教學大綱 Syllabus

每周課程進度與作業要求 Course Schedule & Requirements

Course outline: please complete reading before class

Outline/readings subject to change

 

1– February 16: Introduction to the course/Ancient and Medieval Visions of China

– Colin Mackerras, Western Images of China [abbreviated Western Images hereafter], chapters 1 & 2

 

2 – February 23: Jesuits, Philosophes, and Chinoiserie

– François Quesnay, “Le despotisme de la Chine” (1767)

– ‘War and Empire: Images of Battle during the Qianlong Reign,’ in Petra Chu and Ding Ning eds., Qing Encounters: Artistic Exchanges between China and the West, pp. 158-172.

 

3 – March 2: Changing Fashions: Nineteenth-Century Images 

– Macartney's “Observations on China” (1794)

– Rev. Arthur Smith, Chinese Characteristics (1894) excerpts

 

4 – March 9: Western Images of Early Republican China

– Herge, Tintin: Blue Lotus (1936)

– Tobias Grey, “What Tintin Taught Europeans About China,” Wall Street Journal (December 25, 2020)

– Eliot Janeway, “Japan’s Partner: Japanese Dependence Upon the United States,” Harper’s Magazine (June           1938)

– “The Sack of Nanjing,” Reader’s Digest (June 1938)

– “We were in Nanjing,” Reader’s Digest (October 1938)

 

5 – March 16: Early Western Images of Taiwan; Psalmanazar’s Fraud

– George Psalmanazar, Description of Formosa (1704-5) http://www.romanization.com/books/psalmanazaar/index.html

 

6 – March 23: Edgar Snow’s Red Star over China

– Snow, Red Star over China (1938) (excerpts)

 

7 – March 30: Allies: China and World War II

– Time and Life magazine articles

– Qian Suoqiao, “Representing China: Lin Yutang vs. American "China Hands" in the 1940s,” The Journal of American-East Asian Relations, Vol. 17 (October 2010)

– Video: “Why We Fight: The Battle of China” (Frank Capra, 1944)

 

8 – April 6: The Civil War and Communist Takeover of China

– Derk Bodde, Peking Diary (1950) excerpts

– Edgar Snow, The Other Side of the River: Red China Today (1961) excerpts

 

9 – April 13: The Cultural Revolution and the West

– Jann Myrdal, “China: The Revolution Continued” (1970)

– Lorenz Stucki, “Behind the Great Wall: An Appraisal of Mao's China” (1965)

– Felix Greene, “Awakened China: The Country Americans Don't Know” (1961)

– Paul Hollander, Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba 1928-1978 (1981) excerpts

 

10 – April 20:  The West and Mao’s Little Red Book: Mao in Western Culture

– Julia Lovell, Global Maoism (excerpts)

– Robin D.G. Kelley and Betsy Esch, “Black like Mao: Red China and Black Revolution,” Souls (Fall 1999)

 

11 – April 27: Feminism and the PRC

– Shirley MacLaine, You Can Get There from Here (1975) (excerpts)

 

12 – May 4: The US’s diplomatic opening to the PRC

– Richard Nixon, "Asia After Viet Nam,” Foreign Affairs (1967)

– Xu Guoqi, “The Sport of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” from Olympic Dreams (2008)

– James Mann, About Face: A History of America’s Curious Relationship with China from Nixon to Clinton excerpts

 

13 – May 11: Nixon in China and Aftermath

– Video (in-class): “Nixon in China (The Film)” (1972) and discussion

– “An Unacceptable Deal,” Washington Post (December 11, 1974)

– Stanley Karnow, "Changing (Mis)Conceptions of China,” Atlantic Monthly (October 1973), 73-76

– William F. Buckley Jr., “Veni, Vidi, Victus,” National Review (March 17, 1972)

– Simon Leyes, Chinese Shadows (1974) excerpts

 

14 – May 18: After-Mao: Deng Xiaoping’s opening to the World; Democratizing Taiwan

– Jay Mathews, “China, U.S. Steel Sign Contract for $1 Billion Plant,” Washington Post (January 6, 1979)

– Memorandum, Brzezinski, “We are very sexy people” (June 4, 1980)

– Edward Friedman, “Exploding the China Myth,” Washington Post (June 13, 1982)

– Harry Harding, “From China, with Disdain: New Trends in the Study of China,” Asian Survey (1982)

– Joseph Kraft, “Don’t Overrate China,” Washington Post (April 24, 1984)

– Arnold Isaacs, “Lost in the Translation: AMC’s Failed Experiment in China,” Washington Post (January 30, 1990)

– “Taiwan: The other China Changes Course,” National Geographic (1993)

– Video (in-class): “China Assignment: The 1980s” and discussion

– James Mann, About Face selections

 

15 – May 25: Western Eyes and Tiananmen Square

– Daniel Southerland, “Students Press Deng for Rapid Changes,” Washington Post (January 4, 1987)

– James Mann, About Face selections

 

16 – June 1: Post-Tiananmen Images of the PRC/China’s Rise/Beijing 2008; Images of Democratized Taiwan

– John Pomfret, “China Making Life Tougher for Foreign Firms,” Washington Post (December 19, 1998)

– Carla Hills, “Seize the Deal,” Washington Post (November 21, 1999)

– E.J. Dionne, “China: Profit and Principle,” Washington Post (September 15, 2000)

– “After the China Vote,” Washington Post (September 23, 2000)

– Nicholas Kristof, “China’s Rise Goes Beyond Gold Medals,” New York Times (August 21, 2008)

– Keith Bradsher, “Speedy Trains Transform China,” New York Times (September 23, 2013)

 

17 – June 8: China in the Movies

– Naomi Greene, From Fu Manchu to Kung Fu Panda: Images of China in American Film (excerpts)

– Phoebe Chen, “What Does Hollywood Lose When It Works with China?” Nation (2020)

 

18 – June 15: From Soft Power/“China’s Rise” to “Sharp Power”

– Joshua Ramo, “Brand China” (2007)

– “Buying love; Soft power,” Economist (March 25, 2017)

– “Sharp power; China and the West,” Economist (December 16, 2017)

– “A Chinese Mirror,” Economist (April 4, 2020)

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Evaluation Criteria: 

– 25% Reflective essay on a historical Western source on China or Taiwan. 3-4 pages, typed, single-sided, double-spaced (due 4-6). Late papers penalized 10%

 

– 50% Research essay: dealing with topic of your choosing, with consultation of instructor. ≥12 pages, single-sided, typed, double-spaced (due 6-8). Late papers penalized 10%

 

– 25% Course attendance and participation/class leadership. Completion of course reading and participation is expected.