'm like, "What's going on?" And 416 00:15:24,159 --> 00:15:27,360 then, "Please open the door." And I open 417 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,360 the door. It's one of these. And they 418 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,800 go, "Please press this button." And I 419 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,560 press the button and then it's like and 420 00:15:30,799 --> 00:15:34,240 then there was this like rice and like 421 00:15:32,559 --> 00:15:36,159 all this food, right? And it's like 422 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,680 they're walking all over these hotels, 423 00:15:36,159 --> 00:15:39,198 right? And they even say like, "Please 424 00:15:37,679 --> 00:15:41,519 excuse me. I need to get to the 425 00:15:39,198 --> 00:15:43,359 elevator." So, it's I don't know why we 426 00:15:41,519 --> 00:15:45,679 don't have them yet, right? And and and 427 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,519 and if any budding anthropologists in 428 00:15:45,679 --> 00:15:50,000 the room, there's so much to study about 429 00:15:47,519 --> 00:15:51,519 these these robots, right? About how 430 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:54,240 humans interact with them and such like 431 00:15:51,519 --> 00:15:56,159 that. But yes. Okay. So, I understand 432 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:58,720 the current scene of China is worth 433 00:15:56,159 --> 00:16:00,559 paying attention to is is is relevant, 434 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,800 is important. Okay. But then we get back 435 00:16:00,559 --> 00:16:06,638 to this question, why study dynastic 436 00:16:02,799 --> 00:16:09,039 China? One reason, okay, is that if you 437 00:16:06,639 --> 00:16:10,879 spend time in China and you talk to 438 00:16:09,039 --> 00:16:13,919 people in China, people in China talk 439 00:16:10,879 --> 00:16:15,759 about their history all the time. Okay, 440 00:16:13,919 --> 00:16:17,838 from from the top leadership all the way 441 00:16:15,759 --> 00:16:19,759 down to everyday people, people driving 442 00:16:17,839 --> 00:16:21,759 cabs that you'll meet, you know, just in 443 00:16:19,759 --> 00:16:24,240 day-to-day life. Okay, history really 444 00:16:21,759 --> 00:16:26,480 matters in this place. Okay, it's the 445 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:30,000 way that people talk about issues in the 446 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:31,920 present. Um, it also is really 447 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,839 contentious, right? I just mentioned to 448 00:16:31,919 --> 00:16:35,919 you this kind of like question of the 449 00:16:33,839 --> 00:16:37,920 official Ching history. There's been an 450 00:16:35,919 --> 00:16:40,399 ongoing project to write the official 451 00:16:37,919 --> 00:16:43,039 Ching history in theory since the days 452 00:16:40,399 --> 00:16:44,240 of like Mao and Joe and Lie. It started 453 00:16:43,039 --> 00:16:45,519 and then it stopped because of the 454 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,039 cultural revolution and then it got 455 00:16:45,519 --> 00:16:49,120 started again in recent years and now 456 00:16:47,039 --> 00:16:51,198 it's kind of again controversial. How do 457 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:53,278 you officially record that history? That 458 00:16:51,198 --> 00:16:54,719 should tell you something. There's all 459 00:16:53,278 --> 00:16:56,720 of these debates. There's all these 460 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,360 tensions that go on within China about 461 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:02,079 how to understand what happened in 462 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,360 dynastic China. Okay, we don't pay 463 00:17:02,078 --> 00:17:06,318 attention to Well, the Wall Street 464 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:08,480 Journal did a cover of it. Okay, but 465 00:17:06,318 --> 00:17:12,399 that kind of signals its importance, 466 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:14,959 right? So, I do not think in any way 467 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:17,120 that this class, Dynastic China, is less 468 00:17:14,959 --> 00:17:19,439 relevant or less practical than modern 469 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:22,318 China. I'd say if you had to pick, take 470 00:17:19,439 --> 00:17:25,360 this one. Forget about modern China. 471 00:17:22,318 --> 00:17:27,759 Okay. the 20th century. It's a tough 472 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,678 century. This we cover a lot more 473 00:17:27,759 --> 00:17:31,119 centuries here. Okay. So, you get more 474 00:17:29,679 --> 00:17:32,480 bang for your buck. Okay. But they're 475 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:36,479 both good. I mean, they're, you know, 476 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:39,200 take it take it in 2026. Yeah. Okay. Um, 477 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,720 so now let me tell you another reason 478 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,319 kind of building on what I was just 479 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:46,079 talking about is that people in China 480 00:17:44,319 --> 00:17:47,839 like to talk about their history. They 481 00:17:46,079 --> 00:17:49,599 have a long there's a long recorded 482 00:17:47,839 --> 00:17:51,038 history in China. So, that means there's 483 00:17:49,599 --> 00:17:53,279 a lot to talk about. There's a lot to 484 00:17:51,038 --> 00:17:55,519 debate and there's a lot to analyze. I'm 485 00:17:53,279 --> 00:17:59,359 sure many of you may be familiar with 486 00:17:55,519 --> 00:18:02,000 this opening sentence. Has anybody read 487 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:04,719 Sanguani, Romance of the Three Kingdoms? 488 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,240 I think m Professor Dung has a class on 489 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,759 Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Some of 490 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,120 you might be taking it or want to take 491 00:18:07,759 --> 00:18:11,038 it. You should you should take it. It's 492 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:14,159 an interesting This is another one of 493 00:18:11,038 --> 00:18:15,519 those two those great novels. Okay, we 494 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,440 talked about Journey to the West a 495 00:18:15,519 --> 00:18:19,279 little bit earlier. This is Romance of 496 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:23,480 the Three Kingdoms and there's a this 497 00:18:19,279 --> 00:18:23,480 opening lines of it right this 498 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,679 writes there's a saying there's a saying 499 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:31,919 in our country that 500 00:18:29,679 --> 00:18:34,480 you know long divided it must unite long 501 00:18:31,919 --> 00:18:36,080 united it must divide think about that 502 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:40,000 for just a second and then let me show 503 00:18:36,079 --> 00:18:42,240 you this quote okay by Mark Elvin 1973 504 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,400 the Chinese empire is the major 505 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,319 exception in the preodern world to what 506 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,480 would appear to be the rule that units 507 00:18:46,319 --> 00:18:50,639 of territorial and demographic extent 508 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:54,000 comparable to China are not stable 509 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:56,640 entities over long periods of time. So 510 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:59,119 one of the things where you say why look 511 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,679 at it, why study it? Why think about it 512 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:04,319 is because actually this kind of does 513 00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:05,919 seem to happen, okay, that there are 514 00:19:04,319 --> 00:19:08,000 periods of division where everything 515 00:19:05,919 --> 00:19:10,160 falls apart, okay, and it looks like, 516 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,679 okay, this is going to be Italy and this 517 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,519 is going to be France and this is going 518 00:19:11,679 --> 00:19:16,160 to be Switzerland and then all of a 519 00:19:13,519 --> 00:19:18,639 sudden it comes back. Rome comes back. 520 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:21,519 Okay, Rome comes back and it keeps 521 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:23,919 coming back and you're like, why? Right? 522 00:19:21,519 --> 00:19:26,240 What's going on? Right? And people, you 523 00:19:23,919 --> 00:19:28,080 know, across the centuries noticed this, 524 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,519 right? It was like a thing they they 525 00:19:28,079 --> 00:19:33,199 noticed and talked about it or even 526 00:19:29,519 --> 00:19:35,279 anticipated. That's not to overstate 527 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,038 continuity in Chinese history. I don't 528 00:19:35,279 --> 00:19:38,960 want you to think, oh yeah, 20,000 years 529 00:19:37,038 --> 00:19:41,119 ago that was China and China today it's 530 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:43,679 like the it's not the same. It's very 531 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:46,239 different. Tons of things happen. Tons 532 00:19:43,679 --> 00:19:47,919 of things change. But this conversation 533 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,558 that we're talking about right here is 534 00:19:47,919 --> 00:19:52,400 very old, right? So I think Chinese 535 00:19:50,558 --> 00:19:54,639 history is good for training your mind 536 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,400 about how to think about big difficult 537 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,240 questions. You have a ton of data. You 538 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,400 have a ton of information. You can think 539 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,919 on different scales. When people do 540 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,080 climate history, what's the first place 541 00:20:01,919 --> 00:20:05,840 they look to? They look to China, right? 542 00:20:04,079 --> 00:20:07,759 Because China wrote about its climate 543 00:20:05,839 --> 00:20:10,558 for people in China wrote about climate 544 00:20:07,759 --> 00:20:12,798 for like thousand at least 2,000 plus 545 00:20:10,558 --> 00:20:15,839 years, right? All all sort of 546 00:20:12,798 --> 00:20:17,119 meteorological phenomenon, comets, etc. 547 00:20:15,839 --> 00:20:18,480 All of these records are in those 548 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:21,439 histories that I was talking about, you 549 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:23,759 know? So, it's really, really great to 550 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,120 think about history, right? If you 551 00:20:23,759 --> 00:20:26,640 haven't taken another history course 552 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,399 here before, this is a great 553 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,000 introduction. Even if you don't want to 554 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,600 continue with China, right? You want to 555 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,200 go and do England, take this class and 556 00:20:31,599 --> 00:20:34,879 then go think about England, take this 557 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,558 class and then go think about India. 558 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:39,360 Okay? You can you can do all of that 559 00:20:36,558 --> 00:20:41,759 stuff. Okay? History is ancient, but 560 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,959 it's an ongoing conversation and really 561 00:20:41,759 --> 00:20:44,400 uh filled with nearly endless 562 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,919 perspectives. And here's the key point. 563 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,280 this class about eavesdropping into that 564 00:20:45,919 --> 00:20:48,880 conversation. This goes back to that 565 00:20:47,279 --> 00:20:51,038 image that I was given to you. I take 566 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:53,200 you to the ocean, you swim. Okay, you 567 00:20:51,038 --> 00:20:55,519 eavesdrop into the conversation. This is 568 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:57,038 a huge conversation. Lots of people are 569 00:20:55,519 --> 00:20:58,240 going to say stuff. Lots of You're going 570 00:20:57,038 --> 00:20:59,359 to have dowists. You're going to have 571 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,319 Buddhists. You're going to have 572 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,959 Confucians. You're going to have 573 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:05,519 Confucians who hate other Confucians. Uh 574 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:07,679 you're going to have terrible emperors. 575 00:21:05,519 --> 00:21:10,400 You're gonna have some decent emperors, 576 00:21:07,679 --> 00:21:12,880 but really bad emperors, too, right? You 577 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:15,759 know, you'd have everything, right? And 578 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,840 the it all comes together as people over 579 00:21:15,759 --> 00:21:19,119 the centuries try to make sense of it 580 00:21:17,839 --> 00:21:20,720 right and that's that ongoing 581 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:23,038 conversation that conversation continues 582 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,558 in China to today. So you get a little 583 00:21:23,038 --> 00:21:25,919 in this class you get to eaves drop on 584 00:21:24,558 --> 00:21:28,079 it right think about it a little bit 585 00:21:25,919 --> 00:21:30,640 okay so here are the class goals and 586 00:21:28,079 --> 00:21:32,558 aspirations okay first of all let me 587 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,960 tell you what the game plan is and it's 588 00:21:32,558 --> 00:21:37,519 like a really intimidating slide so just 589 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:39,679 buckle up okay there you go so so 590 00:21:37,519 --> 00:21:42,400 basically that's the game plan okay not 591 00:21:39,679 --> 00:21:44,720 this part okay so not this this part's 592 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,880 modern China okay so that's the thing I 593 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:51,440 take two classes one does this and then 594 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:53,840 one does this okay so so uh look what I 595 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:56,640 can tell you is I'm a historian 596 00:21:53,839 --> 00:21:59,199 primarily of this era, right? The Ming 597 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,799 andQing dynasties, the last two imperial 598 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,519 dynasties. That's my specialty. That's 599 00:22:00,798 --> 00:22:05,279 what I love. But the thing is is that 600 00:22:03,519 --> 00:22:08,319 because this is the class you're taking 601 00:22:05,279 --> 00:22:10,639 at MIT that is dynastic Chinese history. 602 00:22:08,319 --> 00:22:13,918 I feel I I have to give every era its 603 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:16,880 due. So, I really try I really go out of 604 00:22:13,919 --> 00:22:19,038 my way even though I'm not like the 605 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:22,720 biggest fan of the Han dynasty, you 606 00:22:19,038 --> 00:22:25,359 know, like I'm I don't I I love the Tong 607 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,279 Dynasty as a sort of like a historian 608 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:29,119 who works on another period, but I will 609 00:22:27,279 --> 00:22:31,200 give you what I think is the essentials 610 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:33,918 to know about that era. Every period 611 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,840 that we cover, I try to get you, you 612 00:22:33,919 --> 00:22:36,960 know, that those kernels, right, that 613 00:22:35,839 --> 00:22:38,879 say, "Oh, wow, that's really 614 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,319 interesting. I didn't know that before." 615 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,000 So that when you look at this by the end 616 00:22:40,319 --> 00:22:44,158 of the semester, you'll say, "I know 617 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:46,720 what happened pretty much across this 618 00:22:44,159 --> 00:22:48,240 whole time span, right? I know 619 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:52,319 something. I can say something about 620 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:54,960 it." Okay? And then that way you go off 621 00:22:52,319 --> 00:22:57,279 in your winter holiday and you can have 622 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:59,840 great conversations with your parents, 623 00:22:57,279 --> 00:23:01,519 right? Or friends or you can travel and 624 00:22:59,839 --> 00:23:02,879 you can visit places and say, "I know 625 00:23:01,519 --> 00:23:04,480 what that is. I know when that was 626 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,720 built. I know what I know what's going 627 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,798 on here." Okay. All right. So class, 628 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,640 goals and aspirations, 629 00:23:08,798 --> 00:23:13,038 learn something about China. 20% of 630 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,400 humanity. This is a good aspiration. We 631 00:23:13,038 --> 00:23:16,158 should learn something about China, 632 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,159 right? Especially in the United States, 633 00:23:16,159 --> 00:23:19,919 right? I mean, it's credible. I have to 634 00:23:18,159 --> 00:23:21,919 say it. Okay. Learn something about 635 00:23:19,919 --> 00:23:24,559 history. Okay. So there's two things 636 00:23:21,919 --> 00:23:27,360 here. This is a class about China. It's 637 00:23:24,558 --> 00:23:29,519 also a class about history. Okay? Of 638 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,839 course, these things can overlap, right? 639 00:23:29,519 --> 00:23:34,480 But history is a discipline. It's a way 640 00:23:31,839 --> 00:23:37,279 of thinking. Okay? We have certain ideas 641 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:40,079 in history. primary sources. Secondary 642 00:23:37,279 --> 00:23:42,319 sources. Okay, this is a secondary 643 00:23:40,079 --> 00:23:44,240 source. This is a secondary source. 644 00:23:42,319 --> 00:23:46,639 These are not primary sources. Primary 645 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:49,200 sources referring to the original 646 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:52,000 sources that were written in the 647 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:54,960 original language by people at the time. 648 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:57,279 Okay? Those are the premiums in history. 649 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,600 Okay? But of course, we as historians, 650 00:23:57,279 --> 00:24:01,759 we write textbooks. We write books, 651 00:23:59,599 --> 00:24:04,879 right? So just realize history is not in 652 00:24:01,759 --> 00:24:07,599 a textbook. Okay? Textbooks are like the 653 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:10,159 least. We historians look down on 654 00:24:07,599 --> 00:24:12,079 textbooks, okay? We we don't like 655 00:24:10,159 --> 00:24:13,440 textbooks, right? Because with 656 00:24:12,079 --> 00:24:15,359 textbooks, you have to edit, you have to 657 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,519 take out, you have to do that. Go back 658 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:19,439 to the originals. Make your own 659 00:24:17,519 --> 00:24:22,000 textbook, right? That's what we're going 660 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,200 to do in this class. Okay? So, that's 661 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,440 that's what I want you to think about 662 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,120 history. I don't want to turn you into a 663 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,120 walk encyclopedia. Sort of I do 664 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:31,038 actually. Uh that would be nice, but to 665 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,879 equip you to approach related issues. 666 00:24:31,038 --> 00:24:34,319 One of the things I say, and I'll just 667 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,960 tell you right up here, yeah, it's a 668 00:24:34,319 --> 00:24:38,960 it's a contentheavy class, right? 669 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,880 Because I sort of I don't know if it's 670 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,038 oldfashioned or what, but like I think 671 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,799 you just need to know it, right? I think 672 00:24:43,038 --> 00:24:48,798 you need to know it. You need to leave 673 00:24:44,798 --> 00:24:50,639 this class in command of knowledge. 674 00:24:48,798 --> 00:24:51,839 Okay? And one of the things that you 675 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,440 will realize, you might think, oh, this 676 00:24:51,839 --> 00:24:55,038 is a lot. I, you know, why do we have to 677 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:59,278 know all this stuff? When you go to 678 00:24:55,038 --> 00:25:02,158 China, you will realize that people that 679 00:24:59,278 --> 00:25:05,919 you encounter in everyday life know so 680 00:25:02,159 --> 00:25:08,080 much about history. Okay? They blow they 681 00:25:05,919 --> 00:25:09,919 will blow away the average American 682 00:25:08,079 --> 00:25:11,599 about what they can say about history 683 00:25:09,919 --> 00:25:14,799 that happened 2,000 years ago. Even if 684 00:25:11,599 --> 00:25:16,319 it's wrong, even if it's wrong, okay? 685 00:25:14,798 --> 00:25:18,158 Even if it's just like kind of like 686 00:25:16,319 --> 00:25:20,158 romanticized or whatever, but they talk 687 00:25:18,159 --> 00:25:22,000 about it. They know it. So, you got to 688 00:25:20,159 --> 00:25:24,799 know it. Okay? That's the That's the 689 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,480 thing, okay? And it's not, and let me 690 00:25:24,798 --> 00:25:28,158 just emphasize here why you should take 691 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,319 it, why I think you should take this 692 00:25:28,159 --> 00:25:31,600 class, why I think maybe this weekend 693 00:25:30,319 --> 00:25:34,319 you should convince your friends to take 694 00:25:31,599 --> 00:25:36,719 this class, okay? Is that it's not 695 00:25:34,319 --> 00:25:39,678 something you can just pick up like with 696 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:42,798 a book. Like so many people think with 697 00:25:39,679 --> 00:25:45,278 history, oh yeah, I'll I'll over the 698 00:25:42,798 --> 00:25:47,359 summer I'll read a book and catch up. 699 00:25:45,278 --> 00:25:48,960 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You 700 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,639 don't. With computer science, with 701 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,038 physics, you don't just read a book over 702 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:54,640 the weekend and become an expert. Okay, 703 00:25:53,038 --> 00:25:56,558 Chinese history is one of those fields 704 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,240 where you got to take a class in it. You 705 00:25:56,558 --> 00:26:00,240 actually you got to drill it. You got to 706 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,919 know it. You got to think about it from 707 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,278 all these different angles and then you 708 00:26:01,919 --> 00:26:05,440 can say you know something about it. 709 00:26:03,278 --> 00:26:07,919 Okay, it's not actually something that 710 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,679 you just pick up with osmosis. Okay. Or 711 00:26:07,919 --> 00:26:10,960 what you can pick up by osmosis by 712 00:26:09,679 --> 00:26:12,798 reading Wikipedia and sort of bad 713 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,159 history, right? But that's what we're 714 00:26:12,798 --> 00:26:15,599 going to try. We're going to try to do 715 00:26:14,159 --> 00:26:17,679 something better than that in this 716 00:26:15,599 --> 00:26:19,199 class. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And this 717 00:26:17,679 --> 00:26:20,480 knowledge will stay with you. I always I 718 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:24,319 always say that. I always say that, 719 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:26,558 right? 50 years from now, let's say 30, 720 00:26:24,319 --> 00:26:28,079 you graduate from MIT, you're talking to 721 00:26:26,558 --> 00:26:29,519 your relatives or your children or 722 00:26:28,079 --> 00:26:31,278 whatever it is. What are you going to 723 00:26:29,519 --> 00:26:33,519 talk to them about? You're going to talk 724 00:26:31,278 --> 00:26:34,798 to them about this class. You're going 725 00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:36,639 to say, "Hey, you know, the three 726 00:26:34,798 --> 00:26:37,918 kingdoms, I know something about that 727 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,759 because this is the type of thing that 728 00:26:37,919 --> 00:26:41,600 people want to talk about, not whatever 729 00:26:39,759 --> 00:26:42,879 Python or whatever, right? Like, you 730 00:26:41,599 --> 00:26:44,879 know, it's like it's not it's not a 731 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:47,520 table of conversation, right? This is 732 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:49,520 this is I guarantee you I guarantee you 733 00:26:47,519 --> 00:26:53,278 a holiday break of great conversations 734 00:26:49,519 --> 00:26:55,278 after this class." a minimum. Okay. So, 735 00:26:53,278 --> 00:26:57,359 why do I like Chinese history? Oh, wow. 736 00:26:55,278 --> 00:26:59,200 Where to begin? Okay. Well, I went to 737 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,558 China for the first time in like right 738 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,558 around the right before the Beijing 739 00:27:00,558 --> 00:27:04,319 Olympics. And that was me many years 740 00:27:02,558 --> 00:27:06,639 ago. You can say I changed a little bit, 741 00:27:04,319 --> 00:27:08,480 maybe a little bit. That's me in Taiwan. 742 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,799 I think I'm in a Yonga Dawang, which is 743 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,480 like a breakfast place. And I love it. 744 00:27:10,798 --> 00:27:15,759 Right. I go like you get the you get the 745 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:18,159 dojang, the the the soy, it's soy beans, 746 00:27:15,759 --> 00:27:19,839 sort of a milk substance with yo, this 747 00:27:18,159 --> 00:27:21,600 fried doughnut. It's like heaven. You 748 00:27:19,839 --> 00:27:22,959 know what I mean? It costs like $2, 749 00:27:21,599 --> 00:27:26,240 right? And it's just like it's 750 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:28,480 incredible. Huge lines, right? Um, so 751 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,720 that was me. And then, okay, food. So, 752 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,798 it's not just about the food, but we but 753 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,038 we can talk about food. I don't think I 754 00:27:32,798 --> 00:27:36,720 have to convince most of you. China's 755 00:27:35,038 --> 00:27:38,720 got really good food, right? It's got a 756 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,720 ton of different types of food. Okay. 757 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,558 Uh, the US Chinese food has gotten 758 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,720 better in my lifetime, but it's still 759 00:27:42,558 --> 00:27:47,519 it's that's right. It's was starting at 760 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:49,919 zero. So I mean so so the thing is is 761 00:27:47,519 --> 00:27:51,839 that it is better but it good Chinese 762 00:27:49,919 --> 00:27:53,759 food in the US tends to be expensive in 763 00:27:51,839 --> 00:27:55,278 China you just get so much right you 764 00:27:53,759 --> 00:27:57,440 have so many options everything like 765 00:27:55,278 --> 00:27:58,798 that we can talk about food I have 766 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,320 another class called nature and 767 00:27:58,798 --> 00:28:02,319 environment in China we do a whole week 768 00:28:00,319 --> 00:28:04,240 on food so if you really want to talk 769 00:28:02,319 --> 00:28:06,480 about food maybe consider that class but 770 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,319 we'll do a little bit of food here okay 771 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,558 uh and then this is me playing ma jang 772 00:28:08,319 --> 00:28:13,200 right so what I'm trying to say what I'm 773 00:28:10,558 --> 00:28:15,119 trying to say is that you get in right 774 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,240 when you go to a place and Maybe it 775 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,000 won't be China for you. It could be 776 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:20,720 Japan or it could be Mongolia. It could 777 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:22,720 be Russia. It could be 778 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:25,759 Italy. You know, something's going to 779 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,839 grab you. It might not be the coliseum. 780 00:28:25,759 --> 00:28:29,919 It might be just like everyday life, you 781 00:28:27,839 --> 00:28:32,240 know, drinking espresso, you know, in a 782 00:28:29,919 --> 00:28:34,799 Florentine afternoon. And you go, I just 783 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:36,558 love this. I really love this. And then 784 00:28:34,798 --> 00:28:38,480 you go, I want to learn the language, 785 00:28:36,558 --> 00:28:40,079 and I I want to I want to understand 786 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,038 what happened here. And I want to 787 00:28:40,079 --> 00:28:42,240 understand what happened here in the 788 00:28:41,038 --> 00:28:44,558 19th century. I want to understand what 789 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,000 happened here 2,000 years ago. Okay, I 790 00:28:44,558 --> 00:28:48,000 want this to happen to you. It doesn't 791 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,599 have to be China. It can be, right? It 792 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,200 could be Mexico. It could be any place, 793 00:28:49,599 --> 00:28:52,639 but someplace that you weren't born in 794 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,080 and then you go there and you go, "Wow, 795 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,278 I really want to understand this place." 796 00:28:54,079 --> 00:28:57,119 That's a wonderful part of the human 797 00:28:55,278 --> 00:28:59,038 experience. I hope you all have it. 798 00:28:57,119 --> 00:29:01,278 Okay? But that kind of happened to me in 799 00:28:59,038 --> 00:29:03,759 China. Okay? And it wasn't one moment, 800 00:29:01,278 --> 00:29:06,640 right? It was many meals. It was many 801 00:29:03,759 --> 00:29:09,919 gambling sessions. It was it was it was 802 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:11,440 it was this is me on the many years ago 803 00:29:09,919 --> 00:29:13,038 probably going to Tibet. I can't 804 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,960 remember, but it was on one of those 805 00:29:13,038 --> 00:29:17,679 sleeper trains, you know, back in the 806 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,840 day. I have to say I have become like a 807 00:29:17,679 --> 00:29:22,480 middle-aged Chinese person in the sense 808 00:29:19,839 --> 00:29:24,079 of because I've been in China now for 809 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,640 the like the past 20 years and I've seen 810 00:29:24,079 --> 00:29:28,158 all this change. So, I remember like, 811 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,840 oh, the green trains that went super 812 00:29:28,159 --> 00:29:32,000 slow and like you had to stay on them 813 00:29:29,839 --> 00:29:33,759 for like overnight. Like the train I 814 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,119 took the train from Beijing to Shanghai. 815 00:29:33,759 --> 00:29:37,200 The first time I took it, it was like I 816 00:29:35,119 --> 00:29:39,359 was standing. It was I was eating 817 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,159 instant noodles praying that they 818 00:29:39,359 --> 00:29:44,240 wouldn't like tip over in a very crowded 819 00:29:42,159 --> 00:29:46,000 car because we didn't even have there 820 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:48,399 weren't even tickets left for a bed, 821 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,960 right? I mean, and now it's like, oh, 822 00:29:48,398 --> 00:29:52,558 it's it's business class highspeed rail 823 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,558 all the way, right? I mean, it takes 824 00:29:52,558 --> 00:29:56,398 four what five hours? Five hours, right? 825 00:29:54,558 --> 00:29:58,240 Five hours now, right? It's totally 826 00:29:56,398 --> 00:30:00,319 changed, right? But there were a lot of 827 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,319 fun experiences on Chinese trains back 828 00:30:00,319 --> 00:30:03,678 in the day. you talk to Chinese parents 829 00:30:02,319 --> 00:30:05,038 or you talk to people of a certain 830 00:30:03,679 --> 00:30:06,960 generation, they will have stories for 831 00:30:05,038 --> 00:30:09,278 you about taking long, long train rides 832 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,720 in China. Uh, and the whole generation 833 00:30:09,278 --> 00:30:12,798 who grew up in the culture revolution 834 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,399 have these especially. Yeah. Uh, and 835 00:30:12,798 --> 00:30:16,319 then I've gone back. Oh yeah, I wrote a 836 00:30:14,398 --> 00:30:18,158 book. I was there this summer talking 837 00:30:16,319 --> 00:30:21,038 about my book. Right. And then, oh yeah, 838 00:30:18,159 --> 00:30:23,200 the last thing I want to say. So, I got 839 00:30:21,038 --> 00:30:24,319 into it. I continue to go back. I can't 840 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,960 tell you the number of times I've been 841 00:30:24,319 --> 00:30:29,119 there. I probably live there, you know, 842 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,440 for a few years overall, but it's like 843 00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:33,599 more every year I go for a few months. 844 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,360 This summer I went for, you know, a 845 00:30:33,599 --> 00:30:37,519 month and a half or something like that. 846 00:30:35,359 --> 00:30:40,398 The one thing that I say that really 847 00:30:37,519 --> 00:30:42,000 really has struck me in terms of changes 848 00:30:40,398 --> 00:30:44,639 when I first went to China, hey, how you 849 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,960 doing? When I first went to China, you 850 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,720 know, the coffee was terrible. Uh, and 851 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,640 it and for somebody addicted to 852 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,360 caffeine, 853 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:55,840 uh, it was brutal. And I had to drink a 854 00:30:53,359 --> 00:30:57,439 ton of tea to make up for it, right? And 855 00:30:55,839 --> 00:30:59,599 it's just like too much tea. You know 856 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,600 what I'm saying? Uh, but I love tea, 857 00:30:59,599 --> 00:31:04,079 don't get me wrong. Coffee is now way 858 00:31:01,599 --> 00:31:06,319 better. Okay, coffee I and I actually 859 00:31:04,079 --> 00:31:08,079 tweeted about this like when I got back. 860 00:31:06,319 --> 00:31:09,839 Coffee in China is now better than 861 00:31:08,079 --> 00:31:11,519 coffee in the United States. I come back 862 00:31:09,839 --> 00:31:14,398 here and I'm like, this I'm just so 863 00:31:11,519 --> 00:31:16,480 disappointed. The thing is is that what 864 00:31:14,398 --> 00:31:18,239 China has actually accidentally 865 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,519 perfected and I say is in you can also 866 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:23,038 find this in Thailand. You also find 867 00:31:19,519 --> 00:31:25,599 this now in Korean cafes is nondairy 868 00:31:23,038 --> 00:31:27,839 espresso drinks. And it's just it it's a 869 00:31:25,599 --> 00:31:29,678 world that like Starbucks is just out to 870 00:31:27,839 --> 00:31:32,558 lunch. They're not getting this. You 871 00:31:29,679 --> 00:31:35,679 take espresso, you create an Americano 872 00:31:32,558 --> 00:31:39,599 with sparkling water and you add lemon. 873 00:31:35,679 --> 00:31:41,759 Incredible. Grapefruit. Incredible. Liy, 874 00:31:39,599 --> 00:31:44,480 whatever. like all of these they call 875 00:31:41,759 --> 00:31:47,919 Chongi Cafe, right? trying me cafe like 876 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:49,839 creative Americanos and I and I say like 877 00:31:47,919 --> 00:31:51,679 why don't you take this global you know 878 00:31:49,839 --> 00:31:54,158 this is this is the next thing I mean 879 00:31:51,679 --> 00:31:55,919 this is the next bubble tea for sure but 880 00:31:54,159 --> 00:31:57,679 it's like I I think that there's an 881 00:31:55,919 --> 00:31:59,440 interesting thing of like they feel like 882 00:31:57,679 --> 00:32:01,759 oh but maybe it's we're not doing it 883 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:04,399 right like the Italians enough with the 884 00:32:01,759 --> 00:32:06,558 Italians enough with the cappuccinos we 885 00:32:04,398 --> 00:32:09,439 got to go to the next phase it's all 886 00:32:06,558 --> 00:32:12,000 these milky drinks it tires you out 887 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:15,679 right this is like the absolute pickup 888 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:17,278 low calorie too. Love it. So, check out 889 00:32:15,679 --> 00:32:18,640 coffee in China next time you're there. 890 00:32:17,278 --> 00:32:19,919 Okay, that's been an interesting change. 891 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,440 All right, let's talk about syllabus. 892 00:32:19,919 --> 00:32:23,120 All right, so I just have like a bunch 893 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,440 of I usually I used to do a printout 894 00:32:23,119 --> 00:32:28,239 syllabus, but then MIT students told me 895 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:30,159 that like nobody does that anymore. So, 896 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:33,038 then I felt like a historian, but in a 897 00:32:30,159 --> 00:32:35,440 bad way. So, I said like, okay, let's 898 00:32:33,038 --> 00:32:37,440 just put it all online, right? So, uh no 899 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,000 prerequisites. You're all welcome to 900 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,278 enroll. You can bring guests. Just let 901 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,640 me know. You can bring your parents. 902 00:32:41,278 --> 00:32:43,919 Some people bring their parents, right? 903 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,038 If they're visiting, right? They want 904 00:32:43,919 --> 00:32:46,960 to, you know, again, what are you going 905 00:32:45,038 --> 00:32:48,158 to bring your computer science classes? 906 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,759 Come on. Right? You want to bring them 907 00:32:48,159 --> 00:32:51,840 here, right? Okay, that's fine. Just let 908 00:32:49,759 --> 00:32:53,679 me know that they're coming. Okay? Uh 909 00:32:51,839 --> 00:32:55,759 it's Chinese. Chinese is not a 910 00:32:53,679 --> 00:32:58,720 prerequisite. Some of you are doing a 911 00:32:55,759 --> 00:33:00,480 Chinese minor. Okay? That's fine. And 912 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,640 for all of the primary sources that I 913 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,480 give you this semester, I'll try to give 914 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,720 you the Chinese original if you want to 915 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:08,480 look at it. If you're learning Chinese, 916 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:10,480 take challenge yourself. Take a look at 917 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,640 it. Right? You don't have to look at it, 918 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,240 but you can. So that's an option. If you 919 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:18,720 want to do the minor for this class, you 920 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:20,960 should be looking at those. Okay. Um, so 921 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:23,600 that looks good. Study guides. Okay. So 922 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:25,600 the thing is is that when I first taught 923 00:33:23,599 --> 00:33:27,678 this class, it was like essays and then 924 00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:30,158 I was like, I'm done with essays. I had 925 00:33:27,679 --> 00:33:31,840 a I had a historical evolution at MIT 926 00:33:30,159 --> 00:33:33,360 and I realized if you teach the class on 927 00:33:31,839 --> 00:33:35,038 Chinese history, you got to offer an 928 00:33:33,359 --> 00:33:36,479 exam. For those of you who know about 929 00:33:35,038 --> 00:33:38,158 Chinese history, you know how important 930 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,558 exams are in Chinese history. you'll 931 00:33:38,159 --> 00:33:42,480 realize, yeah, you you need an exam. So, 932 00:33:40,558 --> 00:33:44,720 I just do midterm. We're going to have a 933 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:47,200 final. Don't worry. The average of the 934 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:49,759 midterm last year, it about every year 935 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:51,840 tends to be about a 90. Most of the 936 00:33:49,759 --> 00:33:53,679 students who take the class, let's just 937 00:33:51,839 --> 00:33:56,480 be frank here, modern China, we get 40 938 00:33:53,679 --> 00:33:59,200 or 50 maybe. Mo many many people get 939 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:02,240 A's, A minuses, A pluses, whatever. Uh 940 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:05,120 some people will get B's, the occasional 941 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:08,960 C. If you get below a B, you're trying. 942 00:34:05,119 --> 00:34:11,358 Okay. uh you if you get in the B range 943 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:13,599 uh it's it's you know what I mean to say 944 00:34:11,358 --> 00:34:15,838 here is if you put the work in you put 945 00:34:13,599 --> 00:34:18,240 the effort in there shouldn't be a huge 946 00:34:15,838 --> 00:34:21,199 issue okay with getting the grade that 947 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,799 you want okay uh it is a challenge you 948 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:24,319 do have to study all right you do have 949 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,079 to study and some people will bomb the 950 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,919 midterm some people and everything like 951 00:34:26,079 --> 00:34:29,039 that and that's that's okay it's not the 952 00:34:27,918 --> 00:34:30,799 end of the world we'll figure it out 953 00:34:29,039 --> 00:34:32,239 I'll show you the group here's the 954 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:35,039 grading rubric we'll talk about this 955 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,158 okay so first things attendance let's 956 00:34:35,039 --> 00:34:38,079 say let to say something about 957 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:40,398 attendance right up at the front. There 958 00:34:38,079 --> 00:34:42,079 are two excused absences over the course 959 00:34:40,398 --> 00:34:44,239 of the semester. You come in, you scan 960 00:34:42,079 --> 00:34:46,480 the QR code. That's how we know that 961 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:48,479 you're in class. Okay? You have two 962 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,960 excused absences. Just let us know. 963 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:53,679 Okay? I realize some of you want to take 964 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:55,918 this class and you have a conflict with 965 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:57,599 another class. That's a partial 966 00:34:55,918 --> 00:34:59,679 conflict. Not a complete conflict, but a 967 00:34:57,599 --> 00:35:02,880 partial conflict. If you have a partial 968 00:34:59,679 --> 00:35:06,159 conflict and you can come to 50% of 969 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:08,320 these classes, then the Linda, the TA 970 00:35:06,159 --> 00:35:10,480 and I will make an an arrangement for 971 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,320 you. You can come. We will not take you 972 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,760 down if you have a class conflict that 973 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,920 you show us your schedule and you show 974 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,040 us I have this conflict at this time and 975 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,079 we'll give you two extra writing 976 00:35:17,039 --> 00:35:20,000 assignments over the course of the 977 00:35:18,079 --> 00:35:21,839 semester. And that way we just take the 978 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:24,159 question off the off the table. So you 979 00:35:21,838 --> 00:35:25,759 can but if you want that arrangement, 980 00:35:24,159 --> 00:35:27,598 you got to let us know in the next week 981 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,079 or so, okay? Because we need to know 982 00:35:27,599 --> 00:35:32,160 that. All right. So, we're happy if to 983 00:35:30,079 --> 00:35:33,920 accommodate, but otherwise we're really 984 00:35:32,159 --> 00:35:37,199 hoping everybody will be here, you know, 985 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:39,599 most of the time. Okay. Um, so there's 986 00:35:37,199 --> 00:35:41,118 so in terms of writing, the major 987 00:35:39,599 --> 00:35:42,720 writing that you will do over the course 988 00:35:41,119 --> 00:35:44,320 of the semester is your discussion 989 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:46,239 responses. I'll tell you about what I 990 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:48,400 expect from those discussion responses 991 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:51,519 in just a second. There are 10 of them. 992 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,519 Each of them is worth two points. If you 993 00:35:51,519 --> 00:35:55,039 do a decent job on them that you get the 994 00:35:53,519 --> 00:35:57,039 two points, right? That's as simple as 995 00:35:55,039 --> 00:35:58,960 that. You can do it late. It's worth one 996 00:35:57,039 --> 00:36:01,199 point if it's late. Okay, that's just 997 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:03,440 it's just we every time like in every 998 00:36:01,199 --> 00:36:05,598 semester somebody comes and says I'm I'm 999 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,358 didn't do any of them. I didn't know 1000 00:36:05,599 --> 00:36:09,119 that, you know, they were required or 1001 00:36:07,358 --> 00:36:10,960 something like that. Okay, just letting 1002 00:36:09,119 --> 00:36:12,720 you know we will accept it late. That's 1003 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:15,280 what it's worth if it's late. Okay, 1004 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:17,439 there's a geography quiz. All of the 1005 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:20,160 quizzes and the tests with the exception 1006 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:24,000 of the final, okay, there will be a 1007 00:36:20,159 --> 00:36:25,679 retake and it's open to everybody. Okay. 1008 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,519 So, what that means is you come in, you 1009 00:36:25,679 --> 00:36:29,440 do the geography quiz. If it didn't go 1010 00:36:27,519 --> 00:36:31,358 well, you can take it again and I'll 1011 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,880 just take the highest score. If you 1012 00:36:31,358 --> 00:36:34,480 can't make it the day of the geography 1013 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,838 quiz because you have to take an absence 1014 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,280 or you have one of those conflicts that 1015 00:36:35,838 --> 00:36:40,639 I just mentioned, that's fine. There 1016 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:42,560 will be one retake. Okay? Same with the 1017 00:36:40,639 --> 00:36:44,799 classical text quiz, right? Where I quiz 1018 00:36:42,559 --> 00:36:47,358 you on with Confucious and the Dowist 1019 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:49,680 and all that. One retake offered 1020 00:36:47,358 --> 00:36:51,119 midterm. We do one retake offer for the 1021 00:36:49,679 --> 00:36:53,358 midterm, too. Okay? And it's like a 1022 00:36:51,119 --> 00:36:55,920 totally it's a new exam. Some people 1023 00:36:53,358 --> 00:36:57,838 like literally take everything twice 1024 00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:59,838 because they just like the challenge. 1025 00:36:57,838 --> 00:37:02,078 I've had that. MIT students are 1026 00:36:59,838 --> 00:37:04,400 incredible. Okay. It's like you took 1027 00:37:02,079 --> 00:37:07,519 this midterm, you got a 95. I want to 1028 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:09,440 take it again. All right. We're going 1029 00:37:07,519 --> 00:37:12,000 for that five points, right? I get I got 1030 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:14,880 it. Okay. All right. Uh so there is a 1031 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:17,838 timeline uh project. It's not It's not 1032 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:19,680 bad. You just propose a topic. This is 1033 00:37:17,838 --> 00:37:21,279 where you can kind of follow your own 1034 00:37:19,679 --> 00:37:23,358 interests. If you want to do the history 1035 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:25,359 of a certain type of fashion in China, 1036 00:37:23,358 --> 00:37:27,199 Chinese certain type of Chinese food, 1037 00:37:25,358 --> 00:37:29,039 you can follow that over time. You just 1038 00:37:27,199 --> 00:37:30,559 create a timeline. I give you all the 1039 00:37:29,039 --> 00:37:32,480 sort of way. How do you create the 1040 00:37:30,559 --> 00:37:33,920 timeline? That's it's not bad. And the 1041 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,679 final exam and then that's the final 1042 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,920 grade. One thing that we do, and I just 1043 00:37:35,679 --> 00:37:39,598 want to say we're really uh excited this 1044 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:41,838 semester, we have a TA from the HAS 1045 00:37:39,599 --> 00:37:44,559 program, Linda Rinsswan, uh who's 1046 00:37:41,838 --> 00:37:47,119 wonderful to join us. Anthrop anth 1047 00:37:44,559 --> 00:37:49,599 historian his history a historian of 1048 00:37:47,119 --> 00:37:51,680 nuclear energy. So really really excited 1049 00:37:49,599 --> 00:37:54,000 to have Linda and Linda does had does 1050 00:37:51,679 --> 00:37:56,000 does know Chinese history fairly well. 1051 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,920 So definitely co correspond with me, 1052 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,159 correspond with Linda during the 1053 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:03,280 semester as as I try to do in all my 1054 00:38:00,159 --> 00:38:06,399 classes. We'll do one sort of it's like 1055 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:08,880 a required office hour mid semester. So 1056 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:10,720 you come to my office, Linda and I will 1057 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,559 greet you and we talk for 10 minutes 1058 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:15,279 about whatever you want to talk about 1059 00:38:12,559 --> 00:38:16,880 typically about what what confuses you 1060 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,880 in Chinese history or questions about 1061 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:21,280 the midterm or questions about whatever. 1062 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:23,200 Right? So everybody does that and that's 1063 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:25,440 also part of the grade. Okay? So you you 1064 00:38:23,199 --> 00:38:27,279 you do have to do that once you're happy 1065 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:29,358 to answer questions at any time. Okay? 1066 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:32,240 But that's that's uh that's what we do 1067 00:38:29,358 --> 00:38:33,759 expect. Okay. All right. So let me just 1068 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,078 say something final point about the 1069 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:40,400 discussion posts. Okay. So, discussion 1070 00:38:36,079 --> 00:38:43,280 posts. Um, yes, I'll do I I've changed 1071 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:46,639 this. I'll do Wednesday. I'll give it to 1072 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:48,880 you Wednesday before 3:30. I'll give you 1073 00:38:46,639 --> 00:38:50,879 a little bit extra time than Tuesday. 1074 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:53,519 So, get them in before that time, the 1075 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:55,920 Wednesday class. Okay? Basically, what 1076 00:38:53,519 --> 00:38:58,880 you have to do is you have to look at 1077 00:38:55,920 --> 00:39:00,320 the readings uh and you have to answer a 1078 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:02,640 question. I'll give you an example uh 1079 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:05,838 for next week's discussion post just a 1080 00:39:02,639 --> 00:39:09,199 second. You write two paragraphs. Okay? 1081 00:39:05,838 --> 00:39:11,039 Uh and the the the two paragraphs, 1082 00:39:09,199 --> 00:39:12,639 right? I'll tell you exactly how we want 1083 00:39:11,039 --> 00:39:15,199 the structure of these paragraphs to 1084 00:39:12,639 --> 00:39:17,118 look like. You have some agency and 1085 00:39:15,199 --> 00:39:18,319 creativity in it. Don't worry. But I'll 1086 00:39:17,119 --> 00:39:21,200 tell you about what we're looking for. 1087 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:24,800 Okay. Um so the thing I want to just 1088 00:39:21,199 --> 00:39:27,118 remind you all the facts, inferences, 1089 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:29,440 uh judgments and opinions, right? How 1090 00:39:27,119 --> 00:39:31,680 you sort of separate out those things, 1091 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:34,079 right? facts, things that we know to be 1092 00:39:31,679 --> 00:39:35,838 true based on evidence. Bees make honey. 1093 00:39:34,079 --> 00:39:37,760 Inferences, statements of the unknown, 1094 00:39:35,838 --> 00:39:39,519 based on the known, derived from reason, 1095 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,520 right? Judgments, and then all the way 1096 00:39:39,519 --> 00:39:44,960 to opinions, like I like whatever ice 1097 00:39:41,519 --> 00:39:47,679 cream. Okay? When you write a post, I 1098 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:50,079 don't want just opinion, right? I hate 1099 00:39:47,679 --> 00:39:52,879 Confucious, so congratulations. Okay? 1100 00:39:50,079 --> 00:39:54,960 But that's not a post. Okay? I I we want 1101 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:57,200 a combo, right? You can give me the 1102 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:59,679 opinion at the end in the second 1103 00:39:57,199 --> 00:40:02,480 paragraph. The first paragraph, we want 1104 00:39:59,679 --> 00:40:04,799 you to focus on facts and inferences 1105 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,559 based on the primary sources of that 1106 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:09,119 week's reading. So you look at the 1107 00:40:06,559 --> 00:40:11,119 question, you try to answer based on the 1108 00:40:09,119 --> 00:40:13,920 primary sources, and then in the second 1109 00:40:11,119 --> 00:40:16,079 paragraph, you can expand into judgments 1110 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:18,480 and opinion. Okay? So that way you know 1111 00:40:16,079 --> 00:40:21,039 what we expect. You know how to do it. 1112 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:23,280 All right? So laid it out, I think 1113 00:40:21,039 --> 00:40:24,480 really just clearly and nicely for you 1114 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,040 there. Let's take a look at what we're 1115 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,480 doing next week. I have to tell you this 1116 00:40:27,039 --> 00:40:31,199 is just give you an example for next 1117 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:33,119 week. So next week on Monday you come in 1118 00:40:31,199 --> 00:40:36,239 I'm going to like rush you through the 1119 00:40:33,119 --> 00:40:39,200 rise of agriculture the origins of state 1120 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:41,039 formation in China and we end up on next 1121 00:40:39,199 --> 00:40:43,199 Monday with I think one of my favorite 1122 00:40:41,039 --> 00:40:45,519 lectures of the whole semester the rise 1123 00:40:43,199 --> 00:40:47,838 of writing in China and writing is super 1124 00:40:45,519 --> 00:40:50,239 fascinating is it's a technology and 1125 00:40:47,838 --> 00:40:52,960 China was a very early place to have it 1126 00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:54,879 so what is writing what counts as 1127 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:57,199 writing right one of the questions I 1128 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:58,960 think we have are emojis writing right 1129 00:40:57,199 --> 00:41:00,960 what counts as it you can answer that 1130 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,559 question if you'd like next week. Right? 1131 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:05,599 So, this is what we're kind of doing, 1132 00:41:02,559 --> 00:41:07,838 right? So, you look at it, you'll notice 1133 00:41:05,599 --> 00:41:08,960 up here every week, you'll see, wow, it 1134 00:41:07,838 --> 00:41:11,358 looks like there's a lot of reading. 1135 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:13,599 There's not that much reading. You just 1136 00:41:11,358 --> 00:41:15,759 have to break it down. The primary 1137 00:41:13,599 --> 00:41:18,720 sources are what you really need to 1138 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:21,520 focus on. That is the original, right? 1139 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:24,078 Translation of oracle bone inscriptions, 1140 00:41:21,519 --> 00:41:25,679 something like that. Translations of Joe 1141 00:41:24,079 --> 00:41:27,039 Bronzes, right? You'll see those are 1142 00:41:25,679 --> 00:41:30,639 primary sources. That's what you focus 1143 00:41:27,039 --> 00:41:34,318 on. But if you're like, I don't really 1144 00:41:30,639 --> 00:41:36,078 understand what this is, then you go to 1145 00:41:34,318 --> 00:41:38,079 secondary source, which for the 1146 00:41:36,079 --> 00:41:40,000 beginning part of this class will be 1147 00:41:38,079 --> 00:41:41,440 Leong's Early China. Very nice book. 1148 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,440 I've given you sort of selections from 1149 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:47,039 it. I've uploaded them. Right. This is 1150 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:49,200 like a pretty like sophisticated book of 1151 00:41:47,039 --> 00:41:51,279 early Chinese history, right? It's it's 1152 00:41:49,199 --> 00:41:53,358 like really good. It's it's fairly 1153 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:56,240 comprehensive. Yeah. And then if you're 1154 00:41:53,358 --> 00:41:59,119 like, I took a look at this and I still 1155 00:41:56,239 --> 00:42:02,479 don't know what's going on. We have the 1156 00:41:59,119 --> 00:42:05,358 textbook big picture. Okay, so this is 1157 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:09,039 the optional textbook. Okay, I provide 1158 00:42:05,358 --> 00:42:11,519 you with three different ways to break 1159 00:42:09,039 --> 00:42:14,639 down sort of an era's writing or an 1160 00:42:11,519 --> 00:42:17,838 era's sources. The primary sources, 1161 00:42:14,639 --> 00:42:19,920 secondary sources, and a textbook. The 1162 00:42:17,838 --> 00:42:22,639 secondary sources in the textbook are 1163 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:24,318 optional for you. Okay? If you want to 1164 00:42:22,639 --> 00:42:26,000 read it, you can read it. If you feel 1165 00:42:24,318 --> 00:42:27,599 you need it, some some errors you might 1166 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,760 feel, I know three kingdoms, I don't 1167 00:42:27,599 --> 00:42:30,800 need it. Right? I know Tong Dynasty, I 1168 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,640 don't need it this week. I'll just do 1169 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:34,240 primary. But some errors you might be 1170 00:42:32,639 --> 00:42:36,480 like, oh, you know, North South 1171 00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:38,399 Division, I want to read the textbook. 1172 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,240 Right? So, it's there if you need it. 1173 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:43,838 Right? So, it's not as much as it looks. 1174 00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:45,838 Okay? And I got the uh dynasty China 1175 00:42:43,838 --> 00:42:47,599 geography quiz study guide. I put up all 1176 00:42:45,838 --> 00:42:49,838 the study guides. Don't worry. Okay. 1177 00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:52,960 Questions? 1178 00:42:49,838 --> 00:42:55,920 How's it sound? 1179 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:57,280 Interesting. Yeah. How do you compare to 1180 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:59,039 your other classes? Yeah. Pretty good, 1181 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,720 right? Yeah. Like, let me know. Let me 1182 00:42:59,039 --> 00:43:04,079 know. You know what I mean? You know, 1183 00:43:00,719 --> 00:43:06,959 like, all right. So, 1184 00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:09,839 let's talk about how we talk about 1185 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:12,079 Chinese history. Periodization. 1186 00:43:09,838 --> 00:43:15,199 All right. There are ways. This is just 1187 00:43:12,079 --> 00:43:17,599 getting you into like foot in the door. 1188 00:43:15,199 --> 00:43:20,239 Foot in the door. Remember that long 1189 00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:22,240 sort of like list, that chronology I 1190 00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:25,759 gave you of all those reigns, dynasties, 1191 00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:30,239 whatever. Here's how we break it down. 1192 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:32,240 First, preodern China. Preodern China. 1193 00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:35,199 This is like it's a loaded word. When 1194 00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:38,159 does modernity begin? It's like it's 1195 00:43:35,199 --> 00:43:40,078 kind of a useless phrase, okay? Because 1196 00:43:38,159 --> 00:43:41,838 like 50 years from now, it's like 1197 00:43:40,079 --> 00:43:44,079 they'll be like, "Was the 20th century 1198 00:43:41,838 --> 00:43:46,960 modern? It looks pretty old to us, 1199 00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:49,519 right?" But for the sake of 1200 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:52,480 conversation, for the sake of dialogue, 1201 00:43:49,519 --> 00:43:55,440 you should know that in China officially 1202 00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:57,519 in Chinese textbooks in China today, 1203 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:59,679 modernity begins with a very actually 1204 00:43:57,519 --> 00:44:03,039 western centric notion of the opium 1205 00:43:59,679 --> 00:44:05,759 wars. Okay? Middle of the 19th century. 1206 00:44:03,039 --> 00:44:09,199 Okay. Basically, so you have like modern 1207 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:11,680 history, preodern history 1208 00:44:09,199 --> 00:44:16,480 coming back. 1209 00:44:11,679 --> 00:44:19,679 Ah, good. Thank you. Okay. I said to the 1210 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:21,920 computer, thank you. Okay. So, so, so 1211 00:44:19,679 --> 00:44:25,039 preodern. Sometimes we could also say 1212 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:27,519 traditional. Okay. Uh, so this is just 1213 00:44:25,039 --> 00:44:29,199 like I'm not endorsing these terms. I'm 1214 00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:32,239 just letting you know these are the 1215 00:44:29,199 --> 00:44:35,519 terms you may encounter. Okay. Uh, so 1216 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:38,000 when we say imperial China, imperial 1217 00:44:35,519 --> 00:44:40,400 China, that has a very very fixed 1218 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:42,880 beginning and end date. That is not like 1219 00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:46,559 open to interpretation. Imperial China 1220 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:48,800 begins in 221 B.CEE or or or BC, 1221 00:44:46,559 --> 00:44:51,119 whatever have you. Okay, it begins when 1222 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:52,960 Chin Shaong proclaims himself to be the 1223 00:44:51,119 --> 00:44:56,880 first emperor. He was the first person 1224 00:44:52,960 --> 00:45:00,639 to do it. Realize writing was invented 1225 00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:03,519 in China approximately in 1200 BC. 1226 00:45:00,639 --> 00:45:05,838 China's got a thousand years of recorded 1227 00:45:03,519 --> 00:45:08,159 history before there were any emperors. 1228 00:45:05,838 --> 00:45:10,078 Before there were any. So this is the 1229 00:45:08,159 --> 00:45:12,159 amazing thing about thinking about scale 1230 00:45:10,079 --> 00:45:15,200 in terms of Chinese history. When when 1231 00:45:12,159 --> 00:45:17,519 Confucious was alive, he was already 1232 00:45:15,199 --> 00:45:19,838 thinking about the deep past in 1233 00:45:17,519 --> 00:45:21,119 antiquity. We think of Confucious and we 1234 00:45:19,838 --> 00:45:22,719 go, "Wow, that guy lived a long time 1235 00:45:21,119 --> 00:45:25,599 ago." He was thinking of other people 1236 00:45:22,719 --> 00:45:28,078 thinking living a long time ago, 600 1237 00:45:25,599 --> 00:45:29,519 years ago, right? So this is just 1238 00:45:28,079 --> 00:45:31,280 imperial China begins with the 1239 00:45:29,519 --> 00:45:34,480 proclamation of the first emperor, which 1240 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:37,519 was a new form of sort of royal 1241 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:39,838 kingship. you know that sort of like 1242 00:45:37,519 --> 00:45:43,599 superseded everything that came before 1243 00:45:39,838 --> 00:45:47,039 it. That imperial system remains 1244 00:45:43,599 --> 00:45:51,680 basically the primary form of governance 1245 00:45:47,039 --> 00:45:53,519 in China until 1912. Well, this is 1246 00:45:51,679 --> 00:45:56,318 another thing of like when does it end? 1247 00:45:53,519 --> 00:45:57,679 1911. The Shinhai Revolution, many of 1248 00:45:56,318 --> 00:46:00,639 you been familiar with it, might have 1249 00:45:57,679 --> 00:46:04,159 heard of it, broke out in 1911. The 1250 00:46:00,639 --> 00:46:06,078 emperor abdicated in early 1912. So, as 1251 00:46:04,159 --> 00:46:08,799 a historian of late imperial China, I 1252 00:46:06,079 --> 00:46:11,119 insist on 1912. Okay? But you will 1253 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:12,160 sometimes see 1911. It's not okay. What 1254 00:46:11,119 --> 00:46:14,240 are we talking? We're talking about a 1255 00:46:12,159 --> 00:46:18,078 couple months here. Okay? It's I won't 1256 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:20,239 mock you down if you say 1911. Okay? Uh 1257 00:46:18,079 --> 00:46:21,519 it's it's when China had an emperor. 1258 00:46:20,239 --> 00:46:24,239 Okay? That's what we're talking about. 1259 00:46:21,519 --> 00:46:27,199 All right? We also sort of have a few 1260 00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:29,679 periods periodizations that we can say. 1261 00:46:27,199 --> 00:46:31,838 Now, think about sort of like history 1262 00:46:29,679 --> 00:46:34,318 that you might have encountered in AP 1263 00:46:31,838 --> 00:46:36,318 world. I haven't taken AP World in like 1264 00:46:34,318 --> 00:46:38,800 a million years. So I don't know like 1265 00:46:36,318 --> 00:46:39,838 and I heard now it's starting like 1500. 1266 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:40,640 Is that right? 1267 00:46:39,838 --> 00:46:43,199 >> 1300. 1268 00:46:40,639 --> 00:46:45,920 >> 1300. Still way way too late. What a 1269 00:46:43,199 --> 00:46:47,759 tragedy. Okay. But it's a it's it's it's 1270 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,280 it whatever it is. So you basically 1271 00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:53,440 start in like the late medieval period 1272 00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:56,240 or medieval. Okay. We have early China. 1273 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:58,639 Okay. This is again really good book on 1274 00:46:56,239 --> 00:47:00,719 early China. What is early China? Early 1275 00:46:58,639 --> 00:47:02,400 China basically means the origin of 1276 00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:06,559 whatever we can talk about when it 1277 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:12,079 happened to basically 1278 00:47:06,559 --> 00:47:15,440 the end of the Han dynasty about 200 1279 00:47:12,079 --> 00:47:18,640 common era 200 AD okay approximately 1280 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:21,519 like that okay appro roughly then we 1281 00:47:18,639 --> 00:47:23,440 enter we can talk about another era 1282 00:47:21,519 --> 00:47:25,199 called the middle period or medieval 1283 00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:27,280 China and that's from that end of the 1284 00:47:25,199 --> 00:47:28,639 Han that's a a great way I know 1285 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:30,079 everybody will here. Well, this is a 1286 00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:32,639 better way to think about it. The three 1287 00:47:30,079 --> 00:47:34,960 kingdoms period, right? Okay. The three 1288 00:47:32,639 --> 00:47:36,639 kingdoms period is like the end of early 1289 00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:39,039 China. You can think about we're 1290 00:47:36,639 --> 00:47:40,960 entering a new era at that point. Okay. 1291 00:47:39,039 --> 00:47:43,279 So, you can say that's approximately 1292 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:45,039 medieval China, which you go when does 1293 00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:46,960 quote unquote medieval or middle period 1294 00:47:45,039 --> 00:47:48,880 China end? 1295 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,159 I mean, you some people say, do you put 1296 00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:52,000 it before the Mongols? Do you put it 1297 00:47:50,159 --> 00:47:54,879 after the Mongols? Is it about a 1298 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:58,639 thousand? Okay. I'm just doing really 1299 00:47:54,880 --> 00:48:00,160 really traditional rain dates here. I 1300 00:47:58,639 --> 00:48:02,960 founding of the Ming dynasty. You don't 1301 00:48:00,159 --> 00:48:05,279 have to it's approximate. Okay. And then 1302 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:07,599 the last two dynasties are something 1303 00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:09,599 like late imperial China. Sometimes 1304 00:48:07,599 --> 00:48:11,838 you'll also hear this like early modern 1305 00:48:09,599 --> 00:48:13,760 China. It all depends on what type of 1306 00:48:11,838 --> 00:48:16,000 historian you're talking to. If you're 1307 00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:17,839 talking to a European historian, you 1308 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:20,559 might say early modern because that's 1309 00:48:17,838 --> 00:48:22,558 how they talk. Okay. Late imperial China 1310 00:48:20,559 --> 00:48:25,358 is how like if we if the Chinese 1311 00:48:22,559 --> 00:48:27,680 historians are together in in a in a in 1312 00:48:25,358 --> 00:48:28,880 a bus that's how we go oh late imperial 1313 00:48:27,679 --> 00:48:31,598 right because we all know what that 1314 00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:33,200 means okay so either one is fine okay 1315 00:48:31,599 --> 00:48:35,680 but just realize this is how you break 1316 00:48:33,199 --> 00:48:38,639 it down this very long periods yeah of 1317 00:48:35,679 --> 00:48:43,199 history all right usually 1318 00:48:38,639 --> 00:48:45,838 should we look at this I don't know 1319 00:48:43,199 --> 00:48:48,799 the computer answered the question well 1320 00:48:45,838 --> 00:48:51,199 uh I always I mean let's let's just well 1321 00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:54,160 take a peek Okay. This is like this 1322 00:48:51,199 --> 00:48:58,159 really like Let's see. Is it going to 1323 00:48:54,159 --> 00:49:00,399 go? Okay. H this like very forboding 1324 00:48:58,159 --> 00:49:02,078 music. Oh, no. It then it then it just 1325 00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:04,160 like it just All right. Let me try one 1326 00:49:02,079 --> 00:49:06,000 more time. Let me try one more time. 1327 00:49:04,159 --> 00:49:08,960 Okay. If it goes This is like a kind of 1328 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:12,480 fun sort of like 1329 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:14,800 It's going to go. 1330 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:16,719 Okay. I'm losing patience with it. Okay. 1331 00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,960 Let's So basically that was a sort of 1332 00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:22,159 like it's like a looking at the borders 1333 00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:23,280 of Chinese uh reigns over time, right? I 1334 00:49:22,159 --> 00:49:26,558 can show it to you. I'll put a link 1335 00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:29,599 online. Okay. So we're going to get now 1336 00:49:26,559 --> 00:49:31,359 maybe for the last half hour of class. 1337 00:49:29,599 --> 00:49:33,920 I'm going to talk about sort of like a 1338 00:49:31,358 --> 00:49:35,440 few more like big questions, big ways to 1339 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:37,358 think about Chinese history. And then 1340 00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:40,318 we'll do a tour of China, which is like 1341 00:49:37,358 --> 00:49:42,880 always again really fun. Uh so let's 1342 00:49:40,318 --> 00:49:45,119 talk about a Chinese history hack. North 1343 00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:46,640 and south, east and west, right? Okay, 1344 00:49:45,119 --> 00:49:50,559 these are just cardinal directions, 1345 00:49:46,639 --> 00:49:53,519 right? So, we have a western Joe and we 1346 00:49:50,559 --> 00:49:57,440 have an eastern Joe, right? We have a 1347 00:49:53,519 --> 00:49:59,280 western Han and we have an eastern Han. 1348 00:49:57,440 --> 00:50:02,639 That basically means in the early period 1349 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:05,440 of China, in early China, basically we 1350 00:50:02,639 --> 00:50:09,199 have Western capitals and eastern 1351 00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:12,400 capitals. Okay. Yeah. As time goes on, 1352 00:50:09,199 --> 00:50:15,358 this changes. This shifts. Okay. the 1353 00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:17,680 Tong dynasty in middle in medieval China 1354 00:50:15,358 --> 00:50:20,000 7th century 8th century 9th century 1355 00:50:17,679 --> 00:50:22,318 approximately around here there's a 1356 00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:24,559 still a western capital and still an 1357 00:50:22,318 --> 00:50:27,920 eastern capital of Chongan Xian and 1358 00:50:24,559 --> 00:50:29,680 Lyang but once you get to about the year 1359 00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:30,880 1000 this shifts and now we don't have 1360 00:50:29,679 --> 00:50:32,399 western eastern capitals we have 1361 00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:34,800 northern and southern capitals and 1362 00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:36,160 that's that Beijing and Nanjing right 1363 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:38,160 you know Beijing northern capital 1364 00:50:36,159 --> 00:50:40,799 Nanjing southern capital so what's going 1365 00:50:38,159 --> 00:50:43,440 on well what you have to realize is that 1366 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:46,160 over a very very long period of time the 1367 00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:48,559 Chinese people migrated south okay there 1368 00:50:46,159 --> 00:50:51,598 was a major migration of people okay 1369 00:50:48,559 --> 00:50:53,519 from from the north China plane okay to 1370 00:50:51,599 --> 00:50:56,318 the south as the south is basically 1371 00:50:53,519 --> 00:50:58,239 filled in with rice agriculture okay the 1372 00:50:56,318 --> 00:50:59,119 south that area south of the Yangzi 1373 00:50:58,239 --> 00:51:00,799 river don't worry I'll show you where 1374 00:50:59,119 --> 00:51:04,000 the river is in just a second it was 1375 00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:07,280 really swamp and marshland okay it 1376 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:09,838 population as early as the Han dynasty 1377 00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:12,800 as early as around the year zero there 1378 00:51:09,838 --> 00:51:15,279 were people moving down there. Okay, 1379 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:17,200 that picked up over the first thousand 1380 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:19,359 years of this era, right? So from the 1381 00:51:17,199 --> 00:51:21,679 year zero to about the year 1000, the 1382 00:51:19,358 --> 00:51:24,480 population moves south. And then by the 1383 00:51:21,679 --> 00:51:26,558 time you get to that medieval era, 1384 00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:28,480 sometime in the medieval era, most of 1385 00:51:26,559 --> 00:51:30,640 the people, most of the population of 1386 00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:33,599 China lives in the south. Okay? And the 1387 00:51:30,639 --> 00:51:35,920 south actually ends up becoming 1388 00:51:33,599 --> 00:51:38,160 rather wealthy, right? Because they they 1389 00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:40,960 grow rice, they have surpluses, they pay 1390 00:51:38,159 --> 00:51:43,279 taxes. Okay? Where do they pay taxes to 1391 00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:45,199 the north? Okay, so this is a very 1392 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:47,359 interesting dynamic, right? So 1393 00:51:45,199 --> 00:51:48,799 basically, let me just phrase it to you 1394 00:51:47,358 --> 00:51:51,199 this way. You look at over here that's 1395 00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:53,039 that's Diana, big goose pagod. You'll 1396 00:51:51,199 --> 00:51:55,679 recognize that in a few weeks from now. 1397 00:51:53,039 --> 00:51:57,440 That's Shi, the capital of Shanchi 1398 00:51:55,679 --> 00:52:00,318 province. This a very very historic 1399 00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:02,240 city. It's basically like a a great 1400 00:52:00,318 --> 00:52:05,679 number of the early imperial capitals 1401 00:52:02,239 --> 00:52:07,199 are located there. Okay, this is uh this 1402 00:52:05,679 --> 00:52:09,679 is kind of what you might think of South 1403 00:52:07,199 --> 00:52:14,399 China looking like, right? mountainous, 1404 00:52:09,679 --> 00:52:16,480 green, uh, uh, water, humid, and rice. 1405 00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:18,800 Okay. So, that's that's what that's 1406 00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:21,599 South China in a nutshell. Okay. All 1407 00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:24,240 right. So, then we go back to that's our 1408 00:52:21,599 --> 00:52:27,119 map. Okay. Here's this is the Mongol 1409 00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:29,838 Empire. Okay. Mongol Empire. The Mongols 1410 00:52:27,119 --> 00:52:31,760 create once the sort of their capital 1411 00:52:29,838 --> 00:52:34,480 their their reign in China is 1412 00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:37,119 established they start they move their 1413 00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:40,000 capital to Dad the great capital which 1414 00:52:37,119 --> 00:52:42,480 is Beijing they they are kind of the 1415 00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:44,719 ones who actually move it to Beijing 1416 00:52:42,480 --> 00:52:47,440 right so the Beijing actually gets its 1417 00:52:44,719 --> 00:52:49,199 start not as a Han Chinese capital okay 1418 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:50,960 it was actually the northern the 1419 00:52:49,199 --> 00:52:53,759 northern peoples right non-han peoples 1420 00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:56,159 who started it so after the Mongol 1421 00:52:53,760 --> 00:52:58,400 period you get that Nanjing in Beijing 1422 00:52:56,159 --> 00:53:00,399 mix. That's in the late the last two 1423 00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:02,720 dynasties, southern capital and northern 1424 00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:06,318 capital. And what you can kind of say 1425 00:53:02,719 --> 00:53:09,279 even to this day is that the economic 1426 00:53:06,318 --> 00:53:11,199 heart of the country, the most basically 1427 00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:13,200 profitable part of the country, highest 1428 00:53:11,199 --> 00:53:16,159 incomes are in that greater Shanghai 1429 00:53:13,199 --> 00:53:19,279 area also in Guangdong, Pearl River 1430 00:53:16,159 --> 00:53:21,279 Delta area. Okay, those southern hubs, 1431 00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:23,599 okay? Those are the economic engines of 1432 00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:25,920 the country. The political center of the 1433 00:53:23,599 --> 00:53:27,760 country is in the north. Okay. And 1434 00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:29,599 that's basically a bit been that way for 1435 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:31,200 a few centuries actually go a number of 1436 00:53:29,599 --> 00:53:33,599 centuries, right? And that's what the 1437 00:53:31,199 --> 00:53:35,679 the southern southerners end up paying 1438 00:53:33,599 --> 00:53:38,000 for defense, right? The northerners 1439 00:53:35,679 --> 00:53:40,879 handle frontier defense, right? When you 1440 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:44,318 see where Beijing is on a map and you 1441 00:53:40,880 --> 00:53:47,200 see where historical Mongolia was, 1442 00:53:44,318 --> 00:53:49,119 Beijing is almost not in China, right? 1443 00:53:47,199 --> 00:53:50,558 That's why it has all those sandstorms. 1444 00:53:49,119 --> 00:53:52,400 It's almost in what is it, the Gobi 1445 00:53:50,559 --> 00:53:55,119 Desert or whatever it is. It's re it's 1446 00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:57,440 really far up north actually. Um, so 1447 00:53:55,119 --> 00:54:00,160 that's a sort of Chinese history hack. 1448 00:53:57,440 --> 00:54:02,159 Think of north, south, east, west, 1449 00:54:00,159 --> 00:54:04,399 right? That tells you a lot about what 1450 00:54:02,159 --> 00:54:06,480 era you're in. Tells you a lot about the 1451 00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:08,880 sort of geography and the in the sort of 1452 00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:11,920 geography of power of the era. Okay, 1453 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:13,680 talk about north and south. Okay, some 1454 00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:14,880 of you will, if you taken a class with 1455 00:54:13,679 --> 00:54:17,279 me before, you might have seen this 1456 00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:20,318 slide before. Let's talk about north and 1457 00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:22,559 south. Okay, what is north China? What 1458 00:54:20,318 --> 00:54:24,800 is South China? Okay, well, let me just 1459 00:54:22,559 --> 00:54:28,079 pause here for a minute. What what is 1460 00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:30,960 the northern United States like? Is is 1461 00:54:28,079 --> 00:54:33,039 Maryland north? 1462 00:54:30,960 --> 00:54:37,760 Is it south? 1463 00:54:33,039 --> 00:54:39,519 It's north. Why do you say it's north? 1464 00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:42,000 >> Okay. Right. So, you've answered this 1465 00:54:39,519 --> 00:54:45,119 question by referring to like a 1466 00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:48,159 historical political geography. That's 1467 00:54:45,119 --> 00:54:50,480 great because there is no real objective 1468 00:54:48,159 --> 00:54:52,159 answer to this question, right? Aside 1469 00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:54,079 from doing that, the same is true in 1470 00:54:52,159 --> 00:54:56,078 China. Basically, in the 20th century, 1471 00:54:54,079 --> 00:54:58,318 there was a line drawn and it was like, 1472 00:54:56,079 --> 00:55:00,400 "Okay, this is this is the Chinland 1473 00:54:58,318 --> 00:55:02,960 Mountains over here in the Hawaii, the 1474 00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:04,000 Hawaii River. Draw a line. If you're to 1475 00:55:02,960 --> 00:55:05,440 the north, that's the north. If you're 1476 00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:07,440 to the south, that's the south." And 1477 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:09,760 that the joke I've always made, right, 1478 00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:12,079 is that in the I think 1950s, I think we 1479 00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:13,599 went over this 1950s, Joan lie, uh, 1480 00:55:12,079 --> 00:55:17,039 basically made it so that if you're 1481 00:55:13,599 --> 00:55:19,119 above that line, you got free subsidized 1482 00:55:17,039 --> 00:55:20,719 or free central heating from the state. 1483 00:55:19,119 --> 00:55:23,519 And if you're below that line, you 1484 00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:26,078 froze. uh because the south was 1485 00:55:23,519 --> 00:55:27,280 generally warmer. But you know, this is 1486 00:55:26,079 --> 00:55:28,480 the whole thing. It's one of those 1487 00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:33,200 things where it's like, how do I 1488 00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:36,079 describe it? I once did a new year f uh 1489 00:55:33,199 --> 00:55:37,838 Chinese New Year spring festival in 1490 00:55:36,079 --> 00:55:40,000 Guangyen, which is in the northern part 1491 00:55:37,838 --> 00:55:42,880 of Sichuan province. You could imagine 1492 00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:45,199 how frozen I was. That's pretty far 1493 00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:47,519 north, but staying south, right? That's 1494 00:55:45,199 --> 00:55:49,519 one of those border places, you know. I 1495 00:55:47,519 --> 00:55:51,759 went to bed at night with like eight 1496 00:55:49,519 --> 00:55:55,358 blankets over me. I shared a bed with 1497 00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:57,839 like a 60- year old man and and and for 1498 00:55:55,358 --> 00:56:01,598 days and I and there were so many 1499 00:55:57,838 --> 00:56:04,318 blankets over me I couldn't move. So 1500 00:56:01,599 --> 00:56:06,318 when I woke up I was just like I'm up 1501 00:56:04,318 --> 00:56:08,000 and then somebody came and took off the 1502 00:56:06,318 --> 00:56:10,318 blank. I mean, it was just incredible 1503 00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:12,400 that it was I don't want to say that's 1504 00:56:10,318 --> 00:56:13,279 there are many warm parts of the south. 1505 00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,039 Don't get me wrong. If you're in 1506 00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:16,319 Guangdong or Hong Kong, that's warm. You 1507 00:56:15,039 --> 00:56:19,039 know, that's a nice place to be in the 1508 00:56:16,318 --> 00:56:21,039 winter, but just to know this is this is 1509 00:56:19,039 --> 00:56:23,519 a very large area with a very diverse 1510 00:56:21,039 --> 00:56:26,000 climate. Okay. So, that can be really 1511 00:56:23,519 --> 00:56:27,599 cold. So, this is a Mason Dixon line. 1512 00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:31,440 Okay. This is kind of like this kind of 1513 00:56:27,599 --> 00:56:33,760 idea. Yeah. Uh but there are cultural, 1514 00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:36,079 you know, traits that we associate with 1515 00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:38,640 northerners. There are cultural traits 1516 00:56:36,079 --> 00:56:41,119 we associate with southerners. Again, 1517 00:56:38,639 --> 00:56:42,639 nothing is ever absolute, but we can 1518 00:56:41,119 --> 00:56:45,440 talk about that when we get into more 1519 00:56:42,639 --> 00:56:47,358 specific geographies. Okay, let's say 1520 00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:49,358 political jurisdictions of the PRC 1521 00:56:47,358 --> 00:56:52,078 today. I, you know, I realize this is a 1522 00:56:49,358 --> 00:56:54,639 dynastic Chinese history class. Um, so 1523 00:56:52,079 --> 00:56:56,720 you might be kind of like, why do we 1524 00:56:54,639 --> 00:56:58,719 need to know this? And I think the 1525 00:56:56,719 --> 00:57:00,879 reason you have to know this is because 1526 00:56:58,719 --> 00:57:02,719 well you you do need to know the 1527 00:57:00,880 --> 00:57:05,280 geography of China today to appreciate 1528 00:57:02,719 --> 00:57:07,039 where things are happening right to be 1529 00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:09,440 able to have a conversation about it 1530 00:57:07,039 --> 00:57:12,159 just realize there are 20 34 total units 1531 00:57:09,440 --> 00:57:14,000 23 provinces there also these autonomous 1532 00:57:12,159 --> 00:57:17,039 regions Tibet is today recognized 1533 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:18,559 autonomous region Jang in Mongolia Ning 1534 00:57:17,039 --> 00:57:20,798 Sha the Hoy autonomous region and 1535 00:57:18,559 --> 00:57:23,280 Guangshi Dwang autonomous region so 1536 00:57:20,798 --> 00:57:26,239 there's all the also special zones right 1537 00:57:23,280 --> 00:57:27,920 Shanghai Chongqing and so forth Um, so 1538 00:57:26,239 --> 00:57:29,919 you know, just you know, we can talk 1539 00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:32,720 more about I have the whole geography 1540 00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:34,559 quiz for you. Uh, and I have the study 1541 00:57:32,719 --> 00:57:38,239 guide to tell you what exactly you need 1542 00:57:34,559 --> 00:57:41,200 to know. Okay. One other sort of like 1543 00:57:38,239 --> 00:57:44,000 way to think about Chinese geography is 1544 00:57:41,199 --> 00:57:45,679 this line. This is called the Hu Tong 1545 00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:47,358 Chong line. And it was so interesting 1546 00:57:45,679 --> 00:57:50,239 this summer. I finally got a chance to 1547 00:57:47,358 --> 00:57:51,838 visit Tong Chong. And you see, you might 1548 00:57:50,239 --> 00:57:52,959 not find that impressive, but like 1549 00:57:51,838 --> 00:57:54,480 actually Tong Chong is not a 1550 00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:55,838 particularly famous place. The only 1551 00:57:54,480 --> 00:57:57,199 reason why Chinese people across the 1552 00:57:55,838 --> 00:57:59,519 country know about it is because of this 1553 00:57:57,199 --> 00:58:01,199 line. But it's actually a great place. 1554 00:57:59,519 --> 00:58:02,798 Uh, and it's it's a really fun part. 1555 00:58:01,199 --> 00:58:04,639 It's in Yunan Province. I have some 1556 00:58:02,798 --> 00:58:06,239 photos when we go through the when we go 1557 00:58:04,639 --> 00:58:10,719 through the tour here. Right. But the 1558 00:58:06,239 --> 00:58:13,598 key is is that basically this is 64% 1559 00:58:10,719 --> 00:58:17,039 of the area of the country and in 1934 1560 00:58:13,599 --> 00:58:20,160 it had 4% of the population. Okay? And 1561 00:58:17,039 --> 00:58:22,798 this is in 2015 it had 6% of the 1562 00:58:20,159 --> 00:58:24,558 population. Okay? So this is actually 1563 00:58:22,798 --> 00:58:27,119 something that hasn't changed all that 1564 00:58:24,559 --> 00:58:29,440 much, right? Most Chinese people live in 1565 00:58:27,119 --> 00:58:31,838 the red zone, right? They live in this 1566 00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:33,599 this area, right? This very high dense 1567 00:58:31,838 --> 00:58:34,639 area like you know the big cities, you 1568 00:58:33,599 --> 00:58:36,000 know, city with two million people 1569 00:58:34,639 --> 00:58:37,920 doesn't count as anything in China, 1570 00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:40,239 right? This is all that over here, 1571 00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:42,079 Tibet, Sing Jang, lots of land, not so 1572 00:58:40,239 --> 00:58:45,039 many people. Okay, so that's like a sort 1573 00:58:42,079 --> 00:58:46,720 of big way to do it. All right, so I was 1574 00:58:45,039 --> 00:58:49,039 going to do let me just say 1575 00:58:46,719 --> 00:58:51,279 pronunciation. Should I say this? Let me 1576 00:58:49,039 --> 00:58:52,960 do it really really quickly so that you 1577 00:58:51,280 --> 00:58:55,760 know I know many of you probably know 1578 00:58:52,960 --> 00:58:58,159 Chinese. Uh many of you speak Chinese. 1579 00:58:55,760 --> 00:59:00,160 Uh you know Chinese is tonal. That means 1580 00:58:58,159 --> 00:59:01,598 that it's very hard to be a beginner in 1581 00:59:00,159 --> 00:59:04,239 this language right because you're 1582 00:59:01,599 --> 00:59:06,079 constantly asking for like you're 1583 00:59:04,239 --> 00:59:08,159 constantly saying you know horse I miss 1584 00:59:06,079 --> 00:59:09,519 you but it's really your mom right? You 1585 00:59:08,159 --> 00:59:11,039 know, there's a there's all the it's 1586 00:59:09,519 --> 00:59:12,798 it's tricky when you're when you're 1587 00:59:11,039 --> 00:59:14,079 getting into it, right? Because uh 1588 00:59:12,798 --> 00:59:16,559 because the tone makes the difference, 1589 00:59:14,079 --> 00:59:18,480 right? Just realize that uh ju maybe 1590 00:59:16,559 --> 00:59:21,760 just going through a few things here. 1591 00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:23,679 The Z in the Z, right? It's like Z is 1592 00:59:21,760 --> 00:59:25,920 like a a hard. Okay. But these are words 1593 00:59:23,679 --> 00:59:29,118 that like I sort of encounter in the in 1594 00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:32,798 in in research, right? So, you know, oh, 1595 00:59:29,119 --> 00:59:36,000 okay. X, right? You see X, okay? It's 1596 00:59:32,798 --> 00:59:38,159 like uh it's like an sh, right? So, 1597 00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:40,000 right something like this. Okay. So, 1598 00:59:38,159 --> 00:59:41,759 just know like this is how this is how 1599 00:59:40,000 --> 00:59:43,280 the pronunciation works. Okay. All 1600 00:59:41,760 --> 00:59:46,240 right. What do I got? All right. Let's 1601 00:59:43,280 --> 00:59:47,920 start uh let's start talking about 1602 00:59:46,239 --> 00:59:50,239 China's geography. We got like 20 1603 00:59:47,920 --> 00:59:53,200 minutes left. Cover the country. Okay. 1604 00:59:50,239 --> 00:59:56,399 I'm going to start purely for no 1605 00:59:53,199 --> 00:59:59,199 apparent reason in Sichuan province. 1606 00:59:56,400 --> 01:00:01,680 Okay. It's just because this is what my 1607 00:59:59,199 --> 01:00:02,960 PowerPoint told me to do. I I opened it 1608 01:00:01,679 --> 01:00:04,239 up. I was like, "All right, let's we got 1609 01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:06,159 to start somewhere. Let's start over 1610 01:00:04,239 --> 01:00:08,479 there." Okay. You have probably 1611 01:00:06,159 --> 01:00:10,239 encountered Sichuan province before 1612 01:00:08,480 --> 01:00:12,240 because it's actually a pretty famous 1613 01:00:10,239 --> 01:00:14,000 province. It's got like compared to 1614 01:00:12,239 --> 01:00:16,719 other Chinese provinces, it's got a lot 1615 01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:18,960 of international cache in part because 1616 01:00:16,719 --> 01:00:21,358 look at all the Sichuan restaurants all 1617 01:00:18,960 --> 01:00:23,199 over the Cambridge Boston area, right? 1618 01:00:21,358 --> 01:00:26,400 When Chinese food traveled, right? 1619 01:00:23,199 --> 01:00:29,598 Sichuan high was a sort of kind of 1620 01:00:26,400 --> 01:00:31,599 cuisine that just traveled. A lot of 1621 01:00:29,599 --> 01:00:34,000 times the restaurants are not owned or 1622 01:00:31,599 --> 01:00:36,240 operated by people from Sichuan, but 1623 01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:38,079 they just created Sichuan restaurant. I 1624 01:00:36,239 --> 01:00:40,639 don't know why, but it was like there it 1625 01:00:38,079 --> 01:00:42,480 is. You will also sometimes see Sichuan. 1626 01:00:40,639 --> 01:00:44,558 All right, that's again that older 1627 01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:46,719 transliteration system. Same thing. It 1628 01:00:44,559 --> 01:00:49,920 refers to that province. Okay, there it 1629 01:00:46,719 --> 01:00:52,719 is. In western China, Sichuan is famous 1630 01:00:49,920 --> 01:00:55,039 for spicy food. Okay, a lot of parts of 1631 01:00:52,719 --> 01:00:57,279 China today have spicy food to be frank. 1632 01:00:55,039 --> 01:01:00,480 It's also famous for hot pot, right? 1633 01:00:57,280 --> 01:01:04,319 Sichuan is like where hot or chongqing. 1634 01:01:00,480 --> 01:01:06,159 Now I again I'm sort of like biased here 1635 01:01:04,318 --> 01:01:08,558 because I'm a historian of the imperial 1636 01:01:06,159 --> 01:01:11,199 period. I sort of take Chongqing and 1637 01:01:08,559 --> 01:01:14,000 Sichuan together. Culturally they are 1638 01:01:11,199 --> 01:01:16,399 together. They all speak a very similar 1639 01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:19,760 kind of Mandarin dialect. Okay. But 1640 01:01:16,400 --> 01:01:22,240 Chongqing was se was siphoned off from 1641 01:01:19,760 --> 01:01:25,119 Sichuan in the late in the 1990s. Okay. 1642 01:01:22,239 --> 01:01:27,039 And it's now it's sort of its own sort 1643 01:01:25,119 --> 01:01:28,880 of it's a separate political entity 1644 01:01:27,039 --> 01:01:30,798 today. But you can see Chongqing and 1645 01:01:28,880 --> 01:01:32,480 Sichuan culturally they're kind of in 1646 01:01:30,798 --> 01:01:35,358 this. This is Chongqing right here. 1647 01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:37,119 Okay. Right there. Okay. Uh it's also 1648 01:01:35,358 --> 01:01:40,480 home to Oh, let me just say one thing 1649 01:01:37,119 --> 01:01:42,480 about hot pot. The the problem I feel 1650 01:01:40,480 --> 01:01:46,000 about talking about Chinese food today 1651 01:01:42,480 --> 01:01:48,400 is that now China has beencome so 1652 01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:50,159 flattened and in a sense it's a good 1653 01:01:48,400 --> 01:01:51,440 thing. It's it's part of the progress of 1654 01:01:50,159 --> 01:01:54,000 the country. It's part of the wealth of 1655 01:01:51,440 --> 01:01:55,920 the country. But now every place has hot 1656 01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:57,358 pot, right? It's not like, you know, 1657 01:01:55,920 --> 01:01:59,200 you're going to go and you, oh, I got to 1658 01:01:57,358 --> 01:02:00,400 go to Sichuan. I got to go try the hot 1659 01:01:59,199 --> 01:02:02,399 pot. It's like, you're going to get hot 1660 01:02:00,400 --> 01:02:03,680 pot in Kuning and Yunan. You're going to 1661 01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:05,519 get, you're going to get hot pot in 1662 01:02:03,679 --> 01:02:06,879 Beijing, whatever. They have I realize 1663 01:02:05,519 --> 01:02:08,880 they have a Beijing hot pot. It's 1664 01:02:06,880 --> 01:02:10,559 different. I get it. But the point is 1665 01:02:08,880 --> 01:02:12,559 nowadays, if you're in a provincial 1666 01:02:10,559 --> 01:02:14,960 capital, you can pretty much get the 1667 01:02:12,559 --> 01:02:17,200 food of all the other parts of China. It 1668 01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:19,599 might not be good, but they will have 1669 01:02:17,199 --> 01:02:22,078 it. Okay? So, it's like it's like it's 1670 01:02:19,599 --> 01:02:24,720 kind of like Mexican in the US, right? 1671 01:02:22,079 --> 01:02:26,720 Massachusetts has it, right? Like, if 1672 01:02:24,719 --> 01:02:28,798 you want to eat it, they they have it, 1673 01:02:26,719 --> 01:02:30,399 right? Is it as good as Arizona? I don't 1674 01:02:28,798 --> 01:02:33,119 know. But like, you get what I'm saying. 1675 01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:35,440 All right. So, uh it's also home. The 1676 01:02:33,119 --> 01:02:39,440 panda, right? Sichuan's most famous 1677 01:02:35,440 --> 01:02:41,440 export besides the peppercorns. Okay. Uh 1678 01:02:39,440 --> 01:02:43,358 right. And and and the panda, right? We 1679 01:02:41,440 --> 01:02:45,679 talk a lot about the panda. The Just 1680 01:02:43,358 --> 01:02:48,558 realize something about the panda. Just 1681 01:02:45,679 --> 01:02:51,519 realize it is not important in Chinese 1682 01:02:48,559 --> 01:02:53,839 history. Okay? I don't I'm not I'm not 1683 01:02:51,519 --> 01:02:57,920 breaking any hearts here. It's a very 1684 01:02:53,838 --> 01:03:00,078 very lovable vegetarian bear. It fits so 1685 01:02:57,920 --> 01:03:02,318 well with so many of the aesthetics of 1686 01:03:00,079 --> 01:03:06,720 modernity in so many ways, right? Like 1687 01:03:02,318 --> 01:03:08,480 it is sort of friendly vegetarian and a 1688 01:03:06,719 --> 01:03:11,199 bear. How how do you get that 1689 01:03:08,480 --> 01:03:13,679 combination, right? I mean, it's like 1690 01:03:11,199 --> 01:03:16,480 evolution, right? I mean, okay, it is 1691 01:03:13,679 --> 01:03:18,318 actually a bear. Okay, so it is like 1692 01:03:16,480 --> 01:03:20,559 related to like the Russian brown bear 1693 01:03:18,318 --> 01:03:22,960 and all of that stuff. How did this 1694 01:03:20,559 --> 01:03:25,280 happen? Well, 1695 01:03:22,960 --> 01:03:27,519 I don't know how many years ago a bear 1696 01:03:25,280 --> 01:03:29,359 moved to Sichuan and said, "I like it." 1697 01:03:27,519 --> 01:03:31,599 And then just said, "I'm just going to 1698 01:03:29,358 --> 01:03:33,279 eat bamboo all the time." Right? And so, 1699 01:03:31,599 --> 01:03:37,039 like, so basically, you ended up with 1700 01:03:33,280 --> 01:03:41,359 that. Okay. uh the the panda became a 1701 01:03:37,039 --> 01:03:44,640 symbol in actually really the communist 1702 01:03:41,358 --> 01:03:48,000 era because the panda was not associated 1703 01:03:44,639 --> 01:03:50,798 with imperial symbols, right? The dragon 1704 01:03:48,000 --> 01:03:53,119 is an imperial symbol. The tiger is a 1705 01:03:50,798 --> 01:03:54,719 very ancient symbol. The elephant even 1706 01:03:53,119 --> 01:03:56,079 is an ancient symbol. All of these 1707 01:03:54,719 --> 01:03:57,279 things like are fair game. You can see 1708 01:03:56,079 --> 01:03:59,599 them in imperial history. You can see 1709 01:03:57,280 --> 01:04:01,200 them in ancient history. The nobody 1710 01:03:59,599 --> 01:04:03,680 talked about the panda. Nobody was 1711 01:04:01,199 --> 01:04:05,439 impressed by the panda. Okay. But then 1712 01:04:03,679 --> 01:04:06,960 that's why perfect. We're having a 1713 01:04:05,440 --> 01:04:08,960 communist revolution. We're throwing out 1714 01:04:06,960 --> 01:04:11,280 all the old. We got a new animal right 1715 01:04:08,960 --> 01:04:12,559 here. It's the panda. And it worked. You 1716 01:04:11,280 --> 01:04:14,559 just got to say it worked. It was 1717 01:04:12,559 --> 01:04:16,720 incredible marketing. And now it it's 1718 01:04:14,559 --> 01:04:18,160 it's on the World Wildlife Foundations. 1719 01:04:16,719 --> 01:04:19,358 Like it's their emblem, you know? I 1720 01:04:18,159 --> 01:04:21,118 mean, this is like it's the most famous 1721 01:04:19,358 --> 01:04:22,880 bear in the world. Let's face it. Um, 1722 01:04:21,119 --> 01:04:24,720 and then the other thing is with 1723 01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:26,960 Sichuan, you get this great culture of 1724 01:04:24,719 --> 01:04:28,719 tea houses that go back to the 20th 1725 01:04:26,960 --> 01:04:31,599 century. Sichuan also had a great number 1726 01:04:28,719 --> 01:04:34,798 of mafias. It's like we could talk about 1727 01:04:31,599 --> 01:04:36,480 mafias in China. The south was loaded 1728 01:04:34,798 --> 01:04:38,000 with them and they would hang out in the 1729 01:04:36,480 --> 01:04:39,440 tea houses and there was so many 1730 01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:41,280 interesting things that happened there. 1731 01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:42,720 It's got a great lifestyle. The way that 1732 01:04:41,280 --> 01:04:45,920 people talk about life in Sichuan, they 1733 01:04:42,719 --> 01:04:48,239 say it's right. It's like easygoing, 1734 01:04:45,920 --> 01:04:50,000 easy life. There's even this expression 1735 01:04:48,239 --> 01:04:52,159 when you're young, don't go to Sichuan. 1736 01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:54,400 When you're old, don't leave it. Okay? 1737 01:04:52,159 --> 01:04:56,318 There's there's expressions in China for 1738 01:04:54,400 --> 01:04:58,079 like everything that kind of give you 1739 01:04:56,318 --> 01:05:00,880 advice. And this is one of those 1740 01:04:58,079 --> 01:05:03,440 advices, right? So I I didn't listen to 1741 01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:05,838 this expression. I went and you know you 1742 01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:08,720 can see what am I doing now right? So uh 1743 01:05:05,838 --> 01:05:10,960 so it continued. Um one interesting 1744 01:05:08,719 --> 01:05:14,000 thing about Sichuan is that it is a 1745 01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:16,880 basin. It is a geological basin. What 1746 01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:21,679 that means is that it is surrounded on 1747 01:05:16,880 --> 01:05:24,640 basically all mo all sides. To get into 1748 01:05:21,679 --> 01:05:26,960 Sichuan is difficult. To get out, there 1749 01:05:24,639 --> 01:05:28,960 is one really easy way to get out, which 1750 01:05:26,960 --> 01:05:31,440 is through the Yangzi River, but it only 1751 01:05:28,960 --> 01:05:33,679 flows in one direction. So is you can 1752 01:05:31,440 --> 01:05:35,760 send rice out of Sichuan. You can send 1753 01:05:33,679 --> 01:05:38,239 people out of Sichuan, but getting into 1754 01:05:35,760 --> 01:05:40,720 Sichuan is rather difficult. That is 1755 01:05:38,239 --> 01:05:43,679 actually why across Chinese history, 1756 01:05:40,719 --> 01:05:45,439 it's been a place to flee to. So during 1757 01:05:43,679 --> 01:05:47,679 the Tong Dynasty, we're going to have a 1758 01:05:45,440 --> 01:05:49,760 really, really big rebellion called the 1759 01:05:47,679 --> 01:05:52,159 Anlan Rebellion. It's one of the most 1760 01:05:49,760 --> 01:05:53,920 famous devastating civil wars, 1761 01:05:52,159 --> 01:05:56,960 rebellions of Chinese history. The 1762 01:05:53,920 --> 01:05:58,639 emperor will go from Xian, he will go 1763 01:05:56,960 --> 01:05:59,920 from Chan. Don't worry, you you will 1764 01:05:58,639 --> 01:06:02,639 memorize all these places. You will know 1765 01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:04,798 what I'm talking about. And he will flee 1766 01:06:02,639 --> 01:06:07,199 into Sichuan. And actually, this 1767 01:06:04,798 --> 01:06:09,440 actually happened in the 20th century as 1768 01:06:07,199 --> 01:06:11,679 well. Some of you will know this, right? 1769 01:06:09,440 --> 01:06:14,000 Jang Kaishek's government, Jangu's 1770 01:06:11,679 --> 01:06:16,639 government when Japan invaded from the 1771 01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:18,400 east, right? in Nanjing fell the 1772 01:06:16,639 --> 01:06:20,719 government basically had to move to the 1773 01:06:18,400 --> 01:06:23,119 west and it moved to Chongqing which is 1774 01:06:20,719 --> 01:06:25,358 again basically the Sichuan region okay 1775 01:06:23,119 --> 01:06:28,720 so that's where they held out for the 1776 01:06:25,358 --> 01:06:31,598 war more or less so just realize this is 1777 01:06:28,719 --> 01:06:33,279 a big part of the sort of geography uh 1778 01:06:31,599 --> 01:06:34,798 of Sichuan that gives it its interesting 1779 01:06:33,280 --> 01:06:36,640 flavor there's another expression that I 1780 01:06:34,798 --> 01:06:39,199 love here when China has yet to fall 1781 01:06:36,639 --> 01:06:41,038 into chaos Sichuan is the first to fall 1782 01:06:39,199 --> 01:06:42,960 when China has yet to been pacified 1783 01:06:41,039 --> 01:06:45,200 Sichuan has yet to been pacified again 1784 01:06:42,960 --> 01:06:47,199 because it's hard to get too, right? So, 1785 01:06:45,199 --> 01:06:49,279 that gives it a unique culture in a way, 1786 01:06:47,199 --> 01:06:51,679 you know, really interesting. Okay, now 1787 01:06:49,280 --> 01:06:53,599 we continue on with our tour and let's 1788 01:06:51,679 --> 01:06:55,440 go. We're going to go from Sichuan. You 1789 01:06:53,599 --> 01:06:57,440 can see where Sichuan is right here. 1790 01:06:55,440 --> 01:06:59,119 Okay, that's Chongqing. Now, we're going 1791 01:06:57,440 --> 01:07:01,920 to go to the northeast. We're going to 1792 01:06:59,119 --> 01:07:03,680 go to Shyenshi province. Okay, now Shy 1793 01:07:01,920 --> 01:07:04,960 Province is if you love history and you 1794 01:07:03,679 --> 01:07:07,038 take this class, this is the province 1795 01:07:04,960 --> 01:07:09,119 you really got to go to. It's loaded 1796 01:07:07,039 --> 01:07:11,119 with history. You basically cross the 1797 01:07:09,119 --> 01:07:12,798 Chin Mountains down here in the southern 1798 01:07:11,119 --> 01:07:14,798 part of the province and you get right 1799 01:07:12,798 --> 01:07:16,960 up here. the it's called the Guanjong 1800 01:07:14,798 --> 01:07:20,480 region. Don't worry about it. But Xian, 1801 01:07:16,960 --> 01:07:22,960 right, Western Peace, literally or Chong 1802 01:07:20,480 --> 01:07:24,960 An was its older medieval name. That's 1803 01:07:22,960 --> 01:07:27,679 the capital of the province. That tower 1804 01:07:24,960 --> 01:07:29,519 that you see right there, that was built 1805 01:07:27,679 --> 01:07:31,679 a very long time ago. That was built in 1806 01:07:29,519 --> 01:07:34,000 the medieval period. It is not very 1807 01:07:31,679 --> 01:07:36,239 common across China to see towers that 1808 01:07:34,000 --> 01:07:38,159 are that old. It's an incredibly 1809 01:07:36,239 --> 01:07:39,838 impressive piece of architecture. You 1810 01:07:38,159 --> 01:07:41,838 probably know this place because, of 1811 01:07:39,838 --> 01:07:44,159 course, the Terracotta Warriors are 1812 01:07:41,838 --> 01:07:45,279 here. All right. more or less there. 1813 01:07:44,159 --> 01:07:46,798 This is where you would go if you're 1814 01:07:45,280 --> 01:07:48,720 going to go see them and that's 1815 01:07:46,798 --> 01:07:51,038 certainly something to go see. We of 1816 01:07:48,719 --> 01:07:52,879 course will cover them in probably a few 1817 01:07:51,039 --> 01:07:54,640 weeks. Okay, so we will cover all of 1818 01:07:52,880 --> 01:07:58,079 this. Let's talk a little bit about 1819 01:07:54,639 --> 01:08:00,318 local food, right? Again, the caveat 1820 01:07:58,079 --> 01:08:02,640 being nowadays in Xian you can get 1821 01:08:00,318 --> 01:08:05,279 whatever fish you want. You can get hot 1822 01:08:02,639 --> 01:08:07,920 pot, whatever. So again, you know, it's 1823 01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:09,519 all flattened, but there are still local 1824 01:08:07,920 --> 01:08:11,680 tastes and there are still local 1825 01:08:09,519 --> 01:08:15,358 specialties. Northerners in general eat 1826 01:08:11,679 --> 01:08:17,920 wheat. They eat uh you know not not as 1827 01:08:15,358 --> 01:08:20,559 riceheavy. So that it's a noodle eating 1828 01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:24,319 culture. Okay. Most of North China eats 1829 01:08:20,560 --> 01:08:25,679 noodles. And she is famous for it all 1830 01:08:24,319 --> 01:08:28,480 different types of noodles and noodle 1831 01:08:25,679 --> 01:08:31,119 type dishes. This is a salamian a 1832 01:08:28,479 --> 01:08:33,198 chishan salamyan. Right. So salamian is 1833 01:08:31,119 --> 01:08:35,278 it's from a county. It's like a sort of 1834 01:08:33,198 --> 01:08:36,639 it's a very nice it's got like a vinegar 1835 01:08:35,279 --> 01:08:38,480 taste. It's a little spicy. It's a 1836 01:08:36,640 --> 01:08:40,960 noodle dish. This is Does anybody know 1837 01:08:38,479 --> 01:08:43,278 what this is? 1838 01:08:40,960 --> 01:08:45,600 Yeah. Palo Yro palmo, right? This is a 1839 01:08:43,279 --> 01:08:48,239 lamb sort of. You take a like it looks 1840 01:08:45,600 --> 01:08:52,400 like a naan bread and you you you you 1841 01:08:48,238 --> 01:08:54,479 you destroy your hands by cutting it up 1842 01:08:52,399 --> 01:08:56,559 into a million little pieces and then 1843 01:08:54,479 --> 01:08:59,358 they pour like a soup in it with lamb. 1844 01:08:56,560 --> 01:09:00,640 It's delicious. It's super heavy. So 1845 01:08:59,359 --> 01:09:01,920 like when you eat this like you don't 1846 01:09:00,640 --> 01:09:04,880 eat anything else for the rest of the 1847 01:09:01,920 --> 01:09:06,880 day. Okay. Uh so it's it's it's fun. 1848 01:09:04,880 --> 01:09:08,400 It's it's it's it's really good. Now, 1849 01:09:06,880 --> 01:09:09,759 let me just tell you, when you're 1850 01:09:08,399 --> 01:09:11,278 learning Chinese history for the first 1851 01:09:09,759 --> 01:09:13,679 time, you're learning Chinese geography 1852 01:09:11,279 --> 01:09:16,719 for this first time, you will say, "How 1853 01:09:13,679 --> 01:09:19,119 is this true? This is totally not fair." 1854 01:09:16,719 --> 01:09:23,198 The province right next to Shanshi 1855 01:09:19,119 --> 01:09:25,119 Province is called Shansi Province. 1856 01:09:23,198 --> 01:09:26,559 Are you kidding me? Right? Like you say, 1857 01:09:25,119 --> 01:09:28,880 couldn't they couldn't they put it in 1858 01:09:26,560 --> 01:09:30,719 another place? Yeah. Listen, you just 1859 01:09:28,880 --> 01:09:32,719 got to learn it. You just got to learn 1860 01:09:30,719 --> 01:09:35,600 it. In English, this will be 1861 01:09:32,719 --> 01:09:36,960 transliterated. Okay? the one that I was 1862 01:09:35,600 --> 01:09:38,960 talking about, the ancient capital with 1863 01:09:36,960 --> 01:09:41,679 the terracotta warriors and all that 1864 01:09:38,960 --> 01:09:45,279 stuff. Two A's. Okay, there will always 1865 01:09:41,679 --> 01:09:47,440 be two A's. Shi, it's in the third tone. 1866 01:09:45,279 --> 01:09:50,000 Okay, it's another tone. If you come 1867 01:09:47,439 --> 01:09:54,158 over to this one, you go east, it's the 1868 01:09:50,000 --> 01:09:56,158 first tone, one A, right? Shi. Okay, so 1869 01:09:54,158 --> 01:09:58,479 for a Chinese person, these don't sound 1870 01:09:56,158 --> 01:09:59,759 alike. But when you're when you're in 1871 01:09:58,479 --> 01:10:01,678 the US and you're like, okay, what's 1872 01:09:59,760 --> 01:10:03,199 going on? You're like, seriously, I have 1873 01:10:01,679 --> 01:10:06,399 to learn this. Yes, you have to learn 1874 01:10:03,198 --> 01:10:08,960 it. So not the same. Okay, it actually 1875 01:10:06,399 --> 01:10:10,559 will make it easy for the geography quiz 1876 01:10:08,960 --> 01:10:13,600 because you'll know that approximately 1877 01:10:10,560 --> 01:10:15,440 in this area there's a place and you 1878 01:10:13,600 --> 01:10:17,760 it's approximately spelled the same way. 1879 01:10:15,439 --> 01:10:19,759 Okay, Shaji province really great place. 1880 01:10:17,760 --> 01:10:22,400 Lots of interesting stuff, lots of great 1881 01:10:19,760 --> 01:10:25,679 dowist temples, old temples to visit. 1882 01:10:22,399 --> 01:10:27,119 Also noodles, right? Dawian I believe is 1883 01:10:25,679 --> 01:10:28,960 from here. This is like a knife cut 1884 01:10:27,119 --> 01:10:31,359 noodle is famous from this region, you 1885 01:10:28,960 --> 01:10:33,520 know, hanging the hanging temples over 1886 01:10:31,359 --> 01:10:35,039 there. This really fun. Okay, continue 1887 01:10:33,520 --> 01:10:37,280 on. 1888 01:10:35,039 --> 01:10:39,198 Let's go. I think our next one. Let's 1889 01:10:37,279 --> 01:10:41,840 go. It's coming. Okay, Beijing. Okay, 1890 01:10:39,198 --> 01:10:44,799 the imperial capital Beijing. So, if you 1891 01:10:41,840 --> 01:10:47,440 look over here, we went from Sichuan and 1892 01:10:44,800 --> 01:10:49,119 we're going to the northeast. Okay, we 1893 01:10:47,439 --> 01:10:51,919 went through Shanshi. We went through 1894 01:10:49,119 --> 01:10:54,479 Shanchi. I sort of cut through HB. Okay, 1895 01:10:51,920 --> 01:10:56,399 and then now we're here in Beijing. How 1896 01:10:54,479 --> 01:10:57,439 many of you have been to Beijing? You've 1897 01:10:56,399 --> 01:10:58,879 been there. You've been there. You've 1898 01:10:57,439 --> 01:11:01,599 been there. How was it? What do you 1899 01:10:58,880 --> 01:11:03,359 remember? It was kind of smoggy. 1900 01:11:01,600 --> 01:11:07,560 >> It was kind of smoggy. 1901 01:11:03,359 --> 01:11:07,559 >> Okay. What do you remember? 1902 01:11:08,960 --> 01:11:13,520 >> Yeah, the palace is incredible. Yeah. 1903 01:11:11,439 --> 01:11:15,439 What else do I remember? The weather is 1904 01:11:13,520 --> 01:11:17,360 terrible. Look, you just got to you just 1905 01:11:15,439 --> 01:11:19,519 got to say the [snorts] weather. It's 1906 01:11:17,359 --> 01:11:21,679 like hot and then all of a sudden it 1907 01:11:19,520 --> 01:11:24,080 rains and it's like it's not a nice 1908 01:11:21,679 --> 01:11:25,600 rain. It's like a killer rain and it's 1909 01:11:24,079 --> 01:11:28,079 like I don't have an umbrella big enough 1910 01:11:25,600 --> 01:11:30,159 to handle this. And then there's tons of 1911 01:11:28,079 --> 01:11:31,519 traffic. I realized just being there 1912 01:11:30,158 --> 01:11:33,839 this summer, even though like all the 1913 01:11:31,520 --> 01:11:35,600 cars, many cars are now electric and 1914 01:11:33,840 --> 01:11:37,679 there's great public transit everywhere, 1915 01:11:35,600 --> 01:11:39,360 the traffic in Beijing is still really 1916 01:11:37,679 --> 01:11:40,319 bad. So, it's like whenever we were 1917 01:11:39,359 --> 01:11:41,599 like, "Oh, I'll be there in a half 1918 01:11:40,319 --> 01:11:43,920 hour." It's like, "No, just say an 1919 01:11:41,600 --> 01:11:46,400 hour." Okay. It was It's It's really But 1920 01:11:43,920 --> 01:11:47,840 it's loaded with historical sites. It's 1921 01:11:46,399 --> 01:11:49,359 an incredible place. I've been there, 1922 01:11:47,840 --> 01:11:51,600 you know, probably a dozen times in my 1923 01:11:49,359 --> 01:11:53,519 life, you know, over the years. And I've 1924 01:11:51,600 --> 01:11:55,039 You don't see everything, right? You 1925 01:11:53,520 --> 01:11:57,440 could always go back and see something 1926 01:11:55,039 --> 01:11:59,679 new there. So, it's it's really really 1927 01:11:57,439 --> 01:12:02,399 fun. Of course, many people who go to 1928 01:11:59,679 --> 01:12:04,640 see the Great Wall will go to Beijing to 1929 01:12:02,399 --> 01:12:06,319 see it. You actually don't need to be in 1930 01:12:04,640 --> 01:12:08,480 Beijing to see it. There's Great Wall in 1931 01:12:06,319 --> 01:12:10,719 Gansu Province out west. There's Great 1932 01:12:08,479 --> 01:12:13,759 Wall in other provinces, but Beijing has 1933 01:12:10,719 --> 01:12:15,198 the most famous ones. Like the panda, 1934 01:12:13,760 --> 01:12:17,600 just realized that this quote unquote 1935 01:12:15,198 --> 01:12:19,439 Great Wall was oftentimes not very 1936 01:12:17,600 --> 01:12:21,840 important. It was a little bit more 1937 01:12:19,439 --> 01:12:23,839 important than the panda. Okay, it was 1938 01:12:21,840 --> 01:12:26,000 mainly it was important in certain 1939 01:12:23,840 --> 01:12:28,159 periods of time in history and other 1940 01:12:26,000 --> 01:12:29,359 periods of time just nobody cared. Okay, 1941 01:12:28,158 --> 01:12:30,960 it just depended who was like 1942 01:12:29,359 --> 01:12:32,799 controlling Beijing at the time. Okay, 1943 01:12:30,960 --> 01:12:35,760 we'll get into all of this. Okay, but 1944 01:12:32,800 --> 01:12:37,360 just realize I I'll say one thing here. 1945 01:12:35,760 --> 01:12:39,920 I was going to say I have a little video 1946 01:12:37,359 --> 01:12:42,158 here I'll show you about Dongbe. Has 1947 01:12:39,920 --> 01:12:44,560 anybody ever been to Dongbe? You've been 1948 01:12:42,158 --> 01:12:46,960 to Dongay? Why did you go to Dongbe? 1949 01:12:44,560 --> 01:12:50,880 This is northeast China, Manuria. Where 1950 01:12:46,960 --> 01:12:52,158 did you go? Because I I was born there. 1951 01:12:50,880 --> 01:12:54,079 >> Oh, no way. You were born in Gil 1952 01:12:52,158 --> 01:12:55,039 Province. Fantastic. Fantastic. Where 1953 01:12:54,079 --> 01:12:56,559 else you went there? 1954 01:12:55,039 --> 01:12:58,880 >> Uh skiing. 1955 01:12:56,560 --> 01:13:00,400 >> You went skiing? Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah, 1956 01:12:58,880 --> 01:13:01,840 you went to like Halongja. 1957 01:13:00,399 --> 01:13:04,639 >> Yeah. Yeah. 1958 01:13:01,840 --> 01:13:06,400 >> Nice. I I was in Leoning this summer. I 1959 01:13:04,640 --> 01:13:09,679 had a very nice time. Great historical 1960 01:13:06,399 --> 01:13:12,319 place. Uh I was going to say so Dong is 1961 01:13:09,679 --> 01:13:13,760 definitely unique. Uh it's unique in a 1962 01:13:12,319 --> 01:13:16,000 number of ways. So you will see if you 1963 01:13:13,760 --> 01:13:18,000 go up to uh Haleyongjang, one of the 1964 01:13:16,000 --> 01:13:20,238 provinces, you go to Harbin, it's like 1965 01:13:18,000 --> 01:13:22,719 almost in Russia and it does have some 1966 01:13:20,238 --> 01:13:24,559 old sort of Russian architecture that's 1967 01:13:22,719 --> 01:13:27,600 around. It's very interesting to kind of 1968 01:13:24,560 --> 01:13:29,520 see. Uh Manuria is very important in the 1969 01:13:27,600 --> 01:13:31,039 20th century. You realize that like 1970 01:13:29,520 --> 01:13:33,040 during World War II, it's a big sight of 1971 01:13:31,039 --> 01:13:35,439 contention. Japan sort of sets up a 1972 01:13:33,039 --> 01:13:37,840 puppet government in Manuria. I guess I 1973 01:13:35,439 --> 01:13:41,359 would say what would I say about it? 1974 01:13:37,840 --> 01:13:43,440 Just realize that first of all and I 1975 01:13:41,359 --> 01:13:45,679 this is again one of those things I 1976 01:13:43,439 --> 01:13:48,000 notice over the years that people in 1977 01:13:45,679 --> 01:13:50,960 China today associate people with from 1978 01:13:48,000 --> 01:13:53,279 Dongbe with being very funny with being 1979 01:13:50,960 --> 01:13:55,198 humorous. Okay. And there's all of these 1980 01:13:53,279 --> 01:13:57,759 folks I'll just see if see if my video 1981 01:13:55,198 --> 01:14:01,279 plays. You could you can watch these 1982 01:13:57,760 --> 01:14:05,159 shows on Chinese TV. It's like a 1983 01:14:01,279 --> 01:14:05,158 humorous talk show. 1984 01:14:05,279 --> 01:14:12,198 So, so she's like from Dongbe. She's got 1985 01:14:08,640 --> 01:14:12,199 a Dombbe accent 1986 01:14:12,640 --> 01:14:16,640 >> and and and there's this like there's 1987 01:14:14,880 --> 01:14:18,159 like this kind of humor and I don't know 1988 01:14:16,640 --> 01:14:19,840 exactly how to describe it, but it's 1989 01:14:18,158 --> 01:14:22,719 like people just think Dome people are 1990 01:14:19,840 --> 01:14:24,800 funny. I don't I I I I don't know what 1991 01:14:22,719 --> 01:14:26,719 is there a scientific basis of this. I 1992 01:14:24,800 --> 01:14:28,640 don't know, but just realize that like 1993 01:14:26,719 --> 01:14:30,319 that's what people will say. Okay. So, 1994 01:14:28,640 --> 01:14:30,719 do you think it's true? 1995 01:14:30,319 --> 01:14:31,759 >> Yeah. 1996 01:14:30,719 --> 01:14:32,960 >> You think it's true? You think it's 1997 01:14:31,760 --> 01:14:34,640 true? They're a little bit funnier. 1998 01:14:32,960 --> 01:14:36,158 Like, you know, I don't know. Like, are 1999 01:14:34,640 --> 01:14:37,679 there parts of America where you'd say 2000 01:14:36,158 --> 01:14:39,839 like, "Okay, people from that state are 2001 01:14:37,679 --> 01:14:41,199 just funny." Do we have that? 2002 01:14:39,840 --> 01:14:42,800 >> Where are people funny? I don't think 2003 01:14:41,198 --> 01:14:43,919 Massachusetts people are that funny. I'm 2004 01:14:42,800 --> 01:14:46,640 going to be honest with you. I'm from 2005 01:14:43,920 --> 01:14:48,719 here. Where where are people funny? 2006 01:14:46,640 --> 01:14:51,360 >> I feel like it's more that we know where 2007 01:14:48,719 --> 01:14:53,279 people are. Excuse like jerks. 2008 01:14:51,359 --> 01:14:56,000 >> Okay. See, I see. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. 2009 01:14:53,279 --> 01:14:58,800 Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We know where people 2010 01:14:56,000 --> 01:15:01,520 have attitude. Yeah. Yeah. Attitude for 2011 01:14:58,800 --> 01:15:03,039 sure. Yeah. Uh Yeah. you know, you know, 2012 01:15:01,520 --> 01:15:05,280 humor. It's kind of an interesting 2013 01:15:03,039 --> 01:15:07,119 question, right? Like like who's funny, 2014 01:15:05,279 --> 01:15:08,960 who's not, right? But like this is one 2015 01:15:07,119 --> 01:15:11,599 thing just to kind of throw in there, 2016 01:15:08,960 --> 01:15:13,198 right? All right. So, continuing on, we 2017 01:15:11,600 --> 01:15:16,320 don't have a ton of time left. I want to 2018 01:15:13,198 --> 01:15:19,039 take if you go south from Dong Bay, from 2019 01:15:16,319 --> 01:15:20,719 northeastern China in that area all 2020 01:15:19,039 --> 01:15:23,198 around Beijing, basically the south of 2021 01:15:20,719 --> 01:15:25,840 Beijing ma mainly, you get to this north 2022 01:15:23,198 --> 01:15:28,879 China plane and it's flat. This is a 2023 01:15:25,840 --> 01:15:30,560 very very old area. Okay, what I mean by 2024 01:15:28,880 --> 01:15:32,960 that is people have been farming here 2025 01:15:30,560 --> 01:15:35,440 for thousands of years. Very very early 2026 01:15:32,960 --> 01:15:38,880 Chinese history starts, you know, is 2027 01:15:35,439 --> 01:15:41,439 around here in a big big way. And this 2028 01:15:38,880 --> 01:15:44,480 is a fascinating place because on the 2029 01:15:41,439 --> 01:15:47,198 one hand, it's so important. It's near 2030 01:15:44,479 --> 01:15:50,799 at least the capital in the later eras. 2031 01:15:47,198 --> 01:15:53,119 It's also where the Yellow River sort of 2032 01:15:50,800 --> 01:15:54,400 it gets to the North China plane. And 2033 01:15:53,119 --> 01:15:56,640 this is where the Yellow River gets 2034 01:15:54,399 --> 01:16:00,000 really violent because the North China 2035 01:15:56,640 --> 01:16:02,400 plane is flat. So the Yellow River every 2036 01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:04,960 few hundred years changes course across 2037 01:16:02,399 --> 01:16:07,279 the North China plane and you can it's 2038 01:16:04,960 --> 01:16:09,520 devastating floods, crop failures and 2039 01:16:07,279 --> 01:16:11,519 there's chaos. That's in a way one of 2040 01:16:09,520 --> 01:16:14,480 the things you could say this is again a 2041 01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:16,719 generalization. Northerners have a sort 2042 01:16:14,479 --> 01:16:18,479 of like let's say the state has been 2043 01:16:16,719 --> 01:16:20,399 more interventionist in the north, 2044 01:16:18,479 --> 01:16:22,559 right? The state kind of originates in 2045 01:16:20,399 --> 01:16:24,079 the north, right? around in some ways 2046 01:16:22,560 --> 01:16:27,120 the control of the yellow river because 2047 01:16:24,079 --> 01:16:30,000 you have to control it is the south very 2048 01:16:27,119 --> 01:16:32,479 far far away right it's less control 2049 01:16:30,000 --> 01:16:35,198 more lass fair more like oh you know 2050 01:16:32,479 --> 01:16:36,399 tanga right heaven's high the emperor is 2051 01:16:35,198 --> 01:16:38,399 far away right it's a different 2052 01:16:36,399 --> 01:16:39,920 relationship you know that's what's this 2053 01:16:38,399 --> 01:16:41,599 it's sort of this is one of the ways 2054 01:16:39,920 --> 01:16:44,399 that you could think a little bit about 2055 01:16:41,600 --> 01:16:46,079 south north yeah uh confucious is from 2056 01:16:44,399 --> 01:16:48,238 the north China plane right he's from 2057 01:16:46,079 --> 01:16:50,158 Shandong province we'll encounter him in 2058 01:16:48,238 --> 01:16:52,399 a bit a number of the big early 2059 01:16:50,158 --> 01:16:55,759 confusion philosophers ers are from this 2060 01:16:52,399 --> 01:16:59,359 area. Okay. So, it's got like an 2061 01:16:55,760 --> 01:17:01,679 association, you could say, with um with 2062 01:16:59,359 --> 01:17:03,839 with Confucianism and with ancient 2063 01:17:01,679 --> 01:17:05,440 learning and with, you know, again, the 2064 01:17:03,840 --> 01:17:07,600 area around the late imperial capitals 2065 01:17:05,439 --> 01:17:09,919 as I mentioned, but it's also a place 2066 01:17:07,600 --> 01:17:12,800 you could say of in sometimes like 2067 01:17:09,920 --> 01:17:15,199 lawlessness, okay, in rebellions, right, 2068 01:17:12,800 --> 01:17:18,320 that threaten the state. One of those 2069 01:17:15,198 --> 01:17:20,238 big Chinese novels, right? Water margin. 2070 01:17:18,319 --> 01:17:21,759 This is the we've already went over. My 2071 01:17:20,238 --> 01:17:24,000 god, just one class. We went over three 2072 01:17:21,760 --> 01:17:25,600 of the big novels today. Yeah. Uh, this 2073 01:17:24,000 --> 01:17:27,600 takes place, you could say, in this 2074 01:17:25,600 --> 01:17:29,199 area. It's like outlaws, right? So, 2075 01:17:27,600 --> 01:17:30,960 there's it's a very interesting 2076 01:17:29,198 --> 01:17:32,639 location. It's a very interesting place. 2077 01:17:30,960 --> 01:17:34,079 All right, two minutes left. I use it. 2078 01:17:32,640 --> 01:17:36,079 By the way, I always use like all of 2079 01:17:34,079 --> 01:17:37,439 class time. Okay. I just like I just 2080 01:17:36,079 --> 01:17:39,279 keep talking. You know what I mean? 2081 01:17:37,439 --> 01:17:41,198 Like, I just can't shut up about this 2082 01:17:39,279 --> 01:17:44,000 stuff. I apologize, but like I just love 2083 01:17:41,198 --> 01:17:46,319 it. Okay. One really, really, really, 2084 01:17:44,000 --> 01:17:48,719 really, really fascinating thing that's 2085 01:17:46,319 --> 01:17:50,799 important in dynastic Chinese history is 2086 01:17:48,719 --> 01:17:53,039 this thing. North to south the Grand 2087 01:17:50,800 --> 01:17:55,600 Canal. This was like the superighway of 2088 01:17:53,039 --> 01:17:56,960 dynastic China. It is constructed, 2089 01:17:55,600 --> 01:17:58,320 believe it or not, you won't believe 2090 01:17:56,960 --> 01:18:00,640 this, but it's like when I tell you 2091 01:17:58,319 --> 01:18:03,119 this, it's like, well, where is it? Go 2092 01:18:00,640 --> 01:18:04,719 back. Go back, please. Here we go. 2093 01:18:03,119 --> 01:18:06,559 Where's my date? No, it doesn't. There. 2094 01:18:04,719 --> 01:18:08,560 Okay, whatever. I'll just tell you. The 2095 01:18:06,560 --> 01:18:11,920 origins of the Grand Canal go back to 2096 01:18:08,560 --> 01:18:13,440 the seventh century. Okay, so you got 2097 01:18:11,920 --> 01:18:14,800 me. This is one of those things in China 2098 01:18:13,439 --> 01:18:17,919 where you're like, "What? Really? What 2099 01:18:14,800 --> 01:18:19,440 do you mean? You mean like a canal was 2100 01:18:17,920 --> 01:18:22,239 constructed in the seventh century and 2101 01:18:19,439 --> 01:18:25,039 then remained being used until like a 2102 01:18:22,238 --> 01:18:27,279 100 years ago? Yes. Basically, yes. Uh 2103 01:18:25,039 --> 01:18:29,119 it doesn't it didn't flow in exactly the 2104 01:18:27,279 --> 01:18:31,039 same area. The origins of the Grand 2105 01:18:29,119 --> 01:18:33,439 Canal were actually this southern this 2106 01:18:31,039 --> 01:18:36,158 this one that you see here. It connected 2107 01:18:33,439 --> 01:18:39,359 the Tong Dynasty capital of Lyang with 2108 01:18:36,158 --> 01:18:41,279 the south. Okay. Then in later years it 2109 01:18:39,359 --> 01:18:42,960 got expanded and eventually in the late 2110 01:18:41,279 --> 01:18:45,198 in the later period it basically 2111 01:18:42,960 --> 01:18:46,239 connects Beijing and the South. that 2112 01:18:45,198 --> 01:18:48,879 goes all the way down. You could say 2113 01:18:46,238 --> 01:18:51,198 like to Nanjing, Hjo, that area all the 2114 01:18:48,880 --> 01:18:53,440 way from north. It's like you get on 2115 01:18:51,198 --> 01:18:54,799 there and you and you can go north 2116 01:18:53,439 --> 01:18:57,039 south. It's like you can transport 2117 01:18:54,800 --> 01:18:59,440 grain. The emperor can travel it if he's 2118 01:18:57,039 --> 01:19:02,000 going to the south, right? It's a super 2119 01:18:59,439 --> 01:19:04,399 important way that the empire was 2120 01:19:02,000 --> 01:19:06,880 connected. Today there's highspeed rail. 2121 01:19:04,399 --> 01:19:11,279 At that time there was the Grand Canal. 2122 01:19:06,880 --> 01:19:14,319 Okay, I realize we're out of time. So go 2123 01:19:11,279 --> 01:19:15,920 home, tell your friends. Tell your 2124 01:19:14,319 --> 01:19:17,679 friends, enjoy the weekend. I'll see you 2125 01:19:15,920 --> 01:19:21,800 on Monday. We'll finish up our tour of 2126 01:19:17,679 --> 01:19:21,800 China and continue onward.