HIST1001B Tradition and Transformation in Chinese History

Semester 1 (2021-2022)

Lecture TimeThursday 4:30pm - 6:15pm

VenueLSK 301

LanguageEnglish

Lecturer LEE Hiu Hong Michael

Course Description

This course is designed to introduce Chinese history to undergraduates with or without prior knowledge in this field. Students are required to think critically the significant historical events and figures in traditional China and it transformed to modern China. By the end of the course, students will be able to comprehend Chinese history from ancient, medieval to modern China, and from tradition to transformation; think critically the different approaches to the study of Chinese history; and reflect and relate Chinese history to China and the world today.

Syllabus

Lecture		Date		Topic & Reading
1		9 Sep		Introduction: The Study of Chinese History No required reading for this week, but this item is recommended: J. Fairbank & M. Goldman, China: A New History (Enlarged Edition). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992, pp. 1-25.
2		16 Sep		Confucianism in Ancient China Chinese Civilization Centre, City University of Hong Kong, China: Five Thousand Years of History & Civilization. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, 2007, pp. 220-242.
3		23 Sep		The First Emperor and the “Great Unity” J. Fairbank & M. Goldman, China: A New History (Enlarged Edition). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992, pp. 26-71.
4		30 Sep		Han Dynasty and the Silk Road M. Lewis, The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007, pp. 128-154.
5		7 Oct		From Disunity to Reunification: Southern & Northern Dynasties M. Lewis, China Between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009, pp. 196-220, 248-258. (Eb)
6	21 Oct		The “Golden Era” of Tang China M. Lewis, China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009, pp. 30-57, 85-120. (Eb)
7	28 Oct		Chinese Culture and Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty D. Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009, pp. 29-48, 99-119.
8	11 Nov		Genghis Khan, Marco Polo and the Mongol Empire M. Rossabi, A History of China. Malden and Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2014, pp. 211-231.
9	18 Nov		Ming Dynasty: Beginning of Early Modern China E. Mote, Imperial China: 900-1800. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 598-621, 743-775.
10	25 Nov		Qing Dynasty: Encounters with the West W. Rowe, China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009, pp. 63-89,149-174.
11	2 Dec		China in the Twentieth Century J. Spence, The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990, pp. 275-333. M. Meisner, Mao’s China and After: A History of the People’s Republic (Third Edition). New York: The Free Press, 1999, pp. 31-51, 55-74.

Assessment & Assignments

Tutorials: 25 Marks

There are four tutorial sessions, which according to the department’s policy are compulsory. Students will be divided into groups to make one presentation based on the assigned readings. The mark distribution of this component comprises 17 marks for Presentation Performance, and 8 marks for Participation (including Comments and Discussion). Please note that 6 marks will be deducted for being absent from one tutorial session (i.e. 12 marks to be deducted for being absent from two tutorial sessions, and so on).

Tutorial 1: Historical significance of Qin and Han Empires

Lewis, The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007, pp. 30-50, 51-74, 128-154.

Tutorial 2: Was Tang Dynasty a “Golden Era” in Chinese History?

Lewis, China‘s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, pp. 30-57, 85-120, 145-178.

Tutorial 3: In what sense Ming China was a turning point for China?

Brook, The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010, pp. 79-105, 106-133, 213-237.

Tutorial 4: Major characteristics of Modern China under the Manchu Rule

Rowe, China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009, pp. 63-89,149-174, 231-252.

Tutorial Review Essay: 25 Marks

Write a review essay with 2,000-2,500 words based on the reading materials assigned for tutorial presentation. The submission deadline is 14 days from the assigned presentation.

Take-Home Exam: 50 Marks

Students will be allowed around three weeks to write an essay in English with around 4,000-4,500 words in response to one of a few questions to be announced during the second last lecture, when more details such as submission date and methods will be provided.

Honesty in Academic Work

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic contents.
For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.