Undergraduate Course: Tradition and Transformation in the Chinese Economy, 1842-1949 (ECSH10087)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course analyses the development of Chinas economy from 1842, when the Nanjing Treaty was concluded, until 1949, when the Peoples Republic of China was established. Today, this period of constrained sovereignty is regarded as a time of national humiliation and economic exploitation by foreign imperialists in China.
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| Course description |
In this course, we will examine the extent and nature of foreign economic influence in China during this period. We will also discuss Chinas indigenous economic modernization, the demographic transition of the late 19th century, and Chinas economic experience during the second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945. By the end of the semester, you will have developed an understanding of why the history of Chinas economic development is crucial to making sense of todays global economy. No previous knowledge of Chinese history or of the Chinese language is required to take this course.
Content note: The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: violence, famine, and starvation. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
The Chinese Economy: Past and Present (ECNM10079)
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Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent. Students on Chinese (MA Hons) may take the course without meeting this requirement.
Students should only be enrolled on this course with approval from the History Honours Programme Administrator.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have 3 History courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Enrolments for this course are managed by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department. All enquiries to enrol must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework, an ability to analyse and evaluate conflicting historical interpretations on a given topic;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework, the acquisition of basic knowledge in some of the most important fields of research on the history of the Chinese economy between 1842 and 1949, of a better understanding of the globalised nature the Chinese economy during this period, and of some of the most important concepts and methodological approaches to studying it;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework, an understanding of the political importance of interpretations of China's economic development during the period from 1842 to 1949;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework, an understanding of the importance of concepts such as the Great Divergence, globalization, imperialism, and modernization theory;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework, an ability to synthesize secondary literature.
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Reading List
1. Sherman Cochran, Big Business in China: Sino-foreign Rivalry in the Chinese Cigarette Industry, 1890-1930 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980).
2. Robert Dernberger, The Role of the Foreigner in Chinas Economic Development, in Dwight H. Perkins (ed.), Chinas Modern Economy in Historical Perspective (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975).
3. Lloyd Eastman, Family, fields and ancestors: constancy and change in Chinas social and economic history, 1550-1949 (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).
4. David Faure, The rural economy of pre-liberation China: trade expansion and peasant livelihood in Jiangsu and Guangdong, 1870 to 1937 (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1989).
5. Albert Feuerwerker, Chinas Economy, 1870-1949 (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1995).
6. Philip C.C. Huang, The Peasant Family and Rural Development in the Yangzi Delta, 1350-1988 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990).
7. Frank H.H. King, Concise Economic History of China, 1840-1961 (New York: Praeger, 1968).
8. William Lavely, R. Bin Wong, Revising the Malthusian Narrative: the Comparative Study of Population Dynamics in late imperial China, Journal of Asian Studies, 57/3 (1998).
9. Sucheta Mazumdar, Sugar and Society in China: Peasants, Technology and the World Market (Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Asia Center, 1998).
10. Ramon H. Myers, The Chinese peasant economy: agricultural development in Hopei and Shantung, 1890-1949 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970).
11. Philip Richardson, Economic change in China, c. 1800-1950 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
12. G. William Skinner, Marketing and Social Structure, Journal of Asian Studies, Part 1, 24/1 (1964); Part 2, 24/2 (1965); Part 3, 24/3 (1965).
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Tradition 1842-1949 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Felix Boecking
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Annabel Samson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3783
Email: |
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