HIS 354: Traditional China
Fall 2018, MW 2-3:15, DHC 206
Professor Jonathan Skaff
I. Course Description
This course provides a sophisticated introduction to Chinese history from prehistoric to early modern times (ca. 1600). It investigates the major events and trends that contributed to the development of traditional Chinese society, government, economy, and culture. Some of the topics that we will cover are the formation and development of Chinese culture, creation of the imperial state system, periodic rebellions and political decentralization, gender roles, elite and peasant society, native religion and philosophy, and the impact of Inner Asian peoples and Buddhist religion. The only prerequisite is HIS 105 Historical Foundation of Global Cultures.
The class also will concentrate on developing writing, public speaking, and critical thinking skills that are transferrable to professional careers. Each class will include discussion, so it is imperative that students do assigned reading when scheduled. All writing assignments are expected to be well argued and written. Writing mechanics, such as grammar and spelling, will be 20% of the grade on each paper.
II. Requirements
1. Complete assigned readings, attend class, and participate in class discussion (see Policy 1 below, 10%).
2. Lead a 15-minute discussion during one class session this semester (see instructions in Part IV below, 5%).
3. Write 3 papers (45%).
4. Midterm exam (20%)
5. Cumulative final exam (20%).
III. Policies
1. The class participation grade will be based on attendance and contribution to discussions. You will receive a grade for each class session. Grades will be awarded according to the following standards:
90-100: Student demonstrates mastery of readings by making thoughtful and insightful comments.
80-89: Student shows that he/she has completed reading assignments.
70-79: Student participates in discussion without giving evidence of having completed the reading.
60-69: Student attends class without speaking.
0: Student has an unexcused absence, sleeps in class, or uses unauthorized electronic device.
2. Absences will be excused if you can document a serious illness, family emergency, varsity athletic event, military duty or religious observance. Only students with documented excuses can make up exams and discussant assignments. Students who were sick must submit a doctor’s note. For a family emergency, I require a phone call from a parent or guardian, or a death notice. Athletes should provide a memo from the head coach with the team schedule. If you have military duty, inform your dean’s office. They will send notification to all of your professors. The university’s policy on religious observances is the following: “At the beginning of each academic session (fall, spring, summer), the student will be required (in writing) to provide his/her faculty with the dates of scheduled religious observances.”
3. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. I encourage you to study together with other students, but all exams and papers must be completed without the assistance of others. To prevent cheating during tests, no cell phones, electronic devices, notes, papers, books or other objects may be handled or looked at. Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with according to the policies described in the 2017-2019 Undergraduate Catalog (catalog.ship.edu). Students who violate university policies on academic dishonesty may receive a penalty of a grade of “F” for the course.
4. “Smartphones make you dumb in class.” All electronic devices are banned in class, except for those used to take notes or view course readings. Educational research has shown that electronic communications, including text messaging, create distractions that interfere with learning. Violations of this policy will result in a participation grade of zero for that day’s class session.
5. I assign letter grades used in the Shippensburg University grading system to the following numerical scores:
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 70-76
D 60-69
F Below 60
First Draft of Questions Due: 8:00 PM on the day before you lead the discussion OR at least 24 hours earlier if you are not available to send me revisions on the evening before class. Be prepared to revise questions at least twice in the evening or the next morning.
My Deadline: Sun./Tues._______________________at 8:00 PM
You are responsible for conducting a class discussion for at least 15 minutes primarily based upon a supplementary reading. Only use the main textbook as a basis for comparison with the supplementary reading. On the day before you are scheduled, you should send me 3-4 proposed questions via email (jkskaf@ship.edu). I will respond with suggested revisions and incorporate your discussion into the class session. Some questions should be factual, asking classmates to summarize main point(s) of the reading. At least one question should be open-ended, asking students to share their interpretations and opinions about the reading. You should plan follow-up questions to be used only as needed.
Your grade will be based on the effectiveness of your written questions and oral delivery:
Some hints on developing good questions (adapted from former professor Vera Reber):
· Be creative: A stimulating question can be related to a quotation, picture, chart, map, controversial statement, information previously covered in class, or anything else of your choosing.
V. Readings
A. Main Textbook
Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.
B. Supplementary readings for class discussions:
1. Books:
Hinsch, Bret. Women in Early Imperial China. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011.
Li Feng. Early China: A Social and Cultural History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Rothschild, N. Harry. Wu Zhao: China's Only Female Emperor. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.
2. Electronic Reserves Readings (https://ares.ship.edu/ares/)
Brook, Timothy. “The Nine Sloughs.” In The Troubled Empire. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010, 50-78.
Clark, Hugh. “Why Does the Tang-Song Interregnum Matter?: A Focus on the Economies of the South.” Journal of Song-Yuan Studies 46 (2016): 1-28.
“Confucius and the Birth of Chinese Philosophy,” in Mair, Victor H. et al, eds. Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press, 2005, 45-50.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. “State-Forced Relocations in China, 900–1300.” In State Power in China, 900-1325, edited by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Paul J. Smith. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2016, 179-187.
“Han Fei Zi and His Antecedents,” in Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture. 137-42.
Goodman, Howard L. "Lives and Times of the Political Public at the End of the Han." In The Human Tradition in Premodern China, edited by Kenneth James Hammond. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2002, 27-55.
Lin Hu. “A Tale of Five Capitals: Contests for Legitimacy between the Liao and Its Rivals.” Journal of Asian History 44, no. 2 (2010): 99-127.
Pearce, Scott. "A King’s Two Bodies: The Northern Wei Emperor Wencheng and Representations of the Power of His Monarchy." Frontiers of History in China 7, no. 1 (2012): 90-105.
Rossabi, Morris. 2012. “The Mongols and the World.” In The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 60-84.
“The Tradition of the Daode jing” in Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture, 78-86.
Wong, Dorothy C. “The Origins of Buddhist Steles under the Northern Wei.” In Chinese Steles: Pre-Buddhist and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004, 43-60.
Zhang Ling. “Changing with the Yellow River: An Environmental History of Hebei, 1048-1128.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 69, no. 1 (2009): 1-36.
VI. Schedule
1. Early China in Legend and Archaeology
M 8/27: Introductions; China’s Land, Peoples and Language, Chinese pinyin 拼音 romanization system
W 8/29: Origins of China: Ancient Legends and Modern Archaeology
Reading: Hansen xvii, 3-15; Li Feng, 1-7, 41-65
M 9/3: No Class: Labor Day
W 9/5: Early Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600/1554—1045/1046 BCE): Archaeology and History
Reading: Hansen 19-34; Li Feng, 66-89
2. Ancient China
M 9/10: Shang Dynasty at Anyang: History
Reading: Hansen 34-43; Li Feng, 90-111
W 9/12: Western Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1045-771 BCE)
Reading: Hansen 43-55; Li Feng, 112-38, 143-52, 156-60
M 9/17: Spring and Autumn Period (770-481 BCE): Political and Social Change
Reading: Hansen 57-68; Li Feng, 160-82
Paper 1 Assigned
W 9/19: The Golden Age of Chinese Thought: Confucianism and Daoism
Reading: Hansen 68-87; Li Feng, 220-4
Electronic Reserves: “Confucius and the Birth of Chinese Philosophy” & “The Tradition of the Daode jing”
M 9/24: Warring States (480-221 BCE) and Legalism
Reading: Hansen 87-97; Li Feng, 183-202, 224-6
Electronic Reserves: “Han Fei Zi and His Antecedents”
3. Early Imperial China
W 9/26: The Kingdom of Qin and the First Empire (221-207 BCE)
Reading: Hansen 97-105; Li Feng, 229-56
M 10/1: Fall of the Qin
Reading: Hansen 106-10; Li Feng, 257-60; Hinsch 1-14, 35-60
Paper 1 Due
W 10/3: Founding of the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE)
Western Han Dynasty (202 BCE-9 CE): Internal Consolidation and External Challenges
Reading: Hansen, 118-26; Li Feng, 260-76; Hinsch 61-95
M 10/8: Wang Mang’s Usurpation (9-23) and Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) [Covered in lecture on 10/22]
Reading: Hansen 126-9; Li Feng, 276-82; Hinsch, 97-135
W 10/10: Han Ideology and Historical Writing
Reading: Hansen 110-18, 129-31; Li Feng, 304-18; Hinsch 137-76
M 10/15: No Class: Fall Break
W 10/17: Midterm Exam
4. Early Medieval China
M 10/22: Fall of the Han and Period of Disunity (220-589)
Reading: Hansen 133-7, 144-6; Li Feng, 295-303
Electronic Reserves: Goodman, “Lives and Times of the Political Public at the End of the Han”
W 10/24: Northern and Southern Dynasties (317-589) and the Impact of Inner Asia
Reading: Hansen 157-66
Electronic Reserves: Pearce, “A King’s Two Bodies”
M 10/29: Buddhism in China
Reading: Hansen 141-3, 146-57, 167-71
Electronic Reserves: Wong, “The Origins of Buddhist Steles under the Northern Wei” Chinese Steles, 43-60
Paper 2 Due
W 10/31: Sui Dynasty (589-618): Reconsolidation of the Imperial State System
Reading: Hansen 173-8; Rothschild ix-xiv, 1-48
M 11/5: Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Reading: Hansen 178-199; Rothschild 49-124
W 11/7: Tang Cosmopolitan Culture
Reading: Hansen 201-22; Rothschild 125-214
Paper 3 Assigned
M 11/12: No Class: Skaff Attending Conference in Shanghai
5. Late Medieval China
W 11/14: Late Tang Disunity and the Five Dynasties Period (907-960)
Reading: Hansen 222-34
Electronic Reserves: Clark, “Why Does the Tang-Song Interregnum Matter?”
M 11/19: Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126)
Reading: Hansen 237-62
Electronic Reserves: Zhang, “Changing with the Yellow River”
W 11/21: No Class: Thanksgiving Break
M 11/26: Resurgence of Northern Dynasties: Liao (Khitan, 916-1125) and Xi Xia (Tangut, 1038-1227)
Reading: Hansen 275-89
Electronic Reserves: Lin Hu, “A Tale of Five Capitals”
Paper 3 Due
W 11/28: Southern Song (1127-1279) and Jin (Jurchen, 1115-1234)
Reading: Hansen 262-73, 289-307; Ebrey, “State-Forced Relocations in China, 900–1300”
M 12/3: Mongol Conquest and Rule: Yuan Dynasty (1260-1368)
Reading: Hansen 309-33; Rossabi, “The Mongols and the World”
W 12/5: Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Reading: Hansen 333-52; Brook, “The Nine Sloughs”
W 12/12 at 1 pm in DHC 206: Final Exam