Description
In Hist 105, History of Eastern Civilizations we will focus on the history of Japan, China and Southeast Asia from a topical approach. We will study the social, cultural and religious backgrounds of this region, although we will spend most of our time on the “modern histories” of Japan and China, largely focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There is no paper required in this class unless you are writing reaction paper(s) for extra credit. The focus, instead of on writing a paper, will be on reading the textbooks. We will end most Fridays with a quiz on the prior week’s assigned readings. Although this quiz will primarily cover the reading assignment, I will occasionally include questions from the prior week’s lecture. Additionally, I will include one extra-credit question from the optional book, Eastern Standard Time, which is on reserve in the BSU Library. We will have an open book, open note final exam; the questions are attached to this syllabus. The student with the highest cumulative quiz score as of March 8 will not have to take the final exam. A different student with the highest cumulative quiz score between March 8 and May 3 will also not have to take the final. Movie reaction replacement grades do not count in this competition.
There are two additional extra-credit opportunities. You may replace your lowest quiz score by one grade (for example from an F to a D) before March 8 by viewing a Japanese-language movie with subtitles and writing a two-page, double-spaced reaction paper, due on March 8 (no time extensions allowed). You may replace your lowest quiz score by one grade during the second half of the semester by viewing a Chinese movie with English subtitles, and writing a two-page, double-spaced reaction paper, due on May 3 (no time extensions allowed). These reaction papers are not reviews; they are not summaries of the plot. I will hand them back to you without credit if this is what you hand in. The papers are your reaction to the movies. Several tips: avoid the word “interesting.” Use phrases like, “In my opinion,” “I particularly enjoyed/didn’t enjoy…”, “I believe…”, “I saw ______ in this movie,” “My reaction was….”, “If I were making this movie I would do this differently, emphasize this more, etc. ….”, “Historically I think this movie….” Notice that the word “I” is prominent in a reaction paper.
This class is geared toward the serious student who regularly attends class and who completes reading assignments in a timely manner. I will take attendance each day. I strongly advise you to drop out of this class if this type of structure is not one in which you are able to function.
Finally, civility in class and in dealings with fellow students is required (BSU Student Book of Conduct). It is BSU policy that letters of warning issued to disruptive students will remain in your record for 7 years. I will bar disruptive students from continuing class attendance or participation.
Grading
- Class attendance: 20%
- Class quizzes: 40%
- Final Exam: 40%
Why “Oriental” is a bad word (Eastern Standard Time, page 337:)
Many Asians in America find the term “Oriental,” when used in reference to people, to be offensive. The reasons for this sensitivity are manifold, but some of the most important ones are listed below. 1. It brings up unfortunate chapters in our global history. The terms “Orient” and “Oriental” were popularized during the heyday of Western colonialism, when nations to the South and East of Europe were seen as ripe for subjugation and exploitation. As a result, usage of the term is an automatic cue for references to the British Raj, the Opium War, the occupation of the Philippines, and other events and periods in which the inhabitants of Asian countries were enslaved, victimized, or otherwise mistreated by Europeans (and later, Americans). 2. It has problematic racial and political connotations. While “Orient” translates simply as “The East,” over time, an ideological paradigm emerged that spun itself around the term: The Orient was seen as the farthest point from civilization (i.e., Europe) and thus a region of barbarism, exotic custom, and strange delight. “Orientals” were conceived of as mysterious and inscrutable, with traditions and beliefs so different as to be inhuman – and thus requiring of either speculative study or religious evangelism. As social historian Edward Said detailed in his seminal book of that name, the intent and result of orientalism was the objectification of cultures in Asia and the Middle East, providing a rationale for colonial subjugation, missionary conversion, and military adventure, it later also created a context for domestic racism and xenophobia. 3. It’s nonspecific. As perceived by Western Europeans, “The Orient” included all of Turkey, the Middle East, Asia, and to a lesser extent the Pacific Islands. An Iranian was therefore just as “Oriental” as a Chinese person, though in contemporary times, the term is never used in that manner. While “Asian” is not much more specific, it at least is a term bounded by geography rather than paradigm. It would be difficult to argue that “Orientals” shared anything in common, other than in the feverish minds of European orientalists. 4. It doesn’t have an appropriate counterpart. The most subtle yet invidious problem with the term “Oriental” is that it stands alone: No one refers to Europeans or Americans as “Occidentals.” Consider that the term “Orient” only has meaning in the West: in the East, it is America and Europe that are foreign and “outside,” and most Asian cultures have similar but inverted conceptions referring to “The West.” Hemispheric definitions are always problematic, since the world is, after all, round; but at least the terms East and West don’t come loaded with the imagery and history of “Orient” and “Occident.” 5. It’s more appropriately used for inanimate objects. The establishment of trade routes linking the nations of Asia and the Middle East (which occurred long before the opening of Asia to the West) meant that commodities and other goods were regularly transmitted between cultures. As a result, when one refers to oriental spices or rugs, spices and rugs are among the only things that the mixed bag of peoples knows as “Orientals” actually had in common. In general, the use of the adjective in relation to inanimate objects or abstract concepts has largely been considered acceptable, if not embraced (there are people who still prefer speaking of Asian spices, or breaking down rugs into Persian, Indian, and Chinese carpets). 6. Some people don’t like it. In America, at least, many Asians find the term distasteful (mostly younger Asian Americans); the term has also been eliminated from usage in journalism and entertainment. (By contrast, many British use “Asian” to refer to Indians and other South Asians, and “Oriental” to refer to East Asians.) The rule of thumb is simple: rather than risk offending, just don’t bother – the term “Asian” is neutral, widely accepted – and safe.
Required Texts
- Martin Stuart-Fox, China & Southeast Asia (Allen & Unwin, 2003),
- Curtis Andressen, A Short History of Japan: From Samurai to Sony (Allen & Unwin, 2002),
- Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (New York: Doubleday, 1991),
- Eiichi Kiyooka, trans., The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa (Columbia University Press, 1966)
- Shelton Woods, Vietnam An Illustrated History (Hippocrene Books, 2002)
- Louise Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas (Oxford University Press, 1994).
- Optional Text: Jeff Yang, Eastern Standard Time (Houghton Mifflin, 1997). (extra credit)
Schedule of Classes and Readings
Week #1
Review syllabus and course objectives; no reading assignment(No quiz for Week #1)
Week #2
Reading assignment and quiz postponed for one week since books took so long to get here. See reading assignment for quiz on Friday, January 30 – I suggest you start the reading for next week during this week to begin preparing for the quiz next week.
Week #3
- Read Chapters 1, 2 & 3, pages 1-51 (Introduction, The Chinese View of the World & Early Relations) Martin Stuart-Fox
- Read Chapters 1 & 2, pages 1-46 (Introduction, In the Beginning) Curtis Andressen,
- Extra credit: Pages 216-222, Eastern Standard Time
Friday Quiz over Stuart-Fox, Andressen & EST\
Week #4
By Friday, February 6:
- Read Vietnam an Illustrated History, entire book pages 1-164
- Extra credit: Pages 224-227 & 240-242, EST
Friday Quiz over Woods & EST
Week #5
- Read Chapter 4, pages 52-72 (Mongol Expansionism) Martin Stuart-Fox.
- Read Chapter 3 pages 47-77 (Chaos to Unity; Feudalism in Japan) Curtis Andressen,
- Extra credit: Pages 203-211 & Eastern Standard Time
Friday Quiz over Stuart-Fox, Andressen & EST
Week #6
- Read first ½, Chapters 1-9, pages v. – 177, Fukuzawa.
- Extra credit: P. 6 & 24-25 & 196-198 & 214-215 Eastern Standard Time
Friday Quiz over Fukuzawa & EST
Week #7
- Read second ½, Chapters 10-15, pages 178-336 & Appendix II, P. 390-397, Fukuzawa.
- Extra credit: P. 299-300 & 305 & 329-330, Eastern Standard Time
Friday Quiz over Fukuzawa & EST
Week #8
- Read Chapter 5, pages 73-94 (Seapower, Tribute & Trade), Martin Stuart-Fox.
- Read first five Chapters, Pages 23-106, Louise Levathes
- Extra credit: P. 14 & 18-19 & 125-126 EST
Friday Quiz over Stuart-Fox, Levathes & EST
Week #9
- Read final six Chapters + Epilogue, Pages 107-203, Louise Levathes
- Extra credit: Pages 129-134 & 156-160, EST
Friday Quiz over Levathes & EST
- Read Chapter 6, pages 95-127 (Enter the Europeans), Martin Stuart-Fox
- Read Chapter 4, pages 78-103 (Modernization & Imperialism), Curtis Andressen
- Extra credit: Pages 166-170, EST
Friday Quiz over Martin Stuart-Fox, Andressen & EST
Week #11
- No reading assignment over Spring Break
Week #12
- Read Chapter 7, pages 128-149 (The Changing World Order), Martin Stuart-Fox
- Read Chapter 5, pages 104-127 (War and Peace), Curtis Andressen
- Extra credit: P. 188-194 & 320, EST
Friday Quiz over Martin Stuart-Fox, Andressen & EST
Week #13
- Read first 1/3, Chapters 1-9, Pages 21-190, Wild Swans
- Extra credit: P. 4-5 & 7, EST
4. Friday Quiz over Wild Swans & EST
Week #14
- Read second 1/3, Chapters 10-19, Pages 191-340, Wild Swans
- Extra credit: P. 303-304 & 311, EST
Friday Quiz over Wild Swans & EST
Week #15
- Read final 1/3, Chapters 20-28 & Epilogue, Pages 341-508, Wild Swans
- Extra credit: P. 260-261 & 295, EST
Friday Quiz over Wild Swans & EST
Week #16
- Read Chapters 8 & 9, pages 150-223 (Communism & the Cold War & Fresh Beginnings), Martin Stuart-Fox2.
- Read Chapter 6, pages 128-146 (The Miracle Economy), Andressen
- Extra credit: P. 41 & 49-53, EST
Friday Quiz, Martin Stuart-Fox, Andressen & EST
Week #17
- Read Chapter 10, pages 224-245 (Future Directions), Martin Stuart-Fox
- Read Chapters 7-9, pages 147-222 (Japan as Number One?, Bursting Bubbles & The Way Ahead), Curtis Andressen
- No extra credit
4. Friday Quiz over Martin Stuart-Fox & Andressen
Final Exam
Broadcast Schedule:
2:40-3:30 p.m. Mon., Wed., Fri. on Channel 19 CableOne (AT&T) Cable. If you have Sprint/WBS Cable, the broadcast will be on channel 39. Tapes of lectures available in BSU Library, second floor, several days after the lecture.
Dates:
Japan:
Asuka Japan 552-710 A.D.
Nara Period 710-780
Heian Period 780-1185
Kamakura Period 1185-1333
Muromachi Period 1333-1550
Azuchi Period 1550-1600
Tokugawa (Edo) Japan 1600-1868
Meiji Japan 1868-1912
Imperial Japan 1912-2001
Dates:
China: Pre-Imperial China (3000 B.C. – 221 B.C.)
Neolithic ca. 12000-2000 B.C.
Xia ca. 2100-1800 B.C.
Shang 1700-1027 B.C.
Western Zhou 1027-771 B.C.
Eastern Zhou 770-221 B.C
Spring & Autumn Period 770-476 B.C.
Warring States Period 475-221 B.C.
Imperial China (221 B.C. – 1912 A.D.); Dynasties:
Qin 221- 206 B.C.
Han 206 B.C.-220 A.D.
Three Kingdoms, S. & N. Dynasties
Sui 580-618
Tang 618-907
Five Dynasties 907-960
Song 960-1279
Yuan (Mongols) 1279-1368
Ming 1368-1644
Qing (Manchus) 1644-1911
Post-Imperial China (1912-2001)
Warlord Era (1912-1926)
Republic Era (1926-1949)
Communist China (1949-present)
These are the questions for your open book final exam Monday, May 10. I will randomly choose two of them on May 10. You will have two hours to answer the one question of your choice in one or two small blue books. Remember that what is important is your analysis. You need facts to back up your ideas, but do not simply repeat dates, names, etc. Do not be brief. You will have classmates who write a great deal in extreme depth and they will receive higher grades than students who write shallow, brief answers. Be sure to incorporate Wild Swans or The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa or When China Ruled the Seas into the question, depending if it is on Japan or China.
1. In reading Yukichi Fukuzawa’s autobiography, do you see any contradictions, ambivalence, or love-hate feelings that scholars and historians believe are common among Westernized non-Western intellectuals? If you don’t see any love-hate feelings toward the West, what feelings toward the West do you see in his writing? How does this compare with what you have read in your Curtis Andressen text or in other Japanese readings you have done? Give some specific examples in your answer.
2. Write an essay from the viewpoint of a Japanese military officer in 1941 just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in which you are justifying the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Be convincing that it is a correct decision as you are writing it in 1941. Give some specific examples in your answer.
3. Do you see similarities in the militarism that Yukichi Fukuzawa described before and after the Meiji Restoration and in the militarism that Japan experienced before and during World War II? Give some specific examples both from Fukuzawa and from your Andressen text in your answer.
4. Why has Prime Minister Koizumi’s official state visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine caused so much anger and concern on the part of Asian nations, especially China and South Korea? After you answer that question, write part of your essay justifying the Prime Minister’s official state visits to Yasukuni Shrine. Then write part of your essay justifying the expressed outrage of officials in China and South Korea.
5. When the Chinese revolution of 1911 ended the Qing dynasty and established a republic with Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in a leadership role, how would you critique his actions? What did he do well during his lifetime? What mistakes can you see that he made during his lifetime? He is considered a true hero in both China and Taiwan today. Do you agree with this assessment of the two countries? Give some specific examples in your answer.
6. Do you identify or empathize with any of the three daughters of China in Wild Swans? If so, which one? Why or why not? Which one of the three daughters do you feel had the most unfortunate life? Which one was the most fortunate? Why? How does this compare with what you have read in your Stuart-Fox text or in other Chinese readings you have done? Give some specific examples in your answer.
7. Does Jung Chang’s father, Comrade Wang, remind you of a Confucian gentleman even though Communism was so important in his worldview? Why or why not? Give specific examples from Wild Swans and the Stuart-Fox text.
8. How do you think the constant threat of invasion from the North affected the character of the Chinese people and the actions of Chinese governments? How might China be different today if historically it had friendly neighbors like the U.S. enjoys with Canada and Mexico? Give some specific examples in your answer.
9. If you were a university professor and grading Mao Zedong shortly before his death, what grade would you give him regarding his actions in China? Why? What would be your suggestions for his improvement and/or examples about which you would praise him? Give some specific examples in your answer.
10. After reading Vietnam, An Illustrated History and When China Ruled the Seas, what are your insights concerning the Vietnamese attitude toward the Chinese? How about the Chinese attitude toward the Vietnamese and towards Japan and the rest of SE Asia?
Note to Cable Students: (this only applies to Section 402, Electronic Campus, Cable Television students)
For cable students, you have two options regarding the Friday quizzes. Your first option is that you may either go to the BSU campus site, or to the Gowen Field site, or to the Canyon County site and take your Friday quiz with the other classes. The quiz will be during the last 15 minutes of class; check the syllabus to make sure there will be a quiz that week. If you take quizzes, you are eligible to compete in the “no final” option mentioned on Page 1. Those who choose to write reaction/response papers will need to come in and take the final. You may take quizzes for half of the semester and write reaction papers for half of the semester, but you need to decide on either quizzes or reaction papers and only do that option during the half of the class before March 8 or after March 8.
Your second option is that you may write a three-page, double-spaced response/reaction paper which incorporates the readings and my lectures for that week (or for the two-week period if that is in the syllabus.) When you write your paper, make specific references to the lectures and readings (by day and by title of the readings). Since the paper is due on Friday, it is OK to only include the lectures through the preceding Wednesday and then pick up the Friday lecture on your next paper. The three-page paper is due the same Friday that the quizzes are to be taken. You may either email it to me or mail it or hand-deliver it to the Boise State History Department, attention Carole Schroeder. If you mail or deliver your paper, be sure to mail or deliver it so it arrives by the Friday that the quiz is to be taken.
In writing the response paper, don’t merely summarize the readings or my lectures. Include your reaction, or your response, to both the readings and the lectures. See Page 1 in the description of the reaction papers to the Japanese and Chinese movies for more guidance. Remember, assuming you write response/reaction papers, you will need to take the final exam with the rest of the students at one of the sites. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or leave a telephone message.