Fall term, 2017
Prof. Edwin E. Moise
Office: Hardin 102
Cell: 650-8845
e-mail: eemoise@clemson.edu
Messages can be left in my mailbox in Hardin 124, or in the box on my office door.
Office Hours: I will try to be in my office at the following hours. It is possible that I may occasionally miss office hours, but on the other hand, I will be in my office, and available to you, at a lot of other times. E-mail me, or just check and see if my door is open.
Monday 2:30-3:20 Tuesday 11:00-12:00, 2:00-3:15 Wednesday 10:10-11:00, 2:30-3:20 Thursday (none) Friday (none)
I am not going to waste your time memorizing a lot of names and dates. If you find Chinese names very confusing, don't despair; you really don't need to know a lot of them. We are concerned with what happened to China in the past century or so, not with the exact names of the people who did things or the exact dates of the events.
The written work will be:
--Four short papers, on assigned topics, worth 40 points each,
three of which will be newspaper research exercises.
--The midterm test
(70 points) and the final exam (120 points),
which will be mostly essay questions.
--One minor essay quiz, which will be
announced in advance. 20 points.
This adds up to 370 points. I use a 90%, 80%, 70% scale, sometimes modified in favor of students but never against them. In other words, 333 points is guaranteed to be an A, 296 points is guaranteed to be a B, 259 points is guaranteed to be a C. But 330 or even 325 points might perhaps become an A, depending on how the class as a whole is doing.
Academic integrity requires that we not try to pass other people's work off as our own.
As far as I can recall, I have not caught any students committing plagiarism in this course, in past years. But experience with plagiarism in other courses at Clemson suggests that if there were to be a plagiarism case in this course, it would probably take the form of one student copying another student's 40-point short paper, maybe changing a few words and substituting synonyms, but leaving the two papers still so similar that it is obvious the resemblance could not be coincidence. I would be likely to bring charges both against the student who copied and the student who allowed his or her paper to be copied.
There are some ways in which it is perfectly all right for student to help each other. If two students want to study together getting ready for a test, great. Only if help were still being given after I had handed out the questions would the help become improper. But if two people work together on a newspaper research exercise, and turn in papers that are very similar because each has been getting a lot of help from the other in writing it, both will be in deep trouble. If one of your fellow students asks to look at your paper, to get a better idea of how the assignment was to be done, please say no. They should come to me to ask for further explanations of the assignment, rather than looking at a completed paper to give them their clues. If too papers are so similar it is obvious the author of one must have seen the other, I will file charges.
Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should make an appointment with Student Accessibility Serivces as soon as possible.
Clemson University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, veteran's status, genetic information or protected activity (e.g., opposition to prohibited discrimination or participation in any complaint process, etc.) in employment, educational programs and activities, admissions and financial aid. This includes a prohibition against sexual harassment and sexual violence as mandated by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This policy is located at http://www.clemson.edu/campus-life/campus-services/access/title-ix/. Mr. Jerry Knighton is the Clemson University Title IX Coordinator. He also is the Director of Access and Equity. His office is located at 111 Holtzendorff Hall, 864.656.3181 (voice) or 864.565.0899 (TDD).
Under normal circumstances, my policy is: If you do not do written work on time, then with any reasonable excuse you will be able to make it up. However, you will be marked off for lateness. You will be marked off even if your excuse is very, very good. You can avoid a penalty only if I have told you before the work was due that you would be able to do it late without penalty. 40-point short papers will not usually be accepted at all (you just get an F) if they are more than seven days late.
Any quiz or test that was scheduled for a class that was cancelled due to inclement weather will be given at the next class meeting unless students are told otherwise by the instructor. Any assignment that was due on a day when class was cancelled because of weather will be due on the next day the class meets, unless students are told otherwise by the instructor. Any extension or postponement of a quiz, test, or assignment must be granted by the instructor via email or Blackboard within 24 hours of the weather related cancellation.
There may also be reading students do online.
The following course outline is tentative. It may be modified slightly by class request, or as a result of unexpected events.
August 23: Introduction to the course.
August 25, 28: The background to Chinese civilization. Read Moise, pp. 1-28.
August 30: read Spence, The Death of Woman Wang, both the Preface (pp. xi-xv) and pp. 1-44 of the main body of the book, to get a picture of local society in late traditional China. Be prepared to discuss this material in class.
September 1: read Spence, The Death of Woman Wang, pp. 44-98. Be prepared to discuss this material in class.
September 4: read Spence, The Death of Woman Wang, pp. 99-139.
Please turn in your essay on Canvas. MS Word preferred.
September 8: : Moise, pp. 29-38: Foreign pressure and internal weakness.
September 11: Moise, pp, 38-53: The collapse of the Qing Dynasty
September 13: Communism. QUIZ
September 15: Moise, pp. 54-68. The Guomindang (Nationalist Party) and the Chinese Communist Party allied for a few years, but split in 1927.
September 18, 20: Moise, pp. 69-74, and Seybolt, pp. xi-xxiv and 1-23. The Guomindang from 1927 to 1937.
September 22: Moise, pp. 74-91: The Chinese Communist Party from 1927 to 1937; the growth of Japanese power in China.
September 25: Moise, pp. 92-105, and Seybolt, pp. 23-30: World War II in China.
September 27: Moise, pp. 105-121. The final civil war in China led to Communist victory in 1949.
Write an essay of about two pages, typed double spaced, or more, about what you found. Say what
there was in the articles that you found interesting or surprising. Evaluate them for
bias: is there anything that leads you to distrust them, or to think that the facts may
be being distorted to fit the author's viewpoint? Do they use loaded language? Notice
the source; did the reporter say that something was true, or only that somebody else had
said it was true? If you say there is bias, please make it clear exactly what was said,
that you consider biased.
I want to see one essay based on several articles, not a string of essentially separate
mini-essays, each based on a single article. Try to select articles that will allow
you to have some unifying themes in your essay.
Issues you might want to notice:
Notice what it is you are reading. A news article is supposed to present an objective account of events; it
is not supposed to push a particular viewpoint. An editorial (which represents the opinions of the
newspaper) or an opinion column by an individual, or a letter to the editor, can legitimately push a
particular viewpoint, but they still should be fair in the way they present evidence for that viewpoint.
Notice whose opinions you are reading. Was the item written by a journalist? If not, mention what sort of person the author was. If it was written
by a journalist, was the journalist presenting his/her own opinions, or summarizing or quoting other people's statements? If a journalist was
summarizing or quoting other people's statements, did the journalist show signs of believing those statements, or doubting them, or did the journalist
not show any signs one way or the other?
Please give source notes. I want to be able to tell in each section of your paper
which article or articles you are discussing in that section. It is not enough to have
a list at the end, if I can't tell as I read the paper which article you are discussing
where. Source notes must give page numbers.
I don't care about the format of source notes as long as they tell me what I need to
know. Any format that allows me easily to discern the title of the
article, the author's name if that was given (a lot of articles are published without
the author's name being given), the title of the publication, and the date and page, is OK. If you found an
article on the Internet, say so, and say where, but also give me all the information
I requested about the original publication of the article.
There is no requirement that you use The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the
Washington Post, or The Times of London,
but those papers have the advantage that you can access them online through the
Clemson
Library's Databases Page. If you want to use newspapers other than those, your best bet
is to go to the Microfilm Reading Room on level 2 of the Library, which has quite a few newspapers
on microfilm. If you want to use weekly newsmagazines, the easiest way is to use the ones that have been
bound into volumes, on the shelves on level 1 of the library.
Please turn your paper in on Canvas. MS Word preferred.
September 29: Read Seybolt, pp. 31-39, and Moise, pp. 122-131, on land reform and the establishment of Communist control in China.
October 2: Moise, 131-144, and Seybolt, 41-49: The early years of the People's Republic of China.
October 4, 6: Moise, 145-164, and Seybolt, 51-64: The Great Leap Forward and the Split between China nad the Soviet Union.
October 9: TEST
October 11, 13: The Cultural Revolution: Moise, 165-196, and Seybolt, 65-75
No CLASS October 16
October 18: The Cultural Revolution: aftermath: Shen Tong, chapter 1
October 20: Notice what it is you are reading. A news article is supposed to present an objective account of events; it
is not supposed to push a particular viewpoint. An editorial (which represents the opinions of the
newspaper) or an opinion column by an individual, or a letter to the editor, can legitimately push a
particular viewpoint, but they still should be fair in the way they present evidence for that viewpoint.
Notice whose opinions you are reading. Was the item written by a journalist? If not, mention what sort of person the author was. If it was written
by a journalist, was the journalist presenting his/her own opinions, or summarizing or quoting other people's statements? If a journalist was
summarizing or quoting other people's statements, did the journalist show signs of believing those statements, or doubting them, or did the journalist
not show any signs one way or the other?
Please give source notes. I want to be able to tell in each section of your paper
which article or articles you are discussing in that section. It is not enough to have
a list at the end, if I can't tell as I read the paper which article you are discussing
where. Source notes must give page numbers.
I don't care about the format of source notes as long as they tell me what I need to
know. Any format that allows me easily to discern the title of the
article, the author's name if that was given (a lot of articles are published without
the author's name being given), the title of the publication, and the date and page, is OK. If you found an
article on the Internet, say so, and say where, but also give me all the information
I requested about the original publication of the article.
There is no requirement that you use The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the
Washington Post, or The Times of London,
but those papers have the advantage that you can access them online through the
Clemson
Library's Databases Page. If you want to use newspapers other than those, your best bet
is to go to the Microfilm Reading Room on level 2 of the Library, which has quite a few newspapers
on microfilm. If you want to use weekly newsmagazines, the easiest way is to use the ones that have been
bound into volumes, on the shelves on level 1 of the library.
Please turn in your essay on Canvas. MS Word preferred.
October 23: The Death of Mao: Moise, pp. 197-219
October 25: After Mao: Shen Tong, chapter 2
October 27: China under Deng Xiaoping: Shen Tong, chapter 3
October 30: China under Deng Xiaoping, continued: Shen Tong, chapter 4
November 1: Deng Xiaoping's reforms, continued: Seybolt, chapters 7-8
November 3: The Background to Tiananmen: chapter 5
November 6: The Background to Tiananmen, continued: Moise, pp. 220-224, and Shen Tong, chapter 6
November 8: The beginning of Tiananmen: Moise, pp. 224-229, and Shen Tong, pp. 165-195
November 10: Tiananmen continued: Shen Tong, pp. 196-228
November 13: Tiananmen continued: Shen Tong, pp. 228-267
November 15: Tiananmen continued: Shen Tong, pp. 267-301
November 17: The massacre. Shen Tong, pp. 302-334
November 20: China after Tiananmen.: Moise, pp. 229-239, and Shen Tong, pp. vii-xviii and Epilogue
THANKSGIVING: NO CLASS NOVEMBER 22, 24
November 27: Houhua Village: Seybolt, chapter 9
November 29, December 1: The Boom Years: Moise, pp. 241-268
December 4, 6, 8: China today, and review.
I want to see one essay based on several articles, not a string of essentially separate
mini-essays, each based on a single article. Try to select articles that will give you something interesting to say, and that will allow
you to have some unifying themes in your essay.
Please give source notes. I want to be able to tell in each section of your paper
which article or articles you are discussing in that section. It is not enough to have
a list at the end, if I can't tell as I read the paper which article you are discussing
where. Source notes must give page numbers.
I don't care about the format of source notes as long as they tell me what I need to
know. Any format that allows me easily to discern the title of the
article, the author's name if that was given (a lot of articles are published without
the author's name being given), the title of the publication, and the date and page, is OK.
If you get articles off the Internet, you must both tell me about the
original publication of the article and tell me where you found it. For example,
Please turn your essay in on Canvas. MS Word preferred.
Final exam: Tuesday, December 12, 8:00 a.m.
Other Links
Web site of the Perry-Castaneda
Library Map Collection at the University of Texas
Clemson University Academic Support Center,
which provides help and tutoring for students encountering academic problems. It does
not, however, have tutors specifically for History courses.
Recently we have shifted to a new system called pinyin, for
the names of both people and places.
The pinyin system is a bit more rational,
but there are still some cases in which the sound
indicated by the letters is not what the average English
speaker would guess (see Vohra, page xi).
* * * The following table relates the spelling
and the pronunciation for the sounds most likely to cause confusion:
Newspaper research exercise due September 27. Go to the library or check online to see what one or two newspapers
or newsmagazines were saying about the civil war in China between January and June 1949.
Use at least four articles. Don't just use the first four articles you see that fit the assignment. Search around a bit, and find articles
that allow you to say something interesting about their content and/or tone. You would probably be better off not using very short articles;
they are seldom very interesting.
--By this time, Chiang Kai-shek's army was suffereing devastiating defeats. It was obviously losing the war. Did the reporters say
that Chiang was losing the war? If not, do you think it was because they didn't know, or because they were trying not to seem hostile to Chiang?
--When Chiang's army suffered huge defeats, why did people think this had happened?
--What, if anything, did people think the United States should be doing about the situation?
Second newspaper research exercise. Go to the library or online, and check to see what one or two newspapers
or newsmagazines were saying about China in September and/or October 1976. Use at least four articles, editorials, or opinion pieces. Write an essay of
about two pages (typed double spaced), or more, about what you found. Say what
there was in the articles that you found interesting or surprising. Evaluate them for
bias: is there anything that leads you to distrust them, or to think that the facts may
be being distorted to fit the author's viewpoint? Do they use loaded language? Notice
the source; did the reporter say that something was true, or only that somebody else had
said it was true? If you say there is bias, please make it clear exactly what was said,
that you consider biased.
I want to see one essay based on several articles, not a string of essentially separate
mini-essays, each based on a single article. Don't just use the first four articles you see that fit the assignment. Search around a bit, and find articles
about which you have something interesting to say, and that will allow
you to have some unifying themes in your essay.
>>> Minshin Pei,
"Crony Communism in China",
New York Times, October 17, 2014.
>>> Edward Wong,
"In New China, 'Hostile' West is
Still Derided",
New York Times, November 12, 2014.
>>> Dan Levin,
"Top Chinese Official Is Ousted
From Communist Party",
New York Times, July 20, 2015.
>>> Edward Wong,
"China Uses 'Picking Quarrels'
Charge to Cast a Wider Net Online",
New York Times, July 26, 2015.
>>> Sebastian Heilmann,
"Beijing's Brittle Strength;
Under Xi Jinping, China is becoming too rigid to address its economic and political problems",
Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2016.
>>> "Sri Lanka Sells Port Holding
to Beijing", Wall Street Journal, December 9, 2016.
>>> Tonio Andrade,
"Be careful confronting China:
Tensions are likely to increase after a ruling against Beijing on the South China Sea",
Washington Post, July 12, 2016.
>>> Edward Wong,
"Xi Again
Defends China's Claim to South China Sea Islands",
New York Times, November 7, 2015.
>>> Jane Perlez,
"U.S. Challenges China's
Claim of Islands With Maritime Operation",
New York Times, January 30, 2016.
>>> Michael Forsythe,
"China Deployed Missiles on Disputed Island,
U.S. Says", New York Times, February 16, 2016.
>>> Other reading possibly to be added later, from the Internet
Third newspaper research exercise due December 4. Look at at least four
articles published in 2017. Either all should deal with China's internal affairs,
or else all your articles should deal with China's foreign relations. Write an essay of about two pages
(typed double spaced), or more, about what you found. Say what
there was in the articles that you found interesting or surprising. Evaluate them for
bias. Was the author favorable or unfavorable to the government of China, or isn't there
any real indication of the author's attitude one way or the other?
Is there anything that leads you to distrust the articles, or to think that the facts may
be being distorted to fit the author's viewpoint? Do they use loaded language? Notice
the source; did the reporter say that something was true, or only that somebody else had
said it was true? If you say there is bias, please make it clear exactly what was said,
that you consider biased. Please make sure that when I read your paper I will always be
able to tell which things are your own opinions, and which are the opinions expressed in
the articles you read.
("A Killing Underlines Graft in China," The New York Times, April 6, 2005, page 8,
read on LexisNexis)
would be an adequate source note.
Photos Taken in China,
2002 and 2005
Beijing; Xi'an; farmland in the immediate
vicinity of Xi'an; Chongqing; the Yangzi River from Chongqing downstream to
Yichang; farmland in Hubei province, along the road from Yichang to
Jingzhou; the city of Jingzhou; Shanghai; Guiyang and vicinity in Guizhou province; Lijiang and vicinity
in Yunnan province; Lhasa and vicinity in Tibet.
Writing Chinese names
This course will emphasize general policies more than the
individuals who made those policies. This is fortunate for
readers not already familiar with China, since variations
in the way Chinese names are spelled in English, and cases in
which none of the spellings seem to the English speaker to match
the way the name is actually pronounced,
can cause considerable confusion.
A few years ago the English-speaking world used what was called the
"Wade-Giles" system to write most Chinese names.
In the Wade-Giles system the pronunciation of consonants often shifted
drastically depending on the presence or absence of an apostrophe.
Thus the word pronounced like "bye" was written pai, while
the word pronounced like "pie" was written p'ai.
The names of provinces and major cities, however, were written in a
different system.
Sometimes the same sound was written in two different ways
depending on whether it appeared in the name of a person or a place, and
neither spelling corresponded to the way it was actually pronounced.
Pinyin
a
|
Wade-Giles
a
|
Pronunciation
a as in papa
|
The names that will appear most often in pinyin
in this course include:
--Beijing, pronounced "bay-jeeng", the capital of China.
In Wade-Giles it would have been Pei-ching, but it was traditionally
written Peking.
--Deng Xiaoping, pronounced "Dung Shyao-peeng". A leading member
of the "moderate" wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he was
twice purged by leftist radicals, but returned to become the most powerful figure in the
Party after Mao Zedong died in 1976. Formerly written Teng Hsiao-p'ing.
--Guangdong, pronounced "Guahng-dong", the south coast province
that was headquarters for the Guomindang and the CCP in the mid 1920's,
and is today the province where capitalism is strongest.
Formerly spelled Kwangtung.
--Guangzhou, pronounced "Guahng-joe", an important seaport, capital
of the south coast province of Guangdong. It is often called Canton.
--Guomindang, pronounced "Guo-meen-dahng", the name of the
Nationalist Party which ruled China from 1927 to 1949 and still controls Taiwan. The old spelling, still in use on Taiwan, is Kuomintang.
--Hu Jintao, pronounced "Who Jean-tao," head of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012.
--Jiangxi, pronounced "Jyahng-shee", a province in south-central
China where the Communist Party established a base area in the early 1930's. Formerly written Kiangsi.
--Mao Zedong, pronounced "Mao (a single short syllable) Dzuh-dong", head of the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 to 1976.
Formerly written Mao Tse-tung.
--Qing, pronounced "Cheeng", the Manchu dynasty which ruled the
Chinese Empire from 1644 to 1911. Formerly written Ch'ing.
--Shanghai, pronounced "Shahng-hai", the largest city in China,
on the coast near the mouth of the Yangzi River. Former spelling the same.
--Xi Jinping, pronounced She Jeen-peeng, became head of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012.
--Yanan, a city in Shaanxi province (Northwest China)
that served as headquarters for the CCP from 1937 to 1947. Formerly written Yenan, which matches the actual pronunciation.
--Yangzi, pronounced "Yahng-dzih", the great river that flows
from west to east through the middle of China. Formerly
written Yangtse. Also called the Chang Jiang (formerly spelled Ch'ang Chiang).
--Zhao Ziyang, pronounced "Jao Dzih-yang", became Premier of
the People's Republic of China in 1980, then General Secretary of
the Communist Party in 1987; lost his job in 1989 because he
supported the Democracy Movement.
Formerly written Chao Tzu-yang.
--Zhou Enlai, pronounced "Joe En-lie", Chinese Premier
until his death in 1976. A moderate leader who managed to stay
on good terms with Mao Zedong all through the Cultural Revolution.
Formerly written Chou En-lai.
There are a few people and places that have long been known in the west not simply by a different spelling, but by a significantly different name from that given them in modern standard Chinese. To avoid excessive confusion, I will use the familiar English names for Hong Kong, Tibet, and Manchuria, for the Guomindang Party leaders Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, and for the philosophers Confucius and Mencius, rather than giving the names currently used in China (Xianggang, Xizang, Dongbei, Sun Zhongshan, Jiang Jieshi, Kongzi, and Mengzi).
Chinese names almost always consist of a one-syllable surname, which comes first, and is followed by a two-syllable personal name. Thus Mao Anying was the son of Mao Zedong, and both of them would be found, in an alphabetical index, listed under "Mao".
China proper, the area that has for centuries had a dense population of ethnic Chinese, can be divided into three major regions:
I. North China.
The most conspicuous feature of this region is the Yellow River, or Huang He (formerly
spelled Huang Ho).
It follows a wide, looping path through the arid hills
of the Northwest, and finally crosses the densely populated
North China Plain
(largely created by the silt it has laid down) to reach the sea.
It is not navigable, and
it is very difficult to control; it lays down so much silt
that the bed of the river tends to rise with the passage of time,
and the water must be kept in its course by high dikes on either side.
Eventually, the bed of the river may rise until it is considerably
higher than the surrounding countryside.
When the dikes break and the river flows down onto the
lands around it, the task of putting it back in its elevated channel
is difficult, sometimes impossible. Thousands die in the resulting
floods. Three times in the past 200 years the river has changed its course
very drastically, with the point at which it flows into the sea
being altered by hundreds of miles.
The area along the Yellow river is the original home of
Chinese civilization. The soil is relatively rich, but harsh winters and sparse rainfall
limit agricultural production.
II. Central China. The dominant feature is the Yangzi River, which is navigable far into the interior. The provinces along the Yangzi and its tributaries form the most populous region of China.
III. South China has no single unifying feature; it is cut up by a number of small mountain ranges. However, despite the uneven terrain, its generous rainfall and mild climate have made possible a productive agriculture that supports a large population.
In addition, there are peripheral areas which have not been inhabited by many ethnic Chinese for most of history, but which have been controlled by the Chinese government when that government was strong. The main ones are:
IV. Manchuria, to the northeast of North China. This was a fringe area for the Chinese Empire for most of its history, but a flood of Chinese settlers in modern times has made it essentially Chinese today. The principal unifying feature in during the 20th century was not natural but manmade: the South Manchurian Railway, running north from the port of Dalian (Dairen) through the major cities of Manchuria. This region was long one of the main centers of Chinese industry, though its importance has declined recently.
V. Mongolia to the north of China has always been too arid to support a dense population. It was under the control of the Chinese government for a considerable time, but early in the twentieth century Outer Mongolia became a separate country, the Mongolian People's Republic, under strong Russian influence. Inner Mongolia has remained part of China.
VI. Xinjiang (Sinkiang), the northern part of what appears on the map as far-western China, is mostly mountain or desert, with a few areas of fertile oases. The indigenous population, quite sparse, was traditionally made up mostly of Muslims.
VII. Tibet, the southern part of what appears on the map as far-western China, is mountainous and inaccessible; the population is very sparse. Of all the regions listed, this is the one where Chinese influence has traditionally been the weakest.
Revised December 4, 2017.