EAC 380 (8478) / HIS 380 (8602)

History of China II

Spring 2007

Meets TTh 11:45 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. in Social Sciences 133.

Associate Professor Anthony DeBlasi

Office: Humanities 210

Phone: x2-5316

E-mail: deblasi@albany.edu

Office Hours: Tuesday 4:15 ¡V 5:30 p.m.; Thursday 10:00-11:30 a.m.; and by appointment.

This course is a survey of China's history during the late imperial and modern periods. It begins with the founding of the Ming dynasty in the late 14^th century and concludes with the present day. Of particular interest is the interplay of political, social, and intellectual history during this period.

Required Texts available for purchase at the campus bookstore and Mary Jane Books in downtown Albany:

Roberts, J.A.G. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 or Roberts, J.A.G. A Concise History of China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999.

Birch, Cyril, tr. Stories from a Ming Collection. New York: Grove Atlantic. 1958.

Spence, Jonathan. The Death of Woman Wang. New York: Penguin. 1978.

Ning, Lao T¡¦ai-t¡¦ai. Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1945.

Yang, Jiang. Six Chapters from My Life ¡§Downunder.¡¨ Tr. Howard Goldblatt. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1983.

Reserve Readings:

The other required readings indicated in the syllabus are available through the University library¡¦s E-Res system. The password for access to these readings will be distributed in class.

Requirements:

Attendance is required at all lectures and discussions:

Midterm Examination 20%

Ten-page Research Paper 35%

Final Examination 25%

Quizzes (Map and Reading) 10% (5% map; 5% reading)

Class Participation 10%

(Examination essay questions and identification term lists will be distributed prior to the examinations).

This is a survey course that makes use of various methods to help you acquire knowledge of early Chinese history. In addition to lectures, there are periodic discussions of assigned readings. Because I believe firmly that writing sharpens our thinking and ability to analyze complex phenomena, there is also a required research paper. Periodic quizzes will also help you gauge your mastery of the material.

General Education:

This course fulfills the general education category for Regions Beyond Europe:

Such courses ¡§focus on specific cultures (other than those of the United States and Europe) or the world's regions. Courses emphasize the features and processes whereby cultures and regions gain their specific identity. Approved courses will offer an explicitly historical organization, and will balance topical focus with chronological breadth. Courses may also engage students in considerations of the ¡¥local¡¦ as opposed to the ¡¥global.¡¦"

¡§Courses in the General Education category of Regions Beyond Europe enable students to demonstrate:

1. knowledge of the distinctive features (e.g. history, institutions, economies, societies, cultures) of one region beyond Europe or European North America.

2. an understanding of the region from the perspective of its people(s).

3. an ability to analyze and contextualize cultural and historical materials relevant to the region.

4. an ability to locate and identify distinctive geographical features of the region.¡¨

Grading policies:

Please note the following policies:

1. Letter grades are assigned according to the following scale: A=93-100, A-=90-92, B+=87-89, B=83-86, B-=80-82, C+=77-79, C=73-76, C-=70-72, D+=67-69, D=63-66, D-=60-62, E=less than 60. Please note that work never turned in counts as a zero (0).

2. Late papers lose one grade step for each day late (thus a B+ that is two days late receives a B-).

3. I do not give make-up quizzes or extensions unless you have an acceptable and documented excuse (for example, a medical excuse signed by a physician).

4. I will not consider requests for incompletes without a clearly documented and acceptable reason.

5. Plagiarism is taking (which includes purchasing) the words and ideas of another and passing them off as one's own work. If in a formal paper a student quotes someone, that student must use quotation marks and give a citation. Paraphrased or borrowed ideas are to be identified by proper citations. Plagiarism will result, at the minimum, in a failing grade for the assignment.

Class Schedule:

DATE	DAY	TOPIC	ASSIGNMENT
1/18	Th	Course Introduction
1/23	Tu	The Early Ming Dynasty: Stability, Terror, and Usurpation	Roberts, HOC, pp.115-22 or CHC, pp.118-126.
1/25	Th	Government and Economy in the Mid-Ming	Roberts, HOC, pp.122-30 or CHC, pp.126-34.
1/30	Tu	Ming Neo-Confucianism	de Bary, Sources of Chinese Tradition 1999, vol.1, pp.842-851. (¡§Moral Intuition and Action in Wang Yang-ming¡¨)
2/1	Th	Crisis and Decline in the Late Ming	Roberts, HOC, pp.131-34 or CHC, pp.134-38.
2/6	Tu	DISCUSSION: Stories from a Ming Collection	Birch, tr., Stories from a Ming Collection, pp.7-96, 119-120, 129-49, and 153-171. Reading Quiz: Stories from a Ming Collection
2/8	Th	The Manchus and the Founding of the Qing (Ch¡¦ing) Dynasty	Roberts, HOC, pp.134-39 or CHC, pp.138-47. Gertrude Roth Li, ¡§State Building Before 1644,¡¨ Cambridge History of China, v.9, pt. 1, pp.9-51.
2/13	Tu	The West¡¦s First Missionaries: The Jesuits	de Bary, Sources 1999, v.2, pp. 142-54. MAP QUIZ
2/15	Th	Consolidation and Governance in the 17^th and 18^th Centuries	Roberts, HOC, pp.139-59 or CHC, pp.147-61.
2/19-2/23		WINTER BREAK
2/27	Tu	Chinese Society in the 18^th Century
3/1	Th	DISCUSSION: The Death of Woman Wang	Spence, The Death of Woman Wang, entire. Reading Quiz: The Death of Woman Wang
3/6	Tu	The West Arrives: Managed Trade and Miscommunication	Roberts, HOC, pp.160-69 or CHC, pp.162-72.
3/8	Th	Opium, Imperialist Wars, and Treaty Ports	de Bary, Sources 1999, vol.2, pp.201-12 (¡§The Lesson of Lin Zexu¡¨)
3/13	Tu	MIDTERM EXAMINATION
3/15	Th	Reform and Rebellion in the 19^th Century	Roberts, HOC, pp.169-87 or CHC, pp.172-97. de Bary, Sources 1999, vol.2, pp.213-30 (¡§The Heavenly Kingdom of the Taipings¡¨)
3/20	Tu	The Decline of the Qing Dynasty and the 1911 Revolution	Roberts, HOC, pp.187-214 or CHC, pp.197-216. Paper Proposal due.
3/22	Th	DISCUSSION: Daughter of Han	Ning, Lao T¡¦ai-t¡¦ai, Daughter of Han, entire. Reading Quiz: Daughter of Han
3/27	Tu	The May 4^th Movement	Roberts, HOC, pp.214-25 or CHC, pp.217-222.
3/29	Th	The Northern Expedition and the Long March	Roberts, HOC, pp.225-236 or CHC, pp.222-39.
4/2-4/9		SPRING BREAK
4/10	Tu	World War II in China	Roberts, HOC, pp.236-53 or CHC, pp.239-255.
4/12	Th	Creating the People¡¦s Republic of China	Roberts, HOC, pp.254-69 or CHC, pp.256-272.
4/17	Tu	The Great Leap Forward	de Bary, Sources 1999, v.2, pp.458-64. Ebrey, ¡§Peng Dehuai¡¦s Critique of the Great Leap Forward¡¨ in Chinese Civilization, pp.435-439. RESEARCH PAPER DUE.
4/19	Th	The Cultural Revolution	Roberts, HOC, pp.269-85 or CHC, pp.272-88. Morning Sun: ¡§Red Guards Destroy the Old and Establish the New.¡¨ Ebrey, ¡§Red Guards,¡¨ in Chinese Civilization, pp.435-439 and 449-457.
4/24	Tu	DISCUSSION: Six Chapters from My Life ¡§Downunder.¡¨	Yang Jiang, Six Chapters from My Life ¡§Downunder,¡¨ entire. Reading Quiz: Six Chapters.
4/26	Th	FILM: Title TBA
5/1	Tu	FILM and Discussion
5/3	Th	The Era of Reform	Roberts, HOC, pp.285-95 or CHC, pp.288-300. Ebrey, ¡§Economic Liberalization and the New Problems for Women,¡¨ ¡§Peasants in the Cities,¡¨ and ¡§Posters Calling for Democracy,¡¨ in Chinese Civilization, pp.482-500.
5/8	Tu	China in the New Millennium	Roberts, HOC, pp.295-307.
5/10	Th	FINAL EXAMINATION: 10:30 a.m. ¡V 12:30 p.m. in SS 133