HST 241: History of China - Earliest Time Through Ming Dynasty

1. Prehistory 
2. Pre-dynastic China
3. Chinese Myths
4. The Shang Dynasty
5. Classical Writings 100 Schools of Thought
6. Chou Dynasty
7. Taoism 
8. Confucianism
9. Warring States
10. Chin Dynasty
11. Legalists
12. Han Dynasty
13. Period of Disunion 
14. Sui Dynasty
15. Tang Dynasty
16. Song Dynasty
17. Rise of the Nomads
18. Mongols
19. Yuan Dynasty
20. Fall of the Mongols
21. Ming Dynasty
22. Late Ming Dynasty
23. Ming Exploration/Chinese Columbus
24. Missionaries and Mandarins

1. Lecture
2. Discussion
3. Designated readings
4. Cooperative learning
5. Oral reports
6. Simulations
7. Debates
8. Appropriate media and selected films

1. explain the origins of the Dynastic Cycle.
2. explain government by aristocracy and mentocracy in early China.
3. explain the origins and significance of the great Chinese philosophies.
4. explain the origins and development of state run bureaucracy in early China. HST 241 Outline Continued
5. identify major scientific and technological developments in early China.
6. trace the evolution and establishment of the Imperial system in early China.
7. explain the role nomadic groups had in the evolution of Imperial China.
8. explain the Mandate of Heaven.
9. explain the role of emperor and scholar bureaucracy in the Dynastic system.
10. explain the role of myth in Chinese civilization.

1. Three (3) essay examinations
2. Three (3) document-based case study analyses
3. One (1) oral presentation
4. One 15-page primary source research paper.

Fairbank, John, and Goldman, Merle, China: A New History, Harvard 2006.

Polo, Travels of Marco Polo, 2001.

Harkins, Window to the World of Imperial China, McGraw.

Prepared by: Michael Harkins