History 335
Early China to 1500
Prof. Dodgen
Fall 2010
China today is the most populous nation on earth and is rapidly becoming one of the most
dynamic economies on the planet. Having embraced capitalism in order to strengthen their
regional and global influence, the Chinese are also rediscovering elements of their ancient
tradition and repackaging them for use in a modern, post-industrial world. The capitalism and the
vision of modernity they embrace, however, is very different than that found in the West: ancient
cultural and social traditions emphasizing family, hierarchy and order still predominate. Just as
Roman law and the morality of the medieval church influence modern Western institutions, so
Confucianism and Daoism, Moism and Legalism, Buddhism and folk religion, continue to
inform the social and political world of modern China. This course looks at the development of
China from prehistoric times up to about 1500.
Books:
There are four books required for the course.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China and Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook by Patricia
Buckley Ebrey are the texts. We will also read Monkey by Wu Ch’eng-en and Celebrated cases
of Judge Dee by Robert Van Gulik.
There will also be links on the class web page to other short readings available on the web. Most
are available through Professor Paul Halsall’s website at:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/index.html
Students should be ready to discuss and be quizzed on any of the assigned readings in
class on the day they are assigned.
Grading:
I will base your grade on two take-home writing assignments, two in-class essay exams
and quizzes. Each take-home and in-class will count for 22 percent of the grade. The quizzes will
make up the final 12 percent. The in-class exams will require short essays on the terms listed in
the syllabus and longer essays on the themes of the course. The mid-term writing assignment will
draw upon Monkey. The final will similarly use The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee as the
source for the essays. I will provide you with three sets of issues and your job will be to use the
assigned readings to construct an essay around one of the three choices. The essays must be 4-5
pages, typed, and double-spaced. Both writing assignments require that students cite the readings
in support of their arguments. Students can only use sources listed in the syllabus. The purpose
of the essays is to show that you have read the assigned readings carefully and thoughtfully.
Terms for exam 1 can be found at: http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/dodgen/terms/study
terms for early china.doc
Terms for the final can be found at: http://www.sonoma.edu/users/d/dodgen/terms/study
terms for early china2.doc
Papers will be reduced one letter grade per day if late, and I will not give grades of
incomplete or make-up exams unless there is a documented medical excuse or a prior
arrangement based on compelling need.
Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s ideas or words without giving them credit, including
turning in someone else’s work as your own. It is an intolerable intellectual crime. If you
have any question about how to use the ideas and arguments made by others in your essay,
raise the issue with the instructor. We will also discuss this subject in class.
My office is Stevenson 2066, extension 42462. My e-mail address is
dodgen@sonoma.edu . My office hours are M-W 12:30-1:45 and by appointment.
Syllabus
Week of
Topics and Assignments
Part I: Pre-imperial China
8/25
--Introduction: language, geography and prehistory.
8/30-9/1
--Religion, myth and philosophy before Confucius.
Readings: Cambridge Illustrated History of China (CIHC), pages10-42;
"Chinese Logographic writing" at:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinlng4.html .
Begin reading Monkey by Wu Ch’eng-en.
--“Politico-religious force fields:” Shang and Zhou cultures.
Readings: “The Mandate of Heaven” at:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/shu-jing.html ;
Chinese Civilization: a Sourcebook (CCAS), pages 3-16.
Part II: The Age of Philosophers
9/6
Labor Day: No Class.
9/8
--Confucian humanism.
Readings: CIHC, pages 42-59: CCAS, pages 17-37. Continue reading
Monkey.
9/13-15
--Radicals and Rationalists: The rise of bureaucratic thinking.
Readings: CIHC, pages 42-59; CCAS, pages 42-45. Continue reading
Monkey.
Part III: The Creation and Collapse of the Imperial State
9/20-22
--Qin centralization and collapse.
Film: “The Emperor and the Assassin.”
Readings: CIHC, pages 60-85; CCAS, pages51-53. Continue reading
Monkey.
9/27-29
--Early Han: empire of compromise.
--The first Nomadic Empires. Readings: CCAS, pages 54-56.
--The wages of Xin: The later Han and the Six dynasties
Readings: CIHC, pages 86-95; CCAS, pages 57-76, 83-85. Continue
reading Monkey. Hand out topics for first take-home essay.
10/4-6
--Neo-Daoism, Folk Daoism and Buddhism.
Readings: CIHC, pages 95-107; CCAS, pages 91-104. Complete Monkey,
discussion.
10/11-13
Monday, review for exam 1. Wednesday, exam 1: Take home essay due.
Part IV: Imperial resurrection
10/18-20
--Sui-Tang: The Han-Nomadic hybrid.
--Tang Taizong: Master of the empire.
Readings: CIHC, 107-35; CCAS, pages 112-19, begin Judge Dee.
10/25-27
--Wu Zhao: A woman on the throne.
Readings: CIHC, pages 128-31, continue Judge Dee.
--Aesthetics and anarchy under Xuanzong.
Readings: CCAS pages 123-24.
11/1-3
for a Woman" at:
--Song unification. Readings: CIHC, pages 136-89; Ban Zhao, "Lessons
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/banzhao.html ;
CCAS, pages 164-68.
--Southern Song and the new economy.
Readings: CIHC, pages 136-63; CCAS, pages 172-77, 178-85, 195-98;
continue Judge Dee.
Part V: Imperial maturity
11/8-10
--The nomadic resurgence: Liao, Jin, Yuan.
Readings: CIHC, pages 164-89; CCAS, pages 169-171, continue Judge
Dee.
11/15-17
--Ming Taizu and Chinese reaction.
Readings: CIHC, pages 190-195; CCAS, pages 205-12; complete Judge
Dee, discussion.
11/22
--Linking the empire: Ming Taizong's quest for control.
Readings: CCAS, pages 213-20. Hand out topics for second take-home
essay.
11/24
Thanksgiving holiday, no class.
11/29-12/1
--Rise of the Gentry class.
Readings: CIHC, pages 195-219; Père du Halde: "The Chinese
Educational System,"
c. 1575 CE at:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/1575duhalde1.html ; CCAS, pages 23855.
--The Crisis of Confucianism.
Readings: CCAS, 256-62.
12/6-8
--Eunuchs, corruption, collapse: the end of Chinese dynastic rule.
Wednesday: review for final exam.
12/13
Final Exam: Monday, December 13, 8:00-9:50. Take-home essays due.