For over half a century, humans were at risk of extinction. However, the end of another world war did not clear the tension between nations. Despite an estimated 7 million deaths in total, this period is what we call the Cold War. In the blog today, we will be talking about my learning journey studying the Cold War era.
Project Overview
In this project, the Coldest War, we each investigated an event from the Cold War and shared it through our graphic novel creation. At the same time, we learned to analyze character developments and view perspectives that contributed to the final product.
Topic: Why the Civil War?
I chose to focus on the Chinese civil war for this project. Coming from Taiwan, I have seen many debates on how Taiwan should manage its relationship with China. I have a personal experience of how people from China treated me differently, not necessarily in a good way, when they realized I was from Taiwan. They tried to force me to agree that Taiwan is part of China, even though it doesn’t change anything. The root of this conflict came from the civil war that occurred in the Cold War. Since we have the same ancestry, I questioned why the tension existed in the first place. I started to doubt which side was telling the truth, the nationalist, the socialists or neither. I wondered why the estrangement and “gap” exists. Because of all the questions, wonders, and curiosity, I decided to do this controversial topic on the Chinese Civil War.
(Here’s the link to the Final Product)
Answer to DQ
“How can I support my understanding of a significant event from the Cold War?”
The theme throughout the comic is that nobody wanted the war from the start. Knowing that China suffered economic depression and countless warfare for around a century, it is evident that another deadly civil war, which killed around 3 million and 30 million people indirectly, was not beneficial. This idea echoes the WW1 movie “all quiet on the western front” as both suffered unnecessary casualties. To illustrate and support the picture, I incorporated a variety of angles and shots as well as two characters that symbolized different ideologies.
Project Reflection
1. Start: What should I start doing?
Especially when doing projects like this, setting a timeframe for myself would be helpful. One of my most extensive critiques is that I often waste my time on unnecessary details in the story, leading to a systematic failure of my sleep time. Looking back, I didn’t see the full scope of the story when I was executing my plan. I didn’t realize which parts should be enhanced and which pages were unnecessary.
2. Stop: What should I stop doing?
Something that bothered me the most was self-doubt. The world was discoloured when I heard the final product was a graphic novel. My fear took control, as I believed I couldn’t draw out an entire graphic novel. Conquering that thought took me lots of time and energy. After all, that fear and self-doubt generated more anxiety and pressure than the task itself. At the same time, it also leads to procrastination and negative attitudes.
3. Continue: What should I keep doing?
Overall, the knowledge and perspectives I got from interviewing experts helped shape my understanding. During the project, I had the opportunity to interview a history professor in Taiwan and other elders. My conversation with them allowed me to have a deeper and closer experience of the civil war through their point of view. Through the process, I was able to enhance and renew my worldview.
Impact of the Project
The most significant impact this project brought to me is the realization that the world is often biased. I didn’t recognize how corrupt the nationalist was until studying this project. Coming from Taiwan, I could quickly identify the wrong things that CCP had done in the past, like the cultural revolution. Often, those incidents are more spoken of and obvious to point out. However, that was because I lived in a biased system that hid all the past wrongs and atrocities the nationalist committed. For example, my parents have never heard of the yellow river flood that directly killed at least 90,000 people, with minimal impact on the war effort. Those mistakes were never spoken, and perhaps never will under such a system. I aimed to discover the truth when I started this project; however, the deeper I investigated, the more I knew that neither side was clean nor innocent. Relating to modern days, I began to question if the environment or the dictators control my worldview. Do I think the way others want me to think? This project’s social awareness triggered more questions to the extent that I wondered if I was a conspiracist….