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History 569, Ancient Chinese Civilization
Spring 2016
T TH 9:35-10:50 HSS 310
Instructor: Professor Pi-ching Hsu
Office: Science 265A
Phone: (415) 338-7536
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: T 11-12 & TH 2-4
China is the oldest continuous civilization on earth. Despite dynastic changes,
interactions between the Han ethnicity and ethnic minorities, and occasional alien rules,
China preserved some of its immutable social-cultural values, while undergoing dynamic
evolutions in response to domestic and international situations. The purpose of the course
is to trace the evolution of Chinese civilization from the Neolithic through the medieval
periods, up to the end of the Tang dynasty, around 900. We will study the lives and
thoughts of ancient Chinese philosophers, the founding of the early Chinese empires, the
flowering of Buddhism in China, the domestic and international politics at the formative
stage of imperial China, and the establishment of Chinese social and cultural tradition.
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This course fulfills History Major and Minor, as well as Pacific Asian Studies Minor
requirements.
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If you need writing assistance, please contact Learning Assistance Center (day)
([email protected]) or Campus Academic Resource Program (evening) ([email protected]).
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Students with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations are encouraged to
contact the instructor. The Disability Programs and Resource Center (DPRC) is
available to facilitate the reasonable accommodations process. The DPRC is located
in the Student Service Building and can be reached by telephone (voice/TTY 415338-2472) or by email ([email protected]).
* SF State fosters a campus free of sexual violence including sexual harassment,
domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and/or any form of sex or gender
discrimination. If you disclose a personal experience as an SF State student, the course
instructor is required to notify the Dean of Students. To disclose any such violence
confidentially, contact: The SAFE Place - (415) 338-2208; Counseling and
Psychological Services Center - (415) 338-2208;
For m ore inform a
and available resources go to the SF State Title IX website.
Mode of Instruction: lecture, films, classroom discussion of assigned readings
Texts:
Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 2nd edition
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
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JeeLoo Liu, An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy: From Ancient Philosophy to Chinese
Buddhism
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006
iLearn Materials:
(1) Stephen W. Durrant, Introduction to The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the
Writings of Sima Qian (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995).
(2) Thomas R. Martin, “Castration as the Price of Writing History: Sima Qian’s
Autobiographical Letter to Ren An” & “Imperial Assassin: The Biography of Jing
Ke,” in Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China—
A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010).
(3) Charles Benn, China’s Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2002), Ch. 2 & 9.
Requirements and Grading:
Class Participation (10%): Attend classes regularly, do all required reading before
class, take good notes, and be prepared for in-class activities. Always bring your book
or iLearn materials (except Cambridge Illustrated History of China, which is too heavy
to carry). Observe classroom protocol. Coming late or leaving early interrupts the class
and should be avoided. Your performance will be noted throughout the semester.
Essay Assignments (45%): There are TWO essay assignments, each of 5 pages (7-8
pages for graduate students), typed, double-spaced, using 12-point Times or Times
New Roman font, with appropriate documentation by using footnotes to indicate the
author, title of book/article, and page number of your source material every time you
quote, paraphrase, or refer to a source material. Put page number on the upper righthand corner and staple on the upper left-hand corner. Observe the school regulation
concerning plagiarism. No extension will be granted without compelling reason.
Definition and Types of Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is a form of cheating or fraud; it occurs when a student misrepresents the work of another as his
or her own. Plagiarism may consist of using the ideas, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole text of another
without appropriate acknowledgment, but it also includes employing or allowing another person to write or
substantially alter work that a student then submits as his or her own. Heywood Ehrlich of Rutgers
University defines the following types of plagiarism:
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Fraud: outright purchase or copying of an entire paper, perhaps with a new
introduction or conclusion added. In some cases, such copying may entail
copyright infringement.
Substantial plagiarism: widespread or considerable borrowing of material,
passing off borrowed passages as original, failure to indicate quoted evidence or
give bibliographical sources or other appropriate credit.
Incidental plagiarism: small-scale borrowing, copying, downloading, or
insertion without appropriate quotation, credit, or acknowledgment.
To this, we would add:
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Too much help: misusing the assistance of a tutor or other more skilled reader.
Employing or allowing someone else to alter substantially or write an assignment.
Inadvertent plagiarism: plagiarizing out of ignorance. The student may not
realize what he or she is doing is wrong, or may not know how to cite sources
correctly.
Each essay should have a short title, which is aimed at capturing both the audience’s
attention and the essence of your subject matter. For each essay, you should consult at
least two scholarly books or journal articles (use our library collections online or in
hard copies) in addition to the required readings. Please feel free to consult with the
instructor.
First Essay Assignment:
Address one of the following issues, using both primary and secondary sources:
1) The Eastern Zhou was a period of political, economic, and social breakdown.
Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism all proposed measures to cope with
the crisis either on a personal level or for the sake of state building. Analyze any one
school of thought in the historical context of Eastern Zhou, or in comparison with
another Axial Age philosophy.
2) Ancient philosophies may have modern applications. Discuss how Confucianism,
Taoism, Mohism, or Legalism may contribute to contemporary world, China and
beyond.
Second Essay Assignment:
Tang was the most cosmopolitan period in ancient Chinese history, when China absorbed
numerous outside cultures and the Chinese culture cast profound influence on the rest of
East Asia. Write an essay on a select topic of Tang history. As part of your research, you
may visit the Asian Art Museum to observe a few artifacts that would help you visualize
Tang life. Possible topics include Buddhism, Taoism, gender, politics, society, economy,
laws, international relations, art, literature, etc.
Exams (45%): There are TWO close-book, close-note in-class exams, including
multiple choice (testing objective historical knowledge as well as historical judgment),
map, and short essay questions. Study guides will be posted on iLearn a week prior to the
exams. No make-up exams will be given without documented reason.
Performance Characteristics to Guide Grading of Essays:
(Modified from the criteria of CSET: Social Science Exam)
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PURPOSE: The extent to which the essay responds to the question/assignment.
SUPPORT: Fair use of evidence/source materials to support arguments.
DEPTH AND BREADTH OF UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE:
Demonstration of command of subject content through narration and analysis.
FORM AND EXPRESSION: The quality of writing, including vocabulary, clarity,
cohesiveness, grammar, flow, structure, and documentation.
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Grading is A-F, unless you choose CR/NC option online by March 20 (min. C- for CR).
93 & up A
80-82 B67-69 D+
90-92
77-79
63-66
AC+
D
87-89
73-76
60-62
B+
C
D-
83-86 B
70-72 Cbelow 60 F
All requirements have to be fulfilled to get a passable grade. “I” (Incomplete) will be
granted only upon written request, with good reason, and when the student has completed
and passed at least 75% of the course requirements. “WU” (Unauthorized Withdrawal)
will be assigned if the student fails to fulfill all requirements by the due day of final essay
without filing a petition for Incomplete. “W” (Withdrawal) will not be granted during the
last three weeks of instruction without documented reason.
Schedule of Classes:
1/28: Introduction to the Course
China in Antiquity: Neolithic, Xia, Shang, and Zhou
2/2: READ: China, 1-22
2/4: READ: China, 22-37
2/9: READ: China, 38-59; An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 1-25
The Age of Philosophers: Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism
2/11: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 26-46
2/16: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 47-64
2/18: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 65-107
2/23: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 108-130
2/25: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 131-181
3/1: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 182-205
3/3: DEBATE ON EASTERN ZHOU PHILOSOPHIES (Mandatory Participation)
Be prepared to “sell” Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism
The First Confucian-Legalist Empires: Qin and Han
3/8: READ: China, 60-63
3/10: READ: China, 63-75
3/15: READ: China, 75-85
3/17: FIRST EXAM
3/21-3/26: Spring Recess. No Classes.
Art in Ancient China
3/29: Film: The Art of China, Part I
FIRST ESSAY DUE IN CLASS
3/31: Cesar Chavez Day. No Class.
The Grand Historian Sima Qian
4/5: READ: Selections of Cloudy Mirror & Herodotus and Sima Qian (iLearn)
Decline of Confucianism and Period of Disunity: Six Dynasties
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4/7: READ: China, 86-95
4/12: READ: China, 95-107
From Aristocracy to Bureaucracy: Sui and Tang
4/14: READ: China, 108-113
4/19: READ: China, 114-124
4/21: READ: China, 124-135
4/26: READ: China’s Golden Age, Ch. 2 (iLearn)
4/28: READ: China’s Golden Age, Ch. 9 (iLearn)
The Flowering of Buddhism in China
5/3: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 209-219
FILM: Buddhism in China (#84556, 30 min.)
5/5: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 220-247
5/10: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 248-303
5/12: READ: An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, 304-331
5/17: SECOND EXAM
5/19: SECOND ESSAY DUE IN MY OFFICE, SCI 265A, 1:00-3:30 pm.
(You may turn in paper early in my mailbox at SCI 276, History Department)
6/2:
Semester grade due (available on SF State Gateway June 6).