Texts for purchase:
Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276
(Stanford)
Susan Naquin and Evelyn Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century
(Yale)
Dorothy Ko, Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet (California)
• reading on electronic reserve:
Δ JSTOR articles can be accessed through the online Databases link on
Hamilton library webpage
I. introduction (Jan. 20): political, social, intellectual, cultural history;
material culture; synchronic and diachronic history
II. Imperial China: From the Qin to the Qing (Jan. 22-Feb. 3)
A. Qin to Tang: the early & middle periods 1/22-1/27
• Schirokauer, A Brief History, 50-64, 79-91, 101-16, 122-24
Topics: Qin conquest of China, dynastic tensions in the Han, non-Chinese border
peoples and their impact on China, political legitimacy, aristocratic society
B. Song to Qing: the late imperial period 1/29-2/3
• Schirokauer, A Brief History, 185-99, 215-25, 234-46, 258-60, 329-43
Gernet, Daily Life in China, 13-58
Δ Sudipta Sen, “The New Frontiers of Manchu China and the Historiography
of Asian Empires: A Review Essay,” Journal of Asian Studies Feb. 2002
(61.1): 165-178
Topics: emergence of the Confucian gentry; Conquest regimes
Feb. 5: Quiz on class lectures and Schirokauer, A Brief History (109 pp.)
III. Emperor, court, and Bureaucracy (Feb. 5-17)
A. Son of Heaven 2/5-2/10
Gernet, Daily Life in China, 59-76
Naquin and Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century, 3-32
• Romeyn Taylor, “Ming T’ai-tsu’s Story of a Dream,”
Monumenta Serica 32 (1976): 1-20
• Evelyn Rawski, The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial
Institutions (California, 1998) chaps. 6-7
• “Confucianism: The Imperial Cults” Encyclopedia of Religions
2nd Edition, Macmillan Reference, 2003
Topics: royal lineage & conquest regimes (non-Chinese nomads), emperor
as Son of Heaven, mandate of Heaven & political legitimacy
B. Metropolitan Bureaucracy 2/12
Naquin and Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century, 88-93
• Romeyn Taylor, “Official and Popular Religion and the Political
Organization of Chinese Society in the Ming,” in Kwang-ching Liu, ed.,
Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (California, 1990), 126-57
Topics: ministries (e.g., Ministry of Rites), civil service bureaucracy
C. Local Government & Society 2/17
• Jerry Dennerline, “Fiscal Reform and Local Control: The Gentry-bureaucratic
Alliance Survives the Conquest,” in Frederick Wakeman, ed., Conflict
and Control in Late Imperial China (California, 1975), 86-120
• Tsurumi Naohiro, “Rural Control in the Ming Dynasty,”
Linda Grove, State and Society in China (Tokyo, 1984), 245-277
Topics: gentry-bureaucratic alliance, district magistrate
Paper due Friday Feb. 27
IV. The Literati (Feb. 19-Mar. 11)
A. The Civil Service & Examinations 2/19
Naquin and Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century, 55-79
Δ Benjamin Elman, “Political, Social, and Cultural Reproduction
via Civil Examinations” Journal of Asian Studies 41 (Feb. 1991) 1: 7-28
• Miyazaki Ichisada, China’s Examination Hell (Wheatherhill, 1976),
13-32, 66-101
• “Four Examination Essays of the Ming Dynasty,” Renditions,
167-181
Topics: gentry society, examination culture
B. Orthodoxy and the Cult of Confucius 2/24
Gernet, Daily Life in China, 197-207
Δ Thomas Wilson, “The Ritual Formation of Confucian Orthodoxy and
the Descendants of the Sage,” The Journal of Asian Studies 55.3 (Aug.
1996): 559-584
Topics: Confucian orthodoxy, state orthodoxy, cult of Confucius, temple sacrifices
to Confucius’ spirit
C. Song-Ming Confucianism 2/26-3/9
Song
• John Berthrong, Transformations of the Confucian Way (Westview, 1998),
86-143
• Julia Ching, “The Goose Lake Monastery Debate,” Journal
of Chinese Philosophy 1 (1974) 2: 161-178
• Chu Hsi/Zhu Xi (1130-1200), Learning to Be a Sage, Danial Gardner,
trans. (California, 1990), 96-142
Ming
• “Confucianism: Ming,” The Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy
(Routledge, 2003), 107-115
• Wang Yang-ming, “The Doctrine of the Four Axioms,” Instructions
for Practical Living (Columbia, 1963), 241-246
• Tu Wei-ming, “An Inquiry into Wang Yang-ming’s Four Sentence
Teaching,” The Eastern Buddhist 7 (1974) 2: 32-48
Topics: social theory, Five Cardinal Relationships; Dao School: revival of
Confucianism; transmission of the Dao; Zhu Xi: Principle-material forces;
moral self-cultivation & investigation of things/extension of knowledge;
Lu Xiangshan/Lu Hsiang-shan, mind’s innate capacity for self-perfection;
Chen Xianzhan, Wang Yang-ming: extension of innate knowledge of the good,
unity of knowledge & action
D. Critique of Neo-Confucianism & Emergence of Evidential Research 3/11
• Tai Chen/Dai Zhen (1724-77), “The Meaning of Principle,”
Tai Chen on Mencius, Ann-ping Chin and Mansfield Freeman , trans. (Yale, 1990),
69-102
• Benjamin Elman, “Philosophy (I-li) Versus Philology (K’ao-cheng):
The Jen-hsin Tao-hsin Debate,” T’oung Pao 69 (1983) 4-5: 175-189
Topics: critique of the Dao School, Evidential Research School, the invention
of Song Learning and Han Learning
Spring Break
V. Regional China (Mar. 30-April 6)
Naquin and Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century, 97-216
Gernet, Daily Life in China, 76-108
Paper due April 9
VI. Family & rituals of the life cycle (April 13-20)
Gernet, Daily Life in China, 113-140
Naquin and Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century, 33-54, 79-88
A. Family Rituals 4/13
• “Weddings,” Chu Hsi’s Family Rituals, Patricia Ebrey,
trans. (Princeton, 1991), 48-64
B. Death and beyond: Ancestor Worship 4/15-20
• Evelyn Rawski, “Portraiture and Ancestor Worship,” Worshiping
the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits (Sackler/Stanford, 2001), 35-49
Topics: family: patrilineal descent lineage, conjugal, primogeniture, patterns
of adoption; ancestor worship: spirit (hun) and ghost (po), hungry ghost,
stove god, New Year festival
Topics: pantheon of deities and spirits: Jade Emperor, popular religion temple
cults
VII. Gender & sexuality (April 22-May 6)
A. Gender 4/22-4/29
• Ko, Every Step a Lotus
• Susan Mann, “Gender,” Precious Records: Women in China’s
Long 18th Century (Stanford, 1997), 19-44, 236-44
Topics: women’s status: wife vs. concubine; footbinding
B. Sexuality 5/4-6
• R. H. van Gulik, Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey
of Chinese Sex and Society (Brill, 2003), xiii-xxx; 212-336
• Charlotte Furth, “Rethinking Van Gulik: Sexuality and Reproduction,”
Christina Gilmartin, ed., Engendering China (Harvard, 1994), 125-146
Topics: sexual compatibility
Final Paper due May 7
Course Requirements
Writing assignments: #1: paper based on issues and materials discussed in
section iii of syllabus; topic and thesis to be determined by each student
(please consult with professor on topic) due on Friday, Feb. 27; 4-5 pp. (double-spaced,
approx. 1” margins; use 10 or 12 point font size on a laser printer).
#2 paper based on issues and materials discussed in section iv of the syllabus;
topic and thesis to be determined by each student, due on April 9; about 5-6
pages.
#3: paper based on issues and materials discussed in sections v-vii of the
syllabus; topic and thesis to be determined by each student, due on May 7
Final course grade determined on the basis of the following:
#1 essay 25%
#2 essay 25%
#3 essay 25%
class participation 25%
The use of any other sources not listed on the syllabus must be approved in
advance. Web sources in the dot.com domain are to be used with extreme caution,
if at all. Your analysis of the texts in these essays must be thoughtful and
your prose cogent. The essays are due in my mailbox in the history office
(do not send via campus mail) by noon on the assigned date. No extentions
granted for request made within 24 hours of deadline.
Revisions: Any paper that receives a grade lower than C must be revised; the
final grade for the assignment is determined by the average of the original
and revised grades. Revisions need to move significantly beyond the original
argument, either in conception or use of evidence. Revisions that only correct
mistakes noted in professor’s comments on the original version will
not receive a grade change.
Grading criteria: A “good” (i.e., B) essay is clearly written
and logically sound. An “excellent” (i.e., A) essay presents a
compelling argument for a thoughtful and imaginative interpretation of the
sources based on a thorough reading and re-reading of the sources and careful
reflection upon the problems raised. A compelling argument meets three criteria:
(1) a clear formulation of a problem, (2) analysis of the texts under scrutiny,
and (3) a scrupulous use and citation of supporting evidence from the texts
(i.e. “documentation,” see below). A thoughtful interpretation
requires digging beneath the surface meaning of the texts to a subtler understanding
of their connections to broader contexts. A “prose” grade of C–
(i.e., less than “satisfactory”) is assigned to grammatically
correct but informal and stylistically weak writing; and D+ or below for repeated
infractions of basic rules of writing, depending upon frequency and egregiousness
of such errors.
Nota bene: Present an argument based on your own interpretation of the sources.
Document your claims. Develop your ideas fully. Your most important points
should be clearly stated, explicated, and documented. When you quote a passage
from the sources, provide enough information so that your reader does not
need to consult the source for further clarification.
A thorough understanding of a text requires reading, reflection, and re-reading.
A well written paper requires editing, self-critique, and re-writing.
Don’t simply summarize the content of your sources. Don’t assume
that any major point you want to make is self-evident. In using evidence to
support your argument, don’t assume that the facts speak for themselves.
Documentation: You must cite all sources of information used, even if you
don’t quote a source directly. Cite relevant pages when you refer to
specific passage in the text. Cite exact page numbers of any source from which
you quote directly, although it is rarely necessary to cite the same source
more than once in the same paragraph. Use proper citation forms (i.e., footnotes,
end notes, in-text parenthetical notes) as described in the Hamilton College
Style Sheet. Be consistent in the citation format used.
If you do not cite the sources from which you derive information, or on which
you base your description of an event, or interpretation of an idea, etc.,
the implication is that the idea is your own, or that it is based on your
own primary research. Failure to cite such sources is plagiarism.