Go And Find Examples

I planned a syllabus for Chinese history out of thin air.  There was a requirement when I did so to take two field trips.  I didn’t think two long before I settled on one as being the Shanghai Museum.  The school I teach at is quite close the People’s Park.  It will be quick walk up the road and over to the facility. 

I bothered to check and: yes, it’s open, gee, it’s free, and right, as suspected every major period of Chinese history is accounted for.  In my mind when I drew up my plans I’d budgeted hours to go and explore the facility.   It’s the morning before we’re supposed to go and I still need to decide what we’ll actually do there.

In the distant past when I taught high school, we went to museums.  I took middle school kids there as well.  And I don’t know that the assignment will be radically different taking undergrads over to the facility either.  We’ve been covering these things.  Go and find examples of such things from this or that period and come back prepared to speak intelligently about them.   At least with twenty-somethings I don’t need to worry about anyone vandalizing the artefacts. 

And you take for granted that it will be interesting.  But I was surprised how stirring some of the syncretic Buddhist Art was.  How magnificent it was to see an enormous jade axe from the earliest Shang.  And how topical it was to think about Tang representations and how different they were from Song depictions of people.  Here is calligraphy from Huizong himself.  Magnificent. 

I bump into a few of the groups and they seem energized.  We’ll have something to talk about at the beginning of tomorrow’s class, for sure.  I’ve wanted to take my daughters here for the longest time now.  I’m newly resolved to make this happen. 

Thursday 5/24/18