Author: egasparr

In this weeks reading, Chuang Tzu, discusses the importance of knowledge in Part C. The viewpoint discussed in the story had never crossed my mind before.

The quote, “A good cook changes his knife once a year-because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month-because he hacks. I’ve had this knife of mine for nineteen years and I’ve cut up thousands of oxen with it, and yet the blade is as good as though it had just come from the grindstone” stood out to me.

This metaphor touches on the idea of knowledge in a range of deep ways. I understood the knife represented the range of knowledge. As many derail from their paths of knowledge, others continue to build on their paths. There are other individuals that choose to continue their knowledge paths, holding onto their previous knowledge and mastering it. I have learned from this metaphor that the people of this culture value mastering knowledge and showing pride in this.

After much thought, I realized that our own society revolves around the same concept. As a college student, I am working to receive a degree in order to master my major, marketing. Future employers look for degrees as it is important for employees to have much knowledge in their fields.

In the Tao Te Ching poem book a quote that stood out to me was, “Accept country’s filth and and become master of its sacred soil” (Addiss, Lombardo). I interpreted this quote by understanding that one may view something in a completely different opinion than someone else. In this example the author is claiming that some may view soil as filthy and some may view it as sacred (showing that an opinion may be subject to change as well).

In my own life I have seen this in a variety of ways. My least favorite food is muscles as the texture look has always made me queasy. Every Christmas Eve this dish is a staple in my family as my great aunt always cooks it as a special meal. As I cringe in disgust my family devours the muscles, savoring every bite. Even though I have always said I will never try this dish, I might feel differently about the dish after trying it.

Another life example that comes to mind is my love for country music. Even though I am a fan of much music, many people tend to dislike this genre that I enjoy. While eating dinner with my roommate tonight she said, “Country music sounds like nails on a chalkboard.” Besides country music, many have various opinions on music showing no one has the exact same liking of things. The books quote stands true in all aspects of life, proving we must be accepting of everyones differences.

In music, many values are portrayed through the artist’s lyrics. Across all genres, including rap, pop, and country, common themes of trust and honesty are shown. Drake’s hit “Trust Issues” is about trust in relationships because he believes people may judging him based off his money. He quotes, “All I care about is money and the city that I’m from”, stating many only care about what he has, not caring about who he is as a person. In Tao Te Ching’s poem #17 the author writes about his feelings on trust. He quotes, “Without fundamental trust there is no trust at all” (Tao Te Ching 17). Similar to Drake’s song, the author is explaining that without trust a relationship can not grow. As it is for many, it takes me time to fully open up and trust someone. In these two examples the author and singer are addressing one must be open to getting to a trustworthy level in a relationship in order for the relationship to work, which I agree with. In the country hit, “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood, Carrie sings about how her ex was not honest and cheated on her. She sings, “Oh, maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats”. In relation to the same poem in Tao Te Ching’s Daodejing intro, the poem quotes, “be careful in valuing words” (Tao Te Ching 17). Cheating goes directly along with the poem as they both touch on the value of keeping your word (in the songs case, staying loyal). These values in songs express societies “norms” as they have been shown through the media (writing and music).

In my past GHS course, “Women’s Rights and Resistance” my professor, Dr. Jorgensen introduced the concept of Orientalism to the class. The concept covers the fact that the Middle East has been stereotyped into one ideal or world view. When meeting someone for the first time, many have the tendency to stereotype a new face’s personal character based on their race, style, or identity. Stereotyping is the main cause for immediate negative judgement, ruining a special relationship before it has even started. I believe this same concept corresponds with Orientalism, a characterization of Asia in its entirety. Seen through multiple platforms, Orientalism has formed Asia negatively, creating a false outlook. Similarly to meeting a new person, I will remove all constructs about Middle East, before embarking on our GHS reading. Through my old GHS  course, I have been introduced to the concept of a “single story”. The concept, correlating directly to Orientalism, means stereotyping one cultural ideals into a singular representation. While reading many stories about the Middle East in my old course, my professor had advised us to remember that the one story we are reading does not define an entire region. Through the class, I have learned to stay unbiased about specific cultural regions as a “single story” must not be built about any culture. As I have started our first readings (from Ha Jin) I have stayed neutral as I have kept these concepts in mind so Orientalism ideals stayed removed.

“Chinatown” in Chicago has been a memorable destination for me as I visited multiple times throughout my childhood. Through many visits, I always believed that all of China was identical to “Chinatown”. Falling into these assumptions as a young child, I have been able to take a step back now, as I have matured and understood a broader vision of China. I am excited to continue the readings and class discussions in this course as they will allow me to have an even broader view of the region.