HISTORY OF CHINA 1

This course is one of the mandatory taught modules within the China/Korea curricula in Lingue, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea.

The course sets out to introduce students to the main formative events of pre-imperial and imperial Chinese history, until the fall of the Ming dynasty (17th century). Goals of the course are: to provide a chronological overview of pre-imperial and imperial Chinese history; to critically address salient aspects of the macro themes concerning the socio-political, economic and cultural sphere of the empire; to analyse some aspects of the relationship between the empire and the political entities of East Asia in the pre-modern period; to acquire command of the specialized lexicon of East Asian historical research. The course therefore offers a basis for students wishing to undertake the study of aspects of the history of China and East Asia.

Knowledge and comprehension
The student will acquire a knowledge of the periodization of Chinese history, from the pre-imperial and imperial period up to the 17th century; will acquire the tools for evaluation and critical analysis of issues concerning the economic, social, political and cultural development, and will be able to identify and contextualise the main textual and material sources, and will acquire awareness of the methodology of historical research.

Ability to apply knowledge and communication skills:
- to apply the knowledge acquired to other areas and subjects covered in the study program,
- to critically analyse the complexities of other historical periods, and to make simple comparative analyses of different historical processes (in a diachronic and synchronic perspective),
- to critically process the contents of the course and make consistent analysis,
- to acquire an adequate vocabulary and to use terminology in a informed and precise way.

Learning skills
- to critically consult the reference texts,
- to conduct independent bibliography research and to use web resources (databases, digital maps, ...),
- to improve the ability to read English language sources.

No specific prerequisites are required

Early China: from prehistory to the Warring States period
The early empire: Qin and Han dynasties
The early medieval period (2nd century- 6th cent.)
The Sui-Tang empires and Central Asia
Early modern China: Northern Song and Qidan-Liao, Southern Song and Jurchen-Jin
The Mongol empire
The Ming dynasty

An updated list of reference texts and course material will be published in Moodle shortly before the beginning of the course and will be presented during the first lesson.

1) Reference manual for the chronological framework and the main historical periods (from the pre-imperial period to the Ming dynasty):

Sabattini Mario, Santangelo Paolo. Storia della Cina. Bari-Roma: Laterza, 2005. [dal capitolo I al capitolo VII]

2) Topical studies:

On the unification process and the first imperial period:
Lewis, Mark E. The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge MA, London: Harvard University Press, 2007. [Chapter 2 “A State Organized for War,” Chapter 3 “The Paradoxes of Empire,”]

On Tang-Central Asia relations :
Skaff, Jonathan K. Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580-800. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. [chapter 1: “Eastern Eurasia Geography, History and Warfare,” pp. 23-51]

On the transition from the medieval period to modernity:
Kuhn, Dieter. The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China. Cambridge MA, London: Harvard University Press, 2009. [una selezione di capitoli]

Suggested readings on the history of preimperial and imperial China:
Shelach-Lavi, Gideon. “The Son of Heaven and the Creation of a Bureaucratic Empire,” The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015), pp. 306-336.

Lewis, Mark E. China between Empire: The Northern and Southern Dynasties. Cambridge MA, London: Harvard University Press, 2009.

Lewis, Mark E. China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Cambridge MA, London: Harvard University Press, 2009. [di particolare interesse il capitolo 2 “From Foundation to Rebellion,” pp. 30-57, e capitolo 3 “Warlords and Monopolists,” pp. 58-84]

Tackett, Nicholas. The Origins of the Chinese Nation: Song China and the Forging of An East Asian World Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Vogelsang, Kai. Cina. Una storia millenaria. Torino: Einaudi, 2014.

Written exam with open-answers and multiple-choice questions

frontal lesson

written