HIST/IDS 375
The History of East and Southeast Asia, 1500-Present
Summer 2008
Instructor: Van Nguyen-Marshall
Tel: 748-1011 (ext. 7169)
Office Hours: Wed 10–11 am
Office: Lady Eaton College S101.4
Email: vannguyenmarshall@trentu.ca
Lecture/Seminar: Mon, Wed, Fri 1–4
Course Description:
This course will introduce students to the contours and trajectories of East and Southeast Asian
histories. We will cover a vast territory in East Asia (mainly China and Japan) and Southeast
Asia (mainly Indonesia and Vietnam). Topics to be covered include diversities of cultures and
histories; regional economic and cultural dynamism; colonialism; social and economic
transformations; nationalist and communist revolutions; the Korean and Vietnam Wars; and the
era of the Pacific Century. A balance will be sought between political and social histories.
Required Texts:
 Shen Fu. Six Records of a Floating Life. Viking Press (Reprint, 1983). (available at
Titles Bookstore, 379 George St)
 Spence, Jonathan. Mao Zedong. Viking Press, 1999. (Titles Bookstore)
 Course Kit (Titles Bookstore or order directly with The Canadian Scholars Press)
Evaluation:
Class participation (attendance: 10%, participation: 10%)
First Essay
Midterm Exam
Paper Proposal and Presentation
Research Paper
Final Exam
20%
10%
15%
5%
30%
20%
Tutorials (20%):
The tutorial period is designed for students to discuss the readings and lecture material. Students
are expected to have completed their reading assignments before the tutorials and are expected to
participate constructively and respectfully in the discussions. Each week there are assigned
tutorial questions and you are expected to be able to answer these in the tutorial meetings. Fifty
percent of your grade will be from attendance and the other fifty from your active and relevant
participation in discussions.
Writing Assignments and Exams:
The First Essay – Wed May 7th (10%)
Length: 500 words (appx. 2 pages doubled spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font)
Please answer this question:
 As a primary source, what insights does The Six Records reveal about social relationships
in late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century China? Provide evidence for your answer.
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Paper Proposal and Presentation: (5%)
Paper proposal due: May 21 (2.5%). Proposal should be about 2-3 pages and should include:
o Tentative title, working thesis, and brief description of your research topic
o Bibliography (of at least 10 scholarly sources such as monographs, articles, or
primary sources)
o You will be marked on the originality, clarity, and organization of your proposal,
as well as the sources you find for your bibliography.
Paper Presentations: 2.5% (in June)
o Students will orally present their research-in-progress. Students will be evaluated on
the organization and clarity of their presentation.
Mid-term Exam—Monday May 26th (15%)
The exam will consist of a map question, short-answer questions and one essay. Students will
have choices with the questions and I will go over the format in more details later.
Research Paper – Friday June 13th (30%)
Length: 4,000 words (appx 15 pages, double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font)
This research paper must be an analytical (as opposed to a descriptive) examination of a historical
question or issue in Asian history. Students may wish to focus on one country or pursue a
comparative approach. The paper must have a clear thesis and students are expected to provide
evidence to substantiate their argument. Papers should be based on at least 15 scholarly sources
(popular websites, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and news magazines are not considered scholarly
sources). Please include your research note and/or one rough draft when you submit your
paper.
Final Exam: Monday June 23rd (20%)
This will be an open-book exam and the will consist of essay questions.
****
Policies for Due Dates:
Assignments are to be submitted to the instructor at the beginning of the seminar on the day they
are due. Since you already know the deadlines for all your assignments, please make sure to
organize your work schedule accordingly. Unless you have a medical or family emergency,
please do not ask for an extension.
If you can’t meet the deadline, the penalty is simply: 3% per day, including weekends.
One week after the due date, no papers will be accepted, unless you have a written medical
excuse or documented family emergency. This is not negotiable.
Plagiarism:
Essays are to be original works produced by you specifically for this class. In other words, you
cannot submit an essay that has been used or is intended to be used for another class. If for some
reason you would like to pursue research that is closely related in topic to another paper, please
talk to me before you proceed.
According to the Trent University calendar: “plagiarism is the presentation of the words, ideas,
images, data, or any other form of scholarly work of another person (including essays, theses, lab
reports, projects, assignments, presentations, and posters) in a way that represents or could be
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reasonably seen to represent the work as one's own. Plagiarism covers a wide range of academic
offences, from failure to acknowledge sources correctly to submitting materials downloaded from
the World Wide Web.” (Trent Calendar, 2006-7 p. 17)
Penalties for plagiarism may range from mark deduction on an assignment to academic
suspension from the university. This instructor has a low tolerance for plagiarism and will
penalize to the full extent those caught. If you are unsure of what constitutes plagiarism, please
talk to me or consult with this website: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html
Tentative Lecture Schedule
Week I
April 28
Introduction--Problems with Representations
April 30
Lecture & Seminar
East & Southeast Asian Polities
Seminar Readings:
 E. Said, Orientalism, ch. 1 [course kit]
Tutorial Questions:
 What is “Orientalism”?
 What does Said mean when he states that the “Orient” and
“Occident” are “man-made”?
 What is the relationship between knowledge and power?
May 2
Lecture & Seminar
Folk and World Religion in East & Southeast Asia
Readings:
 Shen Fu, Six Records of a Floating Life, Introduction, ch 1 & 2
Tutorial Question:
 What kind of a person was Shen Fu?
 Do you think his relationship with his wife was typical?
 What insight can we get from the chapter on gardening?
Week 2
May 5
Lecture & Seminar
Family Patterns and Status of Women
Readings:
 Dorothy Ko, “The Body as Attire: The Shifting Meanings of
Footbinding in Seventeenth-Century China”, Journal of
Women’s History, vol. 8, No 4 (Winter, pp. 8-27)
 Shen Fu, parts 2 &3
Tutorial Questions:
 What insights do chapters 2 & 3 provide into Chinese society?
 Why do you think Shen Fu wrote his memoir?
 What is Ko’s argument regarding footbinding?
May 7
Lecture only
Ming to Qing China
First Essay Due (no tutorial)
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May 9
Lecture & Seminar
Tokugawa Japan
Readings:
 Anne Walthall, “The Life Cycle of Farm Women in Tokugawa
Japan” Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945.
 William Hauser, “Some Misconceptions About the Economic
History of Tokugawa Japan”, The History Teacher, vol 16 (4),
1983, pp. 569-583.
Tutorial Questions:
 What forces shape the lives of women during the Tokugawa
period?
 Using Hauser’s article, describe the conventional portrait of the
Tokugawa period and some newer findings that challenge this
depiction.
Week 3
May 12
Lecture & Seminar
Trade and Commerce in East & Southeast Asia
Readings:
 Anthony Reid, “Economic and Social Change, c. 1400-1800” in
Nicholas Tarling, ed., The Cambridge History of Southeast
Asia, Vol. Two, Cambridge U Press, 116-163. [course kit]
Tutorial Questions:
 What overall image do you get from Reid’s description of
Southeast Asia from the 15th – 19th c?
 Describe the broad changes that occurred in SEA from the 15th
– 18th c.
May 14
Lecture & Seminar
Europeans in East & Southeast Asia
Readings:
 Gale Stokes, “The Fates of Human Societies: A Review of
Recent macrohistories” AHR April 2001, pp. 508-525.
 Rhoads Murphey, “The West Arrives in Asia”, East Asia, ch.
12.
Tutorial Questions:
 What are the three schools of thoughts on the question of “Why
Europe and why not China?”
 Which argument is most convincing to you and why?
 How does Rhoads Murphey explain the encounter between
Asia and the West?
May 16
Lecture & Seminar
Peasants and Peasant Rebellions
 Elizabeth Perry, “Strategies of Peasant Survival in Huai-pei”
 Michael Adas, “From Avoidance to Confrontation: Peasant
Protest in Precolonial and Colonial Southeast Asia”
Tutorial Questions:
 Explain Perry’s and Adas’s main arguments.
 According to Perry’s article, what conditions would allow
banditry to become a rebellion?
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Week 4
May 19
May 21
Lecture & Seminar
VICTORIA DAY
The Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion
Readings:
 Jonathan Spence ‘The Crisis Within” [course kit]
 Paper Proposal Presentations
Tutorial Questions:
 Explain the emergence of the Taipings
 What were some of their policies?
 Describe the other rebellions that China experienced in the mid
to late 19th c.
Paper Proposal Due
May 23
Class cancelled (instructor will be away at an academic conference)
Week 5
May 26
Mid-Term Exam
May 28
Lecture & Seminar
The Meiji Restoration
Readings:
 “The Debate over Seclusion and Restoration” in Sources of
Japanese Tradition, pp. 591-637
 Patricia Ebrey, “Meiji Transformation”
Tutorial Questions:
 Describe the three schools of thought on how to deal with
Westerners.
 Which school do you think makes most sense?
 Among all the changes that took place during this period, what
do you think was the deepest or most profound change?
Explain.
May 30
Lecture & Seminar
Colonialism in Southeast Asia
Readings:
 Tam Lang, “I Pulled a Rickshaw”
Tutorial Questions:
 What does this piece reveal about colonial Vietnam?
 What or who was the object of Tam Lang’s critique?
 How reliable is Tam Lang’s investigative reporting as a
historical document?
Week 6
June 2
Lecture & Seminar
Nationalist Revolution in China
Readings:
 Spence, Mao Zedong, chs. 1-6
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Tutorial Questions:
 Describe the society in which young Mao matured into
adulthood.
 Why was Mao chosen to be a member of the Communist Party?
June 4
Lecture & Seminar
The Chinese Communist Revolution
Readings:
 Spence, Mao Zedong, chs.7-12
Tutorial Questions:
 Who was responsible for the disastrous Great Leap Forward?
 Explain the Cultural Revolution.
 What is Spence’s overall assessment of Mao?
June 6
Film: Zhang Yimou’s To Live
Week 7
June 9
Lecture & Seminar
World War Two in Eastern Asia
June 11
Lecture & Seminar
Revolutions in Southeast Asia—focus on the Philippines and
Vietnam
Paper Presentations
Paper Presentations
June 13
Lecture & Seminar
Wars of Independence in Southeast Asia—focus on Indonesia
Video: From the Barrel of a Gun
Research Paper due
Week 8
June 16
June 18
Japan since World War Two
June 20
Post-Mao China
June 23
Final Exam
The Korean and Vietnam Wars
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