21H.151 | Fall 2024 | Undergraduate

# Dynastic China

## Week 4 Discussion Post Prompts

Answer one of the following questions. Please provide specific examples and page numbers. After you write your two-paragraph response, please respond to one of your classmates in 1–2 sentences.

1. How are female and male aspects discussed in the Laozi’s Daodejing? You may want to look up the concept of yin and yang. Try not to simply define yin and yang, but share your interpretation of how the text employs the concepts to convey a political philosophy.
2. How is Confucius depicted in the Zhuangzi? What seems familiar, and what seems different?
3. Are the Way of Laozi and Zhuangzi the same Way? Where do they differ?
4. Between the legalists, the Confucians, and the Daoists, which group’s teachings resonate the most with you? (And why?)
5. In your opinion, what were the key factors behind the rise and success of the Qin state?
6. Pick any of the Warring States (Qi, Wei, Zhao, etc.) and share how that state was ultimately defeated/conquered. What did Qin have that they didn’t? (This may require outside reading, but can be really fun in you want to learn about one of the less famous states of this time.)
7. How would you read the terracotta warriors as a historical “source”? You can also search for some of the individual warriors online. Bear in mind that every one of the thousands of warriors is designed in a unique posture and style.

## Course Info

### Instructor

- Prof. Tristan G. Brown

### Departments

- History

### As Taught In

Fall 2024

### Level

Undergraduate

### Topics

- Humanities
  - History
    - Asian History
    - World History

### Learning Resource Types

This course includes the following types of learning materials.

Activity Assignments
Lecture Videos
Readings
Student Work
Written Assignments
Browse Resources
Browse Resources

The content of this course is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

# You are leaving MIT OpenCourseWare

Please be advised that external sites may have terms and conditions, including license rights, that differ from ours. MIT OCW is not responsible for any content on third party sites, nor does a link suggest an endorsement of those sites and/or their content.