HIST 355 Modern Chinese Warfare: A Global Perspective
Instructor: Guo Wu
01/17/2015-04/27/2017 Lecture Tuesday, Thursday 11:00AM - 12:15PM
Arter Hall, Room 213
Office Hours: TTH 9:00-11:00; MWF9:00-10:00 and by appointment
Description:
An historical examination of modern Chinese warfare from the 1890s to the 1980s. With the two SinoJapanese Wars (1894-1895 and 1937-1945), the Chinese Civil War (1947-1949), and China’s involvement
in the Korean and Vietnam Wars as case studies, the course considers Chinese military strategy from
multiple perspectives. Students investigate ancient Chinese military strategy and its modern application, the
modernization and politicization of the Chinese army in the 20th century, the relationship between the army
and the political parties, guerrilla warfare, logistics, and the impact of war on Chinese society and domestic
politics. Upon completing this course, students will be able to understand modern Chinese warfare and the
changing military culture in the context of global currents of 20 th century warfare, and to conduct
independent research on one aspect of the Chinese military and by utilizing primary and secondary
sources.
Required Readings:
Bruce Elleman, Modern Chinese Warfare 1795-1989
Gonchanov, Lewis, and Xue, Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War
Mark Ryan et al, Chinese Warfighting: The PLA Experience since 1949
HIST 355 Course packet available at the college bookstore
Recommended Reading for Research Purposes:
Toshi Yoshihara, Red Star Over the Pacific (Naval Institute Press, 2010)
Bernard Cole, The Great Wall at Sea, Second Edition: China's Navy in the Twenty-First Century (Naval
Institute Press, 2010)
Peter Howarth, China's Rising Sea Power: The PLA Navy's Submarine Challenge (Routledge, 2006)
Attendance and Class Participation:
The class will have a combination format of lecture and discussion. Attendance is part of participation. If
you are not present, you cannot benefit from lectures and discussions. To cover all emergencies, you can
miss up to three classes without affecting your grade. In order for the class to be successful, everyone
needs to be an active participant. Walking into a class late, without the required materials, or without having
read or written the day’s assignment is disruptive and will affect your participation grade. You are expected
to contact me before class to inform me of any issues that could influence your attendance, participation, or
preparedness.
Policy of Using Cell Phone and Laptop in Class:
Students should limit the use of cell phones and laptops in class. They can only be used occasionally if you
really need to check some background information. Any use of these electronics for personal purposes
such as checking email, chatting or online shopping is prohibited, and devoting the whole class to using
these devices for any purpose will be considered lack of active participation.
Guidelines for Class Participation
A 18-20 An A grade for class participation is awarded when students maintain high attendance,
regularly initiate discussion. This means coming to class thoroughly familiar with the assigned reading and
therefore, prepare to raise questions, to open discussion, to identify topics of interest in the reading, and to
provide thoughts on the issues under discussion in class and on Sakai forums.
B 16-17 A B grade class participation is awarded to students who attend the class regularly and
productively in class discussion, who are prepared, and who are willing to engage in the discussion.
C 14-16 A C grade for class participation is awarded to students who attend the class regularly but only
infrequently contribute to discussions. C students’ attendance without participation maybe indicative that
they are not well-prepared for class, or have not given thoughts to assigned materials.
D 12-14 A D grade for class participation is awarded to students who are present but mostly quiet in
class or students who have irregular attendance which leads to lack of participation.
F
An F grade results from extremely irregular attendance and non-participation in class discussion.
Writing Requirements:
There will not be a midterm or final exam for this class. All major assignments will be in the form of papers.
The first three papers will constitute 20% of the total grade each, and the final research paper will be 30%.
Attendance, participation, and performance in discussions will be 10%. Any late assignments will have five
points deducted from their grade for each day they are late under the 100 points rubric. Assignments that
are late for more than seven days will be rejected.
Grading Rubric for Historical Analysis Paper
1.Introduction
________/5
Sets out issues in an interesting way
Includes a clear thesis statement (main
argument)
2.Structure
________/10
Paragraphs are complete with topic sentence and
concluding sentence; Argument and points flow
logically; Smooth transition and effective
organization leads to effective claim
3.Evidence
________/20
4.Narrative
_______/20
Evidence is accurate, sufficient, and appropriate History is presented as a process. Historical
to claim; sources available are fully utilized; use narrative is accurate, coherent, chronological, and
examples whenever they are available.
contextualized.
5. Interpretative skills
________/20
6. Mechanics
_______/10
Identifies important problems or issues;
Use proper citation procedures when mentioning
goes beyond a surface reading, and achieve
statistical numbers, specific opinion or judgment of
close reading, in-depth analysis and
another author, and any claim that is not considered
interpretation
“general knowledge”
2. Conclusion
_______/5
Does not simply repeat topic sentences but
makes a strong summary statement about the
argument and main ideas
8. Persuasiveness
_______/10
This essay provides a compelling argument for why
the reader should think a certain way about the
historical source or problem, and why the author
would advance certain viewpoint
TOTAL:___________/100
Class Schedule
Week 1
Reading: Elleman, 1-56
Jan 17 Introduction and the pre-Modern Chinese Military
Jan 19 The Opium War and he Taiping Rebellion
Week 2
Reading: Elleman, 82-137
Jan 24 The Sino-French War;
Jan 26 The first Sino-Japanese War
Week 3
Reading: Elleman, 138-193
Jan 31 Northern Expedition
Feb 2 Rise of the Communist Red Army
Week 4
Reading: Elleman, 194-253; Wu, “Speaking Bitterness” in course packet
Feb 7 The Sino-Japanese War
Feb 9 Chinese Civil War
Week 5
Reading: Chinese Warfighting chapter 1-4
Feb 14 student presentation
Feb 16 student presentation /first paper due
Week 6
Reading: Chinese Warfighting chapter 5-8
Feb 21 student presentation
Feb 23 student presentation
Week 7
Reading: Chinese Warfighting chapter 9-12
Feb 28 Student Presentation
Mar 2 Student Discussion
Week 8
Reading: Uncertain Partners, 1-129
Mar 7 Student Discussion
Mar 9 Student Discussion /second paper due
Week 9
Reading: Uncertain Partners 130-225 and appendix
Mar 14 Student Discussion
Mar 16 Student Discussion
Week 10
Reading: Michael Sheng, “Mao and China’s Relations”, Chen Jian, “Mao’s China and the Cold War”
Gordon H. Chang and He Di, “The Absence of War in the U.S.-China Confrontation over Quemoy and
Matsu in 1954-1955: Contingency, Luck, Deterrence”;
Mar 21 Spring break
Mar 23 Spring break
Week 11
Reading: Elleman, 254-297
Mar 28 China’s nuclear strategy/Third paper due
Mar 30 PLA commanding system
Week 12
Reading: John Leweis and Xue Litai, “China’s Search for a Modern Air Force”; Michael McDevitt, “The
Strategic and Operational Context Driving PLA Navy Building”
Apr 4 PLA commanding system
Apr 6 PLAN/PLANAF
Week 13
Reading: Tai Ming Cheung, “Disarmament and Development in China: The Relationship between National
Defense and Economic Development”; Bates Gill, “Two Steps Forward, One Step Ahead”; Zhao,
“Rethinking the Chinese World Order”
Apr 11 Disarmament and military reform
Apr 13 Chinese Military and Chinese World Order /final research paper topic due
Week 14
Apr 18 Student Presentation
Apr 20 Student Presentation
Week 15
Apr 25 Student Presentation
Apr 27 Student Presentation
May 9 Final Research Paper due at noon, to be placed in the mailbox of the professor Wu in the
office of History Department