Friday, March 26, 2010

Day 23- 26th March (Cherry Blossoms!)
So after one entire day of shopping, it’s time to return back to the routine of a long day of school D: Today’s IS lesson was on Philosophy of China. When I hear about it, I was totally turned off because I thought it was going to be like history lesson :( But to my surprise, it was not as boring as expected. We learnt about the School of thought! I never ever heard of that before. But it is a collection or group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, cultural movement, or art movement. I consists of Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and Buddhism.

I shall share a little on what I learnt :)-
- Daoism, dao jia 道家 was created by Lao tzu (老子)
Tao de ching (道德经), means the way of ultimate reality, which exists beyond the physical sense of men. Tao is also the way of universe. It moves in endless cycle and never changes. It emphasizes the simple life and the aim is to be desire-free. So Taoism rejects self assertiveness, competition and ambition.
- Mohism, mo jia 墨家 was created by Mo zi (墨子)
It promotes universal love with the aim of mutual benefit. Everyone must love each other equally and impartially to avoid conflict and war. Mo zi was strongly against Confucian ritual, instead emphasizing pragmatic survival through framing, fortification and statecraft.
- Legalism, fa jia 法家
It is a political philosophy that does not address higher questions pertaining to the nature and purpose of existence. It is concerned with the most effective way of governing society.
- Buddhism, fo jia 佛家
Introduced in India. The Buddha taught one to find peace within oneself, and that suffering stemmed from desire and attachment.

Thinking without studying is dangerous and study without thinking is useless. – Confucius

So after the first part of the class, Ms Grace wanted to dismiss us for lunch and we had to return for the second part of today’s class which is doing an assignment on comparing the behaviors of pople from different culture. She mentioned it will be a short one, so that we could go and see the pretty Cherry Blossoms! But after much negotiation, she then extended the morning class till close to 1 and we were free for the day!
I saw a woman hanging this advertisement on the car like that. Look at the ends of the poster. The water bottles are used as weights D:

The usual 7 of us went to hire the Bread Car outside the school. We asked how much it will cost us and the driver said 60RMB to and fro. The Cherry Blossoms can be found at Wuhan University, which is located quite far from WUST, so we accepted the offer. We had to pay a entrance fee of 50RMB, for I do not know what :/ I always thought that Cherry Blossoms are in pink. But I was wrong! The Cherry Blossoms that the Chinese find attractive are actually white in colour! ;O It was a very beautiful sight indeed. Then entire stretch of road was filled with white blooming flowers on the tall trees.
DON'T THE FLOWERS LOOK SO SWEET? :D

(Y) 03' again ❤

We took pictures and explored on till it was time to leave. I didn't want to go because the flowers and trees are just so pretty ;{ Anyway it doesn’t feel a little like we were in a school! There were tour buses and many large tour groups there that day. However i saw that the students in Wuhan University all have a rather strong passion for sports. On the day we went, i think they're having a sports day kind of event.
A volleyball competition going on!

Went back to the same spot to look for the driver and we headed back to the hostel! And you know what! I think we're cheated by the driver :( We had to pay the driver another 90RMB! He went to top up the petrol, which is charged on us (50RMB) and another 40RMB for detouring pass the East Lake. Grr, a total of 150RMB on total for travelling to and from Wuhan University. S$30, not worth it huh :( Nevermind, we will learn from our lesson!


Reflection
During the lesson, I was wondering if Buddhism is a philosophy or a religion? Religion is a jumble of ancient myths that humankind drags through ages like a celestial security blanket. It is passionate, but irrational and messy. However, philosophy is a flower of a human mind. It is reasonable and civilized. As I read up more about Buddhism on the Internet, I feel that it is more of a philosophy than a religion. Through today’s IS class, I am able to learn more about the way of life and beliefs of the Chinese in China, and the difference in culture in different countries. I feel today’s lesson is rather useful to me as it allows me to understand more about the great philosophers and their history. Now I begin to appreciate a little on history >.< Furthermore, knowing the unique cultural differences helps me if I were to be involved in an international business- especially China. This is because I’ll tend to take special notice of what to do and what not to do, so as not to offend or hurt anyone.

Also, I feel honored to be in Wuhan during this period of time where I get to experience different seasons. We managed to see snow, and now Cherry Blossoms! Lucky kids :D However, I couldn’t think through how a University became a tourist attraction. I find that it is rather ridiculous to collect fees from outsiders so that they can enter the school to see the Cherry Blossoms. This is probably the way the Chinese government works, but I think that it isn’t safe at all for the students.

Eline, Meowlin, Charmaine and I did something really daring/(silly) today! Just yesterday during our shopping trip, we all bought colorful stockings and we said that we’ll wear it if we are going to see the Cherry Blossoms. Swallowing our guts, we actually really did it! We feel it is impossible for us to wear such striking colors in Singapore because all we get will be stares and glares. But I never thought that this scene will happen over here in Wuhan too! When we got changed and stepped out of the hostel, all eyes were on us D: I thought that the people here accept all sort of fashion. Imagine we receive intense look from others even when we’re still here in China, how will we be reflected when we’re back in Singapore? Hahaha but at least now I know how ‘center of attraction’ these kind of things are ;)
❤ these girls ;)
P.s. Notice our legs! ^^

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