The most important thing that I know about China is that it is one of, if not the, oldest civilization known to man. It is this fact that makes me realize that there is definitely a massive archive of Chinese history and culture that I don’t know, and probably wouldn’t understand even if I did. I also know that China has the largest human population of any country in the world, and that this plays a key role in their rise to a world super power today. Finally, I am also aware that the Chinese culture could be defined as one of the most influential civilizations throughout history, with many of their ancient innovations being incorporated into technology even today.
Most of my knowledge about China comes from either the news, either print or on television, or some sort of documentary series. I have had very little direct contact with China or people who are from China, which fuels my curiosity on the topic. Another small portion of my information about China comes from the Internet, but as we saw from the “Hu Jintao Jets Into Washington” video, a vast amount of information of the web is either skewed, or is driven by cultural stereotypes.
I decided to take this class because I wanted to learn more about the history and culture of what China in really like, instead of hearing stereotypical judgments made by people who know little about it. What I would really like to take out of this experience is a first hand knowledge and experience of China, so that I can feel like I actually know a little bit about the country before I say something about it that I’m not sure is accurate. With China’s importance, and our reliance on them growing everyday, I feel it is important to understand them with an insider’s point of view, without judgment or stereotype.
©All photographs taken by Sean Taberman at Chinese Zen Garden in NYC
