Ajah's Blog

From the article I have chosen 2 statments to blog abot the first one being XX.3. The Master said, "Without recognizing the ordinance of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man (chun tzu)."  I chose this as my first one because I feel like it's really portaraying that believing in religion as a main factor of being a superior one. The second statment I chose was XIV.29. The Master said, "The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions." This one stood out to me because I feel as if it's giving the message that actions speak louder than words. A superior man will do more to show himself in actions rather than words.

One thing that stood out to me from the reading was the Persian Empire. Their empire stood out most to me because they were very extravaggant. I found their spy system most interesting. In my opnion I found their system of imperial spies very smart. The spy system was a great way for the king to find out information that was being talked about aming the people and the information could've helped shape the way he ruled.

I found the section about writing and accounting most interesting. It was interesting to see how writing developed for each group of people. The Egyptian writers were called scribes. The skill was taught ad passed onto others so that the skill didn't die out. It was also a way for commoners to join the elite circle of literature. Writing was also used as a form of propaganda by announcing all of the king's good deeds. Writing also served many other purposes such as recording taxes, making calendars, specifying laws. Writing was a foundation for literature, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and history. However, writing was knowledge and was looked at as a threat by some rulers. China's first emperor Qin Shihuangdi resented writing and the power that comes with it.

Something I found the most interesting from the reading was how the start of agriculture coincided with the end of the last ice age. I also didn't know that global warming began 16,000 years ago. Homo sapiens had an impact on agriculture by migration. This was interesting because it shows how we helped shaped the era that impacts us still to this day. Agriculture is a key element to our lives and without Homo sapiens spreading I feel like it wouldn't have been that successful or it wouldn't have taken the amount of time it did. `