UCLA Center for East Asian Studies Educational Resources

Confucian Thought

Goals
This unit is a follow up to two proceeding units on China; one on the political history of China from the Qin to the Tang, and a unit on Chinese culture in which students learned the basic themes and styles of Chinese art and poetry, and learned to read and write (in simple form) several Chinese characters.  Students in this unit will develop a sense of historical empathy with the lives and perspectives of people in China during the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties.  Students will also develop an intellectual understanding of the Confucian beliefs and values that guided and shaped the lives and actions of the Chinese during this time period.

OBJECTIVES - 1. Students will read, analyze, and make use of selections from Confucian literature to demonstrate their understanding of their meaning and importance. 2. Students will practice and develop skills in Chinese calligraphy in order to appreciate the importance of tradition, art, and literacy in Chinese culture.

DAY ONE - This unit is presented to the students with the following introduction:

As you have learned, during the Sui Dynasty a civil service system was set up using exams to find the most knowledgeable and capable people to work in the government. Three of the main subjects on these exams were Chinese history, the Confucian classics, and Chinese calligraphy. You have already learned much about Chinese history, and you have learned how to read, and write in simple form, several characters used in Chinese calligraphy. In the next four days you will have a chance to learn some of the main ideas from the Confucian classics, and to practice Chinese calligraphy with brushes and ink. On the fifth day you will be taking a simplified civil service exam with questions about Chinese history, Confucian ideas, and a section to demonstrate your skills in Chinese calligraphy. If you do well you will not only earn more points, but you will earn a job in the Chinese government and as such will receive special foods--almond cookies--and other rewards.

After this introduction the worksheet "Confucian Philosophy-Part I" is passed out to the students. The teacher explains the directions to the students and then the students take 15-20 minutes to write their answers. At the end of this time the teacher leads a discussion about the three Confucian virtues using the students' answers as prompts. The homework for today is for the students to write a paragraph answering the question, "How might these Confucian virtues be important for you in the things you want to do in your life?"

DAY TWO - The worksheet "Confucian Philosophy ? Part II" is passed out to the students. The teacher explains the directions to the students and makes sure to point out the words in the quotation that are defined in the brackets. Students are told to work on the front side for ten minutes and the teacher walks around the room providing guidance. After ten minutes the students are asked to work with the person next to them for seven minutes to compare their work. When the time is up the teacher asks for answers to fill in a copy of the diagram from the worksheet that is drawn on the overhead. The teacher then explains the directions for the backside of the worksheet. The students are given ten minutes to complete this. When the time is up the teacher asks for their answers ' and writes them on the overhead. Using the information from both sides of the worksheet the teacher leads a discussion about the way these ideas shaped Chinese society. Homework for tonight is for students to write a paragraph about what duties they have to their relatives and to their society.

DAY THREE - The teacher introduces today's activity by describing the importance of Chinese calligraphy as a way of passing down traditions related to scholarship and art. The handout "Chinese Calligraphy-Part I" is passed out to the students and the students are told they will be practicing by making copies of each of the strokes by writing in the boxes on the handout. Brushes and diluted black paint in paper cups are then passed out to the students. The students spend the period carefully learning how to use the brushes to form the strokes correctly as the teacher walks around the room providing guidance. Materials are collected at the end of class.

DAY FOUR - The teacher passes out the handout "Chinese Calligraphy-Part II" and explains that today the students will be practicing how to write several words using the strokes they learned yesterday. The brushes and paint are passed out to the students. The students spend thirty minutes making copies of the words on their worksheets. For the last ten minutes of class the teacher leads a discussion about the difficulties and amount of training that would be involved in learning how to properly write the thousands of words that a scholar would have to know how to write, and who would have the time and money in order to do this. Materials are collected at the end of class. Homework for tonight is for students to study their notes on Chinese history, Confucian philosophy, and Chinese writing to prepare for the "Civil Service Exam" tomorrow.

DAY FIVE- Students are given the first part of the Civil Service Exam which consists of matching, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer question about Chinese history, and Confucian philosophy. When the students complete this part they bring their papers up to the front and take a sheet for the last section of the exam in which they must write three words in Chinese calligraphy. They take a brush and a cup of paint back to their seat and work on this until the end of the period.

DAY SIX - Follow-up; the answers to the exam are reviewed in class and the teacher leads a discussion about how this exam was used in China and in what ways it may or may not have been effective in choosing government workers.