S01: Introduction

Five-Star Red Flags are fluttering in the wind
How clear and bright are the sounds of victory songs
Singing for our dear motherland
from now step towards prosperity and strength.

Across the mountains, across the plains,
Over the turbulent Yellow and Yangtze rivers
This vast and beautiful land
is our dear homeland
The heroic people
have stood up
Our unity and fraternity is as strong as steel.

People’s Republic of China

中华 / 人民 / 共和国

• Size and scale
• Unity and longevity of “civilization”
• Centrality and pride

Changes:

• Not equal to territories encompassed (or claimed) by the People’s Republic of China
• From small settlements to Eurasian power
• Expansion (and contraction) of borders: Different dynasties controlled varying territories

Continuities:

• The regions under Chinese control have always been in flux – and still changing.
• The east as epicenter of power: Most dynasties setting up their capitals around the Yellow river.
• China in the middle of the Eurasian continent: Geographical core helped shape identities, boundaries, and cultures

Challenges of Studying Chinese History:

• What is “China”: Nation / Empire, Ethnicity / Race, Culture / Civilization?
• When to begin (and end) the story? What changed (or not)?
• How do we know what we know about what we know about China?

Get into pairs and introduce yourselves:

• Name
• Year
• Gender pronouns
• What you are interested in learning in this class

You are aides for Presidents Trump and Xi, responsible for organizing the next meeting between the two leaders:

• Where in China would you visit? Why?
• What Chinese history should the leaders know about?
• What should the exchange look like?

• What ideas about the past does the United States bring to its relationship with China?
• Was Clinton wrong? If so, why?

“To achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese people in modern times. We call this the ‘Chinese Dream,’ and its fundamental essence is to realize national prosperity, the revitalization of the nation, and the happiness of the people.”

• Who is Liu Xiaobo?
• What is Liu’s personal history? How does it intersect with China’s contemporary history?
• What is his “China dream”? How is it similar to/ different from Xi Jinping’s dream?

• Change and continuities: Major turning points, but also long-term trends
• “Historiography”: How history changed overtime
• Sources: How do we know what we know about the past?
• Uses (and abuses) of the past in the present

• Highlighting the contributions of the non-Chinese
• Emphasis on material evidence of Chinese history, from archaeology to lived objects
• Engagement with art and literature, to study beliefs and lived experiences of ordinary people
• Thinking about China’s place in the world

• Engagement with primary sources
• “Historiography”: How have past interpretations changed?
• Situate China in global processes
• Toggling between past and present

Readings

• Mix of primary and secondary sources, all available in English
• Official histories, artwork, music, literature, films, and more

Class trips

• Four sessions at the Hood Museum

Multi-media

• Three films
• Class playlist before every lecture