HIS310: History of China: Qing

This course explores Chinese history with a focus on the Qing Dynasty period (1644-1912). History 207 will tackle such questions as: How can Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism coexist in the same time? How did the role of the Qing Dynasty in global history shift across the centuries? What makes the Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) and the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) turning points in modern Chinese history? How does Chinese history look different from the perspective of a rural female villager versus an emperor? What are the strongest motivating factors in these two individuals' decision-making? To help us explore how lived experience of this vast history can vary based on where in China one lived, what role in society one fulfilled, and which events one lived through, we will analyze a range of sources including film, fiction and scholarly assessments.