ARNCTA celebrated Women’s History Month with a Three-Part Virtual Series, “Teaching Women’s History in Asia.” As folk heroes, religious icons, and wartime survivors, women have played crucial roles in shaping East Asian history, and their stories provide a vital window into the culture, society, and politics of China, Korea, and Japan. In this series, Asia scholars and specialists from around the region provided participants with crucial context and concrete strategies for centering women and Asia in their classrooms. Here we’ve provided recordings of each event as well as a few resources to accompany each topic.
“What Makes a Heroine: Teaching Chinese History and Culture with Mulan”
“The Ballad of Mulan” Excerpts and Questions | Asia for Educators
This primary source document with DBQs introduces the poem of Mulan, which was composed in the fifth or sixth century CE. Consider the question: What is the proper role of women as indicated in this poem?
- G.2.5.7 Analyze perceptions people have of places and regions around the world, including Arkansas, based on direct experiences (e.g., place of residence, travel) and indirect experiences (e.g., media, books, family, friends) and support or challenge those perceptions using evidence.
- G.3.5.1 Interpret demographic data (e.g., population pyramids) to explain variations of populations in different states, places, and regions.
- H.2.6.10 Analyze the contributions of major empires and civilizations of the world. This may include art, literature, and proverbs.
“The Ballad of Mulan” Chinese and English Reading
This document includes “The Ballad of Mulan” written in Chinese characters, pinyin (romanized Chinese), and the English translation, providing a great opportunity to introduce to your classroom, not only the legend, but also the Chinese language.
- G.2.5.7 Analyze perceptions people have of places and regions around the world, including Arkansas, based on direct experiences (e.g., place of residence, travel) and indirect experiences (e.g., media, books, family, friends) and support or challenge those perceptions using evidence.
- G.3.5.1 Interpret demographic data (e.g., population pyramids) to explain variations of populations in different states, places, and regions.
- H.2.6.10 Analyze the contributions of major empires and civilizations of the world. This may include art, literature, and proverbs.
The “Ode of Mulan” in dance form, choreographed by the Shanghai Dance Academy and performed at Stanford University.
An animated version of the “Ballad of Mulan.”
The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady by Hans H. Frankel
The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady by Hans H. Frankel is a collection of Chinese poems with interpretations and includes the “Ode of Mulan.”
“The ‘Comfort Women’ System and its Contested Memory”
The Origins and Implementation of the Comfort Women System
The term “comfort woman” (“慰安婦” pronounced ianfu in Japanese, wianbu in Korean and Wèi’ān fù in Mandarin), literally means “comforting, consoling woman” and is a euphemistic way of referring to those women conscripted by Japan during WWII to provide sexual services for the Japanese military. This page is a great starting point for understanding the how the ianfu system functioned, the reasons for its creation, and its lasting repercussions.
- H.6.WH.33 Assess the social, economic, political, and technological efforts to address global poverty, food and water access, healthcare, and equal human rights among the world’s peoples.
- H.6.WH.35 Analyze ways historical contexts continue to shape people’s perspectives
“Comfort Women”: The Unresolved History
This site, sponsored by the “Comfort Women” Justice Coalition, the comfort system as a source of ongoing pain with insufficient reparations having been made by the governments responsible. It introduces prevalent comfort system survivors, summarizes the history of the system, and provides a list of resources for further information.
- H.6.WH.33 Assess the social, economic, political, and technological efforts to address global poverty, food and water access, healthcare, and equal human rights among the world’s peoples.
- H.6.WH.35 Analyze ways historical contexts continue to shape people’s perspectives
Teaching about the Comfort Women during World War II and the Use of Personal Stories of the Victims | Education about Asia
“Using personal stories of the comfort women as teaching materials can help educators emphasize the importance of protecting human rights by providing students a vivid picture of the impact that human rights violations have on people’s lives. Comfort women stories may be graphic, but are necessary to fully understand the human rights violations that those women endured. For students who hear about today’s wars and atrocities from the media, an open and forthright discussion would be helpful to teach how to critically understand such events in both the past and the present.”
- H.6.WH.33 Assess the social, economic, political, and technological efforts to address global poverty, food and water access, healthcare, and equal human rights among the world’s peoples.
- H.6.WH.35 Analyze ways historical contexts continue to shape people’s perspectives
“In the Beginning Woman Was the Sun: Illuminating Japanese Female Icons”
