Shaolin Temple in Henan Province - Essay Example

? E-portfolio Introductory Page The above artifact shows my development while learning this It is an image ofpeople from different cultural backgrounds thus, shows cultural diversity. The image shows that I have learnt to accept and appreciate people from diverse cultures different from mine. Table of Contents ASSESSMENT ARTIFACT PURPOSE SLO 1 Shaolin Temple To analyze geographical trends of human culture. SLO 2 Field trip pamphlet Critique cultural patterns SLO 3 Religious conflicts Formulate research questions and provide solutions. Essay reflection Demonstrate skills learnt and the importance of these skills. SLO Assessment 1 The picture above shows the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, China. The temple is famous throughout the world and is one of the greatest Buddhist temples in the world. This temple is a famous cultural site since it encourages martial arts particularly the Kung Fu. The construction of the temple occurred during the 15th Century therefore the monastery is a center of Shaolin traditions and history. According to Shahar (184), various Chinese emperors throughout history supported the temple hence illustrating the importance of the temple to Chinese traditions. The monastery has experienced destructions and rebuilt severally throughout the years. Dynasties fights throughout Chinese history, is responsible for most of the temple’s destructions. These destructions occurred under various emperors’ reign such as the Shunzhi and Kangzi emperors (Shahar, 184). These destructions helped spread Shaolin fighting styles throughout China. This is because the monks organized retaliatory attacks by training the locals to fight against the attackers. These destructions are common in Chinese myths and legendary stories to date. This artifact demonstrates my understanding and skills in analyzing historical trends of Chinese Shaolin culture and the Buddhist religion. The artifact shows my proficiency of Buddhism and martial arts culture in China. The above artifact is the origin of Shaolin fighting culture in China. It therefore explains the spread and popularity of the martial arts culture in China. By being conversant with the above artifact, am able to show my proficiency of origin of a common culture in China. SLO 2 Assessment The above artifact shows the migration of the Aztecs into America in the 18th century. The artifact explains the migration of the Aztecs from Mexico. It shows that the Aztecs did not migrate north of America but Southern America beginning from Utah. The artifact explains the history of some of the migrating communities into the US in the 18th century. It provides evidence to prove the Aztecs migration through North America. Boone (163) argues that presence of Uto-Azteca language throughout in South Western states during this period is a sign of the Aztec migration. In addition, the corn plantations in South Western states is due to the Aztecs migration and presence. The artifact explains the presence of Aztec/Mexican culture in Western states as well as the connection between the North Western and South Western states (Boone, 164). It explains the use of Mexican place names in some of these states. This artifact shows my expertise in multicultural literacy. This is because the artifact explains the origin of the Hispanic community in South-West states. From the artifact, I can understand the historical culture of the Hispanic community in the US. Am able to understand the high presence of the Hispanic population in states like California, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. The artifact also helped me to understand the use of Mexican names in places, parks and streets in most western states contrary to the popular archeological belief that the names began during the romanticism period in the 19th Century. SLO 3 Assessment The above artifact shows people of various religious groups such as Christianity, Hindu, Buddhism and Islam. The artifact presents the concept of religious diversity in the current human life. The artifact helps in the formulation of the following research questions: Is religious diversity a curse to the world? How can peaceful coexistence be encouraged in areas with multi-religious groups? How can the world encourage mutual-respect between various religious groups in order to avoid global problems such as terrorism? The solutions to such problems are crucial in encouraging peaceful coexistence in the current human life. According to Kalaga, Wojciech &Marzena (16), religious diversity is not a curse to the world but a sign of human diversity. Wrong religious teachings that seems to view other religions is the cause of the problems of religious diversity. Universal and equal respect of all humans is necessary in order to reduce the problem of cultural diversity. This will also help to encourage peaceful living in areas with multiple religious groups. Religious leaders must refrain from inciting their religions against other religious groups. For instance, extremism should be discouraged since it depicts people from other religious groups as enemies (Kalaga, Wojciech &Marzena, 56). World leaders from different countries should put more effort to encourage global peace. Leaders must formulate strategies and seek amicable solutions to global conflicts to prevent the occurrence of global wars. This is because the global wars encourage religious hatred. Essay, reflection The class has been very resourceful and interesting since I learnt numerous things necessary in life. For instance, I have learnt to become tolerant of other people’s cultures. The class helped me to become culturally tolerant than before. Through studying other ethnicities and races, I am able to appreciate these cultures since some of these cultures contain interesting practices to learn. The class also helped to demystify some of the cultural stereotypes that hindered cultural tolerance. The class has also helped me to improve my analytical and reasoning skills. This is through examining the past events and using these occurrences to provide solutions to present and future problems. Throughout the class, we have learnt about past human culture trends such as migration and conflicts. These past occurrences provide lessons and help shape my reasoning of solving current global human problems. The skills learnt in class are useful currently and in the future. Cultural tolerance skills help to solve the problem of racial and ethnic discrimination in society (Kalaga, Wojciech &Marzena, 15). Discrimination can be a past problem if all citizens learn to become more tolerant of others’ cultures. The skills learnt in this class will therefore be crucial to encourage social-cultural interaction thus, creating a peaceful society and world. The analytical skills learnt help to solve some problems in society. This is due to evaluation of present societal and global problems using past experiences. The historical experiences provide concrete lessons to make better present and future decisions. I learnt the skills mainly by reading, practice and collective effort with friends. Conclusion My expectations included examining the present human culture such as religions, ethnicities and regions. I expected to learn about the current global problems such as terrorism, religious conflicts, wars, nuclear empowerment and climate change. I achieved majority of my learning goals since we learnt most topics in class. However, I need to take personal effort to study the current global problems not learnt in class. Works Cited Boone, Elizabeth H. Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000. Print. Kalaga, Wojciech, and Marzena Kubisz. Multicultural Dilemmas: Identity, Difference, Otherness. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2008. Print. Shahar, Meir. The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2008.Print. Read More