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| CHINA:
HISTORY-ARCHAEOLOGY |
| Republic
of China (1912 to present; in Taiwan after 1949) |
Interactive Map • Modern
Period, 1912-present [Princeton University
Art Museum]
An overview of political and artistic developments in China from
1912 to the present. With four related
art objects, all with lengthy descriptions, and an
interactive map with an excellent COMPARE feature that allows
the user to select any two dynastic periods in Chinese history and
compare them by moving from one map to the other.
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| RELIGION,
PHILOSOPHY, THOUGHT |
|
|
| The
May Fourth Movement (ca. 1916-1920s) |
Primary Sources • Before
and After the May Fourth Movement [Asia
for Educators]
The so-called "May Fourth" or "new culture" movement
began in China around 1916, following the failure of the 1911 Revolution
to establish a republican government, and continued through the
1920s. This unit includes a background reading and three primary-source
readings [Chen
Duxiu's "Our Final Awakening" (1916) [PDF]; Chiang
Kai-shek's "Essentials of a New Life Movement" (Speech,
1934) [PDF]; Mao
Zedong's "Reform Our Study" (1941)],
plus discussion questions and suggested activities for students.
Chen Duxiu, 1879-1942
Primary Source w/DBQs • "The
True Meaning of Life" [PDF] [Asia
for Educators]
Primary Source w/DBQs • "Our
Final Awakening" (1916) [PDF] [Asia for Educators]
Chiang Kai-shek,
1887-1975
Primary Source w/DBQs • "Essentials
of a New Life Movement" (Speech, 1934) [PDF] [Asia for
Educators]
Primary Source w/DBQs • "China
Cannot Be Conquered" (Speech, 1939) [PDF] [Asia for
Educators]
Hu Shi,
1891-1962
Primary Source w/DBQs • "Our
Attitude Toward Modern Western Civilization"
[PDF] [Asia
for Educators]
Liang Shuming,
1893-1988
Primary Source w/DBQs • "Chinese
Civilization vis-a-vis Eastern and Western Philosophies"
[PDF] [Asia for Educators]
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| GOVERNMENT
AND ADMINISTRATION |
• Introduction
to China's Modern History [Asia for Educators]
An introduction to modern Chinese history for teachers and students.
Includes a brief introductory reading highlighting four major themes
for teaching about modern Chinese history; a longer reading, "China
in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries," providing an overview
of the many significant changes in Chinese society, polity, and
economy; and an annotated timeline of modern Chinese history from
the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to China's civil war (1946-49)
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| Rebuilding
China |
|
| Mao
Zedong (1893-1976) and the Chinese Revolution |
|
| Communism
in
China |
|
| MILITARY
AND DEFENSE |
| Second
Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) |
|
| Mao
Zedong (1893-1976) on War and Revolution |
|
| SOCIETY |
| Women
during the Republican Era (1911-1949) |
• Ling Long Woman's Magazine (Shanghai, 1931 to 1937) [Columbia University Libraries]
A digital archive of Ling Long Women's Magazine, "originally published
in Shanghai from 1931 to 1937 and of significant scholarly research
value in several disciplines." With extensive background information
about the magazine and the social and cultural context in which it
was produced.
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| Raising
Children |
|
| Farmers
and the Chinese Revolution |
Primary Sources • Farmers
and the Chinese Revolution [Asia
for Educators]
This unit looks at the plight of China's farmers in the twentieth
century. With a background reading and two primary-source readings
["Spring
Silkworms," by Mao
Dun [PDF]; Mao
Zedong's "Report on the Investigation of
the Peasant Movement in Hunan" [PDF]].
• When
is a Farmer not a Farmer? [AsiaMedia,
UCLA Asia Institute]
"... until the 1920s, Americans religiously used 'farmer' for
China, 'peasant' for Europe, Russia and even the Mediterranean.
... After about 1930, the words switched positions. Pearl Buck's
The Good Earth (1931), for instance, uses the word 'farmer,'
never "peasant," but
after that, Americans overwhelmingly preferred 'peasant.'" This article
explores the distinction between the two terms and the role of
young Chinese radicals of the 1920s in promoting the use of the
term "peasant."
• A
Guide to Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth [Asia
for Educators]
This unit introduces the novel The Good Earth (1931) by
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), widely
used and valued for its portrayal of Chinese society and, in particular,
the Chinese family. The unit includes an introductory reading for
teachers (providing background on the author), followed by a student
reading summarizing the novel. Discussion questions are included.
• What's
So Bad about The Good Earth? [Education
About Asia, Association for Asian Studies]
Article by independent scholar Charles W. Hayford from the Winter 1998 issue
of Education About Asia magazine. Excerpts: "…the
book is still widely read, especially at the secondary level, and I would not
discourage teachers who find the book a good read. As long as we remind students
that not all Chinese are rural, that the Chinese family system is not evil simply
because it differs from our modern American model, and that China has tremendously
changed since the 1930s, reading The
Good Earth conveys
much more good than harm. We take our starting points where we can find them; the
dangers in the book are 'teaching opportunities' rather than excuses
to avoid discussion. Students can be challenged to compare the China which Buck
invented with the Chinas invented by others … More substantively, I think
I can show how Buck illustrates the long-term cross-cultural moral debate over
the nature of modernity, introduces students to issues in American foreign relations
(rather than simply diplomatic relations), and shows how unarticulated views of
history shape the ways we see the world…As a starting point, The Good
Earth still works."
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| LITERATURE
AND FILM |
| 20th-century
Literature |
|
• Introduction
to Chinese Literature [Asia
for Educators]
This reading offers an overview of Chinese literature, identifying
its forms and contextualizing its role within Chinese history and
culture. A selection of historical periods and literary forms is
discussed: the scholar-official and Chinese poetry, the short story
as social commentary in the early 20th century, and literature as
propaganda in revolutionary China. Discussion questions are included.
Hu Shi, 1891-1962
Primary Source w/DBQs • "A
Preliminary Discussion of Literary Reform"
[PDF] [Asia for Educators]
• Lu
Xun: China's Greatest Modern Writer [Asia
for Educators]
This reading about the writer Lu Xun highlights his criticism of traditional Chinese
society. Recommended readings include the preface to "Call to Arms," in
which he recounts his disgust with Chinese herbal medicinal practices and his realization
that China needed "spiritual medicine" more than treatment for physical
ailments. Discussion questions are included.
Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren),
1881-1936
Primary Source w/DBQs • "My
Old Home"
[PDF] [Asia for Educators]
Mao Dun (Shen Yanbing),
1896-1981
Primary Source w/DBQs • "Spring
Silkworms"
[PDF] [Asia for Educators]
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| ART
AND MUSIC |
| Graphic
Arts |
• Graphic
Arts (of 20th-Century China) [A
Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization, University of Washington]
A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization, prepared
by University of Washington history professor Patricia Buckley
Ebrey, is an excellent resource, with images, questions for discussion,
timelines, maps, and suggested readings throughout. This particular
unit discusses China's visual culture, which "changed dramatically
in the twentieth century with the great growth in advertising,
posters, and other mass-produced means of using images to attract
the attention of the populace."
Find more art-related
resources for China,
20th Century
at OMuRAA (Online Museum Resources on Asian Art)
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| © 2009 Asia for Educators,
Columbia University |
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