Project 3: Reasoning
Chinese Zodiacs and Western Zodiacs. What's The Difference?
The Chinese and Western Zodiac signs are two different astrology cultures. Most often, these astrology signs are mistaken for each other. Western zodiacs are calculated by the days you were born under, while Chinese zodiacs are identified the year you were born in.
Why The Zodiacs?
I created a project on western astrology signs last year. My main focus was to figure out why people take their horoscopes seriously. This year, I wanted to focus on Chinese zodiacs since they were a bit different from the western signs. Since the thinking skill this project was reasoning, I wanted to find why zodiacs are respected in Chinese culture.
-English-
Part One: The required pieces for English II is to annotate global poems. I found two poems, "On The Stork Tower " by Wang Zhihuan and "Grass" written by Bai Juyi. I chose those two poems because they have strong meanings behind them and I thought that would match the pride of the zodiacs. Picking powerful poems would help myself and others to understand the reasons why people view the zodiacs highly.
Annotations:
On The Stork Tower\
Wang Zhihuan
The sun beyond the mountains glows;
The Yellow River seawards flows.
You can enjoy a grander sight
By climbing to a greater height.
Wang Zhihuan was a Chinese poet in the Tang dynasty’s Kaiyuan era. He created many poems but he was only famous for “On The Stork Tower.” The location is in Puzhou, Yongji, Shanxi, China. AD 704 is the time period the poem is focused on. The tower’s purpose was a lookout against Northern Qi attacks for the minister Yuwen Hu of the Northern Zhou dynasty between AD 557-581. It was rumored that the tower was built for Yuwen’s personal benefit. The view on the tower looked over Jinyang, the Northern Zhou’s prison, where his mother was captured. He used the height of the tower to hopefully see his mother. The piece is about the view from the top of Stork Tower. In the poem, it encourages the reader to climb higher on the tower to get more of a view. “...beyond the mountain glows;[...] By climbing to a greater height (Wang)” The purpose of the text is to move forward and working more to achieve more. As for the audience, the poem is directed to everyone who wishes to aim higher for their lifetime goals. Wang’s tone of the poem is encouraging. The choice of words, “You can enjoy a grander sight/By climbing to a greater height” (Wang) shows the author motivating the reader to climb more to get a better view of the landscape around the tower.
Wang Zhihuan
The sun beyond the mountains glows;
The Yellow River seawards flows.
You can enjoy a grander sight
By climbing to a greater height.
Wang Zhihuan was a Chinese poet in the Tang dynasty’s Kaiyuan era. He created many poems but he was only famous for “On The Stork Tower.” The location is in Puzhou, Yongji, Shanxi, China. AD 704 is the time period the poem is focused on. The tower’s purpose was a lookout against Northern Qi attacks for the minister Yuwen Hu of the Northern Zhou dynasty between AD 557-581. It was rumored that the tower was built for Yuwen’s personal benefit. The view on the tower looked over Jinyang, the Northern Zhou’s prison, where his mother was captured. He used the height of the tower to hopefully see his mother. The piece is about the view from the top of Stork Tower. In the poem, it encourages the reader to climb higher on the tower to get more of a view. “...beyond the mountain glows;[...] By climbing to a greater height (Wang)” The purpose of the text is to move forward and working more to achieve more. As for the audience, the poem is directed to everyone who wishes to aim higher for their lifetime goals. Wang’s tone of the poem is encouraging. The choice of words, “You can enjoy a grander sight/By climbing to a greater height” (Wang) shows the author motivating the reader to climb more to get a better view of the landscape around the tower.
Grass
Bai Juyi
The grass abundantly flourishes on the plain,
Year after year it withers and grows.
Wildfire cannot burn it down,
For the spring wind is its source of revival.
Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi was a successful poet and a government official. He used his poetry to protest against social corruption and militarism. His poems were simple, now known as free verse, and had no structure compared to the popular poems. The poems he wrote were based on his views on the government. The poem “Grass” is a small memoir based on the struggles of Bai. The purpose of the story is shown through the poem line, “Year after year it withers and grows” (Juyi). This is a vague line that indicates his hardships and fortunes in life. The death of Bai’s father changed his role in the family. He became the caretaker once he grew older. The speaker struggled through his life. He took the official examination of the bureaucracy, an exam for Chinese government officials at the age of 20. He passed and grew relationships with other poets who had the same views on government as he did. In the poem the line, “Wildfire cannot burn it down,/For the spring wind is its source of revival” (Juyi). Due to his hard work, he earned a government position. In the poem, Bai’s tone is hopeful. An example, “The grass abundantly flourishes on the plain, [...] For the spring wind is its source of revival” (Juyi). Spring is a sign of hope because of the plants and flowers blooming from the winter weather. “Grass” is a short poem that is able to fit a short autobiography of Bai’s life. His gained success and hard work, is shown in the lines of the poem.
Bai Juyi
The grass abundantly flourishes on the plain,
Year after year it withers and grows.
Wildfire cannot burn it down,
For the spring wind is its source of revival.
Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi was a successful poet and a government official. He used his poetry to protest against social corruption and militarism. His poems were simple, now known as free verse, and had no structure compared to the popular poems. The poems he wrote were based on his views on the government. The poem “Grass” is a small memoir based on the struggles of Bai. The purpose of the story is shown through the poem line, “Year after year it withers and grows” (Juyi). This is a vague line that indicates his hardships and fortunes in life. The death of Bai’s father changed his role in the family. He became the caretaker once he grew older. The speaker struggled through his life. He took the official examination of the bureaucracy, an exam for Chinese government officials at the age of 20. He passed and grew relationships with other poets who had the same views on government as he did. In the poem the line, “Wildfire cannot burn it down,/For the spring wind is its source of revival” (Juyi). Due to his hard work, he earned a government position. In the poem, Bai’s tone is hopeful. An example, “The grass abundantly flourishes on the plain, [...] For the spring wind is its source of revival” (Juyi). Spring is a sign of hope because of the plants and flowers blooming from the winter weather. “Grass” is a short poem that is able to fit a short autobiography of Bai’s life. His gained success and hard work, is shown in the lines of the poem.
-Art-
I wanted to create a collage of my zodiac sign, the goat. The objects on the collage would be figures that represent the personality traits of the goat. The collage would involve the colors red, purple, and yellow which are the colors of my zodiac. The thinking skill reasoning was going to be shown through the visuals and have hidden meetings.
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This project made me realize that not every art piece can end up looking great. This collage was very experimental, and I didn't have a clear image of what specific things I wanted on the piece. Looking back on this work, I found that I am a planner when it comes to art. I am unable to jump in without a plan like I had done for this project.
I don't have an end result picture because I didn't want to face it anymore. |
-History-
I found that the history portion of my work was the hardest. For history, I created a somewhat persuasive document explaining that the zodiac signs have an effect on Chinese history. The events I chose were big impacts on China, 2008 Summer Olympics, Tiananmen Square Massacre, and Marco Polo's visit. The zodiac signs that corresponded with each event were the rat, snake, and goat.
I felt that I had done a great job informing the reader in the document. For each event, I carefully explained what happened during the event, the personalities of the zodiac sign, and why it was a great fit. To work upon, I can go back and explain why the zodiac sign has a certain personality and involve more Chinese mythology.
Annotated Bibliography:
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Picture Credit: Magliery, Tom. “Chinese Zodiac.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 8 Apr. 2007, www.flickr.com/photos/50318388@N00/450929508.
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