Author: cameronteel

Cameron Teel

Reflection: I have not only been progressing through the book but also looking back at the beginning chapters. When we met with Tina Lu her major point on my research was characters in the book did not like Xi Feng because she was a woman in a power role. Whereas I initially thought that they disliked Xi Feng purely because of her managerial style. I am having a hard time pinpointing why she is a more disliked character. The example I think strongly supports Tina Lu’s point is Xi Feng’s relationship with her husband. He seems to resent her because of her position in the family which is magnified because she is more successful than him. Besides that, I cannot distinguish why exactly she is disliked. Does anyone have anything to add? Does anyone have input on how to gear questions to try to answer this question?

Broadly: What leadership style do the Chinese tend to like today and is it comparable to any of the notable characters in leadership roles?

Hypothesis: Based on previous time spent in China I hypothesize that the younger university students will lean towards Western values (Xi Feng) with middle aged to older professionals leaning towards traditional Chinese values (Xin Shi and Granny Jia).

Students:

1. What motivates you more – family or money?
2. What managerial style would you prefer in the workplace – friend or strictly business?
3. Outside of the workplace what type of relationship would you want with a manager – friend or strictly business?
4. Would you want a mentoring program built into your work environment or would you want to learn on your own as you go?
5. If you were a manager what would be the highlights of the culture you would want to create?
6. If you were a manager what would you want your employees to describe as the cornerstones of the work culture you created?
7. If you were a manager how would you decided who to promote?

Professionals:

1. What motivates you more – family or money?
2. What managerial style would you prefer in the workplace – friend or strictly business? If applicable could you describe your managerial style?
3. Outside of the workplace what type of relationship would you want with a manager – friend or strictly business? If applicable as a manager what type of relationship have you had with employees outside of work?
4. If you were hiring a manager would you want them to implement a mentoring program or would you want them to push employees to be autonomous? As an employee what would you prefer?
5. If you were a manager/as a manager what would be the highlights of the culture you would want to create?
6. If you were a manager/as a manager what would you want your employees to describe as the cornerstones of the work culture you created?
7. If you were a manager /as a manager how would you decided who to promote?

Key

• I wrote down my broad thoughts every two chapters in normal font
• I highlighted instances I might use in my lesson plan by italicizing them
• All of my questions are at the end under a separate header

Chapters 5-6

• I thought it was interesting that Bao-yu visits the same land Zhen Shi-yin visited and in fact the same land he once lived in
• The songs appear to be about the decline of the Jia family and the love triangle
• The Jia’s demonstrate generosity while still showing off their family heritage

Chapters 7-8

• Dai-yu feels like she is given leftovers and is also leftover in Bao-yu’s eyes because he chooses Bao-chai over her
• Ying tian, the kidnapped girl, is now a servant in the Jia household

Chapters 9-10

• There is an obvious divide of wealth and power even among students at the private school
• Family ties and standing are very important which is why Jia Qiang has a servant deal with the bullies
• Again, Bao-yu only asks for an apology for his friend who is a family member and doesn’t ask for anything for the one who isn’t

Chapters 11-12

• Lust eventually leads to Jia Rui becoming ill and dying
• If he had been able to obey the Taoist, he would have been fine, but he looks into the forbidden side and even at death can’t part with his lust

Chapters 13-14

• Xi-feng is put in charge of another two houses and manages them with ease
• Dai-yu’s tears for a lifetime of repayment continue with her father’s death

Chapters 15-16

• Bao-yu’s father thinks that Bao-yu will never be more than a boy who plays with girls’ toys
• Greed appears to corrupt Xi-feng as she undertakes matters that she gets compensation for but hides from the Jia family
• Patience goes to great lengths to cover up Xi-feng’s actions and shows true loyalty

Chapters 17-18

• Even more so than the funeral no expense is spared for Yuan-chun’s visit home – the funeral shows what people are willing to give up for a good ruler
• Bao-yu is oft put down by his father when they are naming things but the names, he chooses are often still the best ones and accepted by the whole party
• Chapter 18 shows the character contradiction of Bao-chi and Dai-yu – one is cheerful and the other sad which is reflected in their poetry

Chapters 19-20

• Another female relationship of Bao-yu’s is explored which is with Aroma
• Bao-yu appears to think of his servants as friends which is shown by how he helps with grooming and nursing them back to health
• Xian-yun only adds to Dai-yu’s belief that Bao-yu is closer to Bao-chai, more loved, and more beautiful

Chapters 21-22

• Bao-yu sleeps around which seems to cause his girl problems because every girl seemingly wants him
• Although he seems to show growth when he relates the girls to the real world
• The conflict between Xi-feng, Patience, and Jia Lian shows another master-servant relationship
• The sign of the riddles seems to foretell short/ill-fated lives for the family

Chapters 23-24

• Bao-yu’s father seems to realize he isn’t going to get another son and changes his attitude towards him in this section
• The girls and Bao-yu move to the garden per Yuan-chun’s request to hopefully get Bao-yu to focus more on his studies
• The actresses use flowes in their stores which seem to unconsciously remind Dai-yu of her life in the Land of Illusion

Chapters 25-26

• The jade heals the two of “demons”
• Dai-yu cries more tears to cover her debt

Questions

• How does Bao-chai’s locket have almost the same inscription as Bao-yu’s jade?
• The part on Jia Rui’s lust seems contrarty to the rest of the novel because Bao-yu can have his way but others can’t?
• In a different source I read something about their being a small-pox god that they try to atone to when Bao-yu gets sick, is this accurate?
• Again, another note I read on the book is that when kids are sick the parents must abstain from sex specifically in relation to Jia Liang and his desire not to?
• Why does the book on love and talking about marriage make Dai-yu upset? It seems that if she were just to engage then Bao-yu would focus on her and not Bao-chai.
• Is the monk and Taoist that keep reappearing throughout the work the same one?

My name is Cameron Teel and I am a sophomore at North Central College. I am pursuing a double major in Accounting and Chinese. Moving from Texas to Naperville, I remember more about my first year than most students who are from Illinois and surrounding areas because everything was new and different. One moment early in my time at NCC stands out even today. At the first meeting of my International Business class in the fall of 2017, the professor told us that college gives students an unprecedented chance to do hard things. His main challenges were to learn Chinese and study abroad. His lecture that day opened my eyes to the fact that nearly one-fifth of the world speaks Mandarin. It was a jaw-dropping realization that learning Chinese would allow me to communicate with over one billion people who speak the language. Although I didn’t know a single Chinese word and had not considered studying the language before that day, I decided to accept the professor’s challenge. I went straight to my NCC advisor’s office and transferred into Chinese.

Since that second day of my freshman year, I have relentlessly pursued trying to master the language. I took the one-hundred level sequence during my freshman year and was chosen to study abroad in China during my sophomore year, which is a year earlier than most students study abroad. In Shanghai, I completed the intensive language track which consisted of five hours of classroom per day and living with a host family. When I started the four-month intensive Chinese program, my language skills consisted of saying, “Hello, my name is Cameron. My Chinese is not very good.” By the end of my study abroad experience, I was able to hold forty-minute conversations with everyone from my instructors to taxi drivers on diverse topics including China’s one-child policy, the nation’s stand on gun control, and the economic status of China.

I am choosing to direct my research towards understanding the Chinese mindset when it comes to relationships in the workplace. This theme came to mind because of living with a host family. I noticed Chinese families spend most of their time at home or at work. I was never able to see how life worked at their work but I want to. It intrigues me for various reasons but particularly because in the next few years I will be searching for my first job post-college. I am considering returning to China to pursue a career and having an idea of what to expect in a Chinese work environment would be ideal. In addition, I would be able to build connections over the summer that could help me land a job, make connections, and further my Chinese language and culture study. In addition, I would like to become a global citizen.

I have read through chapter five of Hong lou meng. There have already been numerous characters introduced and excused in the reading. The plot continues to thicken as I delve deeper. Conversing with my mentors they mentioned that to get to material that directly applies to my topic of research I will have to patiently continue reading into books four and five. I consider this the ultimate cliff hanger and it is only intensifying my passion for the book. Based off of the reading I have completed these are a few questions I have.

1. When talking with my teachers during my intensive stay in China it seemed highly irregular if not impossible to bend the law but it seems to be implied that law bends for the rich and influential. I have heard that major Chinese companies have a mutual partnership with the government that seems to bend the law. I am curious to see if this still pertains today? If so, how does it influence business in China?
2. I am curious to learn more about why Cao Xueqin chooses to make woman such a prominent focus because I would have thought that in his day and age most books, artwork, etc. would have been more focused on men. I think it offers a very different perspective than other similar works and makes it stand out as a classic.
3. Finally, another question I have is how were genders viewed at the time of writing? It seems to be something the author is comfortable writing about and if characters names were removed it would be hard to discern how the author wanted them to be portrayed.