The History of Chinese Literature Essay Example for Free

The History of Chinese Literature Essay Writing in China dates back to the hieroglyphs that were used in the Shang Dynasty of 1700 – 1050 BC. Chinese literature is a vast subject that spans thousands of years. One of the interesting things about Chinese literature is that much of the serious literature was composed using a formal written language that is called Classical Chinese. The best literature of the Yuan Dynasty era and the four novels that are considered the greatest classics are important exceptions. However, even during the Qing Dynasty of two hundred years ago, most writers composed in a literary stream that extended back about 2,400 years. They studied very ancient writings in more or less the original written language. This large breadth of time with so many writers living in the various eras and countries makes Chinese literature complex. Chinese literary works include fiction, philosophical and religious works, poetry, and scientific writings. The dynastic eras frame the history of Chinese literature and are examined one by one. The grammar of the written Classical Language is different than the spoken languages of the past two thousand years. This written language was used by people of many different ethnic groups and countries during the Zhou, Qin and Han eras spanning 1050 BC to 220 AD. After the Han Dynasty, the written language evolved as the spoken languages changed, but most writers still based their compositions on Classical Chinese. However, this written language wasn’t the vernacular language even two thousand years ago. The empires and groups of kingdoms of all these eras were composed of people speaking many different native languages. If Europe had a literary history like China’s, it would be as if most European writers until the 20th century always tried to write in ancient Classical Greek that became a dead language more than two millennia ago. Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) Development of Chinese Writing The first dynasty for which there is historical record and archaeological evidence is the Shang Dynasty. It was a small empire in northern central China. No documents from that country survive, but there are archaeological finds of hieroglyphic writing on bronze wares and oracle bones. The hieroglyphic writing system later evolved into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters. Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature The Zhou Dynasty was contemporaneous with the Shang Dynasty, and then they conquered the Shang Dynasty. Their dynasty lasted for about 800 years, but for most of the time, their original territory was broken up into dozens of competing kingdoms, and these finally coalesced into several big and warring kingdoms by the end of the Zhou era. The great literary works of philosophy and religion that became the basis for Chinese religious and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and the Warring States Period (475-221). Taoism, Confucian literature, and other prominent religious and philosophical schools all emerged during these two periods. The Chinese call this simultaneous emergence of religions and philosophies the â€Å"One Hundred Schools of Thought.† Perhaps so many philosophers could write simultaneously because they lived in small kingdoms that supported them. In Chinese history, the dominant rulers generally squelch or discourage philosophical expression that contradict their own, so when there were several small powers, different schools of thought could survive in the land at the same time. The major literary achievements of the Confucian Classics, early Taoist writings, and other important prose works originated in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty era. These literary works deeply shaped Chinese philosophy and religion. Confucius is said to have edited a history of the Spring and Autumn Period called the Spring and Autumn Annals (æ˜ ¥Ã§ §â€¹) that shapes Chinese thinking about its history. There were hundreds of philosophers and writers who wrote conflicting documents, and there was discussion and communication. What we know of the literature of this period was mainly preserved after the Qin Dynasty’s book burning and from a few recent archeological finds of records. Probably most of the philosophical and religious works of that time were destroyed. If there were great fictional books created, they have been lost. So the main contributions of this period to Chinese literature were the prose works of the Confucian Classics and the Taoist writings, and preserved poems and songs. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Literary Disaster and Legalism At the end of the Zhou Dynasty era that is called the Warring States Period, of the surviving few big states in the land, the Qin Dynasty became the most powerful. The Qin Dynasty had big armies and conquered the others. Once the Qin emperor had control, he wanted to keep it, and they squelched any opposition to his authority. In the conquered territories, there were teachers of many different doctrines and religions. A big philosophical and religious school then was called Mohism. They were particularly attacked by the Qin Dynasty, and little is known about it. An early form of Buddhism was also established in China at that time, but their temples and literature were destroyed and even less is known about them. The emperor wanted to reduce the One Hundred Schools of Thought to one that he approved. He ordered the destruction of most books all over the empire. He even killed many Confucian philosophers and teachers. He allowed books on scientific subjects like medicine or agriculture to survive. So the â€Å"Book Burning and Burial of Scholars† was a literary disaster. On the other hand, the Qin Dynasty standardized the written Classical Language. It is said that a minister of the Qin emperor named Li Si introduced a writing system that later developed into modern Chinese writing. Standardization was meant to help control the society. The standardized writing system also helped people all over the country to communicate more clearly. The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism (æ ³â€¢Ã¥ ® ¶). This philosophy of course justified the strong control of the emperor and maintained that everyone should obey him. It is thought that Li Si taught that human nature was naturally selfish and that a strong emperor government with strict laws was needed for social order. Li Si’s writings on politics and law and his propagation of this school much influenced the political thinking in the Han Dynasty and later eras. Legalism texts and the standardization of writing were the Qin Dynasty era’s literary contributions. Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Scientific and Historical Texts A former peasant leader overthrew the Qin Empire. The Han Dynasty era lasted for 400 years. At the beginning of the era, Confucianism was revived. Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. The resulting ideology was the official ideology of the Han Dynasty and influenced political thinking afterwards. The era’s major contributions were historical texts and scientific works. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history concerning the overall history of China from before the Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. The book’s prose was considered a model for writers in succeeding dynastic eras. Another important historical text concerned the Han Dynasty itself. Some scientific texts were also thought to be important for their times, thought it doesn’t seem that the information was widely known or well known afterwards. The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. But printing wasn’t available for wide publication of the information. During the Eastern Han Dynasty towards the end of the Han era, the influence of the philosophy of the Confucian Classics that hindered scientific progress was waning. So people were more free to pursue invention. Cai Lun (50–121) of the imperial court is said to be the first person in the world to create writing paper, and this was important for written communication at the end of the empire. Finery forges were used in steel making. Two or three mathematical texts showing advanced mathematics for the times were written. The Han Empire disintegrated into warring kingdoms similar to what happened during the Warring States Period before the Qin Dynasty. For several hundred years, dynasties and kingdoms rose and fell in various places, and the next big and long-lasting dynastic empire is called the Tang Dynasty . Tang Dynasty (618-907) Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry The Tang Dynasty had a big empire that benefited from trade with the west along the Silk Road, battled with the Tibetan Empire, and experienced the growing influence of organized Buddhist religions. This era’s main contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. Dufu and Li Bai are often thought of as China’s greatest poets. Li Bai (701–762) was one of the greatest romantic poets of ancient China. He wrote at least a thousand poems on a variety of subjects from political matters to natural scenery. Du Fu (712-770 AD) also wrote more than a thousand poems. He is thought of as one of the greatest realist poets of China. His poems reflect the hard realities of war, dying people living next to rich rulers, and primitive rural life. He was an official in the Tang capital of Chang An, and he was captured when the capital was attacked. He took refuge in Chengdu that is a city in Sichuan Province. It is thought that he lived in a simple hut where he wrote many of his best realist poems. Perhaps more than 1,400 of his poems survive, and his poetry is still read and appreciated by modern Chinese people. Song Dynasty (960-1279) Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics The next dynasty is called the Song Dynasty. It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty, but the imperial government officials made remarkable scientific and technical advances. Military technology greatly advanced. They traded little with the west due to the presence of warring Muslim states on the old trade routes. There wasn’t territorial expansion, but the empire was continuously attacked by nomadic tribes and countries around them. Their northern territory was invaded, and they were forced to move their capital to southern China. So the era is divided into two eras called the Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279) eras. One of the era’s technological accomplishments was the invention of movable type about the turn of 2nd millennia during the Northern Song period. This helped to spread knowledge since printed material could be published more quickly and chea ply. Travel literature in which authors wrote about their trips and about various destinations became popular perhaps because the texts could be cheaply bought. The Confucian Classics were codified and used as test material for the entrance examination into the elite bureaucracy, advanced scientific texts and atlases were published, and important poems were written. The Confucian Classics were important in China’s history because from the Song Dynasty onwards, they were the texts people needed to know in order to pass an examination for the bureaucracy of China. These Confucian Classics were the Five Classics that were thought to have been penned by Confucius and the Four Books that were thought to contain Confucius-related material but were compiled during the Southern Song era. The Four Books and Five Classics (å››æ› ¸Ã¤ ºâ€Ã§ ¶â€œ) were basically memorized by those who did the best on the exams. In this way, Confucianism, as codified during the Song era, became the dominant political philosophy of the several empires until modern times. Since the bureaucrats all studied the same works on social behavior and philosophy, this promoted unity and the normalization of behavior throughout each empire and during dynastic changes. The scholar-bureaucrats had a common base of understanding, and they passed on these ideas to the people under them. Those who passed the difficult exams were highly respected even if they didn’t receive a ruling post. High education in this system was thought to produce nobility. The Five Classics and Four Books were written in the written Classical Language. The Five Classics include: The Book of Changes, The Classic of Poetry, The Record of Rites that was a recreation of the original Classic of Rites of Confucius that was lost in the Qin book purge, The Classic of History, and The Spring and Autumn Annals that was mainly a historical record of Co nfucius native state of Lu. The Four Books include: The Analects of Confucius that is a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples; Mencius that is a collection of political dialogues attributed to Mencius; The Doctrine of the Mean; and The Great Learning that is a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao. For foreigners who want a taste of this Confucian philosophy, reading the Analects of Confucius is a good introduction since the statements are usually simple and like common sense. Another period of scientific progress and technical invention was the Song era. Song technicians seemed to have made a lot of advancements in mechanical engineering. They made advanced contraptions out of gears, pulleys and wheels. These were used to make big clocks, a mechanical odometer on animal drawn carts that marked land distance by making noise after traveling a certain distance, and other advanced instruments. The Song technicians also invented many uses gunpowder including rockets, explosives and big guns. The imperial court officials did remarkable scientific research in many areas of mechanics and science. Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and Su Song (1020–1101) both wrote scientific treatises about their research and about different fields. Shen is said to have discovered the concepts of true north and magnetic declination towards the North Pole. He also described the magnetic needle compass. If Chinese sailors knew about this work, they could have sailed long distances more accurately. This knowledge would predate European discovery. He did advanced astronomical research for his time. Su Song wrote a treatise called the Bencao Tujing with information on medicine, botany and zoology. He also was the author of a large celestial atlas of five different star maps, and he also made land atlases. Su Song was famous for his hydraulic-powered astronomical clock tower. Sus clock tower is said to have had an endless power-transmitting chain drive that he described in a text on clock design and astronomy that was published in 1092. If this is so, it may be the first time such a device was used in the world. When the Southern Song Empire was conquered by the Mongols, these inventions and the astronomical knowledge may have been forgotten. Another contribution to the literature of China was the poetry of the Song era. A Southern Song poet named Lu is thought to have written almost 10,000 poems. Su Tungpo is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era. Here is a stanza he wrote: â€Å"The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?† Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Drama and Great Fictional Novels The Mongols were nomadic people who herded cattle north of the Tang Empire and wandered over a large area fighting on horseback. They believed that they might be able to conquer the world. They easily conquered Persia far to the west. It was a big empire with high technology, a big population and a big army. Then they decided to try to conquer all the countries around them. They attacked the Tang Dynasty, the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan, and much of Asia, and they formed the biggest empire in the history of the earth until then. They conquered Russia, a part of eastern Europe and a part of the Middle East. In China, the Mongols established the very rich Yuan Dynasty. In their camps, the Mongols were entertained by shadow puppet plays in which a lamp cast the shadows of little figurines and puppets on a screen or sheet. In the Yuan Dynasty, puppet drama continued to entertain the rich dynastic courts in vernacular language. Dramatic operatic theaters with human actors speaking in vernacular language was a favorite form of entertainment as well, and some of China’s best dramatic scripts were written then. Also two of the four novels that are generally considered China’s best literary classics were written in vernacular language then. So though the Yuan Empire wasn’t ruled by Chinese, it was an era of some historically renowned dramatic playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular language. It is thought that the operatic style of the shadow puppet dramas that entertained the courts influenced the development of the operatic theater style of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan rulers were fabulously wealthy according to historical accounts. They had a vast empire and control of trade in Eurasia. For the royal courts or the rich people, refined music, sound effects and talented singers were employed for shadow plays. The Yuan â€Å"Zaju† style of opera was similar to their shadow pl ays. Perhaps the playwrights adopted the plots and the features. There were exciting plots, elaborate costumes, refined music and singing, action, and dance that the Mongols enjoyed. The music of the Zaju operas was called Yuan Qu (Yuan Music). The language used wasn’t the Classical Language but the vernacular language, so that the theater might be enjoyed by everyone. After the Yuan Dynasty, the operatic style developed into the Painted Faces style of Chinese opera that was popular until modern times. Guan Hanqing is regarded as one of the best playwrights of the times. He wrote Midsummer Snow that was one of the most popular drama pieces. It is a tragedy about an unjustly accused woman who received justice after her death. The Romance of the Western Chamber was written by Wang Shifu. It is considered one of the best romantic dramas ever written in China. Novels were another outstanding achievement of the Yuan era. The novelists influenced the future development of the genre. Two novels are still widely read now and are generally considered two of the four greatest novels in Chinese literature. These are Water Margin and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written in vernacular language by Luo Guan Zhong. It is historical fiction about the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms Period. The Three Kingdoms Period was between the Han and Tang eras. Special emphasis is laid on the two famous historical rulers Liu Bei and Cao Cao who were antagonists. It is a long novel with 800,000 words. Water Margin is about the lives and ideals of a group of characters who fought against the corrupt Northern Song Dynasty that the Mongols conquered. It is said it was written in vernacular language by Shi Nai An, but scholars debate about the authorship. Many scholars think that the first 70 chapters were written by Shi Nai An and that the last 30 chapters were written by Luo Guan Zhong who was also the author of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Novels The Chinese rebelled against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty era began about 1368. The Mongols and the Ming government still sometimes fought. Because of this and the presence of Muslim countries in between, trade with the west was reduced to the pre-Yuan level. The Ming initially were interested in exploration, and Muslims whose ancestors arrived during the Yuan Dynasty and who were familiar with seagoing trade were employed to make long voyages to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and perhaps Africa. Then they became isolationist. It is interesting that a book that is one of the four great classics called Journey to the West about a monk going to India was written during this time of isolation. Maybe the thought of travel to the lands in the west was appealing then. Novels were the era’s main contribution. The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn Buddhist teachings and bring back scriptures and information. In 1629, Xuanzang (602 664) left Changan in 629 and arrived back in Changan in 646. Mythical tales about this journey including the character of an intelligent monkey began to be circulated long before the book was written. The author drew on known tales. Journey to the West is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Chengen in the 16th century though scholars have doubt about the authorship. The trend in that era was for people to write in Classical Chinese and imitate the literature of the Tang Dynasty and Han Dynasty. However, this book was written in the vernacular. Perhaps because there was a lack of accurate geographical knowledge available to the author, much of the geographical landscape of the story is inaccurate. However, the â€Å"Flaming Mountains† that are near Turpan in Xinjiang are mentioned. Perhaps the author meant to poke fun at Chinese religion because a monkey is said to have defeated a whole army led by Taoist gods, and only the Buddha’s intervention stopped the monkey. The book describes India as a land of gross sin and immorality, and the monk was commissioned by Buddha to help India. The characters in the book are well known to Chinese children, and they often appear in martial arts movies and cartoons. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Novels and Pre-modern Literature The Manchus invaded the Ming Empire from the north and established the last dynasty called the Qing Dynasty. The Manchus were not Chinese, but they retained the Neo-Confucian governing system of the Song and Ming eras. The Qing Dynasty came under increasing attack from both internal rebellions and foreign countries. In the 19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the middle of this era, the last of China’s four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber (ç ´â€¦Ã¦ ¨â€œÃ¥ ¤ ¢); and near the end of the era, modernistic literature developed. The Dream of the Red Chamber also has an uncertain authorship. Like the other three great classic novels, it was written in a vernacular language – the Mandarin language that was the language of the Qing capital. It is probably mostly composed by Cao Xueqin (about 1715-1763) in the middle 1700s, and the first printing of the book was in the late 1700s. It is thought that Cao did not live to see the first printing. It is thought that another person or other people contributed the ending of the story since the original ending of the story was lost. The book has a lot of textual problems, and there are different versions. In a preface to a printed version in 1792, two editors claimed to have put together an ending based on the authors working manuscripts that they had bought from a street vendor. At the end of the Qing Dynasty era, the dynastic rulers came under increasing pressure both from foreign attacks and internal rebellions. Educated Chinese had easier access to foreign literature, and they were more influenced by Western culture. Students started to travel abroad to study, and schools built by missionaries educated tens of thousands of students. There was a general sense of crisis, and intellectuals started translating foreign works on science, politics, and literature. These were popular, and the culture started to change. Some writers produced fiction more like Western fiction. Chinese Literatures Chinese Classical Prose Prose writing in ancient and pre-modern China differed from poetry in that it was less rigidly structured and wasnt like verses in a song or like one of the common styles of poetry. But compared to English prose, literary prose before the year 1900 was often much more formalized. Except for popular novels and theatrical plays, most of the literary prose works were written in the literary Classical Language. This Classical Language utilized the grammar and ancient characters of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and of the Han Dynasty era (206 BC – 220 AD). Writers sought to imitate the examples of prose in ancient philosophical and religious books such as Mencius (Ã¥ ­Å¸Ã¥ ­ ) and Zhuang Zi (莊å ­ ). These old texts that were thought to date from about 600 BC to 200 BC were thought to contain examples of careful and well-reasoned discourses and be examples of good organization and style. During the Han Dynasty era (206 BC – 220 AD), a more formalized style of prose writing appeared that was called Piantiwen (é § ¢Ã© «â€Ã¦â€"‡) or parallel prose style. But in the Tang and Song eras, people started to write in the less formal and more ancient style called Guwen (Ã¥  ¤Ã¦â€"‡) of the Warring States era. So classical prose can be divided into three types called Piantiwen style, Guwen style, and the vernacular style used in operatic dramas and in the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature. For about 2,000 years after the Qin Dynasty era (221-206 BC), Chinese writers had a constraint that European writers generally didnt face after the Renaissance. Chinese writers generally needed to write in a common literary language that wasnt their native language or a vernacular language anywhere. The ancient languages of the Warring States Period were extinct. But writers had to maintain the grammar and the use of the vocabulary. In some ways, this is similar to how educated Europeans wrote in Latin until the Renaissance era. During the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), the emperor ordered that all texts other than those of a philosophy called Legalism and some sciences that he favored be destroyed. There was a Book Burning and the Burial of Scholars. They effectively destroyed several religions and philosophical schools and much ancient literature. During the Han era, people tried to reconstruct and preserve what was lost. What emerged as important were works attributed to Confucius, Mencius, Zhuang Zi, Lao Zi, and a few other philosophers. Mencius whose book was considered one of the major texts of Confucianism was said to have elegant diction, and Zhuang Zi whose text was one of the two pillars of the school of Daoism that emerged in the Han era showed how to use anecdotes and all egories effectively. Chinese writers tried to copy their styles. The example of the style from the pre-Qin era was said to be simple and direct. Ouyang XiuIn the Han era, a variant style was developed that was called Piantiwen (é § ¢Ã© «â€Ã¦â€"‡). This style wasnt as clear or precise, but it was florid, ornate and rigid. The Piantiwen style was popular for several hundred years afterwards. During the late Tang era (618-907), two prominent officials tried to reintroduce the earlier style called Guwen. Han Yu (768–824) and Liu Zongyuan tried to teach others to use Guwen. They are considered two of the great prose masters of the Tang and Song eras. But the Tang Dynasty fell and was replaced by the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD). During the Song Dynasty, another literati named Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) helped to revive writing in the Guwen style. This neoclassical style dominated prose writing for the next 800 years. It was the writing system of rulers in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1645-1912) eras. In order to gain entrance into the bur eaucracy during the Ming and Qing eras, candidates had to pass the imperial qualifying examination. The exam material was the 9 Classics of Neo-Confucianism as was codified in the Song era. The Four Books and Five Classics (å››æ› ¸Ã¤ ºâ€Ã§ ¶â€œ) were basically memorized by those who did the best on the exams. These works contained the style of writing the literati wished to imitate. After the fourteenth century, vernacular fiction became popular. This may be because the invention of printing allowed the works to be more widely published. In the Yuan (1279-1368), Ming and Qing eras, four novels were published that are considered the best in Chinese history. The four novels are often called the Four Classics in China. All four were written in a spoken language of their times unlike most ancient literature that was written in the literary Classical Language. These four novels all have disputed authorship. They are: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that is said to have been written by Luo Guan Zhong during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368); Water Margin that is said to be written by Shi Nai An during the Yuan era; Journey to the West that is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Chengen during the Ming Dynasty era (1368-1644); and The Dream of the Red Chamber was said to be written by Cao Xueqin (1715-1763) during the Qing Dynasty era (1644-1911). The writers wrote in different languages, but vernacular prose can be called the third type of classical prose writing. Chinese Poetry Poetry has been a favorite literary genre for thousands of years. Poetry isnt taken very seriously in the West, especially in the last two hundred years, but Chinese ancient poetry is still read and ancient Chinese poets are honored. The greatest poets are thought to have lived a thousand years ago or more during the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279) and Han (206 BC – 220 AD) dynastic eras. Du Fu, Li Bai and Su Shi are considered among the best ancient poets, and there are five major kinds of major ancient poetic styles called Shi, Ci, Ge, Qu and Fu. The very ancient poetry that was written a thousand or more years ago was simpler and about common things like love, romance and nature that people appreciate. Though much poetry was written in the eras following the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it is thought that the poets became increasingly erudite, academic and esoteric so that modern Chinese cant appreciate the style and meaning. Since the Chinese have a character-based writing system instead of an alphabetic system, though the languages have changed, modern Chinese can still read a lot of the ancient poetry. Since the pronunciation of words has changed a lot, often the rhymes or tonal rhythms are lost for poems that rhymed or had tonal patterns. But the meanings of the characters havent changed much, though modern readers may interpret the words to mean something other than the ancient author intended. Nuances and connotations may be lost. Since old poems remain and modern Chinese can understand them to some extent, they are still appreciated. Five Kinds of Poems 1. Shi è © © Shi poems are composed of couplets. They are poems of two more coupled lines. The two lines of a couplet usually rhyme and match rhythmically and complement each other tonally. Modern Mandarin only has five tones, but ancient languages usually had more, so the tonal rhythms are generally lost. 2. Ci è ©Å¾ Ci poetry can be described as poems that have patterns of syllables and tonal patterns. In making a Ci poetry, a poet chooses words that fit a specific pattern. These patterns may have once been part of a song. But the music has been lost. There are various patterns that provided affective settings for various effects or moods. 3. Ge æ ­Å' The word ge means song. Ge poems are the words to a song that can be sung. There were folk songs as well as songs composed by the literate and educated composers. 4. Qu æ› ² When the Mongols conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), they brought with them their own style of music and forms of entertainment. They especially liked to watch shadow puppet theaters that were puppet plays of little manipulated figurines and puppets illuminated by a lamp so that the shadows fell against a screen. It is thought that the form of operatic drama of the Yuan Dynasty imitated their shadow play theaters. The style of music and song in the operas was called Yuan Qu or Mongol Music. The songs from the operas and popular songs were a poetic style called Qu that was also popular in later eras. The poetic style is freer of form. 5. Fuè ³ ¦ A fifth major style of poetry is called Fu. These are descriptive poems that contain both prose and couplets. These were popular about 1,500 years to 2,000 years ago. Often poets included rare or unusual written characters from preceding eras in their poems.

British Broadcasting Corporation

British Broadcasting Corporation Why For So Much of its History was British broadcasting organised as a public service? By way of introduction, it is important that I explain about the British Broadcasting Corporation, known otherwise as the BBC, in order to get a better insight to what I will be explaining further on. Being the first and the Worlds biggest broadcasting organisation, it has been known to be a public service broadcaster, which has been up and running since 1922, providing services on the internet, TV and radio. I should highlight the fact that when we talk about a â€Å"public service†, we mean services which have been provided to us via the government. Though according to Ofcom, (Office of Communications) a problem lies when we define this term, as it has 4 meanings attached to it. â€Å"Good television; worthy television; television that would not exist without some form of public intervention; and the institutions that broadcast this type of television.† (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/) The BBC first started as a private company by manufacturers, whom in order to en courage their radio sales to the public, needed to go through a dependable foundation. The government therefore intervened in this new change, until 1926, when the Crawford Committee decided that the BBC should turn into a public corporation. The objective of this essay is to realise why the BBC has been linked with the public service for a great period of time. I will now begin the main part of the essay, where I will be discussing the history of the BBC followed by reasons to why it has been what it is. Firstly, let me shed light on the word broadcasting. Broadcasting is the transmitting of programmes to be heard simultaneously by an indefinitely large number of people-is a social invention, not a technical one. This form of conveying out messages started in the First World War, but was not yet completely recognised until the 1920s. Due to this recognition, in 1922 there was an increase in demand for applications in setting up broadcasting stations, which needed to be controlled. Quoted by one of the companys first employees, â€Å"the BBC was formed as an expedient solution to a technical problem. It owes its existence to the scarcity of air waves.† (Curran, 2003:110) In order to address the situation, rival manufacturers were persuaded by The Postmaster General to come together and join all the small broadcasting stations together into one station, which was The British Broadcasting Company. The BBC was to be financed by both tariffs and a licence fee, which after some time proved to be unsuccessful for the rapid expansion of the station. Listeners were building their personal sets with low-priced foreign components, and applying for new licenses. The BBC was not in favour of this and manufacturers were irritated that the production was not proving to be as cost-effective as it should have been. As a result of this, the Sykes Committee was established to help out. Two years later, the Crawford Committee accepted the essential need of a monopoly and proposed that the private company should be swapped with a â€Å"Public Commission operating in the National Interest.† (Curran, 2008:111) There were certain reasons to why the BBC was regulated, which we can consider. One of which, was that there was limited space on the frequency spectrum, which therefore meant that no organisations could appear freely without any government rule, so to limit this, the government had to step in. In other words, there were technological constraints. It was not technically possible to have numerous amounts of signals altogether, which could ultimately cause blockages. Further more, the Post Office were forcing all the electrical manufacturers to create a single system as it was finding it very difficult to control the private broadcaster who were transmitting messages freely without obtaining a licence from them. More over, being a more important reason was linked with the first managing director of the BBC, John Reith, whom believed that the aim of the BBC was to â€Å"inform, educate and entertain.† (Revue of the BBC Royal Charter, 2005:107) Being brought up within a Calvinism background, he viewed the world very differently and this increased his strengths and weaknesses on his view of broadcasting in general. â€Å"His duty as the managing director of a national company was to act in the national interest, which he interpreted along the lines of not broadcasting anything which might help to spread the strike and thus damage the nation.† (Sales, 1986:49) This quote therefore gives us the impression that according to Reith, the cultural life of Britain would improve, and whatever was to be shown should not only be done so to make the listeners happy, but at the same time to increase tastes and attitudes. Reith argued that the medium should be accessible to everyone, as he exp lained â€Å"There is no limit to the amount which may be drawn off. It does not matter how many thousands there may be listening; there is always enough for others.† (Curran: 2008, 113) For that reason, having a monopoly was crucial and support from the State was needed. Following on, we can also take the example of USA into account. The way in which the model of organisation was in USA was not accepted by Britain, as the Politicians thought it was inappropriate and were not fond of what they saw, and moved to other models. The way in which the BBC is funded needs to be examined as well. It is through the licence fee, under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, that enables the BBC to act in the public interest. This fee is paid by households and is undoubtedly a reason to why the BBC is a public service, as the public are paying and therefore the BBC should be publicly responsible. Apart from analysing some factors which donated to the function of a public service, the relationship which existed between the BBC and the State can be looked into as it could have a part to play in why the BBC was organised as a public service for so much of its history. The BBC was neither self-governing of, nor managed by the government and was sympathetic of any values and institutions that were given by parliamentary democracy. In general they had a good relationship between one another, but sometimes the bond between Reith and the state was unsettled. However, this did not stop both parties from taking into account â€Å"a shared interest in reaching a mutually acceptable modus vivendi.†(Khun, 2007:43) The General Strike in 1926 could also help to understand the relationship between the BBC and the State, due to it being a very crucial time for the BBC, as it was the first serious confrontation it had with the Government. This strike happened when the BBC was going through an important change. Due to the strike, which lasted for a period of nine days, newspapers were not being published and as result the whole country turned to the BBC. At this point in time the BBC was favoured by Winston Churchill, as he could see that the radio was a more adaptable method to communicate with the population and therefore asked the Prime Minister of that time, Stanley Baldwin to take control of the company. This decision was not in Reiths favour as according to him, the company was doing very well being independent with the public, whilst avoiding any control by the government. Nevertheless, this was not an unavoidable situation, as under the BBCs 1923 Wireless Broadcasting Licence, the governmen t had legal rights to have the BBC broadcast what it wanted. Before I finish off, it is worth noting that from the Second World War, it was an end of the BBC monopoly in broadcasting and a beginning of the duopoly, as ITV was then introduced. However, this did not stop the BBC from being highly regulated. It was still under government control. Due to the opening of ITV, there was an increase in the variety of broadcasting, which undoubtedly had caused competition between the BBC and its competitors. However, the BBC along with other public service channels were doing well, as they were â€Å"achieving the purposes of public service broadcasting† (Ofcom, Service Broadcasting Review:5) But we need to take into consideration the effect digital age will have on these methods of broadcasting. For example, consumers will have more choice, as they can watch or listen to whatever they wish via the internet. However it is considered that the BBC will â€Å"continue to make a strong contribution to the purposes of public service broadcasting, g iven its scale and the certainty of its finances to the end of digital switchover. (Ofcom, Service Broadcasting Review:6) As a final point, it is interesting to note that the only thing which comes close to the BBC in the UK is the NHS, both being a very unique and popular corporation, which has expanded an enormous amount since its first opening. BBC however started as a radio show and now provides eight TV services, ten national local radio stations and has the most admired website in the world. Therefore, what the future holds for the BBC is vital, as it is important that the Corporation keeps up to date with the digital age and technology, and more over the BBC should still remain to serve the citizens, especially the ones who pay for it through licence fees. According to the BBC Charter Review2006, the role of the BBC is â€Å"recognised and admired by the British public and extensive consultation on the future of the BBC has shown that the public want that role to continue† (Page 9) The Government have realised up to what level the publicly-funded broadcaster plays on everyday life, and as a result, it wants to keep it like this due to the gains license fee payers and society as a whole get out of it. In conclusion, it is possible to say that the BBC has had a positive outlook, being able to adapt to any change to audiences attitudes quite easily. It did remain a public service for a very long time until the 1980s, until the whole notion of public service was called into question. The Thatcher government wanted to test out the notion of public service with broadcasting, by introducing a new thought linked with consumer sovereignty. Nevertheless, the fact that the BBC stayed under government control for a period amount of time acting as a monopoly, showed that it was successful in many ways. Yet, there are contradictions which exist, as many believe that the BBC should be fully regulated by Ofcom, whilst others disagree with this fact, as to them Ofcom did not have the BBC in mind when it had its goals laid out and also it is a busy regulator. As a result of this, the solution is to make sure the BBC board of governors provide successful regulation of the BBC in order to prevent t he BBC being under Ofcom. Throughout this essay, I have explained factors to why for so much of its history the BBC was organised as a public service. In order to achieve an overall answer, we as readers need to reflect over the reasons to why it continued to have any input from the government, which I have previously discussed. There are no explanations which show us that the BBC was not doing well under regulation, as since its change from a private to a public corporation in 1926 till today, the BBC has been the most popular broadcasting company in the UK and should remain to do so in the future. Bibliography  · Curran, J. and Seaton, J. (2003, 6th edition) Power without responsibility, Routledge.  · Kuhn, R (2007) Politics and the Media in Britain, Palgrave.  · Sales, R. (1986) An Introduction to Broadcasting History, Longman.  · Ofcom, Service Broadcasting Review  · http://www.ofcom.org.uk  · www.bbccharterreview.org.uk A Public Service for all: The BBC in the digital age 2006.

Homelessness Essay -- essays research papers

Homelessness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Homelessness as an issue in today's society is largely ignored. To many, the problem of homelessness is invisible or barely noticed. When these people do see the homeless it is found in the form of beggars who need to â€Å"pull themselves up by their bootstraps† or mentally ill people who â€Å"just can't help themselves†. In either case the central point remains; the homeless must be people who are incapable or unwilling to help themselves. After all, wouldn't they stop being homeless if they just tried? These sorts of rationalizations cover a more disturbing truth; that for many in today's society, the spectre of homelessness is more pressing of a problem than helping those who are already on the streets. The millions living below the poverty line live in constant fear that at any time an event may occur that will drive them below the cultural and economic radar. Therefore, one major effect of homelessness is the creation of a threshold that force s people to remain in poverty for fear of losing what meager possessions they have.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The economic structure of the US, while changing from a product-based to a service-based job pool, remains with a similar split of the rich and the poor that has existed throughout the world since the beginning of recorded history. The illusion of the middle class in the 1950s created an expectation in modern America that great material achievement is not just possible but almost a bir... Homelessness Essay -- essays research papers Homelessness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Homelessness as an issue in today's society is largely ignored. To many, the problem of homelessness is invisible or barely noticed. When these people do see the homeless it is found in the form of beggars who need to â€Å"pull themselves up by their bootstraps† or mentally ill people who â€Å"just can't help themselves†. In either case the central point remains; the homeless must be people who are incapable or unwilling to help themselves. After all, wouldn't they stop being homeless if they just tried? These sorts of rationalizations cover a more disturbing truth; that for many in today's society, the spectre of homelessness is more pressing of a problem than helping those who are already on the streets. The millions living below the poverty line live in constant fear that at any time an event may occur that will drive them below the cultural and economic radar. Therefore, one major effect of homelessness is the creation of a threshold that force s people to remain in poverty for fear of losing what meager possessions they have.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The economic structure of the US, while changing from a product-based to a service-based job pool, remains with a similar split of the rich and the poor that has existed throughout the world since the beginning of recorded history. The illusion of the middle class in the 1950s created an expectation in modern America that great material achievement is not just possible but almost a bir...

The Coagulation of the Paper Cutlets -- Art Arts Theatre Theater Commu

The Coagulation of the Paper Cutlets The formation of a community is based on at least one commonality. Various communities intersect because, as complex individuals, humans have an exponential range of interests. However, the maintenance of the links within and between these communities is also dependent upon these commonalties. Therefore, a few people’s interest in theatre has significant effects upon their wider community. Community Theatre is a convocation and celebration of shared talents. The complexity and vibrancy of the tapestry it produces is also a reflection of the diversity of its creators. This paper explores the evolution of community theatre’s reparative role within its community. For the English playwright, John McGrath, theatre is not restricted to or by art but is capable of traversing departmental boundaries. McGrath proposes that theatre’s role in the society is one of class-conscious political activism. In his lecture â€Å"Theatre and Democracy,† McGrath explains that Western society is governed by representative democracy infested with personal and political hubris. He is adamant that â€Å"every crime a nation can commit is excused by false claims to democracy†¦Throughout the twentieth century, democracy has been universally acceptable, authenticating concept in the pursuit of public relations, and the most abused system in reality. (21)† Social critic Cornelius Castoriadis also denounces this form of democracy: â€Å"What is this theological mystery, this alchemic operation that makes of your sovereignty, one day every five years, a fluid that spreads over an entire country, enters into the ballot boxes, and comes out again that same evening on the television screen, on the faces of the ‘representatives of th... ... College. The community’s support of the Players and their plans is not limited to monetary donations and play attendance. They give of their time and professional expertise. Members of the community including children and older folk turned up on Saturday May 19, 2001 to help gut the interior of the building. Recently in the buy-a-brick fundraiser, members of the community were asked to buy one of the bricks covering the stained glass windows. The Middlebury Players are planning to do Little Shop of Horrors in the Spring. The Middlebury Community Theatre fulfills its role as a builder and sustainer of community through its many musicals and children’s shows, as well as through the renovation of its theatre building. Works Cited McGrath, John. â€Å"Theatre and Democracy.† European Studies: A Journal of European Culture, History and Politics.17 December 2001:19-35 The Coagulation of the Paper Cutlets -- Art Arts Theatre Theater Commu The Coagulation of the Paper Cutlets The formation of a community is based on at least one commonality. Various communities intersect because, as complex individuals, humans have an exponential range of interests. However, the maintenance of the links within and between these communities is also dependent upon these commonalties. Therefore, a few people’s interest in theatre has significant effects upon their wider community. Community Theatre is a convocation and celebration of shared talents. The complexity and vibrancy of the tapestry it produces is also a reflection of the diversity of its creators. This paper explores the evolution of community theatre’s reparative role within its community. For the English playwright, John McGrath, theatre is not restricted to or by art but is capable of traversing departmental boundaries. McGrath proposes that theatre’s role in the society is one of class-conscious political activism. In his lecture â€Å"Theatre and Democracy,† McGrath explains that Western society is governed by representative democracy infested with personal and political hubris. He is adamant that â€Å"every crime a nation can commit is excused by false claims to democracy†¦Throughout the twentieth century, democracy has been universally acceptable, authenticating concept in the pursuit of public relations, and the most abused system in reality. (21)† Social critic Cornelius Castoriadis also denounces this form of democracy: â€Å"What is this theological mystery, this alchemic operation that makes of your sovereignty, one day every five years, a fluid that spreads over an entire country, enters into the ballot boxes, and comes out again that same evening on the television screen, on the faces of the ‘representatives of th... ... College. The community’s support of the Players and their plans is not limited to monetary donations and play attendance. They give of their time and professional expertise. Members of the community including children and older folk turned up on Saturday May 19, 2001 to help gut the interior of the building. Recently in the buy-a-brick fundraiser, members of the community were asked to buy one of the bricks covering the stained glass windows. The Middlebury Players are planning to do Little Shop of Horrors in the Spring. The Middlebury Community Theatre fulfills its role as a builder and sustainer of community through its many musicals and children’s shows, as well as through the renovation of its theatre building. Works Cited McGrath, John. â€Å"Theatre and Democracy.† European Studies: A Journal of European Culture, History and Politics.17 December 2001:19-35

Coffee Ulbs Essay

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a distinct aroma and flavor from the roasted seeds of the coffea plant. Coffee comes in many types of colour such as dark brown,white,beige,black,light brown,and more. Coffee was first discovered in the northeast region of Ethopia. Cofee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia,appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. According to the ancient chronicle,Omar who was known for his ability to cure sick through prayer was once exiled from Mocha,Yemen to a desert cave near Ousab. Starving,Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery but found them to the bitter. He tried roasting the seeds to improve the flavor,but they become hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the seeds,which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid,Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this ‘miracle drug’ reached Mocha,Omar was asked to return and was made a saint. In production of coffee,it consist of many steps such as processing,roasting,grading the roasting seeds,decaffeination,stored,brewing and finally be served. When processing the coffee,the berries of coffee have been traditionally and selectively picked by hand,only the berries at the peak of ripeness would be selected. After that,green coffee is process by one of two methods. Whether by dry process method or wet process method. Then,it will be sorted by ripeness and colour. After that,the seeds are fermented to remove the slimy layer of mucilage still present on the seeds. When the fermentation is finished,the seeds are washed to remove the fermentation residue. Then,the seeds are dried. Finally,the coffee is sorted again and been labeled. The roasting process influences the taste of the beverage by changing the coffee seed both physically and chemically. During roasting,caramelization occurs as intense heat that breaks down starches,changing them to simple sugars that begin to brown,which alters the colour of seeds. Then the seeds will be grading depends on the colour of roasting seeds. It will be labeled as light,medium light,medium,medium dark,dark or very dark. The degree of roast has an effect upon coffee flavor and body. Many methods can remove the caffeine from coffee,but all involve either soaking the green seeds in hot water or steaming them and using a solvent to dissolve caffeine that containing oils. Once roasted,coffee seeds must be stored properly to preserve the fresh taste of the seeds. Coffee seeds must be ground and brewed to create a beverage. Almost all methods of preparing coffee require the seeds to be ground and mixed with hot water long enough to extract the flavor,but without overextraction that draws out bitter compounds. The roasted coffee may be ground at a roaster,in a grocery store or in the home. Then,the coffee may be brewed by several methods such as boiled,steeped,or pressurized. Once brewed,coffee may be served in a variety of ways. As an example,the white coffee was made into dairy product such as milk or cream or dairy substitute or as a black coffee with no such addition. It may be sweetened with sugar or artificial sweetener.

Health Care Utilization Nursing Home Administration

University of Phoenix April 14, 2014 As an Administrator of our local nursing home it has come to my attention that we have been bought out by a national group. With this change being made there will unfortunately be displacement of some of our residents. This paper will describe both the advantages and disadvantages of using different types of media for communication. It will also describe the effects of HAIFA on these types of communication.As the administrator I would be what some call the collaborator during this conflict/situation. As the collaborator I will try to meet the needs of both parties, see the conflict as a neutral, listen to the needs, and view all that are involved as equals during the changes (Cheeseboard, O'Connor, & Iris, , 2010) . I will team up with communication specialist during this time to help our clients reduce their uncertainties, bridge boundaries, provide social support and also help build skills. Another part of my plan will be to work with the media. It is important to understand that as a part of our mission in this organization we need to keep people informed about any and all changes that could occur. It is also important to know and understand that both health care and media organizations will benefit if they can learn to work together (Cheeseboard, O'Connor, & Iris, 2010). Being visible in the media is not only good for business but also it will boost the morale of the people both within the organization and the individuals who use the organization. When dealing with the media there are both advantages and disadvantages.When it comes to the advantages the electronic form of communication is top priority. For instance electronic communication benefits individuals across the world unlike traditional immunization that is mostly based around small communities. Electronic and social media communication brings information via television, conversations, graphics, charts and even interactive software (Palmyra, 2012). Another advant age is that conversations can be visual as well as textual. This can help with communication between individuals who might be hearing impaired or even from a different cultural background.Now we all know where there are advantages there will also be disadvantages. When we talk about disadvantages the main issue is security and privacy of the individuals involved. When it comes to electronic or social media communication we have to be careful that our computers don't become hacked or even contract viruses. Also with the volume of data being so large and transmission of this data being so fast there becomes a barrier of difficulty with absorbing, processing, and even understanding of the data.This also causes a problem of providing the proper and necessary feedback (Palmyra, 2012). Another disadvantage is that there could be a possibility of the information that is being processed to become lost. Now that we have talked about the advantages and disadvantages of hose types of communica tion we can now focus on HAIFA and how it pertains to all of this. HAIFA is the Health Insurance Accountability Act and is used to help protect patients by giving those rights over the use of any and/or all of their medical information (Longer, 2006).This Act also provides patients with certain limitations on who can have access to their information. In my situation many of the patients that have to be relocated have not approved the release of their information. Because of this there will be some hurtles, but according to HAIFA there can be some PHI protected health information) that can be disclosed (Longer, 2006). Some examples are information for treatment. Information for payment of treatment, and information for performance of health care operations.This can include but is not limited to general administration, financial and some legal aspects required operating a health care institution. This is the disclosure that I would use in this situation to help in the relocation proce ss of the individuals who will no longer be with us here. In conclusion as the administrator it is my duty to abide by HAIFA and only disclose information that is necessary to maintain the facility. It is also my duty to insure that everything runs smoothly through the transition and that everyone is happy in the long run.

Plato’s Ideal City

The Ideal City In Plato’s book â€Å"Republic† he describes what he thinks would be an ideal city, for this city to be ideal it would have to be just. In his just city there are three classes of people; gold, silver, and bronze/iron; known as the National Division of Labor. The guardians of the city are placed in the gold category, the auxiliaries in the silver, and the farmers and craftsmen are in the bronze/iron category. Plato argues that the National Division of Labor reflects the requirements of nature and produces a harmonious whole. Wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice are the four virtues that this ideal city must have to be just. The guardians, also known as philosopher kings, being in the gold class of the city, are wise, knowledgeable, and most importantly they are philosophers. They enjoy learning about forms and think that anything else won’t bring somebody happiness. They believe that forms are the highest level of happiness and that by learning about and understanding forms brings knowledge. To be a guardian they must be ruled by their reason and not let spirit or appetites take over. They are responsible for ruling the city. Guardians are not allowed to make any money or have a job outside of guardianship nor are they able to own anything. At childhood they start an extensive amount of study in music, poetry, and physical training. The study of these subjects develops harmony between them and is said to be good for the soul. Plato argues that â€Å"a good soul by its own virtue makes the body as good as possible† (403d). In the silver class of the city are the auxiliaries, or in other words the warriors. These people have to be courageous; they are responsible for protecting the city and keeping everything at peace. They love victory and honor and go through massive physical training to be strong for battle and enforce the laws of the guardians. Instead of focusing on forms, like the guardians, auxiliaries put their focus towards particulars. That is essential in the job that they have because they need to understand what particulars are and how they operate to be able to fight. If they the people in the silver class flourish and thrive in their jobs, then they will experience happiness. Just like the lives of the guardians, the lives of the auxiliaries are completely controlled; they all live in the same place and don’t have any privacy, they all eat the same thing and have their schedule planned out for them and they’re not allowed to own anything. They’re not allowed to make any money or have anything that isn’t needed to be a warrior. Basically, the auxiliaries don’t have lives other than training. The farmers and craftsmen are considered to be in the bronze/iron category, they are the producers of the city. Unlike the guardians and auxiliaries, they tend to be ruled by their appetites other than reason and spirit. The farmers and craftsmen seem to focus more on belief and opinion other than the forms or particulars. They have more creativity than the guardians and auxiliaries which was highly despised of by Plato. Plato believed that imagination was nothingness and ignorance; he did not think that it helped you flourish or thrive in any way. He said that a thing such as art and imagination only brought pleasure and not knowledge, which he said wasn’t happiness. Even if you were and artist and you flourished and thrived in that area you still weren’t considered to be happy because you don’t know anything about the forms and art is projected as ignorance. They are able to have jobs, make money, buy and sell property, and own whatever they want. Farmers and craftsmen are considered free people compared to guardians and auxiliaries, they only have to follow certain rules obtained by the guardians. The city wouldn’t be able to exist without the bronze/iron category; the farmers and craftsmen grow all the food and make every product that is needed. If I had to choose which category I would like to be in I would choose the bronze/iron category. I wouldn’t prefer to be in the gold or silver category because I wouldn’t want my life completely controlled and not be able to have any privacy. Having my life all about the rest of the city and having my life planned out isn’t something that I would enjoy, I would want to make my own decisions and not having them made for me. Sure you could say that that is selfish and unjust but that is what would truly make me happy. Plato says that to truly be happy that you have to flourish and thrive as opposed having pleasure. I think that if I was in the bronze/iron class that I would flourish and thrive because in that class I have more opportunities to succeed in different areas of life. In the bronze/iron class you are able to live your own life, the life you want to live instead of being told what to do and how to live every day. In this ideal and just city, everyone: the guardians, auxiliaries, and farmers and craftsmen, have to do their own task, otherwise it wouldn’t be just. The people in these three classes all have to flourish and thrive in whichever class they are in. The guardians can’t do the job of the auxiliaries or the farmers and craftsmen, the auxiliaries can’t do the job of the guardians or farmers and craftsmen, and the farmers and craftsmen can’t do the job of the guardians or auxiliaries. If everything works out the way that Plato plans, then this ideal and just city would be the perfect utopia.