John Nelson
Confucian Purist
April 23, 2007
I really enjoyed the ancient China game this semester. In fact, I think I enjoyed it more than the ancient Greece game. The thing I think that made it most enjoyable for me is that no one had an upper-hand before the class began, because very few of the Grand Secretaries had immense knowledge of the Analects or ancient China in general. We were all learning about the detailed world of ancient China in the Ming Dynasty at the same time, and it was enlightening to learn from my fellow students as well as the historical documents.
My primary objective in my packet is to PERSUADE the Emperor to name Changluo as his successor and heir. After a few of the sessions of the Grand Secretariat had taken place, however, I saw that this was going to be pretty difficult. It was not until Julianna resigned and the Emperor insisted that she stay, that I realized that persuading the Emperor was going to be impossible. My backup objective is to embarrass the Emperor in order to show him the Way, which will cause him to open his eyes and name Changluo as his successor and heir. My second memorial attempts to do just that, but it fell on deaf ears because the First Grand Secretary and the Emperor were in cahoots.
The last three sessions of the Grand Secretariat were very enjoyable. I absolutely loved it when I stood and argued about the eunuchs because it was very invigorating. Those last three sessions made ancient China come alive for me, because I sincerely felt that my involvement in the sessions was integral for the Emperor to make the right decisions. I did a lot of research and had a good understanding of past policies. I feel that I did a much better job in this game than in the ancient Greece game.
My biggest regret about the game is that the purists, especially myself, waited too long to break decorum and rebel. I felt like I still had to persuade the Emperor, even though I came to realize how impossible that was. I wish that I could have started arguing with Julianna way before I did. Julianna did a great job of keeping the Grand Secretariat on a short leash, but I feel that if the purists really understood that we had to ruffle the feathers of the Emperor and First Grand Secretary then the game would have been very different. The ending of the game was a huge surprise for me, because I did a lot of research and I figured we would not conclude the game until the last day of classes. Having the Civil War uproot our bureaucracy is an interesting way for the game to end to say the least! All in all, it was a very pleasant experience and I learned a great deal about ancient China, much more so than if I were in a typical lecture course.
Confucian Purist
April 23, 2007
I really enjoyed the ancient China game this semester. In fact, I think I enjoyed it more than the ancient Greece game. The thing I think that made it most enjoyable for me is that no one had an upper-hand before the class began, because very few of the Grand Secretaries had immense knowledge of the Analects or ancient China in general. We were all learning about the detailed world of ancient China in the Ming Dynasty at the same time, and it was enlightening to learn from my fellow students as well as the historical documents.
My primary objective in my packet is to PERSUADE the Emperor to name Changluo as his successor and heir. After a few of the sessions of the Grand Secretariat had taken place, however, I saw that this was going to be pretty difficult. It was not until Julianna resigned and the Emperor insisted that she stay, that I realized that persuading the Emperor was going to be impossible. My backup objective is to embarrass the Emperor in order to show him the Way, which will cause him to open his eyes and name Changluo as his successor and heir. My second memorial attempts to do just that, but it fell on deaf ears because the First Grand Secretary and the Emperor were in cahoots.
The last three sessions of the Grand Secretariat were very enjoyable. I absolutely loved it when I stood and argued about the eunuchs because it was very invigorating. Those last three sessions made ancient China come alive for me, because I sincerely felt that my involvement in the sessions was integral for the Emperor to make the right decisions. I did a lot of research and had a good understanding of past policies. I feel that I did a much better job in this game than in the ancient Greece game.
My biggest regret about the game is that the purists, especially myself, waited too long to break decorum and rebel. I felt like I still had to persuade the Emperor, even though I came to realize how impossible that was. I wish that I could have started arguing with Julianna way before I did. Julianna did a great job of keeping the Grand Secretariat on a short leash, but I feel that if the purists really understood that we had to ruffle the feathers of the Emperor and First Grand Secretary then the game would have been very different. The ending of the game was a huge surprise for me, because I did a lot of research and I figured we would not conclude the game until the last day of classes. Having the Civil War uproot our bureaucracy is an interesting way for the game to end to say the least! All in all, it was a very pleasant experience and I learned a great deal about ancient China, much more so than if I were in a typical lecture course.
posted by John Nelson | 12:41 PM
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