HSTAS 211 A
History of Chinese Civilization
University of Washington, Autumn Quarter, 2025
Time: Tuesdays and Thursday, 12:30pm-2:20pm
Place: Thomson Hall (THO) 125
Instructor: Prof. Matthew W. Mosca (mosca@uw.edu)
Instructor Office Hours: Wednesdays, 10am to noon, or by appointment, Smith 103E
TA: Sachraa Sergeleng (sachraa@uw.edu)
TA Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:30pm-4:30pm, Smith 103D
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). explain their own perspectives in the form of coherent arguments, based on evidence and expressed in academic prose
Each class has a lecture and assigned textbook reading to convey historical content, which complement each other with some overlap but also significant differences. Please attend lectures and do the readings. Short study handouts will be given out each class to highlight some key events, historical concepts, and figures. They will form the study guide for the midterm and final exam.
Each class will have one or more primary source readings assigned. Primary sources are direct historical evidence produced in the period being studied. Please read primary sources carefully. 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. We will discuss each assigned primary source in class.
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 four out of six for full credit; each post is worth 5% 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 direct quotation from a primary source, with page reference that clearly supports the argument being made.
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 with page reference. Comments that do not meet any one of 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. 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 leave your comments to the last minute!
Map Quiz: 5%
Directions and blank practice map to be distributed by Class 3 (Oct. 2), quiz will be given at start of Class 5 (Oct. 9).
Short Primary Source Analysis Paper: 15%
A short essay of 2-3 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. 21).
Midterm Test: 10%
This test will consist of timeline and ID questions, covering content up to and including Class 8. There will be some multiple choice questions about the plot of The Injustice to Dou E. The test will be one hour, in class on Class 9 (Oct. 23).
Final Paper: 30%
An essay of five to six 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. 4 via Canvas upload.
Final Exam: 20%
The final exam will cover material presented starting with Class 9 (Oct. 23). It will consist of timelines, ID questions, and an essay question.
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: I will communicate with the class via a class e-mail list. Please check your e-mail regularly.
Canvas Website: Apart from the two textbooks, all assigned readings are available via Canvas under the “Files” tab. Discussion comments, short paper, and final paper will be submitted via Canvas.
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.
- Review the History Department Syllabus Attachment for departmental information and rules that apply in all History 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 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.
- All submitted written work should be based entirely on readings assigned for this course. Do not submit any assignment that cites or uses unassigned readings without the prior approval of the instructor.
- Late papers will be penalized 5% of the assignment value as soon as the deadline passes, and an additional 5% per subsequent 24-hour period. It will not be possible to make up a missed final exam, unless arrangements are made with instructor prior to final exam.
- If you are 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.
Course Schedule
*** The assigned primary source readings are on Canvas under the ‘Files’ tab. Some PDFs contain more pages than the assigned reading; just read assigned pages.
** Read A Daughter of Han at your own pace, start as soon as you get the book and complete it by Nov. 25 (Class 17). A Daughter of Han will be central to final paper assignment.
- Week 1:
Sept. 25: Class 1: Introduction to the course
- Week 2:
Sept. 30: Class 2: Emergence of China through 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. 2: 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. 7: 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, 4.3, 6.1.
Oct. 9: 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. 14: 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. 16: Class 7: The Late Tang-to-Northern 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. 21: Class 8: Northern Peoples and Dynasties: Liao, Jin, Yuan
Textbook: CIC: 172-199
Primary Sources: The Injustice to Dou E, 1-36
** Short Primary Source Analysis Paper due by start of this class (upload to Canvas)
Oct. 23: Class 9: Early Ming
Textbook: CIC: 200-231
Primary Sources: SCT: Ming Taizu, 780-786; CCS: “Proclamations of the Hongwu Emperor,” 205-207.
** Midterm Test
- Week 6:
Oct. 28: Class 10: High Ming: Globalization, Commercialization
* Primary Sources: CCS: “Commercial Activities,” 214-215; “Tenants,” 223-225; “Concubines,” 245-252; Book of Swindles: “Chen Quan,” 94-97, “Swindled on the Way Out,” 104-108, “Coaxing a Sister-in-Law,” 130-134.
Oct. 30: Class 11: Ming-Qing Transition
Textbook: CIC: 232-253
Primary Sources: SCT2: The Scholars, 19-47.
- Week 7:
Nov. 4: Class 12: High Qing and Chinese Society
Primary Sources: CCS: “Lan Dingyuan’s Casebook,” 292-296; Complete Book Concerning Happiness, 343-351.
Nov. 6: Class 13: The Qing Era of Crisis, 1795-1860
Textbook: CIC: 254-281
Primary Sources: MIT Visualizing Cultures: “The First Opium War” (online: http://visualizingcultures.mit.edu/opium_wars_01/index.html)
- Week 8:
Nov. 11: Veterans Day Holiday, No Class Meeting
Nov. 13: Class 14: Watch movie “Street Angel” (1937), then closing discussion
Readings: Read Daughter of Han (up to Chapter 12, “Together Again”)
- Week 9:
Nov. 18: Class 15: “Self-Strengthening” and Reform to 1912
Primary Sources: SCT2: “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.
Nov. 20: Class 16: Republic of China and WWII
Textbook: CIC: 282-317
Primary Sources: Lu Xun: Preface to “A Call to Arms,” “Diary of a Madman”
- Week 10:
Nov. 25: Class 17: Civil War and the PRC to 1962
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. 27: Thanksgiving Holiday, No Class Meeting
- Week 11:
Dec. 2: Class 18: PRC, 1962 to 1978
Textbook: CIC: 318-353.
Primary Sources: Quotations from Chairman Mao (read at least two quotations from each section); “The Mao Cult” (chineseposters.net): closely examine at least three posters.
Dec. 4: Class 19: 1979 to the Present
Textbook: CIC: 354-385.
Primary Sources: SCT2: “Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” 507-510; “Fang Lizhi: Democracy, Reform, and Modernization,” 512-516.
** Final paper due by the start of this class
Final Exam
Thursday, Dec. 11, 10:30am to 12:20pm, in regular classroom (Thomson 125)