The Chinese Maze Murders, Feudalism, Chinese Universities in the Middle Ages - Assignment Example

Western civilization. 1. The Chinese Maze Murders. The first thing that strikes a modern Western reader when considering the tactics and approach of Judge Dee is that he seems to have great power and very little sense of the limitations of the law. This can be seen the way that he uses threats and violence to intimidate suspects and witnesses, and in the obviously preferential treatment that some people receive. An example of this rather individual application of justice can be seen when Yoo Kee appears before Judge Dee and at first is unwilling to talk. Judge Dee finds Yoo Kee guilty and warns him that there is a terrible punishment for this crime of treason, which the reader assumes must be some horribly violent execution, and then says “Yet perhaps the great name of your late father and a recommendation from me might bring the authorities to mitigate the fearful fate that awaits you” (Van Gulik, 228). The implication of this statement is that a person might receive different treatment according to the family background that they come from. The death penalty is very common in this society, and it seems to be performed as a public spectacle. As it turns out, Yoo Kee is ultimately killed with a knife and then sliced to pieces in front of a watching crowd (Van Gulik 305). Another surprising aspect of life in the time of Judge Dee is that it is quite acceptable for men to have three or four wives, and these seem to be organized in a strict hierarchy, with a “First Lady” who is in charge, and the others following after with lower rank. There is clearly a lot of competition and resentment within families because of this, and it may be that many of the crimes committed out of love are caused by this situation. There must have been many younger men who could not find a legal partner because the women are all taken by older, richer and more powerful men. The marriages are also arranged for political or financial reasons, and this makes it very difficult, especially for the women, who have no choice in the matches made for them. I would not like to live in this society because of the high level of violence that existed, both from criminals, and from government officials, and because of the very strict separation between different gender roles. The contrast between Dark Orchid and her sister White Orchid illustrates this point perfectly: Dark Orchid is criticized because she is “headstrong” and “should have been born a boy” while her sister is praised for being “quiet and obedient” and having “ a soft, pliable character” (Van Gulik 135). The ideal woman just does what she is told, while any girl with a mind of her own is seen as less attractive. The judge uses Dark Orchid as a spy, and often throughout the novel the men talk to each other about taking wives and buying women for temporary pleasure. It seems that there is one law for men, and another for women, since the punishment for adultery is very harsh for women, while men are allowed to carry on as they please. This is the main reason why I would not like to live in this society. 2. Feudalism Feudalism evolved as a system based on agriculture, which required significant amounts of labor to be organized around manor houses ruled by wealthy noblemen. It allowed a certain amount of stability to be set up, with food being produced in greater amounts, and new trades and specialisms emerging which improved the quality of life for people overall. This is the good side of feudalism. More and better food meant that people were protected from starvation, and they were healthier and lived longer. On the other hand, feudalism was also built on the classification of large numbers of people as serfs, which took away their liberty and made them little more than slaves. The concept of feudal loyalty, based on the gift of land, in return for military service and other obligations is what made the system work so effectively: “With its use of symbol and ritual, its hand-clasping and embracing and taking of vows, the act of homage was not unlike a wedding” (Lewis 185). This vassal-lord relationship benefited European society by providing a relatively stable social order, and enabling the effective use of the land. Although the concentration of wealth in the hands of the upper classes and the Church was often a cause of hardship for the poorer members of society, it did create immense coffers of resource that could be put to use as campaign funds for crusades, which strengthened the power of the Church. Inventions such as the three-field system made sure that the land was productive all year round, and could sustain the crops indefinitely: “This simple conservation measure helped to maintain the fertility of the soil” (Lewis 192). The resulting funds were also used for impressive building projects that still survive today in form of magnificent houses, castles and cathedrals across Europe. Monarchs used their wealth to create effective systems of government, including a legal system and tax collecting and these structures began to form the modern nation states that we have today. The power of the over-arching Holy Roman Empire declined, and authority passed gradually over to secular institutions’ Perhaps the biggest change that occurred thanks to feudalism was the emergence of lively trade between communities and the rise of larger towns and cities where education, specialized trades and the exchange of ideas took place. The great medieval cities were all built on the back of feudal labor and it was from these centers of prosperity that innovations were turned into practical goods, which in turn led to trade with other centers across the known world. Northern and Western Europe had plentiful supplies of wool, and they made high quality cloth, which was exchanged for spices and jewels from the East. Increased trade opportunities encouraged the growth of guilds which “embodied the corporate and community spirit so characteristic of medieval society” (Lewis 201). Altogether, then, feudalism was the structure that established the very foundations of modern industrial societies. 3. Universities in the Middle Ages The main language of scholarly communication across Europe in the Middle Ages was Latin, thanks to the influence of the Church. At first only Church people and a few very wealthy nobles could read and write, and the Church was main source of education. From the eleventh century onwards new establishments grew up for the teaching of skills and knowledge that were necessary for governing the new towns and cities that growing bigger and more complex all the time. The clergy still had an influence in these places such as Bologna and Paris where universities first emerged, but now the focus was wider than just theology. The curriculum was based on the classical roman model of the trivium and quadrivium, which together make up the seven “liberal arts” consisting of grammar, rhetoric and logic, as well as arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. The method was theoretical and very much focussed on ancient texts: “more stress was placed on memorizing and analysing a small number of highly respected books than on extensive reading” (Lewis 235). This means that the first universities were rather backwards looking, teaching what was already known, rather than forward looking research establishments that they are today. From modern point of view, these subject look very narrow, amounting to not much more than basic literacy and numeracy, with a little music for light relief. In fact, however, these were each very demanding subject areas, stretching into philosophy, linguistics and all the sciences, since they deal with basic concepts and advanced ideas accessed through the window of some of the greatest classical writers such as Aristotle and others: “the trivium went beyond the mechanics of language, it included the study of works of philosophy, literature, and history” (Lewis 234). This curriculum is actually very broad and it represents the full range of skills that a free man (hence the name “liberal arts) was expected to possess. Students had to travel long distances, because libraries and books were rare and expensive, and teachers gathered around these precious resources to establish their own advanced schools. In the medieval universities there was a system very like the modern masters and doctorate programs, with learned scholars attracting students from far and wide to come and hear their lectures. Although there was not much innovation in terms of science, a great deal of time was spent on constructing logical arguments and debating important issues of morality, philosophy and of course theology. Ideas from Arabic and Jewish scholars were communicated to the west, even though some Christians were “disturbed” (Lewis 235) by their departure from the orthodox Christian world view. These skills of discernment and deduction are fundamental to proper academic thinking, and they allowed some students to begin to use reason in a way that challenged the orthodoxies of the Church in a methodical way. This means that the universities, though very conservative in their curriculum and textbook choices, were quite radical in helping people to think for themselves and work out solutions to the many problems of society in their day. References Lewis, Gavin. WCIV. Boston: Cengage, 2012. Van Gulik, Robert. The Chinese Maze Murders. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1997. Read More