Download History 470: Traditional China - Spider

History 470: Traditional China
Fall 2005
Tue. & Th. 12:45-2:00 pm
Pawling 101
Instructor: Dr. Liyan Liu
Office: Pawling 205
Office Hours: M&W 12:00-1:30 pm, or by appointment
Office Phone: 863-7092
E-mail: [email protected]
Course Description: This course provides the student with an overview of Chinese
history before modern times. It traces the growth of Chinese civilization from its prehistorical genesis until about the 19th century. It will explore the dominant philosophical
and religious traditions, the nature of political culture and social structure of traditional
China through a variety of sources. It will also look at groups and individuals outside of
the central power structure, and at longer socio-economic trends which transcended
dynastic changes. The class meetings will consist of lectures, video tapes, and discussions
of the readings.
Course Objectives:
1) To gain an understanding of historical processes and what shapes them -- the
interplay of events, the transitions between historical periods, the particular Chinese
solutions to the universal problems of livelihood, power, and self-fulfillment, and the
logic of the dominant cultural patterns which emerged from those solutions.
2) To expose students to a culture significantly different from their own as a way
to understand and appreciate human diversity, and as a way to see the self in the mirror of
others. The challenge is multiple: overcoming barriers of time, space, culture, and
language to find meaning; learning that time, space and language are relative, not fixed,
entities; learning their “logic.”
3) To develop the reading, thinking, listening and writing skills necessary to
accomplish the above: How to read and listen to the voices on the page as well as in the
classroom, how to ask questions and compose an essay or an argument (a set of related
thoughts with a beginning and a conclusion and a point).
Reading:
The following books are required for this course and can be obtained from the
Georgetown College Book Store:
1. Charles Hucker: China’s Imperial Past: An introduction to Chinese history and culture
2. Arthur Waley: Three Ways of thought in Ancient China
3. John Wills, Jr. Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History
4. Jacques Gernet: Daily life in China, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, 1250-1276
5. Jonathan Spence: Emperor of China: Self Portrait of Kang-His
Throughout the semester I may also be handing out brief selections to supplement or
replace textbook readings.
Grading:
Five Presentations and five short papers:
50%
Term paper:
20%
Project (performance of short ancient dramas) 15%
In-class Learning and Participation:
15%
Total:
100%
In-class Learning:
Students will be evaluated on their preparation for class discussion and their actual
learning during each period. Your willingness to interact with the ideas in the readings
and videos, as well as learn from one another, will make this component of your learning
one-fifth of your semester’s work. Attendance in discussion groups is mandatory.
Occasionally there will be discussion questions to prepare. That means each student will
be responsible for writing a set of 3-5 questions to both structure and stimulate discussion
of reading for that class. The questions should help create conversations about the
readings and create connections between previous readings and discussions. If a question
can be answered in a phrase or just one sentence then re-work it so that it can lead to a
conversation. The student(s) writing the questions should think about how the question
might be answered. If several answers are possible, is there a follow-up question which
can draw out the differences in the responses?
Participation:
This course will consist of a large portion of discussions. Students must complete
all assigned readings by class time and must be prepared to discuss those readings.
Energetic, frequent, and thoughtful participation in discussion is a vital element of this
course and constitutes a significant portion of your grade. In emergencies (sickness,
accident, family or personal crises), please notify me promptly.
Presentations and short papers:
Separate handout will explain these in more detail.
Term paper:
The term paper will be on a topic of your choosing about China before 1800. Again you
need an argument or thesis, title and you must give citations and a bibliography. The
paper should be 5-7 pages long. It will be due during Final’s Week.
Course Schedule:
Please note that some changes may be made in the content and sequence of lectures as the
course progresses.
8/30
Introduction: Reflections on the Study of Chinese History
9/1
China: Geographic Setting and Racial Origins
Readings: Hucker: Introduction; Wills: Yu (pgs. 3-10)
9/6
Prehistory and the First Dynasties: Hsia/Xia (2000?-1766? BC) and
Shang (1766?-1027? BC)
Readings: Hucker: p. 21-30; began to read Waley: Three Ways of
thought in Ancient China
9/8
Early China: The Chou/Zhou (1122?-221 BC) Dynasty
Readings: Hucker: p. 30-40; Wills: Confucius; Waley: Three Ways of
thought in Ancient China
9/13
Classical China (1): The Golden Age of Chinese Thought
Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Other Schools
Readings: Hucker: p. 69-95; Waley: Three Ways of thought in Ancient
China
9/15
Presentation I
9/20
Classical China (2): Literature and Art
Book of Poetry
Readings: Hucker: p. 98-117
9/22
The Ch'in/Qin ( 221-206 BC) Dynasty: The First Empire
Readings: Hucker: p. 41-47; Wills: The First Emperor of
Qin
9/27
The Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD)
Readings: Hucker: p. 122-133, 221-228, Chapter 6-8;Wills: Sima
Qian
9/29
The Period of Disunity
The Six Dynasties (220-589): The Period of Disunion and Challenges to
the Imperial System
Readings: Hucker: p. 133-137, Chapter 6 & 7; Wills: Zhuge
Liang
10/4
Presentation II
10/6
The Sui Dynasty (589-618) and Reunification of the Empire
Readings: Hucker: p. 137-139, Chapter 6 & 7; began to read Gernet: Daily
life in China
The T’ang/Tang Dynasty (618-907): The Great Age
10/11,13
Readings: Hucker: p. 139-148, 229-264, Wills: Empress Wu; Gernet: Daily
life in China
10/18,20
Tang Poetry & Buddhism
Readings: Hucker: p. 229-255; Wills: Hui NengOn-line: Li Bo & Du Fu;
Gernet: Daily life in China
Video Tape: China’s Cosmopolitan Age: The Tang
10/25
Presentation III
10/27
Splendor
The Sung/Song Dynasty (960-1279): Political Weakness and Cultural
Readings: Hucker: p. 267-279, Chapter 11-14; Gernet: Daily life in China;
Wills: Yue Fei
11/1
Video Tape: China-The Age of Maturity
Project rehearsal
11/3
Neo-Confucianism
Readings: On-line: Zhu Xi; Gernet: Daily life in China
11/8
Presentation IV & Discussion on Gernet: Daily life in China
11/10, 15
The Non-Chinese Dynasties
Readings: Hucker: p. 279-287, Chapter 11-14; began to read Spence:
Emperor of China
Video Tape: China-Under the Mongols
11/17,22
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644): The Restitution of Chinese Rule (11/24
Thanksgiving holiday, no class)
Readings: Hucker: p. 287-294, Chapter 11-14; Spence: Emperor of China;
Wills: Wang Yangming
11/24
Presentation V
11/29,12/1
The Ch’ing Dynasty (1644-1911): China Under Manchu Rule
Hucker: p. 294-302, Chapter 11-14 Spence: Emperor of China
Video Tape: China-The Manchu Rule
12/6
Discussion on Spence: Emperor of China
12/8
An Overall Review
Final Paper Due