Life of Henry

After watching the video the   Silk Road: Where East Met West  and reading Chapter 16 The Awakening by Patrick S. Bresnan introduced the importance and the background of the famous Silk Road. "From Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan, emperors and princes fought to control the Silk Road" because it was worth fighting for due to the many miles of money to be made ( Silk ,1:38-1:43). Silk Road Map In the video, I learned that "Xi'an has always been seen as the beginning of the Silk Road"( Silk ,7:45-7:47). People of the region traded, bought goods, exchanged ideas and techniques with other traveling merchant. Many of them became an influence vital source to "Western Europe such as paper, gunpowder and musical instruments"( Silk , 2:01-2:03). It was interesting that Zhang Qian would lay a foundation of the Silk Road when he traveled to find the unique and dominate "heavenly horses" that were far superior to the ones in China( Silk ,19:11-...

Confucius   After reading Chapter 13 and 14 of Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought by Patrick S. Bresnan is interesting how early China had two set of pathway that collide one another to set how a person would set a standard to live. Confucianism and Daoism , also known as Taoism, help set your own pathway to society and life. Confucianism focus on creating harmony in society whereas Daoism focuses on a balance in life.  ideal influential political figure during his time. Confucianism is " often characterized as a system of social and ethical philosophy rather than a religion. In fact, Confucianism built on an ancient religious foundation to establish the social values, institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society" (Berling 1). At the end of chapter 13, Confucius introduced a question for the readers, “is a renaissance of Confucius humanism coming into view on the horizon? Or is it, perhaps, still just beyond the...