China

The word “profession” has more than one meaning: it can mean occupation, as most know it to mean, or it can mean a declaration or avowal of a belief. When it comes to one's choice in career, it should imply both. One's profession should be more than a paycheck; it should involve one's interests and passions. When choosing to dedicate one's life to teaching, one declares a love of knowledge and dedicates themselves to passing it on to others. Becoming a professor requires years of rigorous study and dedication; but, if it's where one's passion lies, the prospect of teaching others while continuing to discover new knowledge makes it well worth it.

The two most obvious and possibly most important characteristics needed to make a good professor are a love of knowledge and the desire to share it. A professor must be patient and cooperative when working with their students. They should be creative in their lesson planning in order to keep their students' needs. They must have the intellectual capacity to fully comprehend their subject and the methods needed in order to teach it to others.

For those who truly wish to attain a teaching position in a university, the work that goes into receiving a doctorate degree is well worth it. While two year colleges may accept a master's degree, a doctorate is required to attain a position at a four year university, which makes up 80% of the postsecondary positions (Career). Earning a doctorate degree requires years of dedication. One must've earned a B or higher in all of their undergraduate classes. Once accepted into graduate school, six to eight more years of rigorous study lay ahead. One must also complete a doctoral dissertation or “an original work that contributes to the candidate's field of study” (Faculty 10). The work that goes into attaining the PhD. Helps one greatly in the long run. Employment rats for all postsecondary educators is increasing, the outlook for those with their doctorate is expected to exceed past years' numbers (Teacher). A doctorate is also a prerequisite for the much-desired tenure positions (Faculty).

(III.)

Professors are expected to complete tasks beyond simply lecturing classes. They must, obviously, grade work done by their students. Teaching assistants may receive work experience by aiding professors in this task. Professors must keep up with the current advances in their field of study, and often times they are expected to publish their own contributions (Faculty).

The working conditions of a postsecondary educator are varying and flexible. Classes vary in size and the style of teaching. They may be lecture-based, involving a large amount of students, sometimes in the hundreds. Seminar style classes are smaller and centered more on conversation (University). Professors spend an average of 9-10 hours a week spent in the classroom, and anywhere form 30-65 hours preparing for class and grading work. Class times are flexible, often allowing professors to have some say in their work hours. Professors may end up teaching odd hours when teaching evening or weekend classes. They spend the majority of their time lecturing classes inside, yet the occasional field trip may allow them to conduct class outside. Full-time professors are rarely given their own office: they usually end up sharing a space with their peers.

(benefits and wages starting out)

Once a professor reaches a full-time, tenured position they receive a good salary and great benefits. Their annual salaries range from $46,370 to $90,209, averaging at about $58,350. Benefits include the usual: sick leave, health insurance, and a retirement plan. Professors are privileged to a few unique benefits as well, including payed sabbaticals, the usage of campus facilities (University).

Advancement in postsecondary teaching lays in the road to tenure positions. When starting out, one is called an “instructor”. At this level one has the least amount of experience, usually one begins here right after finishing school. Associate professors are those who have acquired their PhD. and have had at least two to three years of teaching experience. Full professors are the one's eligible for tenure. They have had “extensive teaching background” and have most likely published some sort of original work as a contribution to their field (Faculty).

May professors make extra earnings by getting involved in their field of study in a professional level, such as acting as a consultant or publishing writings. ...(+)

Postsecondary education positions are expected to increase more than most occupations in the coming years, due in great part to...(+) and the amount of teachers who are expected to retire. The majority of these new openings, however, will be only part-time or assistant professor positions.

From leading the world in societal development to being occupied by many foreign power's, the history of the vast country of China is one of an ever-changing culture.

China's Dynastic system dates back to as early as the 3rd Century BCE (Halsall). From it's first, the Xia Dynasty (21 C. BCE- 16 C. BCE), to it's last, the Qin Dynasty (1644 -1911), each Dynasty had it's own line of rulers. These rulers were called "emperors", or "empresses" since the country was under a woman's rule several times, and the role was passed on by birth in each dynasty. When one ruling family was overthrown, a new family would rule and a new Dynasty would begin. Ancient China's culture and history is labeled by the dynasty it took place in. Tang poetry or Tang art refers to the poetry or art done between 618 and 907 CE, the duration of the Tang Dynasty.

One of these Dynasties, the Chou Dynasty, had a fuedal system comparable to the Japanese, yet simpler. The Chou rulers would appoint nobles who would divide the land amoung families (Dowling). Loyalty to higher ranks was the key to this though, and as the nobles gained power, they overtook the Chou and began a new Dynasty. This Dynasty was infulenced by a group called the Legalism, which empasised the rulers following three ideas: "the law", "method and controll", and "legitimacy, power and charisma" (Legalism). The differences between the rulers from one Dynasty to another meant that the way the people were ruled varied greatly in Ancient China.

China's earliest form of religion was the worship of many gods and nature spirits. Although this sounds simple, the Chinese had already developed a sophisticated system of beliefs, which included strong respect for ancestors and the concept of duality.

Although only 10% (Religion) of China's population worship today, this vast country has been home to several large religions for thousands of years. It was here that Confucius lived and formed his philosophy. It was adopted as a state religion of sorts during the Han Dynasty in 202 BC. Confuscianism has since spread in East Asia, and has remained strong in China (apart from a few lapses during the Qin and Tang Dynasties). Because it's status as a religion is debated, the number of those who profess Confucian beliefs is undetermined. Yet China's government has been influenced by his teachings, and today many followers of other religions hold Confucian beliefs. Taoism ("Daoism"), which is a belief system based on the following of the "way", has also been a part of China since 6th century BC. While currently only 1.5% of the religios population practices Taoism in China, it remains very influential. From the Taoist text, the Tao Te Ching (or "Dao De Jing"), comes the well-known concept of yin and yang, or duality. Together Taoism and Confuscianism are accredited for forming a great part of the Chinese Culture.

Still, other religions have taken roots in China. Buddhism was introduced to the Chinese until 58 CE or so, and didn't really take hold until the 3rd Century. From the many branches of Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, practiced by 72% of the religious population, is considered to be mainly "Manayanana Buddhism". Manayanana is the more popular or modernized version of Buddhism (Halsall). Ch'an (or Zen as the Japanese refer to it) is praticed as one of the "schools" or further branches of this religion. While Islam in China is practiced today by minority groups (Religion) it is the second largest religion in China. It was introduced to the country through the Silk Road in the 7th Century. Century Christianity was introduced to China around the same time. Today, Protestant and Catholic Christians together make up a little over 15% of the religious population. While these religions have varied in dominance throughout the ages, China is now officially an "Atheist" nation. Wikipedia stated that the "estimate of only 100 million worshippers possibly vastly undercounts the actual extent of religious practice in China because some may be afraid, for various reasons, to admit religious belief." (Religion).

Huge advances in technology, culture, and economics were made during the Song Dynasty, a little over 200 years before Europeans arrived. Agriculture thrived after the importation or special, fast-growing rice from Vietnam. There was virtually enough food for everyone, which lead to a surplus in human labor. At the same time the printing press was invented, nearly 200 years ahead of Gutenburg.

China's best-know peice of architecture would undeniably be the Great Wall. It had been being built on slowly, section by section, since the 7th C. BCE (Great). During the Ming Dynasty the major renovation took place, and it took 200 years to complete. The result was the Great Wall that we see today, apart from the maintenance done since then.

China's history is ridden with political takeovers, as was the way with Dynasties. One Dynasty would rule as long as they could before they were overthrown and another would form. After about 4 centuries of such warfare, the Ming Dynasty was seems to mark a period of prosperity and relative peace. It lasted nearly 300 years. This was the Dynasty in power at the time the Europeans arrived.

"Cleverly making devices out of gold, silver, and other metals...They daily publish huge multitudes of books..." (World 75). These were the observations of a European who visited China in 1590. The Europeans were plainly impressed by the craftsmenship of the Chinese. Amoung the goods China produced was porcelain. "Delicate but also very hard" (Ancient), this type of ceramic was made in China at least a century before Europe began to produce it. Emperors had wares of the material, most popularly the "blue and white", made to decorate their courts. Jade, one of earth's most durable materials, and copper were their most valued materials. Jade pendants and other ornaments were intricately decorated. Bronze items, especially weapons and vessels for drink, were made by other countries, too. Yet China's unique method involving loess, fine yellow dust from the Yellow River, made theirs highly valued. The quality of China's crafts was Europe's incentive to initiate trade.

The Chinese had less favorable opinions of the Europeans. They felt these "southern barbarians" had no items worth as much as there own, so therefore they demanded gold and silver in return. For a while, Westerners were only allowed to trade under strict regulations in one city during one season of the year. This lead to a trade surplus for China, meaning they were exporting more than they were importing.

The British found a way around this though. During the late 18th century, they began to trade Opium grown in India for the Chinese tea their country had become so fond of. The Chinese dissaproved of this importation. One official wrote to the Queen: "I have heard that smoking opium is strictly forbidden in your country. Why do you let this evil drug be sent to harm people in other countries?" (World 333). The British continued to sell the drug even after China banned it, and eventually the turmoil rose to the point where the Chinese and British turned to violence. This was the start of the Opium War, which would soon lead to a British victory and the forced acceptance by the Chinese of the Treaty of Nanjing. This treaty made the country give up Hong Kong to Britain and allow trade and extraterritorialism in five other ports. Within this period in the mid-1800s, the British pressured China to allow entrance of Christian missionaries into other ports.

By 1914, Imperialism in China had spread throughout the majority of the country. Many foreign powers seized "spheres of influence" (World 336) seeing China's weekness. The British still had control of Hong Kong and know held power in the western region bordering what is now Katmandu and Bhutan, as well as the regions surrounding the Yangzi River. The French held the southern region, minus Hong Kong and the Cities of Macao (Portuguese) and Guangzhou (Canton). A vast area in the north was held by Russia and Germany, though half of the region "Manchuria" was controlled by the Japanese. Japan had also seized the island of Taiwan (after winning the Sino-Japanese War) and held the mainland region next to it. The meetings held betweent Japanese and Chinese rulers during these times exhibited the widening gap between these to societies. The Japanese rulers wore the clothes of the Westerners, while the Chinese emperors remained in their traditional robes.

All of these foriegn powers now controlled trade in their regions, crippling China's economy. The United States, who had not participated in the division of China, was an important trader with China. China proposed what would come to be called an "Open Door Policy" to ensure they would be able to continue trading. China was in a period of turmoil, with the pressure of thier foreign occupants continually increasing.

Cuturally China took a major fall after the arrival of European influence. Religious conflict broke out between the Chinese, who had lived in relative order and peace following the Confucian concepts of society, and the newly arriven Christian Missionaries. The focus on the individuals freedom of choice taught by these Missionaries challenged the long held practice. Their basic way of life was vastly different when the West's technology was introduced. The Boxer's Rebellion of the late 1800s was yet another failure of the Chinese to reclaim power. The antiforeign society named the "Righteous Harmonius Fists" (nicknamed "Boxers" by the westerners) was little match against the combined forces of the foreign powers, seeing as they had little weaponry and relied on martial arts.

After this failure, China gave fully into the modernization, or "westernization". This not only affected their industry and economy, which were introduced to new technology and methods of production. Education was modernized, with women being admitted into schools and focus being turned from Confucianism to science and mathematics. Government was also revolutionized; the dynasties which had held power through out the centuries were soon to be a thing of the past. Yet the introduction of democracy did not mean another hit to the Chinese way. The first elected President of the China republic had been the founder of the Revolutionary Alliance, which stood for the "Three Priciples of the the People." They were as follows: "The first principle was nationalism, freeing China from foreign domination. The second was democracy, or representative government. The thrid was 'livelihood', or economic security for all Chinese." (World 337). Though the Chinese seemingly conceeded and gave in to foreign influence, they still had a sense of pride for their people.

After the times of Ancient Chinese Dynasties were over, the People's Republic of China was formed. Since the end of WWII, the PRC has been a Communist State (China) and the only real political party is the Chinese Communist Party, with eight smaller parties that are all controlled by the CCP. According to the CIA, "no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong spiritual movement and the China Democracy Party as subversive groups". Today, the PRC has a president, Wen Jiabao, and a vice president, Zeng Qinghong, who are elected by the National People's Congress. They serve 5-year terms and they nominate the Premier and Vice Premiers, who then must be confirmed by the National People's Congress. The CCP hold strict control over the daily lives of the Chinese. In the early times "the Communists under Mao Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls... cost the lives of tens of millions of people." (China). Since then control has become slightly less severe, at least economically.

Today, the People's Republic of China maintains relatively diplomatic relationships with foreign countries. It's economy seems to be rising, partially due to Taiwan. Incidents like the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 and the attainment of sensitive U.S. information after a plane carrying important documents crashed in China have lessened foreign opinion of the country. Pollution and HIV/AIDS are the major health threats to citizens. One of the most progressive events in the country today is the effort to develop their space program. As far as culture stands: "China's post-1949 leaders devoted energy and attention to changing some aspects of traditional society, such as rural land tenure and the content of education, while leaving other aspects, such as family structure, largely untouched." (People's).


	Carl sat in the back of the classroom paying more attention to Gina’s rhythmic tapping of her pencil upon the desk next to his than to his English teacher, Mrs. Robert, who was giving a lecture on the components of a persuasive essay. As the minutes until lunchtime dwindled past, more heads began to droop onto the smooth desktops. Carl’s eyes began to hurt from staring at the whiteboard behind Mrs. Roberts, which seemed to have become annoyingly bright as the sunlight streamed in from the window and illuminated it. Sensing her students’ lack of interest in the topic, Mrs. Roberts continued with a little more enthusiasm. “The key to writing a convincing persuasive paper is to know where you stand,” she emphasized. “There seems to be a lack of passion here, and passion is essential in making an effective argument, or otherwise expressing a point of view in any form. That’s your assignment for tonight. I want you to find an issue, one that you feel passionate about one way or another, and then express your point of view. Write a poem, sing a song, make a collage, whatever you’d like. Just make it provocative, you’ll be sharing these in class tomorrow.” The students shuffled impatiently out the door into the open air of the courtyard as soon as the bell rang. While the crowd continued on to the lunchroom, Carl and Gina slipped off to join some friends at their usual bench underneath a large oak. The concrete bench was always cold to sit on; nevertheless it had been the bench they has sat on all year. They like how it was out of the way from the noise of the lunchroom. Jake and Travis were already engaged in a contest to see who could catch the most Cheetos in his mouth. Macy was playing her guitar, as usual, laughing and missing a chord every time a Cheeto hit on e of them on the nose or eye. Gina began discussing her ideas for the project immediately. “I want to see someone break out in an interpretive dance or something,” she laughed. “Only you’d think of something like that Gina,” Travis commented. “Hey, I’m just trying to think of something different here. Do you know what you’re going to do Carl?” “Not yet. I’ll probably put together some last minute collage on ‘freedom of speech’ or something,” Carl replied. Carl laughed it off, secretly pleased with the compliment, mostly because it came from Gina. He watched her while she continued exploring other outlandish possibilities. He liked the way her dark eyes got bigger when she came up with each new idea. Carl went through the rest of the day like normal, the thought of the project still in the back of his mind. He hated assignments like this where they had only one day to come up with something creative. He could draw and paint well enough, but only when he was inspired. Otherwise his works turned out to be sloppy patches of color or disproportional sketches. His potential and raw talent was obvious, he just lacked the incentive. That was the case with most everything school-related. He passed all his classes with average grades and didn’t have any major disciplinary problems. He showed up to class, but past that his mind was elsewhere, focused more on the song he had stuck in his head or how he would go about drawing a certain thing that had caught his eye. Passing through the main building after school meant walking past the same military recruiters that had been set up there all year. They had a table covered with fliers depicting brave faces staring forward with determination and slogans encouraging you to “Be All That You Can Be” and become an “Army of One”. Carl was waiting there to meet Gina, whom he always walked home with. Carl gazed at the table like one would look at something they’ve become accustomed to seeing daily, only half-aware. He wondered, not for the first, at how the faces had no trace of fear in their eyes. They certainly differed from the faces of those on the front pages of newspaper and on the six o’ clock news. He watched a couple of juniors walk up and grab some stickers. In fact, he spotted numerous military key chains and pins on student’s backpacks. It finally struck him, and he began grabbing one of each of the fliers. He didn’t notice Gina at first, but as he turned around he found himself face to face with her. She began to giggle, her eyes brows raised. “What was that about?” she probed as they went out the front doors. “Since when are you interested in the military? You’re not gonna go all Gung-Ho on me, are you?” Carl laughed at Gina’s attempt to look serious, which consisted of furrowed brows and slightly pouted lips. As soon as he did her expression melted into her usual bright smile. “Seriously, what’s up?” she continued. “Nothing. I was just curious, thought they’d be interesting,” he explained as if it wasn’t anything important, just wanting to get off the subject. He knew Gina didn’t believe him, but she didn’t go any further with it. They continued talking, but Carl’s mind was still on the fliers and his project. HE wanted to share his idea with Gina, but he knew whenever it came to something like this: anti-war messages, freedom and civil rights, anything you could protest about; Gina could get pretty excited. Had she lived in the sixties, she would have been at the head of the marches, sticking flowers in the barrels of guns. Carl was amused by the image of Gina as a hippie, the long hair and flowers contrasting with her usual attire: lots of black, vintage jackets with polka-dots or plaid, and dark hair that was always twisted or spiked up in some messy arrangement. If not popular, her outgoing style and personality certainly made her well known. She’d even managed to be elected class vice president last year. Carl, on the other hand, was more laid back. He wore worn out band t-shirts and jeans and his shaggy hair was always in his face. Gina often joked with him that he could pull off the Goth look, considering the contrast between his black hair and pale skin. He even had the quiet, somewhat withdrawn persona to go with it. “Are you okay?” Macy asked Carl as he arrived to school the next morning. “You look tired.” He supposed he did look more tired than usual; he hadn’t got much sleep last night. “Yeah, I’m alright. I just stayed up a little too late doing that project last night.” They laughed. “Carl putting off sleep for homework, that’s a new one. What is it really? Did you run out of coffee this morning?” Travis joked. “Come on now, let’s not badger the sleep-deprived artist,” Gina said in a babying voice. “Let’s see it thing.” He pulled out his project. It was a collage, one half immediately recognizable as being made from the recruitment fliers they had all seen innumerable times. The other half seemed to be made of mostly newspaper headlines and magazine clippings. Most of the pictures on that half were of young soldiers, some bleeding, others simply with terrified looks on their faces as scenes of bombings were shown in the background. Several headlines were of recent death tolls or continuing violence, yet others read statements like “Recruiters Accused of Making False Promises”. After taking in all of the images in the collage, they all glanced over at the recruiters across the room. The morning air was still to chilly to go outside, so they huddled up in the crowded main building. “How do you think they’d react to this?” Gina prompted, indicating the uniformed men showing off their badges to a group of freshman guys. “I think you should show it to them.” Macy giggled excitedly and Jake added: “That’d be worth a laugh.” “I don’t think so, I don’t want to start anything, it’s just a project.” “A project meant to make a point Carl,” Gina insisted. The morning bell rang. “Oh, saved by the bell,” Travis said in a sing-song voice. They laughed. Carl found himself for once happy to be pushed forward to class by the sea of students. Nothing more was said about the collage until English. Carl wasn’t too surprised to see Gina actually doing an interpretive dance. When it came to his turn, Carl shuffled up to the front of the class and held his collage up. Immediately someone moaned “Not another anti-war message.” A couple students laughed. “This one’s different,” Gina responded. “Go ahead Carl,” Mrs. Roberts encouraged. “Ok, so, we see these recruiters here everyday. And they hand us fliers just like these here. The people in these pictures, members of the military, they all look so proud and brave. I’m not saying serving your country isn’t admirable, but they don’t show you all of it. They show you the glamorized aspect, but what about the kids going over to Iraq? I bet you they don’t look so brave. I bet they’re damn scared,” he said, getting really into it. A couple students laughed and nodded. “ “Me levanté a las dos está mañana porque mi cuarto estaba tan caliente. Abré una ventana y volvé a mi cama y traté de adormecerme, pero no pudé. Había un gato fuera de mi ventana y el gato lloraba por muchas horas. Fortunamente, recordé mi tarea. Tuvé un composicion que debé terminar está noche, pero no hacé. Fuí a mi computadora y lo hacía cuando el luz posó. El electricidad había posado y mi composicion era perdido,” empezo a explicar. “¿Asi acabas de venir tarde, dos horas despues escuela empezaba, y no tienes su tarea? ¿Porque estas aqui sin tu tarea, debes tener un excusa mejor además tu electricidad había posado a dos está mañana. Tuviste tiempo a terminar,” mi professor dice. “Pues, pensó que tuvé tiempo, asi empezé escribir mi composicion en papel, pero no pudé ver bien asi no pudé escribir rapído. Cuando terminé, era ha cinco. Me bañé en la duche, pero cuando terminé no tuvé ropas limpias, asi fuí a lavandería automática de mis apartamentos. Entonces la lavadora comió mi dinero, y tuvé que buscar por más. Mientras la lavadora corría, eschuché mi autobús pasó,” contesto a él. “Pudiste tomar el autobús próximo y veniste sólo un poco tarde. ¿Por qué no? Explica,” mi professor continua. “Iba a tomar el autobús próximo, pero el autobús no vinó. Empecé a caminar. Mientras estaba caminando, el autobús próximo pasó. Llamé “¡Espera! ¡Termina!” pero no terminó. Continué a caminar hasta vine a la casa de mi amiga. Mi amiga ha estaba en escuela, pero su hermana mejor no tenía que ir a escuela hasta siete, asi ella estaba en su casa. Fui a su casa y pregunté ella a manejarme a escuela. Mientras ella estaba manejando, escuchábamos a su radio. Una vox empezo hablar sobre un grupo de musíca “Los pollos con uno ojo”. “Los pollos con uno ojo” fueron a tener un concerto, y uno persona puede ganar dos boletos si vinó a su estacion primero. Ella era un fanatico de el grupo, y quiso ganar los boletos, asi empezo a acelerar. Vinamos primero y ganamos los boletos, asi era alegra. El grupo de musica estaba allí, asi presentaron a manejarme a escuela.” Explico. “¿“Los pollos con uno ojo” te manejaron a escuela? ¡No te mientras! ¡Soy un fanatico de el grupo tambien! Voy a excusarte, pero sólo esta una vez.” Works Cited "Ancient China". 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Wikipedia. 23 Oct 2004. 24 Oct 2004. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalism_%28philosophy%29> "Ming Dynasty". TravelChinaGuide.com. 10 Sept 2004. 23 Oct 2004. <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/ming.htm> "People's Republic of China". Wikipedia. 12 Oct 2004. 22 Oct. 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_China> "Religion in China". Wikipedia. 13 Sept. 2004. 22 Oct. 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_China>