中文
HOME
HOME / LATEST NEWS / Content

History Department: Lecture Series on Ancient Chinese History Report II

March 4, 2019

The second lecture on ancient Chinese History to the 7th-8th graders was addressed in room 413 of the Middle School Building during lunchtime on March 4th, 2019. This time Ms. Chen Lu mainly centered on three important philosophical ideas and their influence on the later Qin and Han Dynasties. First, she briefly introduced the main teachings of Confucianism and Legalism. Then she used specific examples of the Qin and Han dynasties to explain how the rulers applied those ideas to the social governance. Examples include the policy of burning books and burying Confucian scholars during the Qin Dynasty, as well as the necessity of reading Confucian texts and passing exams based on them for the scholars who wanted to get a position in the Han government. After the students understood the basic ideas and differences between those philosophical systems, Ms. Chen handed out “situation cards”. On these cards were a situation to be dealt with. The students were asked to find a way to solve the problems and encouraged to evaluate which method would be the most effective.

The students enjoyed the freedom to discuss with each other during the lecture and they even developed some new topics which were also worthy to be brainstormed. These included whether these ideas can be applied to the modern society or just be seen as one part of the ancient legacies left by our ancestors. There will be more lectures about Ancient Chinese History organized by the History Department in the future. Please look forward to attending them!

(Written by Shen Zhou Pictures by Shen Zhou)