Advanced Student's Co-Curricular
& Independent Study Syllabus
EAST ASIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
Instructor: Thomas L. Buck, Ph.D.
Email: tbuck@marshallschool.org
Website: www.tbuck.us
COURSE OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES:
China was the center of the East Asian cultural order because it came up
with a set of answers to questions about how individuals, families and societies
should live, and these answers were popular enough that they were copied in
various forms all over East Asia. The first part of the course will thus focus
on the evolution of the Chinese system and its adaptation elsewhere, especially
Japan. The second part of the course will focus on the attempts to modernize
East Asia, why they have or have not succeeded, and the costs that came with
them.
Books on Reserve in Dr. Buck's Classroom:
It is very important that you keep up with the readings. This is a class that
moves through a lot of history, much of it history that you will not be very
familiar with. If you don't keep up you will not know what is going on. Also
there may be quizzes on the readings.
Unit
1: Early China: Millet, oracle bones, and crossbows
Geography of China, Shang government and religion and the origins of a "Chinese"
state. The rise of the centralized state and the experts.
- Important
Questions
- Readings:
- Schirokauer, Ch. 1
- Half of the Book of Songs (You can read the first half and then
the second half, or read it thematically following Waley's themes. In
any case you should read about half of it this first Unit.)
- Book of
Songs assignment
Unit
2: Songs and the gentleman
Confucius and the Classics. Self-cultivation, social order and cosmic harmony.
Forms of debate and sources of ideas.
Unit 3:
Empire and the larger world
Legalism and the Qin unification. The Emperor system of the Qin and Han, and
its ideological justification. Buddhism and the Buddhist world
Unit
4: Buddhism and the Buddhist world: The buddha, the dharma and the sangha
Fundamentals of Buddhism. Buddhism in China. The age of division and China's
relations with the outside world. Monasteries and missionaries.
Unit 5:
China in the Tang and Song
Re-unification and a new imperial system. The Glory of the Tang. Revolutionary
changes in the society and economy. The beginning of the Late Imperial period.
Unit 6:
Yamato and Heian
The Yamato uji. Prince Shotoku and the reformers. The Heian court and
the sources of its authority. Japanese culture and the rise of the bushi.
Unit
7: Warrior Japan
Bushi, peasants and courtiers. Decline of the Shoguns, rise of the Daimyo
and the creation of the samurai class. The Tokugawa and centralized feudalism.
Unit
8: Early Modern East Asia
Economic development and social chaos. Tokugawa "centralized feudalism" and Qing
imperium. Growth, control, and tension.
Unit
9: Empire and trade
European weakness and empires. Pepper and Gongsi. Macao, Manila and the
silver trade.
Mid-Term
Unit
10: China collapses
The Opium Wars. Missionaries and Treaty Ports. Self Strengthening and the Revolution
of 1911
Unit 11:
Japan from Meiji to Marco Polo bridge
Restoration or revolution? Reason's for Japan's political success. The economic
and social transformation of Japan. Militarism and the road to the Pacific War.
Unit
12: The Pacific War and a new Asia
The Japanese Empire and the GEACPS. The League of Nations and Manchuguo. War
in China, Japan and the rest of Asia. The home fronts. Rape of Nanjing, firebombs
and atom bombs.
Unit 13:
China in Revolution
Great Leap and Cultural Revolution. Reform and China's place in the world.
Unit
14: Postwar Japan and the Pacific rim
The aftermath of war. Export-led growth in postwar Japan. Rise of the Pacific
Rim or the Confucian world.
Unit 15 - Inclass Projects (see handouts & Syllabus)
Final Exam
Grades:
- Book of Songs paper 150 points
- Other paper 150 points
- Mid-term and Final 250 points each
- Quizzes 200 points