21-510-297 Sec 01 (Index #35593) Fall 2011 Far Eastern History I: To 1600 Instructor: Benno Weiner Office: Conklin Hall #326 Office Hours: Wednesday 2:30-3:30 Email: brweiner@andromeda.rutgers.edu Lecture Time: M: 2:30-3:50 / W: 1:00-22:20 Location: Conklin Hall #455 Course Description: This course is an introduction to the major issues in East Asian Civilization from prehistory through roughly 1600. While the focus is on China, Japan and Korea, we also pay attention to Inner Asian peoples and traditions, in particular Mongolia and Tibet. In addition to establishing the major historical chronology of the region, particular consideration will be paid to state building, philosophical/religious traditions (including Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), material culture, the role of women, economic development, and social change. Each state will be examined not just in the context of its own historical development, but also as part of an East Asian civilizational zone and as an integrated component in a broader Eurasian landmass. Throughout the course we rely heavily on primary sources in translation to both illuminate important issues and to discuss the use of primary documents in the construction of history. Requirements and Grading: Attendance: Regular classroom attendance is extremely important. Students are required to bring a 3x5 index card to each class. During each class, students must write a short comment or question (or two) directly relating to that day s lecture. The cards will be turned in at the end of class. Each unexcused absence after the third will result in a 5-Point deduction from the student s OVERALL grade. Any combination of arriving late or leaving early three times equals one absence. Also, any student who misses eight or more classes through any combination of excused and unexcused absences will not earn credit for this class. Such students should withdraw from the course. Class Participation: 10% The course has two primary reading elements: The textbook- due each Monday, and primary source material- due each Wednesday. Students are required to complete the readings assigned for each lecture ahead of time and actively participate in classroom discussions by asking pertinent questions or making substantive comments. Sleeping in class, surfing the internet, using cell phones etc will negatively affect your score. Primary Source Responses: 10% Students are required to write a short response (three to five sentences) to the weekly primary source materials based on question/s presented by the instructor. Responses should be well organized and written (university level) and reflect a serious engagement with the primary source
material. Responses must be posted to the course s Blackboard by 10 am each Wednesday. Late responses will not receive credit. Students will not be penalized for missing one response during the semester. We will begin each Wednesday s class by discussing the primary materials and your responses to them. Writing Assignments: 20% There is no formal research paper assigned for this class. Instead you are asked to submit four short writing assignments based on your readings (textbook and primary material) and lectures. The assignments should be 2-3 typed pages (double-spaced). The topics will be assigned the week before they are due. Grades will be based on the overall effectiveness of your argument and engagement with the material as well as the quality of your writing In addition there will be a map test (9/26) which will count toward this grading component. Midterm Exam: 25% The midterm, consisting of IDs and short essays, will be given in class on October 24. A study guide will be provided. Final Exam: 35% The final exam will be given on Monday, December 19 from 3-6pm. It will be cumulative, although the emphasis will be on the material since the midterm. A study guide will be provided. Policy on Academic Integrity: The instructor, Rutgers University and all of academia take academic honesty extremely seriously. Violations of the university s academic integrity policy will be prosecuted according to the university s guidelines. If you use someone else s work without proper citation (ie. plagiarize) or otherwise fail to live up to the standards of academic honesty, you will be putting your academic career in jeopardy. If you are unsure of when and how to cite another author s work (including internet sources), please contact the instructor. In order to receive credit for the course, students must sign the academic integrity statement found on Blackboard. The university s policy on academic honesty can be found here: http://history.newark.rutgers.edu/index.php?content=rn_integrity. Required Course Books: Available for purchase at the campus bookstore. Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais, East Asia: A Cultural, Social and Political History, Volume I: To 1800, 2 nd Edition, Wadsworth, 2009. ISBN-10 0-5470-0539-3 *There may be various options to purchase the textbook as an ebook or as a rental. See http://www.coursesmart.com/ir/2894309/0547005393 and http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/isbn/9780547005393?cid=apl1 *Please note: if you plan on taking the second half of this course in the spring you may want to purchase the single volume textbook. ISBN-10: 0-547-00534-2 Primary sources and additional readings will be made available through Blackboard.
Scheduled Lectures and Assigned Readings (all assignments are subject to change) Week 1: Introduction and Identifying East Asia 9/5: LABOR DAY- NO CLASS!! 9/7: Class Requirements and Locating Far East Asia **9/8 (Thursday): Imperial Antiquity?: Prehistory and China in the Bronze Age Text: Ebrey et al, The Prehistory of East Asia and Chapter 1 Primary Source: Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty Web Resource: http://etcweb.princeton.edu/asianart/timeperiod_china.jsp?ctry=china&pd=neolithic **(Please note the Thursday class time) Week 2: China in the Age of Philosophers and Warring States (9/12-14) Text: Ebrey Chapter 2 Primary Source: Selections from The Analects of Confucius, (Confucianism) Zhuangzi (Daoism) and Han Feizi (Legalism) Web Resource: (First Emperor) http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2001/11/ancientchina/hessler-text *Assignment #1 Due Monday 9/19 Week 3: Founding the Bureaucratic Empire: The Qin and Han Dynasties (9/19-21) Text: Ebrey Chapter 3 Primary Sources: The Debate on Salt and Iron, The Records of the Grand Historian, Dong Zhongshu, The Responsibilities of Rulership, and Ban Zhao, Admonitions for Women Week 4: Disunity and Reconsolidation: The Spread of Buddhism and Mid-Imperial Cosmopolitanism (9/26-28) *Map Test Monday 9/26 Text: Ebrey, Connections Buddhism in India and its Spread Along the Silk Road, Chapter 4 and 5 Primary Sources: The Examination System, Mouzi: Disposing of Error and Poems of Li Bai, Tang Annals on Tibet (excerpts) Web Resources: (Buddhism) http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/buddhism/index.htm Week 5: Early Korea: The Three Kingdoms and Silla (10/3-5) Text: Ebrey, Connections Cultural Contact Across Eurasia and Chapter 6 Primary Sources: Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians and Silla Buddhism Web Resource: (Silla Tombs) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sila/hd_sila.htm
Week 6: Early Japan: Creation of the Centralized State and the Age of Kingly Rule (10/10-12) Text: Ebrey: Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 Primary Sources: The Constitution of Prince Shotoku,, Reform Edict of Taika and The Tale of Genji (Chapter 4) Web Resource: (Tale of Genji) http://webworld.unesco.org/genji/en/index.shtml *Assignment #2 Due Monday (10/17) Week 7: China among Equals: The Neo-Confucian Revival and the Conquest Dynasties (10/17-19) Text: Ebrey: Chapter 8 and Making Comparisons: Neo-Confucianism p.292 Primary Sources: The Problems of Women, Wang Anshi, Memorial on the Crop Loan Measures, The Great Learning and Zhu Xi s Preface to the Great Learning Web Resources: (Song Dynasty) http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/ Week 8: Midterms, Mongols and other Scary Things (10/24-26) 10/24 Midterm Examination (in-class) 10/26: The Mongol Empire and the Birth of Eurasia? Text: Ebrey: Connections The Mongols Supplemental: Daniel Waugh, Pax Mongolica Sources: Secret History of the Mongols Web Resource: (Mongol Empire) http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/ Week 9: Korea in Northeast Asia: The Koryo Dynasty and the Mongol Conquest (10/31-11/2) Text: Ebrey Chapter 10 Primary Sources: Inheritance of Slaves, and TBD Week 10: Emperors, Khans and Lamas: China under Mongol Rule and the Birth of Inner Asia? (11/14-16) Text: Ebrey Chapter 12 Supplemental: Lopez, Donald, Tibetan Buddhism Primary Sources: The Travels of Marco Polo (excerpts), The Examination Debate under Kubilai, and Phakpa Lama The Elucidation of Knowledge (aka Prince Jingim s Textbook on Tibetan Buddhism ) *Assignment #3 Due Monday 11/7 Week 11: Kamakura Japan and the Age of Warrior Rule (11/7-9) Text: Ebrey Chapter 11 Primary Sources: Nichiren Rectification for the Peace of the Nation, Esei, The Propagation of Zen for the Protection of the State, How to Practice Buddhism and Documents of the Kamakura Bakufu Web Resources: (Mongol Naval Invasion) http://www.bowdoin.edu/mongol-scrolls/
Week 12: Japan In Transition: The Ashikaga Shogunate and the Rise of the Daimyo (11/21) Text: Ebrey: Chapter 13 Primary Sources: The Kenmu Code and Precepts of the Warrior Houses 11/23: Thanksgiving!!! No Class Week 13: Choson Korea: Neo-Confucian Rule and the Rise of East Asia? (11/28-30) Text: Ebrey Chapter 15 Primary Sources: The Position of Women, The Spread of Neo-Confucianism, Philosophical Rebuttal of Buddhism and Daoism, Anti-Buddhist Memorial and On Land Week 14: China at the Center: The Ming Dynasty and the Rise of Far East Asia? (12/5-12/7) Text: Ebrey Chapter 14 Primary Sources: Song Maocheng, The Tail of the Ungrateful Lover, Empress Xu, Instructions for the Inner Chambers, Li Kun, Preface to Models of the Inner Quarters and Selections from the Twenty-four Exemplars of Filial Piety *Assignment #4 Due Monday 12/12 Week 15: REVIEW: East Asia on the Eve of European Ascendancy: Thinking about East Asia before it was East or Asia (12/12) Final Examination- Monday, December 19: 3-6 PM