Readings

Please complete all readings before class.

S01: Introduction

Monday, Sep 15

Primary Sources

• Chiang Kai-shek: China’s Destiny, Chapter 1 (Chiang & Jaffe, 2013, pp. 29–43)

• Xi Jinping: Achieving Rejuvenation Is the Dream of the Chinese People, November 29, 2012

Secondary Sources

• None

S02: Origin Story

Wednesday, Sep 17

Primary Sources

• Life in the City: An Anyang Neighborhood

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 1: The Origins of Chinese Civilization: Neolithic Period to the Western Zhou Dynasty (to 771 BCE) (Ebrey, 2010, pp. 12–39)

S03: Mandate of Heaven

Friday, Sep 19

Note

This session will be held at the Bernstein object study center in the Hood Art Museum.

Primary Sources

• Casting a Shang Bronze

• Shijing: Classic of Poetry, King Wen (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, p. 38)

Secondary Sources

• Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How It Became Chinese (skim/skip p. 32-44) (Keightley, 1990, pp. 15–54)

S04: Confucian Teachings

Monday, Sep 22

Primary Sources

• Confucius: Selection from The Analects (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 44–63)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 2, “Philosophical Foundations: The Eastern Zhou Period” (read p. 40-47) (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 40–63)

S05: Hundred Schools

Wednesday, Sep 24

Primary Sources

• Confucian teachings (skip Confucius; read Mengzi and Xunzi) (Ebrey, 2009)

• Daoist teachings (Ebrey, 2009)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 2, “Philosophical Foundations: The Eastern Zhou Period” (read p. 47-52) (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 40–63)

S06: Wealth and Power

Friday, Sep 26

Primary Sources

• Mozi: “The Will of Heaven” and “Against Confucius” (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 72–76)

• Legalist teachings (Ebrey, 2009)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 2, “Philosophical Foundations: The Eastern Zhou Period” (read p. 52-63) (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 40–63)

S07: Great Unity

Monday, Sep 29

Primary Sources

• Yan Xuetong: Pre-Qin Philosophy and China’s Rise Today (Yan, 2013, pp. 199–222)

Secondary Sources

• Hero (2002) (Zhang, 2002)

S08: Qin Rule

Wednesday, Oct 1

Primary Sources

• Li Si:

• Memorial on the Abolition of the Enfeoffment System

• Memorial on the Burning of Books (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 208–212)

• Jia Yi: The Fault of Qin (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 228–231)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 7: Burning the Books and Killing the Scholars (Barbieri-Low, 2022)

S09: Salt and Iron

Friday, Oct 3

Primary Sources

• Salt and iron debate (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 360–362)

• Sima Qian: The Xiongnu from Records of the Grand Historian (Mair et al., 2005, pp. 169–173)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 3: The Creation of the Bureaucratic Empire: The Qin and Han Dynasties (read p. 64-75) (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 64–89)

Note

Movie 1 review due at noon on Sunday, Oct 5.

S10: Family Virtues

Monday, Oct 6

Primary Sources

• Excerpts from The Classic of Filial Piety (Ebrey, 2009)

• Women’s virtues and vices (Ebrey, 2009)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 3: The Creation of the Bureaucratic Empire: The Qin and Han Dynasties (read p. 75-89) (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 64–89)

S11: Steppe and Sown

Wednesday, Oct 8

Primary Sources

• Wang Mang: Edict on Land Reform (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 363–364)

• Sima Qian: Letter to Ren An (Mair et al., 2005, pp. 179–182)

Secondary Sources

• From the “Great Convergence” to the “First Great Divergence”: Roman and Qin-Han State Formation and Its Aftermath (Scheidel, 2009, pp. 11–23)

S12: Era of Divisions

Friday, Oct 10

Primary Sources

• Ballad of Mulan

• Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 4: Regional Regimes: Buddhism, Aristocracy, and Northern Rulers (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 90–113)

• The New “Mulan” ’s Uncomfortable Relationship with China’s Past and Present (Hu, 2020)

S13: Buddhism in China

Monday, Oct 13

Note

This session will be held at the Bernstein object study center in the Hood Art Museum.

Primary Sources

• Buddhist doctrines and practices (Ebrey, 2009)

• Huiyuan: Monks Do Not Bow Down Before a King (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 426–428)

• Buddhism and Indigenous Chinese Culture (Mair et al., 2005, pp. 270–275)

• Tour of Mogao Cave 285

Secondary Sources

• Introduction: China’s Encounter and Predicament with the Indic World (Sen, 2003, pp. 1–14)

Note

Optional review session during Tuesday X-hour on Oct 14.

S14: Cosmopolitan Empire

Wednesday, Oct 15

Primary Sources

• Watch Chang’an (Xie & Zou, 2023)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 5: A Cosmopolitan Empire: The Sui and Tang Dynasties (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 114–139)

Note

The mid-term exam will be available from noon, Friday, Oct 17 through noon, Sunday, Oct 26.

S15: Rise and Fall of Tang Aristocracy

Friday, Oct 17

Primary Sources

• Story of Yingying (Owen, 1996, pp. 540–549)

Secondary Sources

• None

Note

Movie 2 review due at noon on Sunday, Oct 19.

S16: Silk Roads

Monday, Oct 20

Primary Sources

• Historical Trade Routes of the Sogdians

Secondary Sources

• The Horseman’s Tale: Kutlug, 790-792 (Whitfield, 2015, pp. 57–72)

• Conclusion: “The History of the Overland Routes through Central Asia” (Hansen, 2012, pp. 235–243)

S17: Original Way

Wednesday, Oct 22

Primary Sources

• Han Yu: Essentials of the Moral Way (Yuandao) (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 569–573)

• Liu Zongyuan: Essay On Enfeoffment (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 559–563)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 6 “Tang China and the Making of the Sinographic Sphere” and Conclusion: “The Fall of the Tang in East Asian History” (Yang, 2023, pp. 48–65)

S18: Exams and Elites

Friday, Oct 24

Primary Sources

• Ouyang Xiu: Essay On Fundamentals (Benlun); On Legitimate Dynasties (De Bary & Lufrano, 1999, pp. 590–596)

• Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Emperor Shenzong (Ebrey, 2009)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 6: The Five Dynasties and Song (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 140–171)

S19: Song Splendor

Monday, Oct 27

Primary Sources

• Quanzhou, Fujian: Quanzhou, China’s ancient port now a UNESCO World Heritage Site

• “Up the River During Qingming” at National Palace Museum (Taipei)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 8: The most globalized place on earth (Hansen, 2020)

S20: Inner Asian Rule

Wednesday, Oct 29

Note

This session will be held at the Bernstein object study center in the Hood Art Museum.

Primary Sources

• Zhao Mengfu: Grooms and horses

• A Mongol Governor (Ebrey, 2009)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 7: Inner Asian Rule: The Liao, Xi Xia, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 172–199)

S21: Great States

Friday, Oct 31

Primary Sources

• The Travels of Ibn Batūta (selection): Chapter 23 (Ibn Batuta, 2012, pp. 207–221)

Secondary Sources

• Great States (Brook, 2016)

S22: From Rebel to Restoration

Monday, Nov 3

Primary Sources

• Proclamations of the Hongwu Emperor (Ebrey, 2009)

Secondary Sources

• A Tale of Two Melons, Chapter 1-3 (Schneewind, 2006, pp. 1–39)

• Chapter 8: The Limits of Autocracy: The Ming Dynasty (up to section “The Economy”) (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 200–210)

S23: Folklore Heroes

Wednesday, Nov 5

Primary Sources

• New Dragon Gate Inn (Lee et al., 1992)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 8: The Limits of Autocracy: The Ming Dynasty (from “The Economy” to “Popular culture and local society)” (Ebrey, 2022, pp. 211–222)

Note

Movie 3 review due at noon on Sunday, Nov 9.

S24: Family and Native Place

Friday, Nov 7

Note

This session will be held at the Bernstein object study center in the Hood Art Museum.

Primary Sources

• Dong Qichang: Sixth Preface

• Excerpts of “Concubines” (Ebrey, 2009)

• Virtual tour: Lu Family Compound

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 4: “A Confucian heartland of Women” (Guo, 2022, pp. 111–133)

S25: Maritime Ming

Monday, Nov 10

Primary Sources

• Zheng He’s Biography in Mingshi (Dreyer, 2007, pp. 187–191)

• Xi Jinping: “Work Together to Build the Silk Road Economic Belt and The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” (Xi, 2017)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 4: “Geography Lessons” (Brook, 2009)

Note

Optional review session during Thursday X-hour on Nov 13.

The final exam will be available from noon, Friday, Nov 14 through noon, Tuesday, Nov 25.

Note

No class on Wednesday, Nov 12

S26: Crisis and Change

Friday, Nov 14

Primary Sources

• Wang Fuzhi: “The justification of social and cultural divisions” and The Preservation of Chinese Political and Cultural Integrity (de Bary & Lufrano, 2001, pp. 32–35)

• Qing Rulers Promoting and Preserving Manchu Identity (1635–1850) (Atwill & Atwill, 2021, pp. 8–9)

• Wu Han: Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor (de Bary & Lufrano, 2001, pp. 471–474)

Secondary Sources

• Chapter 10: Collapse (Brook, 2010, pp. 238–259)

S27: Conclusion: Presence of the Past

Monday, Nov 17

Primary Sources

• The Way of the Humane Authority (Jiang, 2013, pp. 27–43)

Secondary Sources

• History: Chinese Culture from a Long-Term Perspective (Ge, 2018, pp. 95–122)

Bibliography

Atwill, D. G., & Atwill, Y. Y. (2021). Sources in Chinese history : Diverse perspectives from 1644 to the present (Second edition.). Routledge.

Barbieri-Low, A. J. (2022). The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China. University of Washington Press.

Brook, T. (2009). Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World (Reprint edition). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Brook, T. (2010). The troubled empire : China in the Yuan and Ming dynasties (T. Brook, Ed.). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Brook, T. (2016). Great States. The Journal of Asian Studies, 75(4), 957–972. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002191181600108X

Chiang, K., & Jaffe, P. J. (2013). China’s destiny and Chinese economic theory. Global Oriental.

De Bary, W. T., & Lufrano, R. J. (Eds.). (1999). Sources of Chinese tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600 (2nd ed.). Columbia University Press.

de Bary, Wm. T., & Lufrano, R. (Eds.). (2001). Sources of Chinese Tradition: From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press.

Dreyer, E. L. (2007). Zheng He: China and the oceans in the early Ming dynasty, 1405-1433. Pearson Longman.

Ebrey, P. B. (Ed.). (2009). Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook (2nd Revised and Expanded ed. edition). Free Press.

Ebrey, P. B. (2010). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press.

Ebrey, P. B. (2022). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (3rd Edition). Cambridge University Press.

Ge, Z. (2018). What is China?: Territory, ethnicity, culture, and history (M. Hill, Trans.). The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Guo, Q. (2022). Huizhou: Local Identity and Mercantile Lineage Culture in Ming China. Univ of California Press.

Hansen, V. (2012). The Silk Road: A new history. Oxford University Press.

Hansen, V. (2020). The year 1000: When explorers connected the world – and globalization began (First Scribner hardcover edition.). Scribner.

Hu, J. (2020). The New “Mulan” ’s Uncomfortable Relationship with China’s Past and Present. The New Yorker.

Ibn Batuta. (2012). The Travels of Ibn Batūta: With Notes, Illustrative of the History, Geography, Botany, Antiquities, etc. Occurring throughout the Work (S. Lee, Ed. & Trans.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139162180

Jiang, Q. (2013). A Confucian constitutional order : How China’s ancient past can shape its political future (D. Bell & R. Fan, Eds.; E. Ryden, Trans.). Princeton University Press.

Keightley, D. N. (1990). Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How It Became Chinese. In P. S. Ropp (Ed.), Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese Civilization. University of California Press.

Lee, R., Ching, S.-T., & Tsui, H. (1992). Dragon Inn.

Mair, V. H., Steinhardt, N. Shatzman., & Goldin, P. R. (2005). Hawai’i reader in traditional Chinese culture. University of Hawai’i Press.

Owen, S. (1996). An anthology of Chinese literature: Beginnings to 1911 (1st ed.). WWNorton.

Scheidel, W. (Ed.). (2009). Rome and China: Comparative perspectives on ancient world empires. Oxford University Press.

Schneewind, S. (2006). A Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming China (8/31/06 edition). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Sen, T. (2003). Buddhism, diplomacy, and trade : The realignment of Sino-Indian relations, 600-1400. Association for Asian Studies and University of Hawai?i Press.

Whitfield, S. (2015). Life along the Silk Road: Second Edition (Second edition). University of California Press.

Xi, J. (2017). The Governance of China: II (Vol. 2). Foreign Languages Press.

Xie, J., & Zou, J. (2023). Chang’an san wan li [Animation, {{History}}]. Alibaba Pictures Group, Beijing Weimeng Chuangke Network Technology, China Film Co., Ltd.

Yan, X. (2013). Ancient Chinese thought, modern Chinese power. Princeton University Press.

Yang, Y. (2023). Dissenting politicians join young activists to oppose TikTok bans. https://www.ft.com/content/211a8577-a0b2-442b-b149-867f16cb528b.

Zhang, Y. (2002). Hero.