Courses Detail Information

HIS2580J –

Instructors:

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Credits: None

Pre-requisites: ENGL1000J Obtained Credit

Description:

4 credits

Course Topics:

This module is designed to give students a chronological understanding of the course of Sino-foreign relations from the late eighteenth century to the mid twentieth century. It starts by introducing students to an overview of the first contact between the development of the Celestial Court of the Qinglong Reign, through to the decline of the Manchu empire and the downfall of the Northern Government, finally ending with an understanding of the collapse of the Nationalist Government in 1949.

By presenting an underlying historical narrative through the module arching across almost two hundred years, it aims to provide students with a solid grounding in modern Sino-Foreign history and an insight into the complexity and continuity of a country with a radically different cultural and historical heritage to Europe and America. By emphasizing Chinese perspectives of history, this course is primarily designed as a correction to and update of John King Fairbank’s seminal Impact-Response framework for interpreting Chinese history, which has played a dominant role in Western historiographies of China over the past 50 years.