Dear XXX,
It has been pleasurable for me to be in your class this year; I have learned a great deal about the world’s past. However, I write to suggest that an underemphasized area of history — specifically, Chinese history — is taught next year, since it would be extremely helpful if covered in far more detail in the future. Namely, I would like to learn more about the Three Kingdoms period. Over my years of education, I have noticed that none of the curricula I’ve used have dedicated a chapter to this duration in China’s history; in fact, many do not even mention the name, merely dubbing it “a period of unrest”. That is a concerning problem. Such glossing over war may alter students’ perspectives and knowledge of China’s real history, especially those that did not grow up with an Asian background. Along with the other times of war in ancient China, there is far more to the Three Kingdoms than a short, simple sentence can incorporate, and if explained and taught in detail, it could provide many benefits for future seventh-grade students.
Many factors make the Three Kingdom period stand out. Naturally, since 7th grade covers mainly medieval world history, it wouldn’t make sense to teach about the World Wars or any other recent wars. Furthermore, the sixth-grade curriculum ends during the Han Dynasty — and the Three Kingdoms period begins at the demise of the Han. What a perfect transition! What’s more, war is a highly engaging and exciting topic compared to others, such as philosophy, which is just as important but better off taught in high school, where students can understand it better. I found it difficult to truly understand the religions taught this year, including Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. It’s evident that for teens our age, it is more enjoyable to learn about battles and fights, as they pump up nerves and can cause discussions and debates to spread across the classroom. And the Three Kingdoms are especially gripping since the warfare strategies, tactics, and alliances are much more interesting when there are more than two fighting forces. At the same time, it’s easier to grasp for students our age than, say, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, as there is a more limited amount of realms.
I would like to also point out that there is a classic tale adapted from the true period that you could teach in those periods, to correspond with the curriculum in social studies. Known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was written in the Ming dynasty. Since it is partially historically accurate and partially made up, it would be an ideal way for students to practice their comparing and contrasting skills by picking out the differences between the fiction and the true historical period. Meanwhile, it is also a captivating story that has provoked a great deal of critical thinking for me and would make history and ELA a lot less tedious or dull to those that believe it is. It’s a thrilling tale of three forces struggling for power, rising, and falling. So many characters, all with different personalities, form an intricate web. In fact, I first fell in love with social studies because I listened to Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a young child, despite not understanding a majority of it. And last but not least, the Three Kingdoms period provides immensely valuable lessons and themes, such as loyalty and strategy, and that failure is sometimes inevitable, no matter how intelligent you are (as shown by Zhu Geliang, arguably the most brilliant mastermind of the period who, in the end, did not manage to bring the Shu Kingdom to victory). That is the true importance of history to me; the lessons of life it holds are vital in helping us make better decisions and choices in the future.
If you are to implement the Three Kingdoms period into the curriculum, I would recommend teaching in chronological order, beginning from the births of the three rulers and all the way until Si Mayi unites China, whilst altering between the novel and the true period of history. For example, the beginning of Romance of the Three Kingdoms features a famous scene in which Liu Bei (later the leader of the Shu kingdom), Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei create a pact to live as brothers. This happens in a cherry blossom orchard. However, this did not actually happen during that period, although the three were indeed extremely close. There were many similar instances of edited details or larger-scale events in the novel, so as you progress through the period, it would be convenient to teach parts of the book as well. Thus, I hope you consider my suggestion for next year’s curriculum.
Thank you for your time,
E. X. Ma
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