Poetry of the Past: Tang and Song Poetry

Upon reading poems from the Tang and Song dynasties, I must say that I enjoyed them. The way the poems are written it is usually very clear what the point of the poem is and what emotion is being portrayed of concealed. Even though my favoritism lies with the poetry of the Tang dynasty, I enjoyed the  perspective gained by reading the poetry of both the Song and Tang dynasties.

Throughout history, the reasons people share their emotions changes. Some dynasties oppressed the feelings of their citizens, while others encouraged the sharing and expression of life and culture. To me the poetry from both of these dynasties is an outpouring of emotion and culture. In poetry from both dynasties, the moon seems to appear as an emotional symbol of unity, while drinking is often associated with loneliness and nature, especially in the symbolic lines of Li Bai's poetry. Strong connections with nature also seem to be a motif throughout the poetry of both dynasties. However, Song poetry was much shorter than the poetry of the Tang, but was often much more morbid, focusing less on the unity of the world through nature, and much more centered around suffering. Often in Song poetry it appears that the author feels a pull towards death or a lost one whom they very dearly cherished. Song poetry also seems to carry some discontent towards the government and ruling bureaucracies at the time, while Tang poetry is much more about personal loneliness and grief.

Indirectly poems always reflect upon the person that wrote them, but not always on the societies from which they were written. In the case of Tang and Song poetry however, I think that the poems are an accurate reflection of the societies that they came from. Poetry from the both the Tang and Song dynasty is rich with themes and symbols that are reoccurring, such as the moon, alcohol and family. Through these poems we can see the strong aspects of Chinese society. Smart children, polite young children inquiring about a journey, drinking with the moon and the unity the moon brings to all those who are separated. These could very well have been feelings that the people of Song and Tang (post-clasical) China fostered and lived with. I think that this poetry could absolutely be used to reflect upon as well as gather knowledge of Tang and Song Chinese culture from. Literature is a rich source of information, and poetry helps to add another dimension to this literature, a dimension of emotion that can been seem from the eyes of the author, and I think that is important when learning about a culture and its traditions.

A Short Video: The Expansion of Islam

The link below is just a short ShowMe presentation on the expansion of Islam throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa and modern-day Spain. Enjoy!


Spread of Islam ShowMe (Click Here)

A Movement to Christianity Through Constantine and Prince Vladimir

The conversion to Christianity from other classical era religions was a common motif through societies in the post-classical era. The conversions of both Constantine and Price Vladimir go to show this. Both Price Vladimir and Constantine chose to convert to Christianity, but were their motives similar? Or were they two unrelated events?

According to legend Constantine converted when he saw a vision going into battle telling him to hail God as the high power, which he did. When his army won the battle he converted and declared himself a Christian. He then issued the "Edict of Milan," which allowed Christianity within the empire, making Roman law neutral to the Christian religion. But is that really the story? Although there is a lot we don't know about Constantine, we do know that his mother was a Christian, and that perhaps he just converted after having a personal awakening, religious battles not included (although we will never know).

Prince Vladimir is a different story though. His legend states that he sent emissaries around Eurasia to observe religions, and that they had been overwhelmed by the beauty of the Hagia Sophia and the mass that took place in it. Assured by the reports of splendor, Vladimir converted to this new, beautiful religion. But there is another story behind Vladimir as well. Vladimir, having a well known reputation for being drunken and having a store of girls, was least likely to be given the hand in marriage of princess Anna. To improve his image, he converted to Christianity as a move to gain Anna's hand in marriage.

So were these conversions similar movements in history or not? In my opinion, they were not. For all practical purposes, it appears that Prince Vladimir converted out of his own self want, and then to make the gesture more grand, encouraged his subjects to follow his example. Constantine, on the other hand, converted because of what appears to have been a personal awakening, not a political agenda. But were the effects of these movements on their empires different? I don't think so. Both Russia and Byzantine accepted Christianity as a religion because of these movements, and in Russia it was strongly encouraged. These movements ultimately lead to the spread of Byzantine influence and culture into Russia. This movement of culture had a great influence on the culture of Russia, which strongly resonated aspects of the Byzantine empire.

A Comparison: Byzantine Architecture

While perusing the internet observing Byzantine architecture, I noticed a few patterns. The most predominant of these was the reappearing themes was sloping. Throughout all periods of Persian architecture, slopes and large walls were a recurrent themes. Although churches were large and elaborate coated with gold and ornate decorations, they weren't overly dissimilar to other buildings. Among buildings that were larger and along the shore, they tended to be much blocky-er, but retained their slopes roofs, an overall motif throughout Persian architecture. Some of the Persian architecture also seems to have been influenced by Perian architecture, such as large and elaborate domes.

As far as the influence of Byzantine architecture on American architecture, it seems to have influenced early American architecture much more than later American architecture. Some historical churches and cathedrals throughout America are clearly visible in large steeples. The domes that were recurrent throughout our government buildings, such as the state building and capitol building, both of which have large and ornately decorated domes.

The Everlasting War on Biased Information

One of the crucial elements in the battle for information is making sure that the information you find is valid. Today we looked over 7 documents about the city of Constantinople. Here is a brief analysis of the documents:

Document 1:

It appears that the first document, written by Rabbi Benjamir, was intended as a historical document. It went into great detail about the city of Constantinople, and about King Manuel. It is this impression that leads me to believe that the document might be written from the viewpoint of someone close to the government within the city, as was written with an air of flattery. However, it appears to be a reliable source by a Rabbi who was interested in documenting the splendor of the city.

Document 2:

 Document two does not seem as reliable as document one was. It tends to exaggerate on  details, and seems to have been written from an outsider of the city for the sole reason of displaying the grandeur of the city in writing, so it could be known to people in the future. Document 2 was written by Robert of Clari, and seems of be an account of the height of Constantinople. 

Document 3:

Document 3 was written by Nicetas, and is clearly written by an outsider of the city looking from a perspective of someone thoroughly opposed to Latin rule. The passage explains how the Latin people had ruined the city, and brought it down into a wasted civilization of liars and corruption. The document was written by someone with a clear bias towards the inhabitants of Constantinople, perhaps by a foreign tribe. The document is not a reliable source of information at all.

Document 4:

Document 4 was a painted map of Constantinople and the areas around it. The map, which shows the structures of Constantinople towering over those of neighboring cities. The document, by its nature was most likely devised by a person from within the empire for a historical purpose, perhaps commissioned by a ruler of government official for the documentation of Constantine. The Document may be reliable in some ways, but the inaccurate cartography the denoted the maps of the era denotes that the map should not be used as a measure of size in comparison to the land and sea/straights around Constantinople.

Document 5:

The 5th is unique in that it is modern photograph, and therefore incredibly reliable. The motive behind the photographer who appears to have been of a foreign nation was most likely taking pictures of the Chapel (now a Mosque) as documentation of the incredible architecture of the ancient city. By its nature, it is a very reliable resource to document Constantinople, but gives a very limited view.

Document 6:

Document 6 seemed to emphasize the importance of religion and glorify its effect and influences. The document was written by Acropolis, who from the context of the passage would appear to be a religious official of the time in the city of Constantinople. The effect of the passage seems to be to bring people to religion or convince them of the power of religion. Although an interesting document, it seems to be a little biased and again to give a  limitless scope of Constantinople. 

Document 7:

Document 7 appears to be a document detailing the privileges that would be received by the Venetians in return for the soldiers that they contributed towards the Byzantium army. It was written by Chysobull, who from the passage seems to be an official of the government. It appears that the document was written as a historical document and appears to be accurate, but has room for exaggerations and biases. 

I think the most credible document was document number one. Written by a rabbi from a very factual perspective, it gives a wide perspective of Constantinople and offers viewpoints that can help us gain thorough insight into Constantinople. It was also written in a historical aspect and gives clear insight that seems to be relatively free of wild exaggerations and enhancement, which gives a view free of overwhelming biases, which leads to clarity and accuracy in the document.

Review: Mapping, a Collaborative Experience

3 things that went well:

• We were able to transfer cities to the map relatively easily, although it did take two of us
• Once we picked our goods, we were able to agree the routes they traveled with ease
• My partner and I were able to communicate and be on the same page well enough during the outage to get what we wanted to into the map (like methods of transport)

3 things I wan't happy with:

• I wasn't happy with how crowded my week was, I don't think my stress was very helpful to my partner
• I think we could have thought of a better way to transfer the map to the larger paper
• I wasn't quite happy with the layout of the map, but we didn't really plan it well enough ahead of time, but, ya get out what ya put in.

What was hard/ difficult?

• There wasn't a lot of information available about the silk road during the time period we were researching, and that made finding the routes/ predicting the routes difficult

Collaboration:

• This might have been one of the greatest collaborative experiences of my life. My partner and I were in harmony the whole project, and were able to find enough time to work together after school, even with the power out. Although the map might be a little rough around the edges, it is a project I would gladly turn in. When the power went out we were able to divide the work seamlessly (which worked out well for our respective situations). I think collaboration defiantly helped quite a bit with this project.

Re-do time:

• If I had to do the project over again, I would probably start by planning the map better and maybe enlarging it using a more specific method. I would also choose more exotic products, depending on the information available.