Modernity and Nationhood in China
Autumn 2004 Prof. Thomas Wilson
MW 2:30-3:45 in KJ 222 Office hours: TF 2:30-3:30

Aims of the course: This course focuses on the problems of modernity and nationhood in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Chinese history. The readings and class discussions address problems inherent in understanding Chinese modernity within the framework of Western historical experiences and the historical expectations, values, and analytical terms this framework has produced. The course also critically examines the “Western impact” model – premised on the belief that the West was the source of modernity – in global and Chinese historical contexts in order to better understand modern China in its own terms.

Books for purchase
Prasenjit Duara, Rescuing History from the Nation
Jonathan Spence, God’s Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan
Jun Jing, The Temple of Memories: History, Power, and Morality in a Chinese Village

Other readings:
*Conrad Schirokauer’s A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations (Wadsworth, 1989) is also on regular (hardcopy) reserve in Burke Library: this book serves as the course “textbook,” which provides essential factual information on Chinese history. These short reading assignments are required; familiarity with this information is assumed in class discussion, and will be subject to periodic quizzes.

• Readings made available as photocopies or electronic reserve
Please come prepared to discuss all reading assignments on the dates for which they are assigned.

Introduction (8/30)
I. Late Imperial China (9/1-9/13)
A. Society & Economy: social status; economic organization and practices; bureaucratic regulation 9/1
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 328-53
B. State: emperor, religious functions; civil bureaucracy, Confucian gentry, civil examinations 9/6-8
• Richard Smith, China’s Cultural Heritage: The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912 (Boulder: Westview, 1994), 155-185
• Rev. Justus Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1865) 1:255-272, 353-375
C. Beyond the Western impact
Duara, “Introduction,” Rescuing History, 3-16 (class discussion 9/13)
• Kenneth Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton, 2000), 3-27

II. China & the West (9/15-10/13)
A. Modernity: Enlightenment, rationalism, secular humanism, positivism, linear history; industrial revolution 9/15
Duara, “Linear History and the Nation-state,” Rescuing History, 17-50 (class discussion 9/20)
Quiz on Schirokauer, A Brief History & Smith, China’s Cultural Heritage: 9/22
B. European expansion into Asia: Marco Polo, Jesuits, MaCartney Mission, Canton System, Opium Wars 9/22
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 311-26, 384-407
• Pomeranz, The Great Divergence, 31-68 (class discussion 9/27)
#1 paper due: Thursday 9/30
C. Missionaries 9/29-10/6
• Suzanne Barnett, “Justus Doolittle at Foochow,” in Christianity in China: Early Protestant Missionary Writings, ed. Suzanne W. Barnett & John K. Fairbank (Harvard, 1985), 107-19
James Hevia, “Leaving a Brand on China” (Modern China) 18 (1992) 3: 304-332 (JSTOR)
*Christianity in China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, ed. Daniel H. Bays (Stanford, 1996): contains articles to use for second paper due on 10/22

III. Nineteenth-century rebellions: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (10/11-10/16)
Secret societies and rebellions 10/11
Spence, God’s Chinese Son 10/13-10/18 (discussion of readings in preparation for 2nd paper)
• “Gospel, Jointly Witnessed and Heard by the Imperial Eldest and Second Eldest Brothers,” The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, ed. Franz Michael (University of Washington Press, 1966-1971) 2: 7-18
• “The Taiping Heavenly Chronicle,” The Taiping Rebellion 2: 51-79
Quiz on Schirokauer, A Brief History: 10/16

IV. Late imperial reform (10/20)
Self-Strengthening Movement, 100 Days Reform, Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong 10/20
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 450-68
• “Restoration through Reform,” The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection, eds. Pei-kai Cheng, Michael Lestz, Jonathan Spence (W. W. Norton & Company, 1999), 150-63
Duara, “Provincial Narratives of the Nation,” Rescuing History, 177-204

#2 paper due: Friday 10/22

V. Nationhood and Revolution (10/25-11/3)
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 469-83
A. Nationalism, Nationhood 10/25
• Sun Yatsen, “Three Principles of the People” (San min zhuyi) (Chungking: Ministry of Information, Republic of China, 1943)
Duara, “The Genealogy of Fengjian or Feudalism,” Rescuing History, 147-175
B. Republican Revolution, 1911-12 (11/1)
• “The Dog-Meat General,” Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, ed. Patricia Ebrey (Free Press, 1993), 373-377
• “Generalissimo Jiang on National Identity,”Chinese Civilization, A Sourcebook, 401-406
ƒ “China in Revolution, 1911-49” (55 min.), part 1 (11/3)

VI. Competing Modernities (11/8-11/29)
A. May 4th Movement: Hu Shi & Chen Duxiu 11/8-10
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 483-90
•“The Spirit of the May Fourth Movement,” Chinese Civilization, A Sourcebook, 360-363
•“The General Strike,” Chinese Civilization, A Sourcebook, 378-384
B. Republicanism: anti-religion campaigns 11/15
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 490-97, 525-50
Duara, “The Campaigns against Religion,” Rescuing History, 85-113
C. Post-Modernity 11/17
Duara, “Critics of Modernity,” Rescuing History, 205-227
• Leo Lee, “Modernity and its Discontents,” Perspectives on Modern China: Four Anniversaries, ed. Kenneth Lieberthal, et al. (M.E. Sharpe, 1991), 158-77
ƒ “China in Revolution, 1911-49” (55 min.), part 2 (11/29)

VII. Mao and Maoism (12/1-12/8)
* Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 553-559, 600-28
Quiz on Schirokauer, A Brief History: 12/1
A. Pre-‘49 Mao: formation of a Chinese Marxism 12/1
• Mao Zedong, “Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement In Hunan,”
(3/1927), 23-59
ƒ “The Mao Years, 1949-76” (117 mins.) 12/6
B. State Maoism 12/6-8
• Jing, Temple of Memories
• “Mao’s Appearance at the First Red Guard Rally…,” The People’s Republic of China
• Mao Zedong, “On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People” (2/27/57), 384-421
• Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, 1-22, 45-57

#3 paper due: 12/10

Course Requirements:
Quizzes based on textbook and other background readings

Writing assignments: All papers are due in my office or in my mailbox in KJ 136 by 3:00 P.M. on the date due. No extensions granted unless by prior arrangement more than 24 hours before assignments are due. Papers should be double-spaced with approx. 1” margins and reasonably sized font (10 or 12 point), and printed in dark, legible ink; preferably on a laser printer.

#1: critical essay on the problem of History and the nation based on Duara, Rescuing History from the Nation, pp. 3-50 and at least one other source listed under “I. Late Imperial China,” due on Sept. 30; 4-5 pages.

#2 critical essay on the problem of modernity and/or the “Western impact” using Spence, God’s Chinese Son and/or Pomeranz, The Great Divergence, and at least one primary source listed under sections II and/or III of the syllabus or in the books listed below, which are on reserve in Burke Library, due on Oct. 22; 5-7 pages.

#3: critical essay on China under Mao using Jun Jing, Temple of Memories and at least one primary source listed on the syllabus or in the books listed below, which are on reserve in Burke Library, due on Dec 10; 5-7 pages.

In addition to readings listed on the syllabus, you may also use the following sources, which contain translations of primary sources.
Patricia Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook
Michael Lestz and Pei-kai Cheng, The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Reader