judge@yorku.ca

This course analyzes the political, social, and cultural underpinnings of three of China’s great 20^th century revolutions: the 1911 Republican revolution, the 1919 literary and cultural revolution, and the 1949 Communist revolution. The course outlines the key events that defined this period including the installation of a Republican president, the rise of the New Culture Movement, tensions between the emerging Communist and Nationalist Parties, the Nanjing Decade, and military confrontations with Japan. At the same time the course focuses on several specific themes. These include ongoing campaigns to incorporate the masses into a new polity through visions of republicanism, nationalism and communism. We will examine efforts to use new media and new pedagogical practices to raise rates of basic, cultural, and political literacy across the period.  A second key theme is accommodations between Chinese and “Western” knowledge in the realms of medicine, science, culture, and literature. We examine the split between Western biomedicine and the invention of “traditional Chinese medicine,” together with the critical role of translation and overseas study in theorizing China’s revolutions. Finally, we also explore the dramatic shift in women’s roles across this period in the realms of education, publishing, professionalization, and political activism.

*TENTATIVE*

Jonathan D. Spence. The Search for Modern China, W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd Revised edition, 2012.

Janet Chen, Pei-kai Cheng, Michael Lestz with Jonathan Spence. The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection, W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd Edition, 2013.

Peter Zarrow. After Empire: The Conceptual Transformation of the Chinese State, 1885-1924. Stanford University Press, 2012.

Pierre Fuller. Modern Erasures: Revolution, the Civilizing Mission, and the Shaping of China's Past By Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.

*TENTATIVE Grade Breakdown*

Class Participation: 20%

Group Presentation: 10%

Short mid-term paper: 30%

Long final paper: 40%

Lectures and group discussions each weak.

Alternating classes on textbook material and on the treatment of particular issues in secondary literature.

1. Acquire a solid understanding of modern Chinese history through a detailed examination of the critical first half of the 20^th century. This knowledge will both introduce students to elements of earlier Chinese history and enrich their understanding of contemporary China.
2. Acquire a solid understanding of the major political forces, and key cultural and social movements in modern Chinese history.
3. Acquire an understanding of various aspects of Chinese culture.
4. Understand and critically evaluate secondary sources and historical arguments related to Chinese history.
5. Understand and critically evaluate primary sources (in translation) related to Chinese history.
6. Understand the difference between Chinese primary and secondary sources.
7. Understand different methods of approaching Chinese history including political history, cultural history, social history, and the history of science.