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Spring 2016
Wesleyan University
Modern China: States, Transnations, Individuals, and World
Instructor: Ying Jia Tan
TuTh 10.30-11:50
Course Description
This course examines the turbulent transition to modernity of the world’s most populous nation.
It covers the Ming-Qing transition, rise and fall of the world’s most populous land-based empire,
founding of China’s first Republic (1912-1949), and the creation of the People’s Republic of
China under Mao Zedong.
The dramatic transformation of China spanning the late nineteenth century to the present day
presented its leaders and people with unprecedented challenges. The Chinese people today
continue to deal with the legacy of these reforms, wars, and revolutions. This course explores
three central themes: (1) the reconstitution of (a somewhat) unified China after decades of
political upheaval; (2) China’s interactions with foreign powers and ideas; (3) the challenges of
maintaining a high-growth economy.
The course is open to all students without prerequisite and assumes no prior knowledge of the
material. All the readings will be in English. The readings include two textbooks, primary
sources, and historical scholarship. For students with no background at all in Chinese history, it
is strongly recommended that you purchase the Rowe and Lary textbooks. Use the course
handouts to review the material covered in lecture.
This is a lecture/discussion course. You are fully expected to complete the readings before each
class meeting, paying close attention to primary sources and historical scholarship. Come to
class ready to ask questions and contribute to classroom discussion.
Course Requirements
(1) Regular attendance and active participation in class (If there is anything that you would
like to discuss and are unable to bring it up in class, please meet the instructor during
office hours or write to the instructor via e-mail)
(2) Four quizzes that test your knowledge on the course material and readings
(3) Two short papers (Ming-Qing transition; Representations of Modern China in film and
literature)
(4) One final research paper (Public policy and the lives of ordinary people)
Grade Determination
Attendance and Participation 25%
Four Quizzes 30%
Two short papers 25% (4 pages for first paper, 6 pages for second paper)
One final research paper 20% (6 pages with group presentation)
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Course Textbooks and Source Reader (Optional):
William T. Rowe, China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing (ISBN: 978-0674066243)
Diana Lary, China’s Republic (ISBN: 978-0521603553)
Cheng and Lestz ed., The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection (ISBN:9780393973727)1
Books Used for One or More Weeks:
Lynn Struve, Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm (ISBN: 0300075533)
Henrietta Harrison, The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Man’s Life in a North China Village,
1857-1942. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005)
Edgar Snow. Red Star Over China. (New York: Grove Press, 1994) (ISBN: 978-0802150936)
Yang Jisheng, Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine 1958-1962 (ISBN: 978-0374533991)
In addition, there will be primary sources posted on the Moodle site. These will be marked with
an asterisk in the syllabus.
General Policies
Attendance is required at all classes. Please arrive on time. Each student gets two unexcused
absences each semester. If you miss more than eight classes within a semester, you automatically
fail the class.
You will also write two short papers. The instructor is very glad to meet and discuss ideas for
your papers. Students will have around three weeks to work on these short papers. Plan
accordingly! Late submission of papers will result in a reduction of one-third of a letter grade for
every day it is late. I will not grant any extensions for the papers. If there is an emergency that is
preventing you from meeting the deadline, please get your class dean to write me a note.
Enjoy the company of fellow classmates and scholars, and have fun!
Honor Code
Please refer to this link
http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/studenthandbook/standardsregulations/studentconduct.ht
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Special Accommodation Policy
Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are
afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services. To
receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide
documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally
are not provided retroactively, please contact Disability Resources as soon as possible. If you
believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Dean Patey in Disability
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W.W. Norton published a new edition for this documentary collection. There are many cheap used copies of this
reader available for purchase online. I will post the selections on Moodle. It would be very convenient if you can
purchase a print copy of this edition.
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Resources, located in North College, Room 021, or call 860-685-2332 for an appointment to
discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations.
Course Outline
Week One
Jan 21st Modern China—When and where?
Readings: Map Portfolio*
Week Two
Jan 26th Ming Unification and China’s Integration with the Global Economy
Readings: Peter C. Perdue, “1557: A Year of Some Significance” in Asia Inside Out*
Jan 28th The Great Enterprise—Rise of the Manchus
Map Quiz (3% of total grade, First 15 minutes)
Readings: Rowe, Introduction and Chapter 1; Primary source—Nurhaci’s Seven Grievances*
Week Three
Feb 2nd Manchu Conquest of China
Readings: Lynn Struve, Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm (a) The Qing Siege on Beijing;
(b) The Massacre of Yangzhou; (c) Foreign Missionary Account of Manchus; (d) “Father and
Son Chooses Different Sides.”
Start on first paper assignment (Due Feb 15th, 4 pages): The first paper assignment will be
based on your reading of the Ming-Qing transition. Pick one document in Voices from the
Ming-Qing Cataclysm. Use the document to answer this question: Why did the Manchus
overthrow the Ming Dynasty so rapidly? In order to answer this question, you will have to
draw on other articles and books written about the Ming-Qing transition. Go to the suggested
readings of your textbook to find additional historical scholarship.
Feb 4th Consolidation and Expansion from Kangxi to Qianlong
Readings: Rowe, Chapter 2, 3, and 4; Primary Source—Fang Bao’s Notes from Prison, Kangxi’s
Valedictory Edict, Yongzheng’s Amplification of Kangxi’s Edict, Glorifying the Origins of the
Manchus, Selection from Wu Jingzi, The Scholars.*
Week Four
Feb 9th Canton Trade and British Agitation for Free Trade
Readings: Rowe, Chapter 5; MIT Visualizing Cultures, “The Canton Trade System” (Website);
Primary Source—Macartney’s Letter to Emperor Qianlong and Twenty Crimes of Heshen
Feb 11th Opium War
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Readings: Rowe, Chapter 6; Primary Source: Documents on the Banning of Opium; Wakeman,
Strangers at the Gate*
Week Five
First Paper Assignment Due Feb 15th
Feb 16th Frontier Challenges and Taiping Rebellion
Readings: Rowe, Chapter 7; Primary Source: Liang Afa, “Good Words to Exhort the Age”*;
Taiping Ideology; Yung Wing, “Reflections on the Taiping Rebellion”*
Feb 18th Self-Strengthening Movement and Restoration
Readings: Rowe, Chapter 8; Primary Source: Sun Yat-Sen, Prescriptions, 1-18*; Renditions
(Special Edition on late-Qing Science Fiction)*
Week Six
Feb 23rd Defeat at the Sino-Japanese War
Primary Source: Dialogue between Li Hongzhang and Ito Hirobumi (Online)
Feb 25th Boxer Rebellion and the Dowager’s Modernization Efforts
Readings: Rowe, Chapter 9; Harrison, Man Awakened from Dreams, 1-83.
Quiz Two (Ming-Qing Transition to Self-Strengthening—20 minutes, 6% of total grade)
Start working on Paper Assignment 2—Representations of China in Film and Literature
(Due March 23rd)
Over the spring break, watch a film or literary work about China between the sixteenth and
twentieth century. Discuss the film or literary work’s treatment of China’s history. Who is the
audience for your film or literary work? How is China depicted in the film or the literary
work?
Refer to Moodle for a list of suggested film and books.
Week Seven
March 1st The 1911 Revolution
Readings: Rowe, Chapter 10; Zou Rong, “Revolutionary Army”*; Prescriptions, 19-36; 42-50.*
March 3rd Challenges of the New Republic and the Lingering Threat of Imperialism
Readings: Lary, 1-80; “The Question of China’s Survival” in Prescriptions 131-199*
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***Spring Break***
Week Eight
Paper 2 due March 23rd
Mar 22nd New Culture Movement
Readings: Harrison, 84-135.; Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman”*
Mar 24th Class Visit by musician Wu Min (New Culture Movement in Music)
Readings: TBD
Important: Professor Elizabeth Remick (Tufts) will be speaking at the College of East Asian
Studies on March 24th. You will have to engage with the ideas presented in her talk in your
final paper. It is absolutely essential for you to attend the talk. If you are unable to go, please
find a classmate to take notes for you.
Week Nine
Mar 29th Founding of the CCP
Primary Source: Karl Marx on China (Online), Li Dazhao: The Victory of Bolshevism, 1918*,
Mao Zedong’s Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan (Online)
Mar 31st Power Emerges from the Barrel of the Gun: Warlordism
Readings: Harrison, 83-135; Edward McCord, “Burn, Kill, Rape, and Rob: Military Atrocities,
Warlordism, and Anti-Warlordism in Republican China,” in Scars of War: The Impact of
Warfare on Modern China*
Week Ten
Apr 5th The Nanjing Decade and Communist Survival
Readings: Lary, 81-111 Primary Sources: “The Guomindang in Power”; Red Star Over China, 184*
Apr 7th Quiz Three (Fall of the Qing and Republican China, 9% of total grade)
Second Sino-Japanese War
Readings: Red Star Over China, 85-181, 374-411, Harrison 159-172
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Start working on Final Paper (Presentations on Apr 26th/28th and final paper due May 10th):
The final paper will be a research project about major policies carried out by the Chinese
Communist Party after 1978. You will be asked to examine the impact of this policy on the
lives of ordinary people. You may gather information from databases, obtain primary source
compilations, or carry out your own oral history interviews.
Possible candidates for final project—one-child policy, gender equality, Three Gorges Dam,
Normalization of Sino-American Relations, urbanization, Privatization of State-Owned
Enterprises, Takeover of Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan Affairs
Week Eleven
Apr 12th Collaboration [Film Screening—Selections from Devils on the Doorstep]
Optional Reading: Timothy Brook, “The Pacification of Jiading,” in Scars of War: Impact of
Modern Warfare (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2001): 50-74. Yang Daqing, “Atrocities in Nanjing:
Searching for Explanation” in Scars of War: Impact of Modern Warfare (Vancouver: UBC Press,
2001): 76-97.
Apr 14th Communist Victory
Readings: Lary, 150-177
Primary Source: Mao, “On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship”; Documents on land reform
Week Twelve
Apr 19th Great Leap Forward
Readings: Yang Jisheng, Tombstone (The book will be divided into six portions. You will work
in groups to identify main themes of the chapter and report on the main themes of the book.)
Apr 21st No Class—Work on your papers and group presentations
Week Thirteen
Apr 26th Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution (continued)
Student-led discussions Part I: Economic Liberalization and One Child Policy (45 minutes)
Primary Source: Diary of Lei Feng*
Apr 28th Student-led discussions Part II: Economic Liberalization and One Child Policy (75
minutes)
[This class will be a student-led discussion. You will be divided into groups according to the
topics of your final projects. Each group will produce a fifteen-minute presentation on the
preliminary findings of your research papers.]
Week Fourteen
May 3rd Quiz Four (Nationalist and Communist China, 12% of total grade)
Concluding Lecture: New Great Leap or Trapped Transition?
Final Paper Due May 10th Noon