HISTAS 211 A
History of Chinese Civilization
University of Washington, Autumn Quarter, 2023
Time: Tuesdays and Thursday, 12:30pm-2:20pm
Place: Savery Hall (SAV) 264
Instructor: Prof. Matthew W. Mosca (mosca@uw.edu)
Instructor Office Hours: Thursdays, 2:30pm-4:30pm or by appointment, Smith 103E
TA: Sally Sergeleng (sachraa@uw.edu)
TA Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3-4pm, Smith 204E
Course Description
This course surveys Chinese history from the earliest periods to the present, examining political, social, cultural, and economic developments. It concentrates on long-term historical patterns, the diversity of historical experience within China, and major changes of internal and external origin. Students will become familiar with some of the major trends, events, and individuals shaping Chinese history, and learn to analyze and interpret a range of primary sources.
Learning Objectives
Students completing this course will learn to:
a). explain the significance of key historical concepts, developments, and figures in Chinese history
b). interpret primary sources
c). evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different historical interpretations
d). present their own perspectives in the form of coherent arguments, based on evidence and expressed in academic prose
Historical content is conveyed by textbook and lecture. Each class has a lecture and assigned textbook reading. Textbook readings and lectures complement each other; there is some overlap, but also significant differences. Students should attend lectures and do the readings. Short study handouts will be available for each class to highlight some key events, historical concepts, and figures. They will form the study guide for the final exam (see below).
Each class will have one or more primary source readings assigned. Primary sources are direct historical evidence produced in the period being studied (the primary sources used in this class have of course been translated into English). Your goal is to read these primary sources carefully and interpret them. Your interpretation of primary source evidence should draw on textbook and lecture content, the introduction to each primary source written by a modern historian, and/or other assigned primary sources.
Class assignments, detailed below, will assess both knowledge of historical content and knowledge of primary sources, with an emphasis on the latter because interpreting primary sources and using primary source evidence to build an argument represents a higher order of historical analysis than memorizing names, facts, and dates (although of course knowing the historical context is crucial to interpreting primary sources).
Textbooks
Patricia Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 3nd ed. (2023)
Ida Pruitt, A Daughter of Han: The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman (1945)
Assignments
Reading comments: 20%
Weekly for Weeks 2-7; students must complete five out of six for full credit; each post is worth 4% of total course grade.
Students should contribute a weekly response to the assigned question, which can be found in Canvas in the ‘Discussion’ section. These responses should be 150-200 words in length, and should include at least one quotation from a primary source that directly supports the argument being made.
Weekly reading comments are designed in part to ensure that students stay on schedule with class readings. Reading comments are ungraded. Students will receive full points for the assignment if their comments meet the following three criteria: a). at least 150 words; b). a cogent response to the question prompt; c). including at least one primary source direct quotation. Comments that do not meet these three criteria will receive half credit. Comments must be posted to Canvas by 5pm on Fridays.
The questions for weekly reading comments will be posted at least one week in advance, so that students can complete them at their own pace. However, because this assignment is intended to encourage weekly participation, no points will be given for comments that are late for any reason, including illness or computer failure. In other words, don’t take the risk of leaving your comments to the last minute!
Map Quiz: 5%
Directions and blank practice map to be distributed by Class 3 (Oct. 5), quiz will be given at start of Class 5 (Oct. 12).
Short Primary Source Analysis Paper: 20%
A short essay of 2 pages (double-spaced, 12 point font) will require students to analyze primary source evidence assigned in this class. Details of this assignment will be distributed separately. It will be due via Canvas upload by the start of Class 8 (Oct. 24).
Final Paper: 35%
An essay of five pages (double-spaced, 12 point font) will be assigned on topics that will relate primary sources assigned in class to A Daughter of Han. Details of the final paper assignment will be distributed separately. Papers are due by the start of the final class on Dec. 8 via Canvas upload.
Final exam: 20%
The final exam will cover material on the handouts provided for each class session. It will consist of timelines, ID questions, and discussions of primary source quotations assigned in class.
The History Department operates a Writing Center to help students with written work. For more information, go to:
http://depts.washington.edu/history/centers-resources/history-writing-center
Course Communications
Email: The instructor will communicate with the class via a class e-mail list. Please ensure that your settings are configured to receive these messages in an e-mail account you check regularly.
Canvas Website: Apart from the two textbooks, all assigned readings are available via Canvas under the “Files” tab. Apart from the map quiz and final exam, all coursework will be submitted via Canvas. Work uploaded to Canvas will be checked for plagiarism.
History Department policies:
For information about History Department policies on student conduct (including academic integrity), student concerns about a course or instructor, grading procedures, and access and accommodations, including disability accommodations, please refer to the History Department Syllabus Attachment, which is uploaded to Canvas.
Students seeking academic accommodation for a disability must do so through the Disability Resources for Students (DRS) Office, 011 Mary Gates Hall (uwdrs@uw.edu). After accommodations have been approved by the DRS Office, please contact the instructor to discuss the details of implementation. Please seek disability accommodations at the beginning of the quarter.
Course rules:
- All students are expected to familiarize themselves with this syllabus, especially assignment due dates. Although the instructor may send reminder e-mails about assignments, not receiving a reminder will not be accepted as an excuse for late work.
- Review the History Department Syllabus Attachment for departmental information and rules that apply in all classes, including this one.
- As in all courses at the University of Washington, students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity for all work in this course, including exams, papers, and discussion comments. Any cases of academic misconduct, including plagiarism, multiple submissions, and cheating on exams, will be referred to the appropriate university authorities. For a detailed description of academic misconduct and relevant university procedures see the History Department Syllabus Attachment and:
https://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf
- The History Department prohibits the unauthorized use of AI technology. This technology is not authorized in this class. Any coursework created by AI will be treated as plagiarism.
- It is expected that all submitted written work will be based entirely on readings assigned for this course. Outside research is not required. Do not submit any assignment that cites or uses unassigned readings without the prior approval of the instructor.
- Late weekly reading comments will not be accepted. It will not be possible to make up a missed final exam. Late papers will be penalized 10% of the assignment value as soon as the deadline passes, and an additional 10% per subsequent 24-hour period.
- If a student is unable to complete course work on time due to an emergency, please inform the instructor as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements.
- All class materials are provided for students in this class only. This includes handouts, assignments, and exams. Please do not distribute any class materials to anyone, including posting them on non-UW websites.
- All assignments will be graded as percentages (out of 100). Because grades are submitted to the Registrar in 4.0 grade format, percentage grades will be converted to 4.0 grades according to a grade conversion table that is posted to Canvas. Students who wish to know how their percentage grades relate to their 4.0 format grade should consult this table.
Course Schedule
*** The assigned primary source readings for each lecture are uploaded to Canvas under the ‘Files’ tab. A few PDFs contain more pages than the assigned reading: pay careful attention to the page numbers of each assigned reading, or you may do more reading than assigned.
** Students should read A Daughter of Han at their own pace. However, please begin reading as soon as you get the book, and complete it by Nov. 28 (Class 17). You will need to be familiar with the content of A Daughter of Han to complete the final paper assignment.
Week 1:
Sept. 28: Class 1: Introduction to the course
Week 2:
Oct. 3: Class 2: Emergence of China to the Spring and Autumn Period
Textbook: CIC: 12-39
Primary Sources: SCT: “The Oracle Bone Inscriptions,” 5-10, selections from Classic of Documents,” 29-30 and 35-37.
Oct. 5: Class 3: Warring States Period and Early Chinese Thought
Textbook: CIC: 40-63
Primary Sources: SCT: “Selections from the Analects” [1.2, 2:1, 2:3, 2:5, 2:19, 2:21, 4:5, 4:14, 4:16, 6:28, 7:1, 7:5, 7:19, 7:20, 8:18, 8:19, 12:1, 12:2, 12:19, 13:18, 15:1]; “From the Daodejing” [read 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 18, 19, 36, 37]; Zhuangzi, 103-104; Mencius [1A:1, 1A:5, 1B:6, 1B:8, 2A:6]; “The Book of Lord Shang,”: 194-198; “The Han Feizi,” Chapter 49.
Note: For the Analects, Daodejing, and Mencius, read assigned sections, not pages.
Week 3:
Oct. 10: Class 4: Qin and Han
Textbook: CIC: 64-89
Primary Sources: Exemplary Women of Early China: Read only the following sections: 1.11, 4.1, 6.1, 7.1.
Oct. 12: Class 5: Six Dynasties and Buddhism
Textbook: CIC: 90-113
Primary Sources: SCT: “The Coming of Buddhism to China,” 420-429; CCS: Cultural Differences between the North and the South,” 109-111.
** Map Quiz at start of this class
Week 4:
Oct. 17: Class 6: Sui-Tang and Silk Road
Textbook: CIC: 114-139
Primary Sources: SCT: “The Great Tang Code,” 546-553; “Memorial on the Bone of Buddha” and “Emperor Wuzong’s Edict on the Suppression of Buddhism,” 583-585.
Oct. 19: Class 7: The Tang-Song Transition and “Neo-Confucianism”
Textbook: CIC: 140-171
Primary Sources: CCS: “Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Emperor Shenzong,” 151-154.
Online: Qingming shanghe tu interactive scroll (online: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song-scroll/song.html)
Week 5:
Oct. 24: Class 8: Northern Peoples and Dynasties
Textbook: CIC: 172-199
Primary Sources: CCS: “Weiming Yuanhao’s Letter to the Song,” 140-141; “Longing to Recover the North,” 169-171.
** Short Primary Source Analysis Paper due by start of this class (upload to Canvas)
Oct. 26: Class 9: Yuan China
Primary Sources: The Injustice to Dou E, 1-36.
Week 6:
Oct. 31: Class 10: Early Ming
Textbook: CIC: 200-231
Primary Sources: SCT: Ming Taizu, 780-786; CCS: “Proclamations of the Hongwu Emperor,” 205-207; “Village Ordinances,” 211-212.
Nov. 2: Class 11: High Ming: Globalization, Commercialization
Primary Sources: CCS: “Commercial Activities,” 214-215; “Tenants,” 223-225; “Concubines,” 245-252; Book of Swindles: “Impersonating the Son of an Official,” 52-55, “Chen Quan,” 94-97, “Swindled on the Way Out,” 104-108, “Coaxing a Sister-in-Law,” 130-134.
Week 7:
Nov. 7: Class 12: Ming-Qing Transition
Textbook: CIC: 232-253
Primary Sources: SCT2: The Scholars, 19-47.
Nov. 9: Class 13: High Qing and Chinese Society
Primary Sources: CCS: “Lan Dingyuan’s Casebook,” 292-296; Complete Book Concerning Happiness, 343-351.
Week 8:
Nov. 14: Class 14: The Qing Era of Crisis
Textbook: CIC: 254-281
Primary Sources: MIT Visualizing Cultures: “The First Opium War” (online: http://visualizingcultures.mit.edu/opium_wars_01/index.html)
Nov. 16: Class 15: “Self-Strengthening” and Reform to the Eve of Revolution
Primary Sources: SCT2: “Tan Sitong – The Study of Humanity,” “Reform Edict,” 280-287; “Liang Qichao – Concept of the Nation,” 295-298; Qiu Jin, “Song of the Precious Sword” and “Address to My Two Hundred Million Women Compatriots,”184-187.
Watch “China on the Cusp of Change” (online:https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/china-on-film/china-on-the-cusp-of-change-9831512)
Week 9:
Nov. 21: Class 16: Republic of China
Textbook: CIC: 282-317
Primary Sources: Lu Xun: Preface to “A Call to Arms,” “Diary of a Madman”
Nov. 23: Thanksgiving Holiday, No Class Meeting
Week 10:
Nov. 28: Class 17: WWII, Civil War, founding of PRC to 1952
Primary Sources: SCT2: “Mao Zedong – Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party,” 412-418; Liu Shaoqi: How to Be a Good Communist, 427-432.
** Finish reading A Daughter of Han by this date
Nov. 30: Class 18: Upheavals in the PRC to 1976
Textbook: CIC: 318-353.
Primary Sources: Quotations from Chairman Mao (read at least two quotations from each section); “The Mao Cult” (chineseposters.net).
Week 11:
Dec. 5: Class 19: 1976 to the Present
Textbook: CIC: 354-385.
Primary Sources: SCT2: “Uphold the Four Basic Principles,” 492-493; “Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” 507-510; “Fang Lizhi: Democracy, Reform, and Modernization,” 512-516.
Dec. 7: Class 20: Review Session
** Final paper due by the start of this class
Final Exam
Thursday, Dec. 14, 10:30am to 12:20pm, in regular classroom (Savery 264)