(DRAFT—subject to change)
History 3610.10
China to 1800
(CRN 77129)
Spring 2016
Instructor: Edward A. McCord
Class Period: TR 2:20-3:35 pm
Classrooms: Monroe 251
Office Hours: TR 4:00-5:00 pm
Office: Suite 503, 1957 E. St.
Phone: 202-994-5785
Email: mccord@gwu.edu
". . . China, ancient and modern, is more than exotic, and China is more than a political factor that we
need to take into account (though it is that too); it is an area whose history raises questions of the
broadest intellectual concern. If we really mean what we all say now about our discovery of the full
dimensions of the modern world, our moral and intellectual realization that European and American
histories are not the whole story, we will study Chinese history for its universal significance, not just for its
relevance to the needs, political or cultural, of our part of the world."
Joseph Levenson
China: An Interpretative History
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course is a survey of Chinese civilization from its ancient beginnings to the last imperial dynasty.
Specific course learning objectives are:
1. To appreciate both the diversity and the commonalities of human experience as reflected in the
development of Chinese civilization;
2. To understand and be able to articulate the main components and features of traditional Chinese
culture;
3. To trace the main trends and development of Chinese society and government it the pre-modern
era; and
4. To recognize how Chinese perceptions of their history and world views, cultural values and norms
rooted in their past continue to influence the Chinese people and their society today.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Students are expected to read all reading assignments and to attend all class sessions.
Grading will be based on the following components:
1. Map Quiz (Jan. 24)
2. Course Essay #1 (Feb 28)
3. Mid-term Examination (Mar. 7)
4. Course Essay #2 (Apr. 27)
5. Final Examination
6. Participation & completion of course evaluation
(10 points included in Mid-term grade)
25% of grade
25%
25%
25%
(10 points added to Final Exam grade)
COURSE POLICIES:
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Students should notify faculty during the first week of the semester of their intention to be absent
from class on their day(s) of religious observance.
The only valid reason for missing an exam is illness. A medical excuse requires advance
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notification (by email or voicemail to the instructor) prior to the exam in question, followed up by a
doctor’s note. No make-up exams will be given for reasons other than a medical excuse.
In accord with University policy, the final exam will be given during the designated final exam
period. No advance exams will be given.
Course essays are due in class on the due date. Essays turned in after this class period count as
being one day late. Assignments submitted after their due date will be penalized a “half” grade (a
plus or minus letter grade) for each day after the due date. Electronic copies of course essays
must also be submitted via Blackboard within on day of the due-date. (All essays will be checked
for plagiarism though Blackboard’s SafeAssign function).
Instructions for specific assignments will be distributed separately and posted on Blackboard.
The course does not use a fixed-point grade scale for exams. Each exam section will be assigned
a set number of points, and grades will be curved based on the total points achieved.
The Instructor supports the GW Code of Academic Integrity. It states: “Academic dishonesty is
defined as cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one's own work, taking credit for the
work of others without crediting them and without appropriate authorization, and the fabrication of
information.” For the remainder of the code, see: http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html
Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability should
contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center, Suite 242, to
establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information
please refer to: http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/
The Instructor may add readings or change assignments over the course of the class. Any such
change will be announced in class and sent out as an email message to all students.
REQUIRED READINGS:
Book to be purchased (available at the Bookstore):
Harold M. Tanner, China: A History, Vol. I: From Neolithic Cultures through the Great
Qing Empire (Hackett Publishing, 2010)
Online Resources:
Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton University Press, 1963):
[Please do not try to recall the Gelman copy of this book--I have it!]
Ebook:
http://site.ebrary.com.proxygw.wrlc.org/lib/gwu/docDetail.action?docID=10035892
Google:
http://books.google.com/books?id=A0qs9W6Km6UC&printsec=frontcover&cd=1&source=gbs
_ViewAPI#v=onepage&q&f=false
John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History (Princeton University Press, 1994)
Ebook:
http://site.ebrary.com.proxygw.wrlc.org/lib/gwu/docDetail.action?docID=10035814
Additional readings (articles, chapters from books, etc.) will be posted as pdf files on Blackboard
(See specific class sections under “Outline.”)
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES AND READINGS:
1) Jan. 12
INTRODUCTION: CHINESE HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
Course Material: Periodization Scheme
2) Jan. 14
GEOGRAPHY AND PEOPLE
Tanner, pp. 3-14
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Map Quiz Materials: Map, Map Terms, Compass Points
Course Material: Pronunciation Guide
3) Jan. 19
PREHISTORY: LEGENDS AND ARCHAELOGY
Tanner, pp. 14-28, 33-36
Anonymous, “Cultural Heroes”, and Ssu-ma Chien, “Good Emperors”, in Dun J. Li, ed.,
The Civilization of China (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1975), pp. 5-12.
Dun Li, Ageless Chinese, (selection)
Kwang-chih Chang, “China on the Eve of the Historical Period,” in Michael Loewe and
Edward L. Shaughnessy, eds., The Cambridge History of Ancient China (Cambridge
University Press, 1999), pp. 37-73.
*Keightley, David, “Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How It Became Chinese,” in
Paul S. Ropp, ed. Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese
Civilization (University of California Press, 1990), pp. 15-21.
Recommended:
Ch. 1: "Yu,” in John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame, pp. 3-10
Course Material: Legends, Yangshao/Longshan/Shang Chart, Neolithic Table
4) Jan. 21
FROM PREHISTORY TO HISTORY: ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE WRITTEN RECORD
Tanner, pp. 36-46
*Sarah Allan, “Erlitou and the Formation of Chinese Civilization,” Journal of Asian Studies,
vol. 66, no. 2 (May 2007), pp. 461-496. [Skim 477-484]
“The Oracle Bone Inscriptions,” in Wm. Theodore de Bary, et al., eds., Sources of
Chinese Tradition, Vol. I (Columbia University Press, 1999), pp. 5-20.
Keightley, David, “Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How It Became Chinese,” in
Paul S. Ropp, ed. Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese
Civilization (University of California Press, 1990), pp. 21-32.
Map Quiz
5) Jan. 26
ANCIENT CHINA: THE SHANG AND ZHOU DYNASTIES
Tanner, pp. 46-56
Joseph R Levenson and Franz Schurmann, Chapter 4: “The Western Chou,” in China: An
Interpretive History (University of California Press, 1969), pp. 27-40.
[Add Li Jun chapter]
6) Jan 28
ANCIENT CHINA: THE WARRING STATES
Tanner, pp. 59-66
*H. G. Creel, "The Beginning of Bureaucracy in China,” Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 23,
No. 2 (February 1964), pp. 155-184.
7) Feb. 2
IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS: CULTURE AND THOUGHT
Tanner, pp. 67-78
Keightley, David, “Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How It Became Chinese,” in
Paul S. Ropp, ed. Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese
Civilization (University of California Press, 1990), pp. 32-54.
Course Materials: Philosophers, Philosophies Comparison Chart
8) Feb. 4
IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS: CONFUCIANISM
[Confucius, Analects]: Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 14-48
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[Confucius, Analects]: James Legge, The Chinese Classics. Project Gutenberg Etext,
read yellow highlighted selections
[Mencius]: Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 51-83
[Xunzi]: Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 115-135
Recommended:
Ch. 2: “Confucius,” in John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame, pp. 11-32.
Course Material: Confucian Classics
9) Feb. 9
IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS: TAOISM
[Laozi]: Wing-tsit Chan, 136-176
(Chapters: 1-5, 7-9, 11, 15-20, 22, 24-25, 29-32, 36-37, 40, 42-44, 47-49, 56-57, 59-61,
63-66, 68, 70-72, 74-76, 78, 80)
[Zhuangzi]: Patricia Ebrey, ed., “Chuang Tzu,” in Chinese Civilization and Society: A
Sourcebook (New York: Free Press, 2001) pp. 17-20.
10) Feb. 11
IDEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS: MOHISM & LEGALISM
[Mozi]: Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 211-231
[Han Feizi]: Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. Van Norden, Readings in Classical Chinese
Philosophy (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001), 296-342
[Li Si]: Wm. Theodore de Bary, et al., eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. I (Columbia
University Press, 1999), pp. 206-212
11) Feb. 16
THE QIN DYNASTY: THE LEGALIST EMPIRE
Tanner, pp. 80-92
Sima Qian, “The Basic Annals of the First Emperor of the Qin,” in Records of the Grand
Historian: Qin Dynasty [Burton Watson, translator] (Columbia University Press, 1993),
pp. 35-74.
Sima Qian, “The Story of the Rebel Chen Sheng,” in Historical Records [Raymond
Dawson, translator] (Oxford University Press 1994), pp. 141-145.
Recommended:
Ch. 3: "First Emperor,” in John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame, pp. 33-50
12) Feb. 18
THE HAN DYNASTY: THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM
Tanner, pp. 92-96, 117-121, 123-130
*H. G. Creel, "The Ecletics of Han Thought,” in Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao
Tse-tung (University of Chicago Press, 1953), pp. 159-185.
Recommended:
Ch. 4: "Sima Qian,” in John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame, pp. 51-71.
13) Feb. 23
THE HAN DYNASTY: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL PROBLEMS
Tanner, 99-106, 109-114
“The Economic Order,” in Wm. Theodore de Bary, et al., eds., Sources of Chinese
Tradition, Vol. I (Columbia University Press, 1960). 211-227.
Recommended:
Ch. 5: "Wang Mang,” in John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame, pp. 72-89
Essay #1 Due
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14) Feb. 25
THE HAN DYNASTY: "BARBARIAN" MANAGEMENT
Tanner, pp. 96-99, 115-117, 135-152
Mark Edward Lewis, Chapter 6: “The Outer World,” in The Early Chinese Empires: Qin
and Han (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), pp. 128-154.
John K. Fairbank, "Tribute and the Growth of Trade," Trade and Diplomacy on the China
Coast (Harvard University Press, 1969), pp. 23-33.
15) Mar. 1
MID-TERM EXAMINATION
16) Mar. 3
POPULAR TAOISM AND THE INTRODUCTION OF BUDDHISM
Tanner, pp. 122-123, 152-162
Mark Edward Lewis, “Chapter 8: Daoism and Buddhism,”in China Between Empires: The
Northern and Southern Dynasties, (Harvard University Press, 2009), pp. 196-220
“The Coming of Buddhism to China (section),” in Wm. Theodore de Bary, et al., eds.,
Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. I (Columbia Univ. Press, 1960). 272-281.
17) Mar. 8
FROM SUI TO TANG: EMPERORS AND THEIR IMAGES
Tanner, pp. 162-172, 181-184
*Arthur F. Wright, "Sui Yang-ti: Personality and Stereotype," in Arthur Wright, ed.,
Confucianism and Chinese Civilization (Atheneum 1975), pp. 47-76.
Ch. 1: “Empress Wu,” John E. Wills, Mountain of Fame, pp. 127-148.
18) Mar. 10
THE TANG DYNASTY: POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS
Tanner, pp. 172-178, 185-198
*Denis Twitchett, " Chinese Social History from the Seventh to the Tenth Centuries. The
Tunhuang Documents and Their Implications," Past and Present, Vol 35 (December
1966), pp. 28-53.
(Mar. 14-19
Spring Break—NO CLASS
19) Mar. 22
THE SONG DYNASTY: THE CIVIL TRADITION
Tanner, pp. 201-234
20) Mar. 24
THE SONG DYNASTY: CONFUCIAN REVIVAL AND POLITICAL REFORM
Han Yu, “A Memorial on the Relic of the Buddha,” in Victor Mair, et al., eds., Hawai’i
Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture (University of Hawaii Press, 2005), pp. 354358..
Ssu-ma Kuang and Ou-yang Hsiu, “Two View on the Civil Service Examinatons,” T’o-t’o,
“Wang An-shih,”, Ssu-ma Kuang and Wang An-shih, “Two Views on the New
Program,” in Dun J. Li, ed., The Civilization of China (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1975),
pp. 192-208.
*James Liu, Chapter 3: “Wang and the Political Thought of the Northern Sung,” Reform in
Sung China: Wang An-shih and His New Policies (Harvard University Press, 1959),
pp. 22-33
21) Mar. 29
TANG-SONG RELIGION
Tanner, pp. 178-181, 365-367
Ssu-ma Kuang, “Ancestral Rites,” in Patricia Ebrey, ed., Chinese Civilization and Society:
A Sourcebook” (The Free Press, 1981), pp. 79-83.
Arthur F. Wright, Chapter 5: “The Period of Appropriation,” in Buddhism in Chinese
History (Athenium 1969), pp. 86-107.
22) Mar. 31
WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL CHINA: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
Tanner, 359-360
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Ban Zhao, “Lessons for Women,’ in Nancy Swann, Pan Chao: Foremost Woman Scholar
of China (Russell and Russell, 1968), pp. 82-90.
Kay Ann Johnson, Chapter 1: "Women and the Traditional Chinese Family,” Women, the
Family and Peasant Revolution in China (University of Chicago Press, 1983), pp. 726.
*Patricia Ebrey, “Women, Money and Class: Sima Guang and Neo-Confucian View on
Women,” in Patricia Ebrey, Women and the Family in Chinese History (London:
Routledge, 2002), pp. 10-38.
*Patricia Ebrey, “Gender and Sinology: Shifting Western Interpretations of Footbinding,
1300-1890,” Late Imperial China, Vol. 20, No. 2 (December 1999), pp. 1-34.
23) Apr. 5
THE LATE EMPIRE: YUAN, MING, AND QING DYNASTIES
Tanner, pp. 239-273, 281-283, 286-292, 296-301, 310-335, 340-356
24) Apr. 7
THE LATE EMPIRE: GOVERNMENT AND THE GROWTH OF AUTOCRACY
Tanner, pp. 283-286, 292-296
Patricia Ebrey, ed., “Proclamations of the Hung-Wu Emperor,” in Chinese Civilization and
Society: A Sourcebook (New York: Free Press, 2001) pp. 123-125.
*John W. Dardess, Chapter 4: “Ming T’ai-tsu,” in Confucianism and Autocracy:
Professional Elites in the Founding of the Ming Dynasty (University of California
Press, 1983), pp. 183-204, 215-234, 240-253.
25) Apr. 12
THE LATE EMPIRE: THE MARITIME FRONTIER
Lo Jung-pang, "The Emergence of China as a Sea Power During the Late Sung and Early
Yuan Periods,” The Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4 (August 1955), pp. 489-503.
Bruce Swanson, Chapter 3: “Continental and Maritime Ideologies in Conflict: The Ming
Dynasty,” in Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: A History of China’s Quest for Seapower
(Naval Institute Press 1982), p.p. 28-43.
26) Apr. 14
THE LATE EMPIRE: THE GENTRY CLASS
Tanner, pp. 356-359.
Ch'u T'ung-tsu, Chapter 10: "The Gentry and Local Administration in Ch’ing China,” in
Local Government in China under the Ch’ing (Stanford University Press, 1962), pp.
168-192.
27) Apr. 19
THE LATE EMPIRE: THE CITY AND COMMERCE
Tanner, pp. 217-220, 301-306
Patricia Ebrey, ed., “Attractions of the Capital,” in Chinese Civilization and Society: A
Sourcebook (New York: Free Press, 2001) pp. 100-108.
* E. A. Kracke, Jr., “Sung Society: Change within Tradition,” The Far Eastern Quarterly,
Vol. 14, No. 4 (August 1955), pp. 479-488.
28) Apr. 21
(= Monday) Review
Essay #2 Due
Final Examination—on University assigned date.
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