Instructor: James W. Crowl
Office: 105-C Wynne
Office Telephone: 395-2217
Office Hours: MW 1:30- 2:30; TR 11:15-11;45; 3:15-4;00
E-mail:  jcrowl@longwood.edu
 
Course Description:
Chinese political, social, and cultural history from earliest times to the present, with an emphasis on the modern period. The course is divided into segments. The first is a fairly rapid survey of Chinese history to the early nineteenth century. The emphasis in this portion is on the dynasties and the culture of China. The second portion of the course covers modern China and deals less with the arts and philosophy and more with the break-up of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty, the domination of China by the Western powers, and the emergence of the communist state.

Required Text:
John King Fairbank, China: A New History, The Belknap Press of Harvard University, l992.
 
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, students will have gained an appropriate increase in:
l. knowledge of the significant political, social, economic, and cultural developments which mark Chinese history.
2. knowledge and understanding of the forces which shaped Chinese history and civilization.
3. knowledge of historical study and methodology.
4. critical and analytical thinking skills, and an increased ability to communicate the results of independent thought both orally and in writing.

This course will fulfill these general education criteria.  It will:
1.  Teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry and provide students with practice in applying inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving.
2.  Provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.
3.  Consider questions of ethical values.
4.  Explore past, current, and future implications of disciplinary knowledge.
5.  Encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.
6. Provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through
contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.
7. Require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also
require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.
8. Foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the
 interconnectedness of disciplines.
9. Foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the
 interconnectedness of disciplines.

This course will fill the requirements of General Education Goal 9 by fulfilling the following objectives.  Through this course, you will:
1. Understand the culture, society, and history of groups outside of Western European tradition.
2. Employ an appropriate vocabulary and rational argument to discuss issues involving race, nationality, gender, ethnicity, class, or sexual orientation.
3. Understand the concepts of ethnocentrism. At least one test question will ask students to apply their knowledge of gender and politics to a global context, comparing first-world, post-communist, and developing countries’ conceptions of gendered ethnocentrism.  We will focus on both non-western and western concepts of ethnocentrism, which vary widely throughout the world.
4. Differentiate between personal discomfort and intellectual disagreement in situations where cultures may conflict.
5. Distinguish between facts and cultural assumptions relating to issues of diversity.

 
Tentative Outline, Test Schedule, and Text Assignment:
Aug. 25 - Introduction to the Course
Aug. 27 - Shang and Zhou (Chou) Dynasties
Sept. 1 - Political traditions and philosophy
Sept. 3 - Quiz; Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty
Sept. 8 - Map Quiz; Han Dynasty
Sept. 10 - Buddhism; the Sui Dynasty
Sept. 17 - Tang (T'ang) Dynasty

Text Assignment for First Test: pp. 1 - 87.

Sept. 22 - FIRST TEST, Song (Sung) Dynasty

Sept. 24 - Song (Sung) Dynasty
Sept. 29 - Mongols
Oct. 1 - Ming Dynasty
Oct. 6 - Quiz; Qing (Ch'ing) or Manchu Dynasty

OCTOBER 6: TERM PAPERS DUE, SEVERE PENALTY FOR LATE PAPERS!

Oct. 8 - The Opium War and the Arrow War
Oct. 15 - Quiz; Taiping (T'ai-p'ing) Rebellion
Oct. 20 - Restoration; Empress Dowager
Oct. 22 - Restoration; 1898 Reforms
Oct. 27 - Japanese Aggression; Boxer Rebellion
Oct. 29 - Revolution of l911

Text Assignment for the Second Test, pp. 88-216

NOV. 3 - Second Test Sun Yat-sen; Warlords

Nov. 5 - Nationalist Decade; Japanese Aggression
Nov. 10 - Quiz; Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) and the Rise of Chinese Communism
Nov. 12 - The Civil War and Communist Victory
Nov. 17 - PRC: The First Decade
Nov. 19 - Socialist Transformation and "Great Leap Forward"
Nov. 24 - Cultural Revolution
Dec. 1 - Quiz; "Gang of Four"' Deng Xiaoping
Dec. 3 - Deng Xiaoping and China's New Direction China's Problems and Prospects

Text Assignment for Exam : pp. 216-367.
 
Final Grade:
The final grade in the course will be determined as follows: each of the two tests will count as twenty percent (20%), the final examination will count as twenty-five percent (25%), the research paper will count as ten percent (10%); and the combined quiz grade will count as twenty-five percent (25%). The final examination will not be comprehensive.

If you have questions concerning the course or your progress, please do not hesitate to confer with your instructor.
 
Research Paper:
Students are required to write a research paper of about five (5) pages on a topic concerning China since l949. Topics may deal with Chinese politics, diplomacy, art, music, theatre, literature, or economic and social issues. Students should confer with one of the instructors by Sept. 20 about the choice of a topic. Papers are due on October 17. There will be a severe penalty for late papers. At least five sources must be used for the paper. Encyclopedias are not acceptable sources. The paper must be typed on a word-processor or computer, and the printer must have a dark ribbon.

Pinyin System
Since l979 most Western journals and newspapers have begun to use the Pinyin system of romanizing Chinese adopted by the People's Republic. Its essential features are as follows, with corresponding letters used in the Wade-Giles system in parenthesis:

a (a) as in father                         p ('p) as in pan
b (b) as in boy                            q (ch') as in chin
c (ts) as in its                               r (j) as in run
d (t) as in dip                               s (s, ss,sz) as in sister
e (e) as in uh                                t ('t) as in tip
ei (ei) as way                               u (u) as in too
g (k) as in go                               u (u) as in the German u
i (i) as in eat                                 x (hs) as in she
j (ch) as in jeep                            y (y) as in yet
k ('k) as in king                            z (ts, tz) as in zero
o (o) as in saw                             zh (ch) as in ju