China's Last Empire: The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911

Catalog description

China from 1644 founding of Qing dynasty to 1911 fall; Chinese society and institutions, imperialism and China's internal diversity. ASIA (HIST) 485Y China's Last Empire: The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911 (3) (IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course will examine the Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule China, from the seventeenth to early twentieth centuries. More than doubling the size of the previous Ming dynasty, the empire also included people such as Tibetans, Muslims and Mongols who had never before considered themselves as “Chinese” but were now Qing subjects. The course will examine how Manchu ruling family, a non-Chinese people, outnumbered by the Chinese by about three hundred and fifty to one managed to conquer and rule China for nearly three hundred years. Tracing the political, social and cultural development of china starting with the foundation and consolidation of the Qing in 1644 and concluding with the collapse of the dynastic system in 1911, this course examines the role of the imperial system, internal rebellions, and the impact of Western colonialism on China. Considerable time will also be focused on China’s ethnic, religious and cultural differences in order to allow a deeper understanding of major issues and themes in late imperial Chinese history. Finally, the theme of China’s international relations in Asia and the world and China's shifting place in the world will be a prominent thread of the course. Through a blend of primary and secondary sources, students in this class will need to think critically, read broadly and express their ideas clearly regarding the evolving challenges facing China’s last empire.