Division of Humanities
Tentative Course Syllabus
Course Code:
Course Title:
Course Offered in:
Course Instructor:
HUMA 3430
Reading Modern Chinese History Historically [C]
Spring 2017
Professor Virgil Ho
Course Description:
This course introduces students to a series of socio-political
historical events in late-Qing and the Republican periods. More importantly, it
introduces some of the essential skills in identifying the fundamental problems and
narratives in modern Chinese history texts from the late Qing to the 1940s. Topics
covered are traditional and modern Chinese historiographies, the Opium War, the
Taiping Rebellion, Sun Yat-sen and the legend of the 1911 revolution, the impact of
western imperialism on China, warlordism, the peasant revolutions of the 1920s and
1930s.
Course Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):
Course ILOs
1
Identify the major problems of historical representations in official Chinese history textbooks
and nationalistic/ patriotic historical writings.
2
Read and assess historical materials, in particular official Chinese history textbooks, critically.
3
Appraise the socio-political history of modern China from the Opium War to the Chinese
Communist revolution.
4
Evaluate our conventional wisdom on the historical topics and issues of modern China history
covered in this course.
5
Show improved communicative skills.
Course Outline:
1.
Introduction & what is history?
Philosophy of history; problems with historical enquiries; nature of history writings
2.
Traditional Chinese historiography, nationalism and history
Characteristics of traditional Chinese historiography; the influences of nationalism and the state power
in modern Chinese history writings and its consequences
3.
Narratives on the Opium War and the reality
Division of Humanities
Tentative Course Syllabus
Official Chinese accounts of the causes, the course, and the consequences of the Opium War; major
problems with this official version of events
4.
Taiping rebellion or revolution?
Official Chinese accounts of the causes, the course, and the consequences of the Taiping movement;
major problems with this official version of events; was Taiping a peasant revolution or sectarian
rebellion? the political messages behind those interpretative views
5.
Invasion of China by the west
Official Chinese accounts of the causes, the course, and the consequences of the expansion of Western
influence in China; major problems with this official version of events by studying the social, cultural,
economic and political impacts of the West in China
6.
“Father of the Nation”: Sun Yat-sen and his revolutions
Problems with the official account of Sun Yatsen’s heroic deeds and political achievements; political
career of Sun as seen through different archival materials; the political implications of mythologizing Sun
7.
Warlordism
Official Chinese accounts of the causes, the course, and the consequences of the phenomenon of
warlordism in Republican China; major problems with this official version of warlords and their
“misbehaviour”
8.
The rural conditions and the peasant revolution led by the Chinese Communist Party
Official Chinese accounts of the causes, the course, and the consequences of the Chinese Communist
movement in the 1920s through the 1930s; major problems with this official version of the party, the
movement, and some major political events and its leaders
Planned Assessment Tasks:
Tutorials:
25%
Essay & Presentation:
20%
Division of Humanities
Tentative Course Syllabus
Final Examination:
50%
Attendance:
5%
Sample Readings:
1
錢穆，"中國史學之特點 " ;
梁啟超，"新史學"，第一章 ;
梁啟超，"新史學"，第二章；
張玉發，"重建歷史的權威 " ;
張玉發，"我對中國近現代歷史教學的一些意見"
陳立夫，"要為創造歷史而講歷史 "
2
電影〝鴉片戰爭" 1958 and 1997 versions
Arthur Waley, Opium War Through Chinese Eyes
黃敬華，中國近代史常識
茅海健，天朝的崩潰
Immanuel Hsu, Rise of Modern China (1995)
Franz Michael, Taiping Rebellion, vol.1
蔣介石，中國之命運
毛澤東，"中國革命與中國共產黨"
3
Jerome Chen, China and the West
駱清華，"五十年來之中國經濟 "
羅敦衛，"十年來的中國工業 "
朱羲農，"十年來的中國農業 "
中國國民黨中央黨史資料，"總理史蹟簡編稿";
Lyon Sharman, Sun Yat-sen: His Life and Its Meanings
Marie Bergere, Sun Yat-sen
李定一，中國近代史
張靜如，北洋軍閥統治時期中國社會之變遷
James E. Sheridan, China in Disintegration
James E. Sheridan, Chinese Warlord
毛澤東，"湖南農民運動考察報告";
毛澤東，”中國革命與中國共產黨”
朱羲農，"十年來之中國農業 "；
周谷城，"農村中貧富懸殊之風險
Fei Hsiao-tung, Peasant Life in China
(中譯本：江村經濟).