Week 10 (Nov. 1 – Nov. 7)

Table of contents

To do and Schedule of the Week

Reminder

  • The 5-15 report is due on Sunday every week; did you remember to send it in? Just a Google Doc shared with me will do!
  • Find all the Project and Time management info in the tab “Course Resources“.

Good to know

I’ve updated the Course Schedule page with an outline of the topics we’ll cover – we will even get through the entire sequence of Chinese dynasties, will you believe it?!

By Tuesday, 3:30PM

Seating plan: “Jigsaw” activity, so lots of moving around!

Everybody reads the (short) section in the General Background, then pick one of the options. You’ll be explaining what your text is about and what you learned about Tang China from it to others who did not read it (like we usually do with this format).

General background:

  • D’Haeseleer, Tineke. “Chapter 7. Tang China”. In A Companion to the Global Early Middle Ages, edited by Erik Hermans, 161-190. Arc Humanities Press Companions. Leeds: ARC Humanities Press, 2020.
  • Fun optional extra: Greg Jenner, Evelyn Mok and Tineke D’Haeseleer. “Tang Dynasty,” 5 March 2021, in You’re Dead to Me, BBC Sounds podcast, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p098l8wj.
    • Warning: we went into some detail about how eunuchs become eunuchs 😬

OPTION 1: Primary sources about/from Tang legal system

  • Wu Jing. The Essentials of Governance. Texts in the History of Political Thought. Edited and translated by Hilde De Weerdt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.
    • PDF Chapter 31/32 (selected sections)
    • Also available as Ebook via Trexler Library
    • This text is a collection of anecdotes about emperor Tang Taizong and the many (often idealized) interactions with his ministers, to be used as instruction for rulers.
  • “The Great Tang Code.” In Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1: From Earliest Times to 1600. 2nd edition, 546-552. Edited by Wm Th. de Bary and Irene Bloom. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1999. (PDF)
    • This is an extract from the opening section of the Tang legal code. The author of the preface was one of the trusted advisors of Tang Taizong.
    • How do the texts deal with the two different traditions which influenced Chinese ideas about crime, punishment and order in society: the fajia (legalists) and the ru (Confucianists) (see Week 4, option 2 and 3). Do you see other influences?
    • What parallels or contradictions do you see between the Essentials (source 1) and the principles underlying the Tang Code (source 2)?

OPTION 2: Romance and disaster at the court – Emperor Xuanzong and The Precious Consort Yang

  • Kroll, Paul. “The Flight from the Capital and the Death of the Precious Consort Yang.” In T’ang Studies 3 (1985). (PDF)
    • This is a translation from the elventh-century chronicle of the events. It’s a bit stilted but gives you an impression of the material professional historians work with, even if it is in translation.
  • “Interlude: Xuan-zong and Yang the Prized Consort”. In An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. Edited and translated by Stephen Owen, 441ff. New York: Norton, 1996. (PDF)
    • This is a selection of literary works that romanticized the relationship between the emperor and his consort. This started shortly after the rebellion of An Lushan, but continued for many centuries after.
    • Can you put together a timeline of events?
    • What makes this story speak to the imagination? Where in source 1 is the historian moving closer to the story-tellers of source 2? Can you point to specific moments in the text? How does he (try to) maintain historical neutrality?

OPTION 3: Scholar-officials after the rebellion

  • Han Yu. “Memorial Discussing the Buddha’s Bone”. In An Anthology of Chinese Literature, Beginnings to 1911. Edited and translated by Stephen Owen, 597-601. New York: W.W. Norton and Co, 1996.(PDF)
    • Polemic against the veneration of a Buddhist relic. (This nearly cost Han Yu his life- his death sentence was commuted to exile after intervention from his friends)
  • Liu Zongyuan. “Essay on Enfeoffment” (Fengjian lun). In Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1. 2nd edition. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1990.(PDF)
    • An analysis of the evolution of China’s political system, and its problems, according to an eighth-ninth century scholar-official.
  • Compare both texts with what we learned so far about Chinese history.
    • What do we learn from Han Yu’s memorial about the Tang scholars’ views on Buddhism? And about the place of Buddhism in Tang state and society?
    • Do Liu’s ideas make sense to a modern historian? Why (not)? Where can we refine his ideas, or correct them? And above all: what does his essay reveal about the way people in medieval China thought about the state?

By Thursday, 3.30PM

In-class project time: sharing is caring! You’ll be doing another round of sharing your project with each other and then spending time working on it.

Slides

Tuesday: Various things about the Tang- lots of info in presenter notes

By Friday, 11:59PM

Reflection No. 2

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 5, 11.59PM, but let me know if a later date works better for you.

WHAT: 500-800 words, for those who did not submit a reflection for a midterm grade.

We’re two-thirds through the semester (believe it or not), so time to stop and take stock once again! The main task of the reflections is to think about your work and learning in the course from a higher perspective than the immediate course contents and “nose to the grindstone” approach we have in the week-to-week rhythm with course content and work on individual projects.

Here are some questions and prompts to get you thinking about your learning and thinking, i.e.: they are “meta-cognitive” (from the ancient Greek, meaning “about/above your knowledge/thinking”, not just made up by a certain social media company!). Illustrate with concrete examples but draw out the bigger picture conclusions. Engage with at least 2 of the following prompts:

  • “When I look back at the start of the semester, and what I felt, knew and did then, and I compare to what I know, feel and do now in this course, I ….” [fill out as appropriate]
  • “Am I doing what is necessary to get beyond the surface meaning of the course materials or what I encounter in my project materials, and able to communicate effectively my ideas about complex historical ideas? What can I do to still improve in my approach to sources (primary and secondary), and to become a better historian?” (Trust me, there is is always room for improvement, even for professionals after a decades-long career.)
  • This course does not have exams, but uses a projects-based approach and sharing your learning with your fellow students instead. How does that format help or hinder you to explore new knowledge and demonstrate what you learned? What are you learning about yourself as a student through this process?
  • What are skills, techniques or insights and perspectives you learned in this course so far (contents or otherwise) that you feel you can apply in other courses, or even outside college?
  • Optional extra: Based on your reflection, your growth during the semester, and the work you’ve put into the course so far, what grade would you assign yourself at this point in the semester, and why?

WHY: You can compare with your previous reflection, and see if you followed up on what you identified as strengths, or areas to work on, and how that translates into improved insights and performance or confidence in the course or other areas.

HOW: Write as a blog post, or share with me as a Google doc with commenting access.

Checklist

I wrote a reflection of 500-800 words on my learning in the course so far, using 2 of the 4 prompts provided
I made sure to use concrete examples from my blog, project or class to illustrate my observations
I submitted the assignment in one of the requested formats:
– blog post in category HST269 OR
– Google Doc shared with Dr. D

By Sunday, 11:59PM

Fill out and send in/share your “5-15 progress report“

All the details are in the form. This will be a weekly returning assignment that helps us both to ensure you keep working on the course project(s). I often can identify a potential problem area before you’ve even hit it, and steer you on a more successful course, using these weekly reports.

Until further notice (or a full scale rebellion), consider these a weekly returning task. Please be careful when using pitchforks while staging a rebellion.

Slides

If any, they will be here!

Where to get help