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Fall 2002
This information effective
for Fall 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Fall 2002
TTh 12-1:45, Crown 208
Instructor: Gail Hershatter
9-4041 or 9-2863
gbhers@cats.ucsc.edu
TA: TBA
This course will examine
the history of late imperial China in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Whenever
possible, we will look at what Chinese people have said about themselves in
fiction, poetry, philosophical discourse, and memoir. Using visual images and
artifacts as well as written documents, we will explore Chinese society as it
was understood by inhabitants of the Chinese empire and by outsiders, and trace
its transformation over time. We will pay particular attention to the daily
life of ordinary people and to the forces that helped shape that life: intellectual
and religious beliefs, the imperial state, village and urban economic activity,
ethnic conflict, gender relations, family and kinship practices, and millenarianism
and rebellion. The final section of the course will focus on the crisis of social
and political arrangements in the late imperial state, the effects of foreign
imperialism and peasant rebellion in the nineteenth century, and the collapse
of China's dynastic system in 1911.
We will meet twice a week
for a combination of lectures and discussion. Weekly discussion sections are
also required. Course requirements include:
Mindful reading and wakeful
attendance. Complete the assigned readings before each class session, and
come prepared to share your opinions, observations, and questions. Class sessions
will be devoted to contextualizing as well as analyzing the required readings.
We will cover material in class that enhances but does not duplicate the course
reading; therefore attendance and selective (not compulsive) note-taking are
essential. Attendance at section meetings, which begin the week of October 2,
is also required.
The following books are
available for purchase at the Bay Tree Bookstore. We will be reading all these
books except Spence's Search and Cheng and Lestz’s companion volume in
their entirety. (These two books, however, are the basic texts for the course,
and for History 150C, to be taught winter quarter.) Although backup copies are
on reserve in the library, it is strongly recommended that you purchase all
the books. The Cheng and Lestz volume should be brought to class whenever
you have a reading assignment in it.
A required course reader
also is available online. Go to http://eres.ucsc.edu/ and follow the prompts.
The course password is qing (lower-case letters).
Writing. Each student
must complete all of the following assignments. In giving you all the due dates
in advance, I expect you to plan your time around the demands of your other
classes, jobs, sports, performances, student activities, and so on. We give
prompt feedback on written work, and for that reason I cannot accept assignments
that are turned in after the deadline. If you have an illness or an extreme
emergency that will force you to miss a deadline, please email me—in advance—a
written explanation and a firm deadline by which you will be able to complete
the assignment. If you cannot complete an assignment before I return papers
with feedback, I will not be able to accept your work at all.
1) responses to the reading
assignments, sometimes in the form of a one-paragraph email to the instructor
and TA, sometimes as a brief in-class quiz, and once as an evaluation of the
Qing Game. Due as noted on syllabus. (15% of grade)
2) three analyses (1-2 pp.
each) of a document from the course readings. Guidelines to be distributed.
(5% each, total of 15% of grade). Due October 3, 17, 31.
3) in-class midterm examination
(15% of grade). Question will be distributed in advance; one page of outline
and notes permitted. October 24.
4) one 6-8 page essay (1250-1500
words) on course readings, with topic assigned in advance (15% of grade). Due
November 19.
5) final examination (20%
of grade). TBA.
Talking. Most class
sessions will be divided between lecture and discussion, while sections will
be devoted entirely to student debate and discussion. Prepare to question, opine,
and defend! Our most extended in-class exercise will be the Qing Game, a historical
simulation exercise focusing on the political and social life of the Chinese
upper classes in the 18th century. You will volunteer for or be assigned a role
in the game, which will occupy parts of four class sessions from October 9-18.
Participation in the game is mandatory. Class discussions and exercises, as
well as section meetings, account for 20% of the final grade.
1. September 19: Introduction
2. September 24: Manchu
conquest and resistance
Spence, 3-48
Cheng and Lestz, 1-20
3. September 26: Films:
"All Under Heaven" and "First Moon"
Spence, 49-73
Cheng and Lestz, 21-44
Kuhn, 1-48
**Brief e-mail to instructor and TA due.
4. October 1: Imperial Authority
and Local Governance
Spence, 74-95
Cheng and Lestz, 45-70
Kuhn, 49-93
NOTE: section meetings begin this week.
5. October 3: Local Elites
and the Ladder of Success
Spence, 96-116
Cheng and Lestz, 71-91
Kuhn, 94-148
**Text analysis #1 due.
6. October 8: Gender, Household,
and Economy/Qing game
Kuhn, 149-232
Qing game, 18-47 (ereserves)
7. October 10: Sex, Law,
and Society/Qing game
Mann, 1-75
**In-class quiz.
8. October 15: Market Town
and City/Qing Game
Mann, 76-121
9. October 17: Qing Game
Mann, 121-177
**Text analysis #2 due.
10. October 22: Cherishing
Men from Afar
Spence, 117-137
Cheng and Lestz, 92-109
Mann, 178-226
**Due in class: Qing Game activity log and evaluation sheet.
11. October 24: Population,
Economy, and the Great Divergence
Midterm
12. October 29: Opium and
Opium Wars
Spence, 141-166
Cheng and Lestz, 110-127
13. October 31: Unequal
Treaties and Imperialism
Cohen, xi-xvi, 3-68
Text analysis #3 due.
14. November 5: Rebellion
and its enemies in the late empire
Spence, 167-191
Cheng and Lestz, 128-149
Cohen, 69-95
15. November 7: Film: Through
the Consul’s Eye
Cohen, 96-172
**Brief email to instructor and TA due.
16. November 12: Self-Strengthening,
Wealth, and Power
Spence, 192-214
Cheng and Lestz, 150-167
Cohen, 173-208
17. November 14: The Chinese
Melon, Reformers, and the 100 Days
Spence, 215-242
Cheng and Lestz, 168-189
Cohen, 211-260
**In-class quiz.
18. November 19: Boxers
Cohen, 261-297
**6-8 pp. essay due.
19. November 21: Last Reforms
and Revolutionaries
Spence, 243-263
Cheng and Lestz, 190-213
20. November 26: Was there
a 1911 Revolution?
Final Examination: Final examination study questions will be distributed in class on November 29. You are encouraged to prepare for the exam in groups. The instructor and TA will meet with groups by appointment. The exam will be TBA.
Oxnam, Robert B. The Ch’ing Game. Experimental Edition. Occasional Publication No. 18. New York: The University of the State of New York, 1972, pp. 18-47.