G385 Modern China  (online)
Diana Lin
Fall 2016

Office: Hawthorn Hall 207
(O)219 980 6981
Email: dchenlin@iun.edu
Office hours: MW 9:00-10am, 11:30-2:30pm, or by appointment

 Purpose of Course

This course is a survey of modern China, from around 1840 to 1949. While its very definition is a product of colonialism, modern China developed with a distinct blend of traditional and modern Western elements. The readings primarily deal with four important themes in modern Chinese history, gender, education, commerce, and politics. Additional lectures provide perspectives on the Chinese countryside and the origins of the contemporary regime in historical perspective. This course provides a good starting point for understanding many of the changes taking place in China today.

Goals of the course include:

  • Understanding significant elements that affected modern Chinese history, incluidng but not confined to: China's tradional approach to the outside world, traditional Chinese approaches to education and politics, China's interactions with Western countries in the 19th century, China's modernization programs, major events marking Western powers' activities in China in late 19th-early 20th centuries, China's political transformation from empire to republic, and republic to Communist state, introduction of new ideas/the May 4th movement and introduction of science and democracy, the modern Chinese political parties, civil war and the Sino-Japanese war, and the Communist takeover in 1949.
  • Developing skills to conceptualize China's path to modernization, including how modern Chinese history developed in a context of dynamic interactions between east and west, tradition and modern forces.
  • Develop an understanding of how modernization reforms and the political/social/cultural realities interacted and modern Chinese politics as the outcome of a combination of many forces.
  • Develop abilities to make inferences and syntheses based on conflicting values and facts.
  • Develop abilities to put ideas and facts that do not neatly fit into an existent framework in a suitable conceptual framework.

    • Learning Materials Available via Canvas:

    Readings

     All required readings are available from the Canvas online syllabus.

    Course Requirements

    I. Weekly writing assignments:  Answers to the questions are to be posted on Canvas assignments, with links in the Canvas syllabus.

    II. Three take-home papers, each 7 pages, typed, double spaced. The papers need citations.

    You will use the built-in paper topics in the syllabus, under the schedules for the 5th, 10th, and 16th weeks. You are required to use both in-class readings and one or two outside sources for each paper. The papers are to be submitted via Canvas Assignments. The due dates are as indicated on the syllabus.

    Method of grading: all grades are assigned in percentages, which will be tabulated at the end of the semester and converted to letter grades. The averages of your take-home papers and of your weekly writing assignments will be taken to represent the grades for your take-home paper and weekly writing assignment. The conversion is as follows: 93-100: A; 90-93: A-; 85-89.9: B+; 80-84.9: B; 75-79.9: B-; 70-74.9: C+; 65-69.9: C; 60-64.9: C-; 55-59.9: D+; 50-54.9: D; 45-49.9: D-; 44 and below: F.

    Grade distribution is as follows:

    Discussion Homework: 30 per cent
    Three take-home papers: 70 per cent 

    Useful links:

    MIT Visualizing Cultures
    John Thompson's Images of China 1873-4

    Chinese maps: Map of China; Imperialism in China

    Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
    Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities (e.g. mental health, learning, chronic health, physical hearing, vision neurological, etc.).  You must have established your eligibility for support services through the Student Support Services Disability Services office, located in Hawthorn Hall, Rm. 237.  You may call 219-980-6941 for information or e-mail nwsss@iun.edu.  Note that services are confidential, may take time to put into place and are not retroactive; captions and alternate media for print materials may take three or more weeks to get produced.  Please contact your campus office as soon as possible if accommodations are needed.

    Class schedule

    Week 1 (Aug.22-28)

    1. Introduction.  Notes

    Background reading: Rana Mitter, chaps.1-2. Video: Rana Mitter's Youtube introduction to Modern China.

    Readings: 1.The Three Great Qing Emperors  (scroll down the page). 2. Kangxi's Valedictory Edict. Notes . 

    Discussion essay #1: What rules/laws did Manchu emperors follow? Assess the cultural assimilation into the Han Chinese culture in emperor Kangxi's valedictory edict.
    Week 2 (Aug.29-Sept.4)

    1. China's relationship with the West in the 18th century. Online readings:  Emperor Qian Long's letter to King George III of England, Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System I. Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System II. Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System III. Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System IV. Notes.

    2. The Opium War. Online reading: The First Opium War. Images of Treaty Ports. Notes.

    Discussion essay #2: Pinpoint the causes of conflict between China and Britain: on the part of China, was it folly, ignorance, pride, that prevented them from trading with Britain? On the part of Britain, was it arrogance, just revenge, or something else that led to the war? Please include a discussion of the context where the conflict took place and take into consideration varying factors at work.
    Week 3 (Sept.5-11)

    1. Chinese society and educational system: Benjamin Elman, "Political, Social and Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service Examinations in Late Imperial China."  Notes.

    2. The introduction of Christianity to China after the First Opium War. Online reading: 1. Son of God, brother of Jesus, interpreting the theological claims of Hong Xiuquan. 2. Mitter, Chap.2. Notes.

    Discussion essay #3: In a country with no major religion, Confucian learning, disseminated through the imperial examinations, was the state ethic in China. Describe how Christianity and the Taiping Rebellion created shifts in thinking in Chinese society.
    Week 4 (Sept.12-18)

    1. The Qing Dynasty in reform. Discussion of "essential" and "peripheral" cultures--the beginning of cultural borrowing. Notes.

    2. The downfall of the Qing Dynasty. Mitter, 17-30. Notes.

    Discussion essay #4: How do you understand the approaches to reform by intellectual reformers (Yan Fu and Feng Guifen, and Liang Qichao and Sun Yatsen), and reform-minded government officials (Zhang Zhidong, Zen Guofan, Prince Gong). In the Chinese context, how would these two groups view their roles in shaping China's future? What were lacking in the reform measures that failed to prevent China from the 1911 revolution? 
    Week 5 (Sept.19-25) First take-home paper due by Sunday Sept.25 at 10:59pm central time. Paper topic: Based on class readings and one scholarly reading from the outside, discuss China's modernization from an empire to a republic. Do you think the Qing imperial government was capable of modernization without the 1911 republican revolution? Would the republic facilitate or hinder China's modernization process? Give examples to support every argument you make. The paper needs to be 7 pages, double spaced, with in-text citations (e.g. (Mitter, 23)). You are allowed to use footnotes or endnotes if you choose to. You need to provide the bibliography of the outside sources you use. The paper needs to be submitted in WORD or as a pdf file. Otherwise you will need to paste the paper in the textbox.
    Week 6 (Sept.26-Oct.2)

    1. The fledgling Chinese republic. Mitter, 30-39. Notes.

    2. China in disintegration. Edward McCord, "Cries That Shake the Earth: Military Atrocities and Popular Protests in Warlord China." Notes.

    Discussion essay #5: How do you explain the instability of the Chinese republic, including warlord dominance? Was it a step back from the Qing Empire?
    Week 7 (Oct.3-9)

    1. The New Culture Movement and changes in Chinese values. Required readings: Mitter, chap.2 and 118-125. Lu Hsun's literary works: Note and preface, True Story of Ah Q, and New Year's Sacrifice. Notes.

    2. Science as tool for national salvation. Zuoyue Wang, "Saving China Through Science." Notes.

    Question 6: How did Chinese scholars denounce traditional Confucian values? And how did science emerge as new social values? Was that a successful move for China to denounce tradition and replace it with modern Western values such as science?
    Week 8 (Oct.10-16)

    1. Modern educational reform. Barry Keenan, "Educational Reform and Politics in Early Republican China." Notes.

    2. Doing business in modern China. Mitter, 102-107. Wellington Chan, "Personal styles, cultural values and management: The sincere and wing on companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong 1900-41."

    Discussion essay #7: From modern schools to modern department stores, how successful did China change and what was modern in Chinese education and commerce? Give examples and give some generalizations. 
    Week 9 (Oct.17-23)

    1. Sports and Chinese modernity. Andrew Morris, "'To Make the Four Hundred Million Move,' The Late Qing Dynasty Origins of Modern Chinese Sport and Physical Culture."

    2. The limits to the freedom of the new woman. Mitter, 74-81. Louise Edwards, "Policing the Modern Woman in Republican China." Notes.

    Discussion essay #8: This week's readings discuss both new values/practices in sports and changes/continuities in the treatment of women. Use both sports and Chinese women as examples to illustrate changes and their limits in Chinese social values
    Week 10 (Oct.24-30) Second take-home examination due by Sunday Oct.30 at 10:59 pm central time. Topic: We have discussed changes in Chinese social values and practices since the 1911 republican revolution. Use examples from the readings and one outside scholarly source to discuss to what extent China became a modern society, including the successes, mistakes, and limitations in China's modernization.The paper needs to be 7 pages, double spaced, and submitted as a WORD, or pdf attachment. Otherwise, please paste it directly in the textbox.
    Week 11 (Oct.31-Nov.6)

    1. Modern political parties: the Nationalists and Communists. Mitter, chaps.2 & 3 (up to p.55) Notes.

    2. The Nationalist Party and Chinese capitalists. Parks Coble, "The Kuomintang Regime and the Shanghai Capitalists, 1927-29."

    3. The rise of Chinese Communism. Robert Scalapino, Mao Zedong 1919-1921. Notes

    Discussion essay #9: The modern Chinese republic was accompanied by the rise of modern Chinese political parties. Comment on the two major Chinese political parties including the party leaders Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong (Tse-tung). Compare the two parties' bases of support and sustainability
    Week 12 (Nov.7-13)

    1.The fate of democratic politics in modern China. Edmund Fung, Social Democracy in China's Modern Transformation. Notes.

    2.World War II in China. Mitter, 46-48. Notes.

    3. The Nationalist government and Japanese invasions. Notes.

    4. Communists in Yanan. Mitter, 48-55. Mao: Mao: The Tasks of the Chinese Communist Party in the Period of Resistance to Japan. Notes.

    Discussion essay #10: How did modern Chinese politics develop in the 1930s-40s? And how did the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) impact this development?
    Week 13 (Nov.14-20)

    1. Renewed civil war (1945-49) and Nationalist defeat. Notes.

    2. Mao's vision of the future. Mao, On the People's Democratic Dictatorship. Notes.

    2. Growing popular support for the Communists: Online reading: Chinese student movements 1945-49.

    Discussion question #11: Based on the readings, how do you explain Communist success in China: was there any authentic popular basis for the Communists? Was there anything democratic or progressive about the Communists? Was their success an accident or quite inevitable?
    Week 14
    (Nov.21-27)    		Thanksgiving week. No class.
    Week 15 (Nov.28-Dec.4)

    1. Chinese Communist Party policies toward the U.S. Online reading: Chinese Communist Policies toward the U.S. before 1945.

    3. The Chinese civil war from an American perspective. John K. Fairbank, "Can We Compete in China?" "Toward a Dynamic Far Eastern Policy," and "China's Prospects and U.S. Policy."

    Discussion essay #12: Could America or the Chinese Communists have acted in such a way to build a positive relationship? Why or why not?
    Week 16 (Dec.5-11) Third take-home examination due on Monday Dec.12 at 10:59 pm central time. Paper topic: Discuss the various factors contributing to the expansion and eventual victory of the Chinese Communists in the 1930s-40s. Did the Communists promote Chinese modernization? Did their popularity in any way suggest they were democratic? The paper needs to be 7 pages, typed and double spaced, submitted as a WORD or pdf attachment, or pasted directly into the textbox.
    Week 17 (Dec.12-18) Finals week. No new homework. Third take-home paper due on Monday Dec.12 at 10:59 pm central time.