EALC 1021
East Asian Civilizations: Modern Period
In this course we will introduce you to the main features of the
civilizations of China
(first half of the course) and Japan
(second half), with special focus on the modern periods. For China
we will begin in 1600, in the late Ming Dynasty; for Japan
we will begin with the Tokugawa period in 1600. In our discussions of both China
and Japan, we
will rely on a chronological framework, and the course will be grounded in
the basic data of political forms and changes. However, we will not be
confined to a history of dynastic changes; both cultures will be treated
through their literatures, religions, and intellectual trends. Through
readings in literary and philosophical texts we will discuss cultural issues
and larger, more universal themes. The visual and graphic arts and
contemporary films and documentaries will be used to illustrate contemporary
culture. Guest presentations to demonstrate a variety of arts have also been
arranged. This syllabus is located at www.colorado.edu/ealc/Syllabi/ealc1021.html.
ASSIGNMENTS
The Readings listed in the syllabus should be read before the class indicated
in syllabus. Each week you will be provided with a list of topics that will
provide a focus for class discussion in the recitation sections. The topics
will address questions that arise from readings and lectures. You should be
prepared to discuss all the questions during the recitation meeting. Class
participation will be graded. The discussion topics are intended to help you
prepare for the tests and to understand the readings and lectures. If you
prepare for the recitation sections well, you are giving yourself a head
start on the tests.
In addition, for six of the weeks, as noted on the schedule below, you
should select one of these questions and type out a one-page, double-spaced
response to be handed in at the beginning of the recitation section. None
will be accepted after that. If you email a paper to your instructor and
he/she cannot open it, it cannot be graded nor will you receive credit.
Grading criteria for these papers include: correct grammar and spelling,
attention to detail, use of thesis and topic sentences, use of supporting
evidence, quality of composition and accuracy.
TESTS AND FINAL EXAM
There will be four tests throughout the course, two on China
and two on Japan,
given during the lecture sessions. The lowest grade of the four tests may be
dropped, but there will be absolutely no make-ups or retakes.
GRADING
Finals 20% each Chinese and Japanese (40%) (= course midterm and final);
quizzes 30%; essays on discussion topics 20%; recitation section
participation 10%.
POLICY ON
ABSENCES
You may miss one recitation section throughout the semester. If you miss more
than one section your grade for recitation participation will be lowered by
3% for each additional section you miss.
We encourage students with disabilities who may need
academic accommodations to discuss options with the instructors during the
first week of classes.
WAYS TO SUCCEED IN THIS CLASS
- Read the assignments
before the lecture – if you are playing catch-up during lecture you are
sabotaging yourself.
- Take notes on the lecture.
Remember, these notes are what you will use to study for the tests.
- Take notes on the
readings. Check with the professors or the teaching assistants to see if
your notes are clear and thorough.
- For the recitation
sections, outline your answers to all the questions before the class.
- For your essays, get
suggestions from the University’s Program for Writing and
Rhetoric, 303-492-8188.
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TEXTS
FOR CHINA
1) Patricia Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China
(Cambridge/New York: Cambridge UP, 1996)
2) Course Reader for
Modern China (available at the bookstore, on Norlin online reserve, and as PDF
files as shown below)
Week 1
· “Zhao
Baosheng Meets Emperor Renzong in a Teahouse,” by Feng Menglong, from his Stories Old and New (Course Reader
#1).
· “The
Donor of Riches and Honours,” by Chu Yu (Course Reader
#2).
Week 2
· Monkey, Wu Chengen, trans. Arthur
Waley (New York: Grove Press, 1958) (Course Reader #4).
Week 3
· Three
Readings on Daoism: a) “The Precepts of the Perfect Truth Taoist (Daoist)
Sect,” b) “A Biography of the Old Drunkard” and four poems by Yuan
Hongdao, c) Eccentric painters of the Ming-Qing transition: Kung Hsien
(Gong Xian), Chu Ta (Zhu Da), and Shih-t’ao (Shitao), by James Cahill (Course
Reader #3).
Week 4
· Four
stories by Pu Songling, from his Strange
Tales of Liaozhai or The Strange
Tales of At-My-Ease Studio: “The Painted Skin,” “The Gallant Girl,” “The
Land of the Savages, “ “A Girl in Green” (Course Reader #5).
· “The
Story of Hsiao-erh,” also by Pu Songling (Course Reader #6).
Week 5
· “The
Manchu Abdication Edict,” by the Empress Dowager Longyu (Course Reader #7).
· Mao
Dun, “Spring Silkworms,” Spring
Silkworms and Other Stories, trans. Sidney Shapiro (New York: AMS Press,
1979) (Course Reader #8).
Week 6
· “Capitalists,
Warlords and Thieves,” Stella Dong, Shanghai, 1842-1949., The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City (New
York: William Morrow, 2000) (Course Reader #9).
Week 8
· Maxine
Hong Kingston, “No-name Woman,” from The
Woman Warrior. Memoirs of a Girldhood
Among Ghosts (South Yarmouth, MA: J. Curley, 1978) (Course Reader #10).
FOR JAPAN
1) Kenneth B. Pyle, The Making of Modern Japan, second
edition. D.C. Heath & Co., 1996.
2) Course Reader for Modern Japan
(available at the bookstore)
Week 9
· The
Seventeen Article Constitution of Prince Shōtoku.
· Kojiki Excerpts (Creation Myth of Japan).
· Kokinshū Excerpts (Selection of
Love Poems).
Week 10
Hagakure Excerpts
· Yamamoto
Tsunetomo (William Scott Wilson, trans.), Hagakure: The Book of the
Samurai (Kodansha International).
· Matsuo
Bashō, “The Narrow Road
to the Deep North,” in The Narrow Road
to the Deep North (Penguin, 1966), pp. 97-115. 10/29
Two stories by Ihara Saikaku: A love story and a merchant story
· “The Story of Seijiro in Himeji,” trans. Wm. Theodore de Bary,
in Five Women Who Loved Love, (Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle, 1956), Book 1, chapter 1
& 2, pp. 41-55.
· “The Eternal Storehouse of Japan,” in Donald Keene, ed., Anthology of Japanese Literature (New
York: Grove Press, 1955), pp. 357-362. 10/31
· Chikamatsu
Monzaemon, “Love Suicide at Sonezaki,”
in Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu, trans. Donald Keene (New York:
Columbia UP, 1961), pp. 39-56.
Week 12
· “The
Beef Eaters,” “The Western Peep Show,” in Donald Keene, ed., Modern
Japanese Literature: An Anthology (New York: Grove Press, 1989), pp. 31-36.
· Higuchi
Ichiyō, “The Thirteen Night,” in Robert Danly, In the Shade of Spring
Leaves (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), pp. 241-53.
· Natsume
Sōseki, “Ten Nights of Dream,” in Ten Nights of Dream, trans.
Aiko Itō and Graeme Wilson (Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle, 1974), pp.
27-34; 48-52; 56-59.
· Mori
Ogai, “Under Construction,” pp. 35-44 in Ivan Morris, ed., Modern Japanese
Stories: An Anthology (Rutland:
Charles E. Tuttle, 1966).
Week 13
· Tanizaki
Jun’ichirō, “In Praise of Shadow,” in Tanizaki Junichiro, In Praise
of Shadows (Leetes Island Books), pp. 1-26.
Week 14
· “Life
in Wartime Japan”
in David Lu, ed., Japan:
A Documentary History (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1997), pp. 445-453.
· Hirabayashi
Taeko, “Three Blind Soldiers,” in Lippit and Selden, trans., Japanese
Women Writers (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1991), pp. 41-45.
Week 15
· Keiji
Nakazawa, “Barefoot Gen: The Day After
(Hadashi no Gen),” selections from A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima (Philadelphia:
New Society Publishers, 1988).
· “Japan
Under Occupation,” in David Lu, ed., Japan:
A Documentary History (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1997). pp. 466-469, 490,
499-500.
· Kojima
Nobuo, “American School,”
in Howard Hibbett ed., Contemporary Japanese Literature: An Anthology of
Fiction, Film, and Other Writing Since 1945 (New York: Random House, 1977), pp. 120-144.
· “Readings
from Tenrikyō” in Ian Reader et al., eds., Japanese Religions: Past
and Present (Honolulu: U of Hawaii Press, 1993), pp. 128-139.
· John
Lie, “Contemporary Discourse of Japaneseness,” in Multi-ethnic Japan (Cambridge,
MA:
Harvard University
Press, 2001), pp. 27-52.
Week 16
· Takeshi
Moriya, “The Lesson Culture,” trans. by Miriam Eguchi, in Atsushi Ueda, ed., The
Electric Geisha: Exploring Japan’s Popular Culture (New York: Kodansha
International, 1994), pp. 43-50.
· Jim
Frederick, “What’s Right with Japan”
Time Asia website, August, 2003.
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SCHEDULE:
CHINESE CIVILIZATION
Week 1—Introduction
and Background
Introduction to the course. Overview of the chronology of China.
Modern China:
Language, Writing System, Romanization, Names. Introduction to the Ming
Dynasty
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 190-201: Ming Taizu
and Despotism, Management Problems, The Southwestern Frontier, Literati Life
and the story “Zhao Baosheng meets Emperor Renzong in a Teahouse” in the
Course Reader (selection #1) which you buy in the bookstore
Literati Life and Politics
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 42-47, including the
citations from the Analects (ON CONFUCIUS) and “The Donor of Riches and
Honours” in the Course Reader (Course Reader #2)
Recitation: No written essay due this week. For first section
meeting you do not have an essay to turn in.
Discussion topics:
A) What are
some of the assumptions that you have about China
in terms of its politics, national identity, the arts, and values? Discuss
for both pre-Modern and Modern China.
B) What
influences has China
had outside of China?
C) What are the
main features of a monarchical form of government—East or West--and who are
the elites in such a government? In other words, who has power and how do
they acquire it? What are the obvious symbols of power in the society you are
discussing?
Week 2—Cities and Urban Culture in China
Trade, Industry, and Southern Power
Cambridge Illustrated History of China,
pp. 203-19: Popular Culture,
Philosophical Currents, Local Society, Relations with the Outer World,
Factionalism and Political Protest
Theater, Novels and New Sources of Political Power
Wu Cheng’en, Monkey (Course Reader #4) (The
selections in the Reader are not in order. You will read Course Reader #3
“Three Readings on Daoism” next week. )
Recitation: No
written essay due this week
Discussion topics:
A) In the story
“Zhao Baosheng meets Emperor Renzong in a Teahouse,” what are the chief means
of achieving political success? How is Imperial power portrayed in the story?
B) How are
education and the acquisition of knowledge portrayed in “The Emperor meets
Zhao Baosheng in the Teahouse”?
C) What constitutes
heroism in “The Donor of Riches and Honours”?
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Week 3—Taoism
Taoism, the Individual and Creativity
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 46-49: on early
Daoism
Three Readings on Daoism: a) “The
Precepts of the Perfect Truth Taoist (Daoist) Sect,” b) “A Biography of the
Old Drunkard” and four poems by Yuan Hongdao, c) Eccentric Painters of the
Qing-Ming transition (Course Reader #3)
THE FALL OF THE MING AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
QING (MANCHU) DYNASTY
Steppe People and the Silk Route,
Imperial Authority and Expansion
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 220-234: Manchus and
Imperialism: Manchu Rule, Territorial Expansion, Culture and Society
Test #1
Recitation: No
written essay due this week
Discussion topics:
A) What sort of
“hero” or protagonist is Monkey? Compare him to Western fictional characters.
Why are these sorts of characters typically found in popular media and popular
literary genres, and what attitudes do they often have toward orthodox forms
of power?
B) Imagine that
you are a brilliant artist – man or woman – and you have joined an
anti-Manchu secret society. The government is after you. Describe your life
as an artist and refugee. Where are you living? What do you do all day? Whom
do you meet with? etc. or Discuss
the role of Daoism as a source for escapism, eccentricity, and artistic
creativity.
C) Summarize
the major international concerns
of the Ming. With whom did they trade and with whom did they go to war?
Before you start this question, define what you mean by “international.”
Week 4—The Qing
Dynasty
Literature and Culture in the Qing
Three stories by Pu Songling
(Course Reader #5)
Foreign Relations and the Opium Wars
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 234-252: Maritime Trade and
Relations with European Nations, Opium and the Opium War, Internal
Adversaries, Self Strengthening, Population Growth, The Chinese Diaspora
Tensions in the Qing: Daoism and Millenarian Rebellion and
Secret Societies
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 252-258: The Boxer
Rebellion, and “The Story of Hsiao-erh,” by Pu Songling (Course Reader #6)
Recitation: Written essay #1 due this week
Discussion topics:
A) What are the
attitudes toward the non-Chinese and the foreign that Pu Songling expresses
in “The Land of the Savages”?
B) What are the
characteristics of the feminine and the masculine in Pu Songling’s stories?
C) Outline the
major events in Qing Dynasty relations with both maritime nations – especially nations of the Pacific
Rim – as well as with nations along China’s
land borders. or Imagine that you
are a Han Chinese businessman in the Yangzi Delta. Write a petition to the
Emperor protesting his emphasis on relations with Western nations along the Silk
Route and urging him to pay increased attention
to the needs of relations with maritime nations. Be specific. Don’t forget
Qing Dynasty relations with Japan.
D) Discuss the
main differences between the Han people and the Manchu. To what extent was
the Qing dynasty Chinese, and to what extent Manchu, and to what extent is
the Qing government an occupation government?
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Week 5—The Dawn of
the Twentieth Century
THE
1911 REVOLUTION: THE FALL OF THE QING (MANCHU) DYNASTY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 262-73: Undermining
the Qing Dynasty, Dislodging Authority, Lu Xun, and “The Manchu Abdication
Edict” (#7), and the first section of Mao Dun, “Spring Silkworms” (Course
Reader #8)
Popular Literature and Popular Arts in China
Finish Mao Dun, “Spring
Silkworms” (Course Reader #8)
Shanghai Modern: The Role of the Yangzi
River Macroeconomic Region in the
Development of Chinese Material and Artistic Culture
“Capitalists, Warlords and
Thieves,” Shanghai, 1842-1949: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City (Course Reader #9)
Recitation: Written essay #2 due this week
Discussion topics:
A) How did
millenarian rebellions threaten the stability of the state in the late Qing
Dynasty? What groups of people gained power from these movements?
B) Make a giant
list of all the sources of disruption faced by the Qing government at all
levels of society in the decades before the 1911 revolution and the
establishment of the Republic.
C) What role
did intellectuals and artists have in the early Nationalist (or Republican)
Period; in particular, what was Lu Xun's role? What was the May Fourth
Movement and why is it significant?
Week 6—The
Twentieth Century
The Communist Struggle and War with Japan,
the Establishment of the People's Republic of China
and the New China
Cambridge Illustrated History of China,
pp. 273-93
Test #2
Break – no
assignment
Recitation: No
written essay due this week
Discussion topics:
A) What are the
concerns of the writers of the May Fourth movement and how are these concerns
reflected in “Spring Silkworms” by Mao Dun?
B) Summarize
the history of international relations between China
and Japan in
the 19th and 20th centuries.
C) How did
opium become one of China’s
most lucrative local products, and how did its growth affect the economy of China,
especially in the Yangzi River
macroeconomic region? What was the role of the gangs and triads in this
region, both economically and politically?
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Week 7—Contemporary
China; Politics and Arts
NOTE: Please watch the film Raise the Red Lanterns by Friday. ALTEC has a copy, and you may
also find it at the Video Station.
The Communist Unification of China:
1949-1976 – The Mao Years
Cambridge Illustrated History of China,
pp. 294-321
The Post-Mao Years
Cambridge Illustrated History of China, pp. 321-332
Optional: Watch the film Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon
Film in China:
Historical and Contemporary Filmmakers
Watch Raise the Red Lanterns – to be discussed in class
Recitation: Written essay #3 due this week
Discussion topics:
A) From 1949 to 1976 Mao attempted to establish
a communist utopia. What means did he use and how successful was he in
differing periods?
B) Imagine that
you are the son or daughter of a small businessman or a college professor
during the Cultural Revolution. What would have happened to you?
C) What were
the failings of the Nationalist government during the early twentieth
century, and how did the Communists succeed in 1949 in establishing the
People’s Republic of China?
Week 8—Literature
of the Present
Scar Literature of China
and the Literature of the Diaspora
Maxine Hong Kingston, “No-name
Woman,” The Woman Warrior (Course
Reader #10)
Review day
Final exam (course midterm) for the Chinese Civilization
portion of the course
Recitation
discussion topics:
A) What are the
“counterrevolutionary” elements in Chinese society under Mao that the
government silenced or suppressed, and what were the means used to suppress
these elements? What happens to these elements and their values after Mao
dies?
B) How do you
explain China’s
readiness to be competitive internationally in both the realm of world
markets and the realm of film?
C) In Raise the Red Lanterns, how does Zhang
Yimou use the image of the lanterns to reinforce the characterization of the
third and fourth wives? What is the most vivid scene in the movie and how
does it relate to the overall themes of the movie? or Write the opening scene for a film script set in the period of
Shanghai Modern. List the main characters and describe the setting. If you
can, make a video of the scene.
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SCHEDULE:
JAPANESE CIVILIZATION
Week 9—Introduction:
Early Modern Japanese History
Introduction and course overview
Introduction to Early Japanese History—Ancient Period
Myth, History, and waka Poetry (Course Reader)
Introduction to Early Japanese History—Medieval Period
Pyle, chapter 1, pp. 1-10
Recitation: Introduction to Japan
Week 10—Culture of Edo I: Traditional Literature
Haiku and High Culture
Hagakure Excerpts (Course Reader)
Matsuo Bashō, “The Narrow
Road to the Deep North” (Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 2, p. 11-28
Tokugawa Town
Life—Class and Culture in Early Modern Japan
Two stories by Ihara Saikaku
(Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 3, p. 29-40
Edo Drama: Kabuki and Bunraku
(puppet theater)
Chikamatsu Monzaemon: “Love
Suicide at Sonezaki” (Course Reader)
Recitation: Edo culture high and low
Written essay #4 due this week
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Week 11—Culture of Edo II: For Eyes and Ears
Traditional Japanese Music
Guest Lecture by Mathew Johnson
on Edo-period performance tradition
Ukiyo: Pleasure
Quarters and Woodblock Prints
Pyle, chapter 4, p. 41-56
Test #3
Recitation: Review for Test #3
Week 12—Arrival of
the Modern Era
Meiji Restoration and the Building of a Modern
State
Pyle, chapter 5, p. 57-76
“Beef Eater” “Peep Show” (Course
Reader)
Westernization vs. Traditionalism
Pyle, chapter 6, p. 77-96
Higuchi Ichiyō, “The
Thirteen Night” (Course Reader)
Encounter with the West
Pyle, chapter 7, p. 97-114
Natsume Sōseki, excerpt from
“The Ten Night’s Dream” (Course Reader)
Mori Ogai, “Under Construction”
(Course Reader)
Recitation:
Review test
Written essay #5
due this week
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Week 13—The Fruit
of Modernity
Imperial Expansionism
Pyle, chapter 8-9, p.115-158
Cultural Nationalism and the Drums of War
Pyle, chapter 10, pp. 159-180
Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, “In
Praise of Shadow” (Course Reader)
Test #4
Recitation: Review for Test #4
Week 14—The Second
World War and its Aftermath
Wartime Japan
“Life in Wartime Japan”
(Course Reader)
Hirabayashi Taeko, “Three Blind
Soldiers” (Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 11, pp. 181-206
The End of the War: Movie
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Week
15—Contemporary Japan I
Aftermath of the War: Occupation
“Barefoot Gen” (Course Reader)
“Japan Under Occupation” (Course
Reader)
Kojima Nobuo, “American
School” (Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 12, pp. 207-226
The Rebirth of Japanese Faith
Guest Lecture,by Professor Terry Kleeman, on New Religions
in Japan
“Readings
from Tenrikyō” (Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 13, p. 227-240
Ethnic Minorities and the Internal Others: Okinawans,
Buraku, Zainichi and Atomic Bomb Victims
John Lie, “Contemporary Discourse
of Japaneseness” (Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 14, pp. 241-254
Recitation: Contemporary Japan
Written essay #6 due this week
Week
16—Contemporary Japan II
Educational System and Japaneseness
Takeshi Moriya, “Lesson Culture”
(Course Reader)
Pyle, chapter 15-16, pp. 255-284
Popular Culture: Manga and Anime
Guest Lecture by Professor
Stephen Snyder on Japanese Anime
Jim Frederick, “What’s Right with Japan”
(Course Reader)
Final exam for the Japanese Civilization portion of the
course.
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