HISTORY 3462
EAST ASIAN STUDIES 1462
EAST ASIA: THE IMPERIAL AGE
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
From: Ann B Waltner <waltn001@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Here is my syllabus and assignment list. The course is taught at the University of Minnesota, attracts between 100-150 students, and has two teaching assistants who meet once a week with students in small groups and do much of the grading.
Ann Waltner
Ann Waltner
522 Social Science Tower
Office Hours: M, W 1:30-3
Office Phone: 624-3810
e-mail: waltn001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
Course Overview
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to some of the major themes of the history of East Asia (China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea) in the period from approximately 800-1800. Central themes include: what is East Asia? What are the kinds of cultural interactions which take place in this regon during this period? We will pay attention to the daily lives of ordinary people, and will use a range of primary sources, including fiction and poetry.
Students will also be introduced to some of the basic techniques for doing historical research. In the second part of the course, each section will perform a research exercise and will present the results to the entire class. (Details about the assignments are appended at the end of this syllabus.) In the seventh week of the quarter, we will visit the East Asia collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Readings
The following books are available for purchase in the West Bank Bookstore. Copies are also on two hour reserve at Wilson Library: Conrad Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations second edition
Patricia Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook second edition Ivan Morris, The World of the Shining Prince Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion Nguyen Du (translated by Huynh Sanh Thong) The Tale of Kieu second edition
The following items are available on two hour reserve at the Wilson library :
John King Fairbank, Edwin Reischauer and Albert Craig, East Asia: Tradition and Transformation
NOTE: you are only required to read the two chapters on Korea. There will be a number of these on reserve--there should not be a problem with getting them unless you wait until the last minute.
Stephen B. Young and Nguyen Ngoc Huy, The Tradition of Human Rights in China and Vietnam, ch.6 Jahyun Kim Haboush, "The Confucianization of Korean Society" ch. 2 in Gilbert Rozman, ed. The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and its Modern Adaptation (one xeroxed copy of article on reserve under name of Haboush; book also on reserve) Cyril Birch, transl. "The Pearl-sewn Shirt" in his Stories from a Ming Collection (from a collection edited in the seventeenth century by Feng Menglong) (one xeroxed copy of story on reserve under name of Birch; book also on reserve) Ihara Saikau, "The Greengrocer's Daughter with a Bundle of Love," in Five Women Who Loved Love (translated by Wm. Theodore de Bary)
In addition, all of the readings for the research exercise (see attached) are on two hour reserve. (one xeroxed copy of story on reserve under name Saikaku; book also on reserve)
Assignments
October 16: A 3-5 page paper on either Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion or World of the Shining Prince October 20: Midterm (study sheet to be distributed well in advance of the exam)
November 10: Museum paper due
November 27: Research exercise due (see attached) December 7: Final Examination (study sheet to be distributed) Grading
25%:participation in discussion sections 15%:Daily Life/Shining Prince paper
10%:Museum paper
20%:Research exercise (collective presentation and paper) 15%:Midterm
15%:Final
Schedule of classes
Sept.22: Introduction: What is East Asia? Sept.25: Ennin's Travels: A Japanese Buddhist Monk Visits China Begin reading Morris, World of Shining Prince. Sept.27: Buddhism
Read:Schirokauer, pp.79-82; Ebrey, pp.132-136; continue reading Morris Sept.29 Confucianism
Read: Schirokauer, pp.29-32; Ebrey, pp.17-26; continue reading Morris. Oct.2: Rice Agriculture
Read: Ebrey, pp.181-191, 211-212; continue reading Morris.
Oct.4: The World of the Shining Prince: Heian Japan I Read: Finish Morris; Schirokauer, pp.142-182. Skim Schirokauer pp.131-1 42.
Oct.6: The World of the Shining Prince: Heian Japan II Begin reading Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion
Oct.9: The World of the Chinese Bureaucrat Read: Schirokauer, pp.185-213; Ebrey, pp.151-163; 172-177; 195-201. Continue reading Gernet
Oct.11:The City in Song China
Continue reading Gernet, Ebrey, pp.178-185. Oct.13: Vietnam Declares its Independence Read:Young and Hui, pp.298-329.
Oct.16: The Mongol Invasions
Read:Schirokauer, pp.214-233; Ebrey, pp.169-171, 192-194. Oct.18: The World of the Japanese Warrior Read: Schirokauer, pp.261-283
Oct.20: MIDTERM
Oct.23:Ch'oe Pu's Travels: A Korean in China Read: Fairbank chapters on Korea (on reserve) Oct.25:The Restoration of Chinese Rule: the Ming Dynasty Read: Schirokauer. pp.235-260; Ebrey, pp.205-207; 226-237; 256-266. Oct.27: The Ming and the World
Reports from Sections 5 and 6 on Chinese invasions of Vietnam Oct.30: Neo-Confucianism and the Transformation of Society in Korea Read: Haboush article in Rozman (on reserve); Ebrey, pp.238-244; 326-329.
Nov.1:The Reunification of Japan under the Tokugawa Reports from sections 1 and 2 "sakoku"
Read: Schirokauer, pp.285-310.
Nov.3:Tokugawa City Life
Read: Schirokauer, pp.355-383; "Greengrocer's daughter" (on reserve) Nov.6: Textile Production and Social Roles in China and Japan Nov.8: Urban Culture in Ming Dynasty China Read: Pearl Sewn Shirt; Ebrey, pp.208-210; 213-220; 224-224. Nov.10: Village Life in Seventeenth Century East Asia: Similaritiesand Differences
Read: Begin reading The Tale of Kieu
Nov.13 Rebellion in China: The Overthrow of the Ming Dynasty Read: Schirokuer, pp.328-353.
Read: The Tale of Kieu
Nov.15 Coxinga, Japanese Pirates and Ming Loyalism Read: Finish The Tale of Kieu; Ebrey, pp.271-308 Nov.17 Rebellion in Vietnam: The Tayson Read: Young and Huy, pp.329-369.
Nov.20 The Tale of Kieu
Nov.22 Women in East Asian Societies: The Limits of Confucianism Read:Ebrey, pp.72-76; 164-68; 245-55.
Nov.27 The Coming of the Europeans
Reports from sections 3 and 4 on Macartney mission. Read: Schirokauer, pp.311-326.
Nov.29 What do we mean by East Asia?
Dec.1 No class: meet in small groups to review for final if you wish
Final exam Thursday Dec. 7, 4-6 p.m.
History 3462
East Asian Studies 1462
fall, 1995
Book Review
Your first paper assigment will to write a three to five page review of either Marcel Granet's Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion or Ivan Morris' World of the Shining Prince. Before you begin th review, I would suggest that you go to the periodicals section of the library (in the basement) and look at the book reviews in the Journal of Asian Studies, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Journal of Japanese Studies. Read several book reviews to get a sense of what is expected in a review before you write your own.
A good book contains has both a summary (what is actually in the book) and an evaluation (what it is the author of the review thinks of the book). The following questions may help you to write your review: 1)What are the most important points that the author is trying to convey? How well does the author succeed in conveying these points? Were you persuaded by the arguments tat the author was trying to make?
2)How does the author use evidence? (For example: what kinds of evidence does the author use? what kinds of sources? does the use of evidence seem to you to be fair and reasonable? given the kind of evidence that the author had at his/her disposal, what sorts of arguments might you have made that the author does not make?
3)How has this book enhanced your understanding of Song China or Heian Japan? In what ways did it amplify or change the impression you had from lectures and the Shirokauer textbook?
The book reviews will be due at lecture on Oct.16. I encourage you to bring rough drafts of the reviews to me, to your teaching assistant, or to Jodi Campbell, the writing tutor.
History 3462
East Asian Studies 1462
fall, 1995
Museum Paper
In the seventh week of the quarter (precise times to be announced later) we will go (in several groups, which you will arrange with your t.a.) to the Minneapolis Museum of Arts (2400 Third Avenue South, 870-3046). You will be asked to write a two to four page paper on any object in the collection that was produced in East Asia during the time period covered by this course.
The purpose of this assignment is to get you to look very closely at an object, to really see the object and to think seriously about it. As you do his exercise, the following questions might be useful: 1)Describe the object.
2)Speculate about how it might have been made. 3)Describe how it might have been used. 4)As far as is possible, explain the symbolism used on the object. 5)For paintings or woodblock prints, observe the action very closely. What seems to be going on? Who is doing what to whom? What can you as an historian learn from looking at the object that you might otherwise not have known? What social groups are depicted in the painting/print?
It may be necessary for you to return to the museum to look at the object again after you have begun writing the paper. But I do not expect you to do additional research for this paper.
We will give you more precise guidance later in the quarter. As always, all of us are available to discuss the paper, to read rough drafts and so on. In addtion, the week before the paper is due, we will hold office hours at the museum so that you can ask us particular questions about the object you have chosen.
The paper is due at lecture on November 10.
History 3462
East Asian Studies 1462
fall, 1995
Research Exercise
In the second part of the quarter, each section will be responsible for undertaking a small research topic and for making a brief (ten minute) presentation to the class as a whole on the topic. You may use whatever method strikes you as most appropriate to convey the information you have collected. The whole section should contribute to the planning of the presentation, though you may designate one person as the spokesperson for the class to make the actual presentation. A substantial portion of your section grade will be determined by your participation in this research exercise. Your teaching assistant will give you further instructions as the quarter progresses.
If you need an overhead projector or other equipment to make the presentation, let your t.a. know well in advance. You may want to consult other textbooks (such as John King Fairbank, East Asia: Tradition and Transformation) as well as the Schirokauer text. There are a number of copies of the Fairbank on two hour reserve at Wilson library. In addition to the oral presentation to the class as a whole, each student will be required to write a paper on the question assigned to his or her section.
All the written papers will be due at class time on Nov. 27. The dates for the oral presentations are noted on the syllabus.
Those of you who are taking EAS 1462 should read at least two articles and write a three to five page paper. Those of you who are taking HIST 3462 should read at least four articles (or a book in addition to the article all members of the section will read) and write a seven to ten page paper.
Please note that the readings listed below are not exhaustive: they are merely intended to get you started. Everyone in the section should read the first article listed. You may want to distribute the rest of the assignments so that someone in the section has read each of the suggested readings. If during the course of doing the exercise, you find additional readings that you think are particularly useful, please bring them to the attention of the group.
All the works listed below are on reserve for History 3462.
Section 5: Describe the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in the early fifteenth century from the Chinese point of view. Reading: James K. Whitmore, "Chiao-chih and Neo-Confucianism: The Ming Attempt to Transform Vietnam," Ming Studies 3 (spring, 1977):51-91.
One copy of this should be on reserve in the library, and Ming Studies should be on the shelf.
Stephen O'Harrow, "Nguyen Tra's Binh Ngo Dai Cao of 1428: The Development of Vietnamese National Identity," Journal of Southeast Asian HIstory 10:1 (March, 1979):159-174.
James K. Whitmore, Vietnam, H QuFE Li and the Ming (1371-1421) (New Haven: Southeast Asian Studies, 1985) Lac Vit Series, no.2. The paperback version of this is $10.00. The quickest way to order it is directly from Southeast Asian Studies, Yale University, P.O. box 208206, New Haven, CT Include $1.75 for shipping and handling for the first volume, $.50 for each subsequent volume. Two copies of this should be on reserve in Wilson library.
W. Wolters, Two Essays on Dai-Vit in the Fourteenth Century (New Haven: Southeast Asian Studies, 1988) Lac Vit Series, no.9. Paperback version $15.00. Available from same address as above. Two copies of this should be on reserve in Wilson library. Wang Gungwu, "Early Ming Relations with Southeast Asia: A
Background Essay," in John King Fairbank, The Chinese World Order: Traditional China's Foreign Relations (Cambridge: Harvard University Prss, 1968), pp.34-62. One xeroxed copy of the article is on reserve, filed under Wang. The entire book is on reserve, filed under Fairbank.
Section 6: Describe the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in the early fifteenth century from the Vietnamese point of view. (same reading as above)
Section 1: Why did the Tokugawa decide on the policy of "sakoku" (closing the country) in the early seventeenth century? Discuss the policy from the Japanese point of view.
Reading: Ronald Toby, "Reopening the Question of Sakoku: Diplomcy in the Legitimation of the Tokugawa Bakufu," Journal of Japanese Studies (1977) 3:2, 323-63. A xeroxed copy on reserve; the journal on the shelf. Ronald Toby, State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0-8047-1951-9 Note: the paperback edition of this book costs $13.95--if you want to own it, order it from the bookstore now. At least two copies of the book should be on reserve, so it should be possible to do the assignment without owning the book. Kat Eiichi, "The Japanese-Dutch Trade in the Formative Period of the Seclusion Policy," Acta Asiatica 30 (1976): pp.34-83. A xeroxed copy on reserve; the journal on the shelf.
William S. Atwell, "Some Observations on the Seventeenth-century Crisis in China and Japan," Journal of Asian Studies 45:2, pp.223-244. A xeroxed copy on reserve; the journal on the shelf. There are several special issues of Acta Asiatica which are devoted to this and related issues: no.67 (1994) "Foreign Relations of Tokugawa Japan: Sakoku Revisited" no.30 (1976) and "Sakoku: Japan's Seclusion Policy, 1633-1853." No.67 is still in the unbound periodicals section of the library; the rest are with the bound periodicals. Ronald P. Toby, The "Indianness" of Iberia and Changing Japanese Iconographies of Other," in Stuart Schwartz, ed. Implicit Understandings:
Observing, Reporting, and Reflecting upon the Encounters Between
Europeans and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Era, pp.323-51. The article (under Toby) and the book (under Schwartz) both on reserve Section 2: Discuss the "sakoku" policy from the point of view of 1)non-Japanese East Asians and 2)Europeans. (same reading as above)
Section 3:Discuss Macartney's refusal to kowtow to the emperor of China from the Chinese point of view.
Reading: James Hevia, "A Multitude of Lords: Qing Court Ritual and the Macartney Embassy of 173," Late Imperial China 10:2 (Dec. 1989) 72-105. A xeroxed copy on reserve; the journal on the shelf. Ritual and Diplomacy: The Macartney Mission to China, 1792-1794 (London: British Association for Chinese Studies, 1993) One copy of this on reserve.
George Macartney, An Embassy to China, being the journal kept by Lord Macartney during his embassy to the Emperor Ch'ien-lung 1793-1794 (London: Longmans, 1962) One copy of this on reserve. Fu Lo-shu, A Documentary Chronicle of Sino-Western Relations, 1644-1820 Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1966. vols. 1 and 2. Three copies on reserve. (You will need to look at both volumes.)
Section 4: Discuss Macartney's refusal to kowtow to the emperor of China from the British point of view
(same reading as above)
As always, we are all available to answer questions, to read rough drafts, to consult with about how to give a presentation.