Blog Post Two: Yuan Zhen, the Story of Yingying and Confucius

I think would emphasize the role of duty or responsibility within a culture. That was a big theme in this week’s readings. Both of stories Yuan Zhen, the Story of Yingying, and the story of Confucius dealt with the roles in society that we are meant or expected to play.
In Confucius's teachings it is more overtly apparent. He speaks of duty, honor, family and parent-child relationships, among other things. All of these things have to do with the responsibilities he placed importance on within his culture. In Yuan Zhen, the Story of Yingying, it was more implied: the woman was supposed to be respectable and marry whoever her family told her to, and the man was meant to be “manly” and participate in what society expects. As teachers, we should talk to our students about how they view their responsibilities in their culture and what they consist of. I could also ask them how the gender roles play into how expectations change for individuals and ask them to provide examples from the stories and their own lives.
The theme of “lost love” applies to Yuan Zhen, the Story of Yingying, as well. I think that multiple elements of popular culture applies to this themes. Teachers could ask students to identify the themes of duty, responsibility, and lost love. Movies or TV shows that could be mentioned are: Game of Thrones and their basis on kings and their duty and pressure to be powerful rulers, the gender expectations/stereotypes placed on the girls in the show (be beautiful, be graceful, be quiet, be a good mother type, don’t be manly, don’t be bold), or you can really use any show, if you choose the right episode, because all of them have some form of this or another. The following article talks about gender stereotyping in the media, and might be good to read, when discussing this topic and dissecting the theme. http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/     
Duty and responsibility when it comes to one's culture is something that all of us, at one time or another, feel and can relate to. These stories explore those themes in a way that make it interesting and entertaining.