A Field Study Trip of Leadership to Dunhuang 2

Dec 04-2019   

History Revisited

The course Leadership Lessons of the Silk Road rammed up intensity on day two and three, packed with field trips and lectures in defiance of face-biting gusts typical of Gobi areas at this time of the year.

The field trips were made to the Mogao Grottos, exquisite Buddhist temples cut on mountain sides outside Dunhuang City; Yumen Pass of the Han Dynasty, a military fort guarding western China and controlling flows of people and goods; Pochengzi, Tang Dynasty equivalent of Yumen Pass due to change of river course and trade route; and Suoyangcheng, a magnificent military stalwart of Tang Dynasty mainly for countering the then ruthless Tubo nomads.

Coupled with the field trips were lectures by leading experts on Mogao Grottoes and evolution of national strategies for this part of China throughout history.

With the ruins as classroom and using the looming mountain ranges and expansive Gobi deserts as teaching prop, Prof. Gong weaved passionate stories of Han and Tang Dynasty heroes and ordinary people who trudged long distance to safeguard national security and promote cross-border exchanges.

A discussion session was held and the students were asked to look back on the go-west history of Han and Tang Dynasty and reflect on two topics: how vision, ambition and enterprising spirit impact on individual and team performance; and how a team leader can build a mission-oriented, blood-boiling team?

On the two days, hundreds of kilometers were traveled to be with the thought-provoking sites; the same can be said of the distance the students had to traverse to uncover hidden potential as team leader or entrepreneur.