Asia Current Events
Philippines/China
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-01-210213.html
In this article, Asia Times covers the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines over areas in the South China Sea. Although there isn't any land in those areas, it is estimated that the sea could contain up to 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under its surface! Although the Philippines needs an economic boost of this proportion, China won't give this area up easily. Both countries lay claim to this area, and the Philippines has been almost contradicting itself by trying to get the area both by force and by diplomatic attempts. President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, is purchasing fighter jets and navy ships from neighboring countries and requesting American military presence in the islands, but meanwhile asking China to let the U.N. settle the dispute. China has emphatically refused this course of action, most likely because by the U.N.'s Law of the Sea, that territory would probably rightfully belong to the Philippines.
This situation is comparable to many things we have learned about in the course. While it is somewhat similar to the Jews' and Palestinians' disputes over land in the Middle East, I would say it more resembles the Scramble for Africa, when the European countries were debating who should get claims to what area and its natural resources. However, I think the closest match, which we actually learned about today, is the debate between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. In fact, a direct quote from the article states: "China's showdown with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea... has by association stirred anxieties in the Philippines. [The Philippines] maintain strategic partnerships with... [Japan], ties that President Aquino is bidding to deepen to close its yawning defense gap with China." As you can see, the reason that the Philippines is afraid it might lose this area is because they see the connection between these disputes as well.
In this article, Asia Times covers the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines over areas in the South China Sea. Although there isn't any land in those areas, it is estimated that the sea could contain up to 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under its surface! Although the Philippines needs an economic boost of this proportion, China won't give this area up easily. Both countries lay claim to this area, and the Philippines has been almost contradicting itself by trying to get the area both by force and by diplomatic attempts. President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, is purchasing fighter jets and navy ships from neighboring countries and requesting American military presence in the islands, but meanwhile asking China to let the U.N. settle the dispute. China has emphatically refused this course of action, most likely because by the U.N.'s Law of the Sea, that territory would probably rightfully belong to the Philippines.
This situation is comparable to many things we have learned about in the course. While it is somewhat similar to the Jews' and Palestinians' disputes over land in the Middle East, I would say it more resembles the Scramble for Africa, when the European countries were debating who should get claims to what area and its natural resources. However, I think the closest match, which we actually learned about today, is the debate between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. In fact, a direct quote from the article states: "China's showdown with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea... has by association stirred anxieties in the Philippines. [The Philippines] maintain strategic partnerships with... [Japan], ties that President Aquino is bidding to deepen to close its yawning defense gap with China." As you can see, the reason that the Philippines is afraid it might lose this area is because they see the connection between these disputes as well.
Crossing the Pop Culture Universe
Anime
Anime is a modern Japanese art form, very popular among American youth. (If you have met a sufficient number of American youths, you know this.) A classic trademark of anime is very out-of-proportion eyes (see below), which is said to be originally inspired by Europeans--when the Japanese first made a real connection with the West, they were impressed by our eyes, which in comparison to theirs seemed extremely large. This idea eventually evolved into an art form. An ironic aspect of this story is that while we associate anime with Japan, they associate anime with European Americans! This may be one of the reasons that anime is so popular here. The best American equivalent would most likely be the classic American cartoons, such as the Marvel superhero cartoons, which were popular before anime was introduced. Both are very famous among younger people (and sometimes with adults as well), are often made into comics and graphic novels, and feature idealizations of the human body (in anime's case, more often with females). Anime, however, is distinctly Japanese, and most anime cartoons, both written and on television, are in Japanese as well. However, this hasn't made them any less popular with Americans.
Photoblog
Japan
Web Archaeology
The Sword of Goujian
Found it on Wikipedia... I hope I don't get marked down for that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian
The sword of Goujian is a very ancient relic, created during what is known as the Spring and Autumn period (during the days of the Zhou) in the Kingdom of Yue. It is made of bronze and was found in an airtight wooden sheath, which amazingly preserved it and kept it from rusting for thousands of years. There are many studies that can be done with an ancient sword, although many have already been conducted using this primary source. However, to learn more about the ancient Chinese, I have a few studies I would like to try on it. First of all, I would inspect the blade to see how even and flat it is. Any dents in the blade could tell many things, such as the type of tools that were used to forge it and what it was used for. For example, if there are large, shallow, round dents, that could reveal that the mallets built in those days were round or cylindrical. If the blade were very flat and near perfect, that would show the astounding advances that this era made in metalwork (and possible the sword's lack of use).
I would also try using the blade itself, in comparison to other swords of the same type, but made recently. This one was forged by a king for his personal use (as we know by the ancient writing on the blade). Therefore, it is definitely very high quality, but a fine craftsman 2000 years ago may not create a sword as powerful as a cheap sword made with modern-day technology. However, Goujian's sword is known as being ahead of its time in weaponry, so perhaps it would be just as useful in warfare as our swords would. It would be interesting to test them against each other. (Sidenote: Honestly, however, I would just really like to use the sword. I have many old-fashioned weapons, including a wushu broadsword and a longbow, and I find them far cooler than guns and explosive weapons of any sort. :) )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian
The sword of Goujian is a very ancient relic, created during what is known as the Spring and Autumn period (during the days of the Zhou) in the Kingdom of Yue. It is made of bronze and was found in an airtight wooden sheath, which amazingly preserved it and kept it from rusting for thousands of years. There are many studies that can be done with an ancient sword, although many have already been conducted using this primary source. However, to learn more about the ancient Chinese, I have a few studies I would like to try on it. First of all, I would inspect the blade to see how even and flat it is. Any dents in the blade could tell many things, such as the type of tools that were used to forge it and what it was used for. For example, if there are large, shallow, round dents, that could reveal that the mallets built in those days were round or cylindrical. If the blade were very flat and near perfect, that would show the astounding advances that this era made in metalwork (and possible the sword's lack of use).
I would also try using the blade itself, in comparison to other swords of the same type, but made recently. This one was forged by a king for his personal use (as we know by the ancient writing on the blade). Therefore, it is definitely very high quality, but a fine craftsman 2000 years ago may not create a sword as powerful as a cheap sword made with modern-day technology. However, Goujian's sword is known as being ahead of its time in weaponry, so perhaps it would be just as useful in warfare as our swords would. It would be interesting to test them against each other. (Sidenote: Honestly, however, I would just really like to use the sword. I have many old-fashioned weapons, including a wushu broadsword and a longbow, and I find them far cooler than guns and explosive weapons of any sort. :) )