Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
10
(CR# 86351)
Readings Seminar: Late Imperial China
Fall 2009
Instructor:
Edward A. McCord
Class Period: Tuesdays, 6:10-8:00 pm
Classroom: Gelman 609
Office:
Office Hours:
Phone:
email:
202-994-5785
mccord@gwu.edu
This course is a graduate readings seminar on the history of late imperial China, with a particular
focus on the last century of the Qing dynasty leading up to the 1911 Revolution.
Learning Objectives
As a result of completing this course, students will:
Gain familiarity with major English-language scholarly works on the history of China in
the twentieth century
Understand the key historical issues and debates surrounding this period of Chinese
history as informed by these works
Recognize the extent to which issues and problems in China today are related to its
historical experience
Develop a greater and more general appreciation for the complexity and meaning of
history
Develop oral and written analytical skills through the practice of historical argumentation
Grading/Course Requirements
1. Participation (20% of grade), including:
a. Attendance at all class sessions. (See attendance policy below).
b. Preparation of all weekly reading assignments and informed participation in class
discussions.
c. Leading one or more class discussions. Those whose turn it is to lead a discussion
should prepare a list of discussion questions to be distributed at the beginning of the class
(or in advance, by email, if possible). Prior to initiating the discussion, discussion leaders
should provide an overview of the issues raised by the readings and their connection to
the discussion questions.
d. Completion of the class online evaluation at the end of the term.
2. Three analytical papers (20% each). Papers should engage a specific debatable issue raised
by class discussions or readings (in one or more classes), and include a critical analysis of
relevant course readings. Papers are due on October 6, November 3, and December 1. Late
papers will be penalized with a +/- reduction. Paper due-dates may be revised with advance
permission from the instructor. Only one extension will be granted for any one paper. Each
paper should be about 10 pages long (double-spaced with sensible fonts and margins). One
rewrite will permitted for the first two papers.
3. Final project (20%). The nature of the project will be determined by the individual students
degree program or academic objectives. (Examples of projects might be a critical
bibliographic review, a policy briefing on the historical background of some contemporary
issue, or mock-up of a museum exhibition on some historical issue).
Class Readings
Discussions will be based on the works listed as "Discussion Readings in the Course Schedule.
Specific sections to be read are noted at the end of each citation. It is, however, always advisable
to skim each work in its entirety to understand the authors overall organization and the structure
of his/her argument.
Note: Some books assigned for this class may be available for purchase; but they are not
available at the University bookstore.
Location of assigned readings (as noted in the Course Sehedule):
GLR (call number) = Gelman Library Reserves 1st floor
All assigned books have been placed on two-hour/overnight reserve. To the extent
permitted by copyright rules, selections from assigned books have also been made
available as pdf files (see ER).
Note: Edited books containing assigned separately authored chapters have NOT been
placed on reserve. These chapters have been made available as pdf files (see ER).
JSTOR = JSTOR database
Most assigned journal articles are available on this database through the Gelman Library.
Hard copies of most of these articles are also available in the Gelman Library periodical
section on the 3rd floor, or in the Librarys Global Resource Center on the 7th floor.
HD = History Department
In several cases where copyright restrictions prevent making pdf files of journal articles
or separately authored chapters in edited volumes, hard copies are available for check-out
in the hallway outside the history department office (third floor of Philips Hall). Checkout of these articles is based on an honor system--so please be responsible.
ER = Blackboard pdf file
Links to these files can be found in the Course Schedule for the session where the
materials are assigned.
Online (URL):
A full-text versions of a small number of books may be accessed online.
Depending on your background in Chinese history, you may want to review the period under
discussion in more detailed standard textbooks as the class proceeds. Several good texts for this
purpose would be:
Immanuel C.Y Hsu, The Rise of Modern China (Oxford University Press, any edition)
This is probably the most detailed and useful English language text for general reference.
Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (W.W. Norton).
Popular but less complete
John K. Fairbank, China: A New History (Harvard University Press).
Course Policies
Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all classes and to prepare all assigned readings in advance of
class. All students are allowed one unexcused absence. Students may also be excused from
class for religious observances, documented medical emergencies, or required participation
University events (eg. varsity sports). Any such excuse requires prior notification by the
student to the instructor (by voicemail or email). However, absence from more than one
class, whether excused or unexcused, must be made up by an additional paper discussing an
issue or issues raised by the readings for the missed class.
Course Adjustments:
The Instructor retains the right to revise readings or assignments over the course of the class.
Any such change will be announced in class and sent out as an email message to all students.
Academic Integrity:
The Instructor supports the GW Code of Academic Integrity. It states:: Academic
dishonesty is defined as cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one's own work,
taking credit for the work of others without crediting them and without appropriate
authorization, and the fabrication of information. For the remainder of the code, see:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html
Disability Support Services:
Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability
should contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center,
Suite 242, to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For
additional information please refer to: http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/
Course Schedule
1. Sept. 1
INTRODUCTION TO CLASS
2. Sept. 8
Discussion Readings:
Ch'u, T'ung-tsu
Watt, John
Discussion Readings:
Ch'u, T'ung-tsu
Chang, Chung-li
Chang, Chung-li
Ho Pingti
Brook, Timothy
McCord, Edward A.
4. Sept. 22
Discussion Readings:
Johnson, Kay Ann
Mann, Susan
Mann, Susan
Bernhardt, Kathryn
Ko, Dorothy
Sommer, Matthew H.
Sommer, Matthew H.
5. Sept. 29
Discussion Readings:
Overmyer, Daniel
Murray, Dian
Ownby, David
Harrell, Stevan
Naquin, Susan
6. Oct. 6
Fairbank, John K.
Mancall, Mark
Waley-Cohen, Joanna "China and Western Technology in the Late 18th Century," in the
American Historical Review (December 1993). [pp. 1525-1544]
JSTOR
Hevia, James L.
Cherishing Men From Afar: Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney
Embassy of 1793 (Duke, 1995). [Entire]
GLR: DS 740.5 .G5 H48 1995
ER: Ch. 1 [pp. 1-28]
Esherick, Joseph
Cherishing Sources from Afar, Modern China, 24:2. [pp. 135-161]
JSTOR
7. Oct. 13
Discussion Readings:
John K. Fairbank
Fairbank, John K.
Basu, Dilip K.
Tan Chung
Polachek, James M.
Wong, J.Y.
Fairbank, John K.
8. Oct. 20
Discussion Readings:
Michael, Franz
Jen, Yu-wen
Shih, Vincent C. Y.
Reilly, Thomas H.
Bernhardt, Kathryn
Kuhn, Philip
9. Oct. 27
Discussion Readings:
Wright, Mary C.
Polachek, James
Bernhardt, Kathryn
Michael, Franz
Liu, Kwang-ching
Liu, Kwang-ching
Rawlinson, John
Elman, Benjamin
10. Nov. 3
Esherick, Joseph
Feuerwerker, Albert
Hou, Chi-ming
Feuerwerker, Albert
Murphey, Rhoads
Cohen, Paul
11. Nov. 10
Discussion Readings:
Cohen, Paul A.
Esherick, Joseph
Cohen, Paul A.
Hevia, James L.
Cohen, Paul A.
12. Nov. 17
Discussion Readings:
10
Chang, Hao
Schrecker, John E.
Kwong, Luke S. K.
Wong, Young-tsu
Chang, Hao
Karl, Rebecca E.
13. Nov. 24
Chinese Intellectuals in Crisis: Search for Order and Meaning 18901911 (California, 1987). [pp. 1-37, 46-65]
GLR: DS 754.14 .C48 1987
ER: Ch. 1 [pp. 1-20]
"The Reform Movement of 1898 and the Ch'ing-i Reform as
Opposition," in Paul Cohen and John Schrecker, eds., Reform in
Nineteenth Century China (Harvard, 1976). [pp. 289-305]
GLR: DS 702 .R43
ER: entire [pp. 289-305]
A Mosaic of the Hundred Days: Personalities, Politics, and Ideas of
1898 (Council for East Asian Studies, Harvard, 1984). [pp. 1-13, 151237]
GLR: DS 768 .K96 1984
ER: Ch. 1 [pp. 1-13]
"Revisionism Reconsidered: Kang Youwei and the Reform Movement
of 1898," in Journal of Asian Studies (Aug. 1992). [pp. 513-544]
JSTOR
Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and Intellectual Transition in China (Harvard, 1971).
[pp. 1-6, 73-120, 149-271, 296-307]
GLR: DS 763 .L67 C48
ER: Prologue & Concl. [pp. 1-6, 296-307]
Slavery, Citizenship, and Gender in Late Qing Chinas Global
Context, in Rebecca Karl and Peter Zarrow, Rethinking the 1898
Reform Period: Political and Cultural Change in Late Qing China
(Harvard, 2002). [pp. 213-244]
ER: entire [pp. 213-244]
Discussion Readings:
Chung, Sue Fawn
Borthwick, Sally
Thompson, Roger
MacKinnon, Stephen
11
Reynolds, Douglas
14. Dec. 1
Rowe, William T.
Wakeman, Frederic
Rowe, William T.
Huang, Philip
Judge, Joan
12