Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
ASAMD042A
Course Title (CB02)
History of Asian Civilization: China and Japan (to the 19th Century)
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This is an introductory history course exploring the development of Chinese and Japanese civilizations from their origins through the 18th century.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course meets a general education requirement for °®¶¹´«Ã½ College, CSU, and IGETC. It belongs on the Liberal Arts A.A. Degree. This course is UC and CSU transferable. This course provides students with an opportunity to take a non-western history class that introduces them to early Chinese and Japanese historical issues in these societies.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Formerly Statement
(ASAM D042A was formerly INTL D019A.)

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GDX°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area D - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGDYCSU GE Area D - Social SciencesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG4XIGETC Area 4 - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

(Not open to students with credit in the cross-listed course(s).)

(Also listed as HIST D019A.)

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

In-class essays

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Homework and extended projects

Field observation and field trips

Guest speakers

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Collaborative projects

Assignments

  1. Text and other readings to evaluate student ability to attain critical understanding.
  2. Written essays to evaluate student ability to analyze historical issues and synthesize facts.
  3. Book review to evaluate student ability to analyze perspectives, assumptions, and values of the author in relation to the book's contribution to the discipline.
  4. Student formulated questions for in-class discussions to evaluate student ability to identify and characterize major historical periods.

Methods of Evaluation

  1. In-class exams to evaluate student ability to identify key historical periods and characteristics.
  2. Class discussion, in small and large groups, to evaluate student ability to critically evaluate historical issues.
  3. Analytical essays to evaluate ability to discuss significant issues related to history and historiography.
  4. A final exam with essay questions discussing content from lectures and readings to evaluate the student's ability to analyze major historical events and issues.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, and James Palais. 3rd ed. "Pre-Modern East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Volume I: To 1800." Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Holcombe, Charles. A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Prescott, Anne."East Asia in the World: An Introduction." Routledge, 2015

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
De Bary, Wm. Theodore, and Irene Bloom. "Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1: From earliest Times to 1600." 2nd ed. Columbia U. Press, 2008.
De Bary, Wm. Theodore, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley. "Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 1: From Earliest Times to 1600." 2nd ed. Columbia U. Press, 2001.
De Bary, Wm. Theodore, Carol Gluck, and Arthur E. Tiedmann. "Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2 (Part 1: 1600 to 1868 and Part 2: 1868 to 2000)." 2nd ed. Columbia U. Press, 2006.
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. "Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook." 2nd Revised ed. Free Press, 1993.
Frank, Andre Gunder. "ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age." U. of California Press, 1998.
Holcombe, Charles. "Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.-A.D. 907." U. of Hawaii Press, 2001.
Hsu, Cho-yun. "China: A New Cultural History" Columbia University Press, 2012
Jansen, Marius. "Warrior Rule in Japan." Cambridge U. Press, 2008.
Katsu, Kokichi. "Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai." U. of Arizona Press, 1991.
Lee, Peter H., and Wm. Theodore de Bary. "Sources of Korean Tradition, Vol. 1: From Early Times Through the Sixteenth Century." Columbia U. Press, 1996.
Lewis, Mark Edward, and Timothy Brook. "China's Cosmopolitian Empire: The Tang Dynasty." Belknap Press of Harvard U. Press, 2009.
Lewis, Mark Edward, and Timothy Brook. "The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han." Belknap Press of Harvard U. Press, 2010.
Loewe, Michael, and Edward L. Shaughnessy. "The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C." Cambridge U. Press, 1999.
Lu, David John. "Japan: A Documentary History: The Dawn of History to the Late Tokugawa Period." M.E. Sharpe, 2005.
Mair, Victor H. "The Columbia History of Chinese Literature." Columbia U. Press, 2002.
Mungello, D.E. "The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800." 3rd ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
Murphey, Rhoads. "East Asia: A New History." 5th ed. Longman, 2009.
Pomeranz, Kenneth. "The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy." Princeton U. Press, 2001.
Ravina, Mark. "The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori." Wiley, 2005.
Seth, Michael J. "A Concise History of Korea: From the Neolithic Period Through the Nineteenth Century." Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
Shirane, Haruo. "Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600." Columbia U. Press, 2007.
Totman, Conrad. "A History of Japan." 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005.
Tsutsui, William M. "A Companion to Japanese History." Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Asia for Educators. Columbia University. 2009. An Initiative of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/
Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization. Patricia Buckley Ebrey et al. 2001. National Endowment for the Humanities, The Freeman Foundation, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation. http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Appraise the nature of historiography and Western historical scholarship on China and Japan and evaluate different underlying perspectives and assumptions.
  • Compare and contrast the origins of Chinese and Japanese civilization.
  • Compare and contrast the development of the political systems of China and Japan.
  • Appraise the influence of geography on the development of traditional economic systems, and relate the social system to the needs of a labor-intensive agricultural system.
  • Analyze the philosophical foundations underlying the Chinese and Japanese civilizations, integrating them to the political and social systems.
  • Assess the role of indigenous and foreign elements in the development of Japanese civilizations.
  • Evaluate the development of Chinese science and technology and its impact upon world civilization. Analyze the "limits to Chinese science and technology" within the context of Chinese civilization.
  • Appraise the traditional role of women in Chinese and Japanese society.

CSLOs

  • Analyze key historical issues in Pre-Modern East Asian History from remote antiquity to 1800 CE.

  • Examine and critique a sample of scholarly writing on Pre-Modern East Asian History from remote antiquity to 1800CE.

  • Identify and characterize major periods, classifications, and genre of traditional pre-modern East Asian fine arts and material arts, as they have shaped traditional East Asian aesthetics and artistic sensibilities.

Outline

  1. Appraise the nature of historiography and Western historical scholarship on China and Japan and evaluate different underlying perspectives and assumptions.
    1. Nature of historiography
      1. Written reconstruction of past
      2. Primary sources as basis
      3. Reflects interests and perspectives of historian
    2. Western historical study of China and Japan
      1. Development of Western historiography
      2. Major approaches to the study of China and Japan
      3. Asian-centered history
      4. Redefining "civilization"
  2. Compare and contrast the origins of Chinese and Japanese civilization.
    1. China
      1. Legendary origins
        1. "Great man" theory - Fu Xi, Shen Nong, Huang Di, Yao, Shun
        2. Three Dynasties: the Age of Greatness
      2. Paleolithic protohumans
        1. Lantian remains
        2. "Beijing Man"
      3. Neolithic cultures
        1. Geographic settings: North and South China
        2. Regional cultures (Cishan, Hemudu, Yangshao, Dawenkou and others)
    2. Japan
      1. Legendary origins
        1. Shinto mythology - Amaterasu, Izanagi, Izanami
        2. Emperor Jimmu
      2. Paleolithic era
      3. Neolithic era
        1. Geographic setting: Islands, mountains, the sea
        2. Jomon culture
  3. Compare and contrast the development of the political systems of China and Japan.
    1. China
      1. Shang and Zhou feudalism: 1776 BCE - 221 BCE
      2. Imperial political system
        1. Early imperial period (Qin and Han dynasties): 221 BCE - 220 CE
        2. Middle imperial period (Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties): 618 CE -1368 CE
        3. Late imperial period (Ming and Qing dynasties): 1368 CE - 1911 CE
        4. Rise of scholar gentry
        5. Examination system
    2. Japan
      1. Age of Uji and emergence of Yamato clan
      2. Imperial system during Nara and Heian period: 710 CE - 1160 CE
      3. Feudalism
        1. Kamakura period: 18885 -1334 CE
        2. Muromachi period: 1336 - 1570 CE
        3. Tokugawa period: 1605 - 1867 CE
        4. Rise of samurai class
  4. Appraise the influence of geography on the development of traditional economic systems, and relate the social system to the needs of a labor-intensive agricultural system.
    1. Geographical influences
    2. Attitudes toward nature
    3. Labor-intensive agricultural system
    4. The group as social focus
    5. Patriarchal family tradition
  5. Analyze the philosophical foundations underlying the Chinese and Japanese civilizations, integrating them to the political and social systems.
    1. Confucianism
      1. The Classics
      2. Song Neo-Confucianism
      3. Ming Neo-Confucianism
    2. Daoism
      1. Philosophical
      2. Religious
    3. Mahayana Buddhism
      1. In China
      2. In Japan
      3. In Korea
      4. In Vietnam
    4. Shintoism
      1. Religious
      2. State
    5. Other beliefs
      1. Ancestor worship
      2. Legalism
      3. Folk or popular religion
      4. Theories of the natural order
  6. Assess the role of indigenous and foreign elements in the development of Japanese civilizations.
    1. Introduction and spread of Buddhism
    2. Adoption and adaptation of Tang-era Chinese culture
    3. Exposure to Western technology, science, religion in the 16th century
    4. Early Tokugawa borrowing and adaptation of Neo-Confucian ideas
  7. Evaluate the development of Chinese science and technology and its impact upon world civilization. Analyze the "limits to Chinese science and technology" within the context of Chinese civilization.
    1. Development of Chinese science and technology
    2. Contributions to world civilization
    3. Limits of development
    4. Rethinking the industrial revolution
  8. Appraise the traditional role of women in Chinese and Japanese society.
    1. Patrilineal social values
    2. Reinforcement of Confucian social hierarchy
    3. Pragmatic realities
    4. Legal status
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