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REVOLUTIONARY
MOVEMENTS IN MODERN CHINA
MODERNIZATION IN CHINESE HISTORY
Contemporary Chinese life reflects both retained elements of tradition and the results of the westernization and modernization processes at work over time.
Write a three part extended essay of between NINE and TWELVE pages (FIFTEEN to EIGHTEEN pages for students enrolled in HIS 574) examining this interaction as reflected in a selected arena of Chinese culture and civilization (family life, education, industrialization, religious practices, city life, popular culture, rural life, literature, art, foreign policy, international relations, the marketing system, political life, the primacy of the group, the role of women).
Your essay should reflect the chosen subject matter as impacted by this interaction during three distinct timeframes:
- at the end of the imperial era in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ...
- during the course of the attempt to establish a republic between 1911 and the late 1930's ...
- and under the influence of communism since 1949.
Limit your discussion to an appropriate, narrowly-defined and specific topic within a single field: political, economic, social, religious / philosophical or cultural. Your essay might consider this chosen topic in connection with one or more closely related fields; however, your primary focus should be restricted to one topic area within a single field so as to allow an in-depth exploration of your chosen subject.
The resulting essay should represent an evaluative estimate of the place and role of modernization and westernization in modern Chinese history, reflecting on the degree to which both continue to influence a particular aspect of life in the People's Republic of China today.
The essay must represent
an analysis and evaluation of the processes of modernization
and/or westernization at work in Chinese history; it should not represent
merely a description of the process of change but an assessment of the
meaning of that change -- how is it perceived by those involved? does
it represent one process more than the other? does one process lead to
the other? to what degree is the induced change accepted / rejected? is
the net effect positive or negative? does confusion between the two processes
have an effect?
Your first task is to select an appropriate topic for investigation. You might base your topic choice on the results of interests aroused by your responses to Journal Assignment One or through the prism provided by the lectures and discussions presented in class detailing the nature of the traditional life in China prior to the time of the Opium War (1840). Your INITIAL TOPIC CHOICE must be communicated to (and approved by) the instructor as soon as possible but no later than Friday, February 18, 2000.
By that date (Friday, February 18, 2000) you must also provide the instructor with a PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY of resources you have gathered on your topic which clearly demonstrate the availability of material sufficient to support your inquiry. Your bibliography must list a minimum of six accessible resources (two monographic books, two scholarly articles and two internet web sites among them) specific and relevant to your approved topic; if your initial inquiries do not turn up sufficient source materials, you will have to broaden, rethink or abandon your initial topic choice. In any case, you must submit an appropriate and properly formatted bibliography to the instructor no later than the due date and will be held to your chosen topic thereafter except under extraordinary circumstances (as determined by the instructor).
The FIRST PORTION of your extended essay (due no later than Monday, March 13, 2000) should discuss both the traditional characteristics of the selected element of civilization or culture you have chosen to explore and the major stress points, defining issues and responses thereto later portions of the essay will examine in detail. This portion of the essay also should define as well the specific thesis statement you plan to sustain through the remaining portions of the essay.
The SECOND PORTION of the essay (due no later than Wednesday, March 29, 2000) should explore the internal Chinese responses to issues raised by the intrusion of the West as these responses impacted on the selected element of civilization or culture you are exploring in detail. The focus in this portion of the essay should be on the one hundred year time period between the mid-nineteenth century and the emergence of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949.
The THIRD AND FINAL PART of your essay (due no later than Friday, April 21, 2000) should consider particularly the impact of Communist theory and practice on your topic of inquiry as well as an evaluation of the contemporary state of affairs as it affects your chosen area of investigation.