HIST5610 China and the West

The study of history is at once a science, an art and a craft. Why? In what sense? This course answers this question with concrete case studies. Different types of historical archives will be selected, and ways with which these archives are interpreted will be demonstrated. Major themes of historical study will also be introduced. To be more specific, this course focuses on the complex process of interaction between China and the West in the 19^th century.

Learning Outcomes

 By the end of the course, students will:
*   Have enhanced awareness and curiosity of professional historical knowledge and its relevance to today’s major issues or personal concerns;
*   Have enhanced judgment to distinguish narratives from facts;
*   Have enhanced ability to practice the craft, science and art of historical research;
*   Have enhanced reading, writing, and oral expression skills.

(To be constantly revised and updated)

Lecture 01 (15 Jan): Modern China and the Metaphors of Ship; Course Introduction

* J. L. Cranmer-Byng ed., An Embassy to China: Lord Macartney’s Journal, 1793-1794 (1962), in Patrick Tuck ed., Britain and the China Trade 1635-1842 (London and New York: Routledge, 2000), vol. VIII.

* Liu E劉鶚 (1857-1909), trans. Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, The travels of Lao Can 老殘遊記 (Beijing: Chinese Literature, 1983), 16-22.

Lecture 02 (22 Jan): Western International Law
* Lin Xuezhong林學忠, Cong wanguo gongfa dao gongfa waijiao: wanqing guojifa de chuanru, quanshi yu yingyong 從萬國公法到公法外交：晚清國際法的傳入、詮釋與應用 [From international law to international law diplomacy: the introduction, interpretation and application of international law in late Qing] (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2009).

Lecture 03 (29 Jan): Globalization, Imperialism and China: IMC
* Hans van de Ven, Breaking with the Past: the Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).

Lecture 04 (05 Feb): The Case of Alcock Convention

* J.J. O’Meara ed., British Parliamentary Papers—China, Vol. 35 Correspondence Respecting the Revision of the Treaty of Tientsin 1867-83 (Irish University Press Area Studies Series. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1971).
 

NO CLASS on 12 Feb: Public holiday – Lunar New Year

Lecture 05 (19 Feb): Commercial Revolution? Industrial Development?

* Yen-p’ing Hao, The Commercial Revolution in Nineteenth-Century China: The Rise of Sino-Western Mercantile Capitalism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).

Lecture 06 (26 Feb): Late Qing Economy and Currency

* John Calvin Ferguson, “Notes on Chinese bankin system in Shanghai”, Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 37 (1906), pp. 55-82.

Lecture 07 (05 Mar): Likin and the Blackburn Report

“F. S. A. Bourne’s Section”, Report of the Mission to China of the Blackburn Chamber of Commerce 1896-97 (Blackburn: The North-East Lancashire Press Co., 1898), 1-152.

* Stanley Wright, China’s Struggle for Tariff Autonomy 1843-1938 (Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1938).

Lecture 08 (12 Mar): Nationalism
* Sun Yat-sen, trans. Pashal M. D’Elia, The Triple Demism of Sun Yat-sen (Wuchang: The Franciscan Press, 1931), 195-199.

Lecture 09 (19 Mar): Extraterritoriality

Lecture 10 (26 Mar): Semester Paper Workshop (I)

* Anthony Grafton, The Footnote: a Curious History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997).

NO CLASS on 02 Apr: Public holiday – Easter

Lecture 11 (09 Apr): Semester Paper Workshop (II)

Lecture 12 (16 Apr): Semester Paper Workshop (III)

Lecture 13 (23 Apr): Semester Paper Workshop (IV) and Conclusion

Semester Paper: 90%

Tutorial: 10%

Semester Paper

* Minimum 5,000 English words including footnotes.

* No bibliography is needed.

* To be submitted to Veriguide on or before 30 April, 2021 (one week after the last lecture). 

* Delay of submission by one day leads to deduction of 10 marks, for instance, from 90 to 80, and so forth.

* Topic of the semester paper: Hankow: a Study based on the Maritime Customs Decennial Reports 1892-1901, 1902-1911, 1912-1921

* There will be about eight zoom tutorial sessions beginning on 2021.0.29 (29 January 2021 Friday), after the lecture, from 2030 to 2115. Students are expected to attend all of them and make one oral presentation of about 10 minutes. In every tutorial about 6 students shall be presenting.

* The material for oral presentation is: Maritime Customs Decennial Reports 1892-1901, 1902-1911, 1912-1921. Every student takes turn to present assigned pages of the Decennial Reports.

* These three Decennial Reports areexactly the crucial historical document for the semester paper. So there is synergy between tutorial and semester paper. Tutorial counts for 10% of the total mark (100). Ten percent might mean little, but is vital to the writing of the semester paper. So do please make an effort to attend all the tutorial sessions.

* Tutorial schedule:

Tutorial 1: 2021.01.29 Friday 2030-2115

Tutorial 2: 2021.02.05 Friday 2030-2115

Chinese New Year holiday 2021.02.12, no class!

Tutorial 3: 2021.02.19 Friday 2030-2115

Tutorial 4: 2021.02.26 Friday 2030-2115

Tutorial 5: 2021.03.05 Friday 2030-2115

Tutorial 6: 2021.03.12 Friday 2030-2115

Tutorial 7: 2021.03.19 Friday 2030-2115

Tutorial 8: 2021.03.26 Friday 2030-2115

請注意大學有關學術著作誠信的政策和規則，及適用於犯規事例的紀律指引和程序。詳情可瀏覽網址：http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/。

學生遞交作業時，必須連同已簽署的聲明一併提交，表示他們知道有關政策、規則、指引及程序。

• 如屬小組習作，則所有組員均須簽署聲明；所有組員（不論有否簽署聲明及不論有否直接或間接撰寫有問題的內容）均須負上集體責任及受到懲處。
• 如作業以電腦製作、內容以文字為主，並經由大學「維誠」系統 (VeriGuide) 提交者，學生將作業的電子檔案上載到系統後，便會獲得收據，收據上已列明有關聲明。

未有夾附簽署妥當的聲明的作業，老師將不予批閱。

學生只須提交作業的最終版本。

學生將作業或作業的一部份用於超過一個用途（例如：同時符合兩科的要求）而沒有作出聲明會被視為未有聲明重覆使用作業。學生重覆使用其著作的措辭或某一、二句句子很常見，並可以接受，惟重覆使用全部內容則構成問題。在任何情況下，須先獲得相關老師同意方可提交作業。