75721 - History of Modern and Contemporary China (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has acquired advanced knowledge of Chinese history, particularly concerning the modern and contemporary eras. They understand historical research methodology and can approach historiographical topics originally and independently. They can critically evaluate sources and navigate specialized bibliographies. They possess the ability to articulate and communicate the learned content and formulate valid judgments in history.

Course contents

The course covers the period from the Qing Dynasty to the early 2000s and is organized into the following sections:

1. The Last Imperial Dynasty
2. The Chinese Republic
3. Yuan Shikai and the Warlord Era
4. The Birth and Development of the Chinese Communist Movement
5. China, Japan, and the Second World War
6. The Civil War and Communist Victory
7. The People's Republic of China: Politics, Economy, and Society from 1949 to the 21st Century
8. Presentations

Readings/Bibliography

 The bibliography is valid for "attending" and "non-attending" students; however, different assessment methods are provided, as specified in the dedicated section.

 

Required readings:

1. On the late-imperial period: Vogelsang, Kai. Cina. Una storia millenaria. Torino: Einaudi, 2014 [Introduction + Qing dynasty, p. 373-450] [in biblioteca: Esami CINESE 26] or   Sabattini, Mario e Paolo Santangelo. Storia della Cina. Laterza, 2005 [introduction +  Qing dynasty p. 485 a 561] [in biblioteca: STORIA ASIA OR CINA 12].
   
2. From the Republican era to recent times: Samarani Guido, La Cina contemporanea. Dalla fine dell'Impero a oggi. Torino: Einaudi, 2017 (o edizioni precedenti) [Esami STORIA ASIA OR CINA 7]
   

 

Further readings:

• Samarani Guido e Sofia Graziani. La Cina rossa. Storia del Partito comunista cinese, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023.

• Manning, Kimberley E. The Party Family: Revolutionary Attachments and the Gendered Origins of State Power in China. London: Cornell University Press, 2023.

• Chou, Wan-yao. A New Illustrated History of Taiwan. Taipei: SMC Publishing, 2015.

• De Giorgi, Laura e Guido Samarani. Chiang Kai-shek and His Times, Venezia: Ca' Foscari Digital Press, 2017 (Open-access [https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni4/libri/978-88-6969-127-0/] ).

• Samarani, Guido. La rivoluzione cinese e la Lunga Marcia, Roma: Salerno Edizioni, 2018.

• Mittler, Barbara. A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2016.

• Pozzana, Claudia. Li Dazhao. Primavera e altri scritti. Parma: Pratiche editrice, 1994.

• Perez-Garcia, Manuel. Global History with Chinese Characteristics: Autocratic States along the Silk Road in the Decline of the Spanish and Qing Empires 1680-1796. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2020.

• Melvin, Sheila, and Jindong Cai. Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese. New York: Algora Publishing, 2004. 

• Savina, Tonio. I Rapporti Tra Cina e Stati Uniti Dagli Anni Settanta Agli Anni Duemila: Una Prospettiva Astropolitica. Studi Orientali 2. Padova, Italy: Libreriauniversitaria.it edizioni, 2020.

• Hershatter, Gail. Dangerous Pleasures: Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Shanghai. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

• Hershatter, Gail. The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China’s Collective Past. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.

• Liu, Lydia H., Rebecca E. Karl, and Dorothy Ko, eds. The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory. Columbia University Press, 2013.

• Shapiro, Judith. Mao’S War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China. New York: New Publisher, 2021.

• Fogel, Joshua A. (ed.), The Teleology of the Modern Nation-State (Japan and China), Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.

• Samarani, Guido, and Laura De Giorgi. Lontane, vicine: le relazioni fra Cina e Italia nel Novecento. Roma: Carocci, 2011.

• Graziani, Sofia. Il partito e i giovani. Storia della Lega giovanile comunista in Cina. Venezia: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina, 2013.

• Lovell, Julia. La guerra dell’oppio e la nascita della Cina moderna. Torino: Einaudi, 2022.

• Gallelli, Beatrice. La Cina di oggi in otto parole. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2021.

• Dirlik, Arif. Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution. Berkeley: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

• Schwarcz, Vera. The Chinese enlightenment : intellectuals and the legacy of the May Fourth movement of 1919, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.

• Wang Hui. China’s Twentieth Century: Revolution, Retreat and the Road to Equality. London: Verso Books, 2016.

• Franceschini, Ivan, and Christian P. Sorace. 2022. Proletarian China: A Century of Chinese Labour. London: Verso.

• Sorace, Christian P., Ivan Franceschini, Nicholas Loubere, and Australian National University Press, eds. 2019. Afterlives of Chinese Communism: Political Concepts from Mao to Xi. Canberra] Australia : [New York: ANU, Australian National University Press ; Verso Books.

• Wang Zheng. Finding Women in the State: A Socialist Feminist Revolution in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1964. University of California Press, 2017.

• Wang Zheng. Women in the Chinese Enlightenment: Oral and Textual Histories. University of California Press, 1999.

• Zhong Xueping, Zheng Wang, and Bai Di. Some of Us: Chinese Women Growing Up in the Mao Era. Rutgers University Press, 2001.

[Additional readings or thematic materials can be agreed upon with the instructor sufficiently in advance of the exam date.]

 

Class materials will be uploaded to Virtuale throughout the course.

 

Teaching methods

Lectures

 

 

Assessment methods

The methods of assessment for attending (1) and non-attending (2) students are different. Students are considered attending if they participate in at least 75% of the lessons.

In general, for both attending and non-attending students:

If the course is part of an Integrated Course (C.I.) in the student’s study plan, the oral exam for the two components of the C.I. must be taken on a single date, and the final grade will be the arithmetic average of the grades obtained in the two components.

During the academic year, exam sessions are usually scheduled in the following months/periods:

• January and February
• June and July
• September and October

For a total of at least six exam sessions per year.

 

1) Attending students: Individual oral interview with the possibility of completing part of the exam through an in-class presentation.

In any case, the exam consists of an individual oral interview with open-ended questions on:

• The two "required texts" (as indicated in the relevant texts/bibliography section), which must be studied alongside the lecture materials, including visual elements available on Virtuale.

• One text of choice from the "Further readings." The assessment of the chosen text may be conducted through an in-class presentation. Further details will be provided during the lectures. If the presentation is not given or is evaluated negatively, students must refer to the program for NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS.

The interview assesses the critical skills developed by the student, particularly about crucial historical transitions.

The following will be evaluated: Mastery of the content, ability to synthesize and analyze key concepts and historical figures, expressive skills, and appropriate language for the subject matter.
Achieving an in-depth and critical understanding of the topics covered in the lessons, good expressive skills, and using specific language will be evaluated with excellent grades. A mainly mnemonic knowledge of the subject and the ability to synthesize and analyze expressed in correct but only sometimes precise language will lead to good evaluations. Gaps in preparation and/or inappropriate language – even in the context of a minimal understanding of the exam material – will result in grades that will not exceed a passing mark. Severe gaps in preparation, inappropriate language, and an inability to navigate the materials provided during the course will be evaluated negatively.


2) Non-attending students: Individual oral interview.

The exam consists of an individual oral interview with open-ended questions on:

• The two "required texts" (as indicated in the relevant texts/bibliography section), which must be studied alongside the lecture materials, including visual elements available on Virtuale.

• One text of choice from the "Further readings."

The interview assesses the critical skills developed by the student, particularly about crucial transitions and historical figures.

The following will be evaluated: Mastery of the content, ability to synthesize and analyze key themes and concepts, expressive skills, and appropriate language for the subject matter.
Achieving an in-depth and critical understanding of the course topics, good expressive skills, and using specific language will result in excellent grades. A mainly mnemonic knowledge of the subject and the ability to synthesize and analyze expressed in correct but not always precise language will lead to good evaluations. Gaps in preparation and/or inappropriate language – even in the context of a minimal understanding of the exam material – will result in grades that will not exceed a passing mark. Severe gaps in preparation, inappropriate language, and an inability to navigate the materials provided during the course will be evaluated negatively.

 

Teaching tools

PowerPoint Presentations.

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

Office hours

See the website of Rossella Roncati