huh?
Ok, so it’s time to start blog number two and Im being a little tardy.
To start off, this week we were asked to read ‘ Selections from the Han Narrative Histories’ and see if they correspond what we consider historical writing and if these two things go together. I have to admit I’ve never given much thought to what I consider historical writing. Is it something that just drolls on or is it meant to engage a reader. Does it require arguments and explanations…or can it just list off endless facts.
I think it would be nice if it engages the reader and developed it thoughts, but to be honest I don’t think either is a technical requirement when it comes to the definition of ‘historical writing’. Now, I don’t want to imply that I found the Han Narrative Histories dull and exact. Im just trying to work out what Im supposed to be dissecting in this blog.
All in all I would definitely argue that what I read this week fell into the genre of Historical Writing. I enjoyed reading excerpts from old letters and writings. Quotes from people dead over a thousand years, learning of their superstitions, beliefs and hardships. However, at times I also became quite lost. Names of cities and Emperors that I can hardly wrap my mind around let alone my tongue. There could be an Emperor from one region whose life span overlapped two Emperors from another region, who may have overlapped two more each somewhere else, and BAM I right back to where I started. Sitting at a computer with countless tabs opened up on the internet trying to wiki this person and that, maps from my text book on the bed beside me.
I would say that I feel much more comfortable talking about chpt 4 from Frances Wood’s The Silk Road. All the myths, wars and beliefs that surrounded the beautiful unearthly horses is what really interested me. Wars were fought, and people killed over these horses. Was it because they would give advantage in battle? Was it because they were so surreal that they sweated blood and were somehow related to dragons? Or did the Emperors really believe that these horses would carry them into the land of Immortals? All of these things seem so fantastic and surreal. However, the repercussions were real. People died. Is this the stuff that makes up the history of the world? Most likely. No one can really deny that their history is so much more advanced than everyone elses. It should be interesting though, to see the role that beliefs rather than facts played a role in that making of the history of the silk road. After all, is that not what Religion is, a belief system. This description of the horses is but a small example of the significance beliefs really do play. Whether it is positive or negative isn’t for me or this course to decide.
