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Modern Northeast Asia

Purpose of Course  showclose

Only 150 years ago, the empires and states of Northeast Asia—for many centuries far more developed than their contemporaries in most of Asia, and all of Europe, the Americas and Africa—found themselves powerless in the face of the military, technological and economic might of the European imperialist powers and the United States. Yet, today, most of these states have once again become key players in the contemporary world order: economically, politically, culturally, and, in many instances, militarily. In this course, we will study how and why the ‘modern’ transformation of Northeast Asia came about, examining both the indigenous and foreign ideas and institutions on which the transformations were based, and comparing how change manifested in different times and places. We will analyze many of the problems faced both domestically and internationally during this transformation, and will evaluate the prospects for the region in the 21st century. In order to do so, we will trace the political, economic and cultural development of Northeast Asia from late imperial times (the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries) to the present. In particular, we will analyze tensions within and between countries over power, status and resources, assess the challenges of preserving ‘tradition’ while attaining ‘modernity’, and distinguish competing concepts of ‘modernization’ and ideas about how it should be accomplished. We will also assess the importance of ideas and ideologies (such as nationalism, imperialism, communism, capitalism), and the ways in which they affected—and continue to affect—the domestic political, economic and social development of individual countries, and shape their relations with other states within and beyond the region. Using both primary sources (such as government documents, speeches and writings by major political, intellectual, and cultural figures of the time, artifacts of everyday life, still and moving images) and secondary sources (such as lectures and readings), we will attempt to understand and evaluate some of the past and present dynamics of this most dynamic region both from ‘within’ and from ‘without’.

Course Information  showclose

Welcome to HIST 242.  Below, please find general information on this course and its requirements. 
 
Course Designer: Alisa Jones
 
Primary Resources: The study material for this course derives from a range of free online content, and includes historical overviews, academic analyses and primary sources.

You will find much of it produced or hosted by:
  • Saylor Foundation (original content)
  • Japan Focus (academic articles)
  • Columbia University, Asia for Educators and Fordham University Internet History Sourcebook (primary sources)   
Requirements for Completion:  In order to successfully complete this course, you will need to work through each unit and its assigned material in the order in which they are presented. 
 
Note that you will be officially graded only for the final exam.  In order to "pass" the course, you will have to attain a minimum of 70% on the Final Exam.  Your score on the final exam will be tabulated as soon as you complete it.  You will have the opportunity to retake the exam if you do not pass it.
 
Time Commitment: This course should take you approximately 106.5 hours to complete.  A time advisory is presented under each subunit to guide you on the amount of time that you are expected to spend in going through the lectures.  Please do not rush through the material to adhere to the time advisory.   You can look at the time suggested in order to plan out your week for study and make your schedule accordingly.

Learning Outcomes  showclose

Subject-Specific Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  • Describe the structure of state and society in China, Japan, and Korea during the late imperial era, and identify similarities and differences between them.
  • Analyze the domestic and international factors that catalyzed institutional and social change in Japan, China, and Korea during the late nineteenth century.
  • Compare and contrast the process, extent and speed of economic, political, social and cultural change in Japan, China, and Korea during this period.
  • Assess the relative influence of different ideas (indigenous, foreign and hybrid) in shaping social and political change in each country.
  • Identify and evaluate the factors that underpinned Japanese imperialism and led to the outbreak of war in Asia in the 1930s.
  • Classify and interpret similarities and differences between experiences of Japanese imperialism in Taiwan, Korea and China.
  • Explain the origins of the division of Korea after WWII and the causes and outcomes of war on the peninsula.
  • Account for the economic success of Japan in the post-WWII period.
  • Evaluate the relationship between authoritarian rule and economic development in Taiwan and South Korea, and compare their experiences with that of Hong Kong.
  • Summarize and assess the successes and failures of Communism in China, North Korea and Mongolia.
  • Compare the process of democratization in South Korea and Taiwan.
  • Explain the resurgence of China as a global power, and assess the impact it has had on the economic and political dynamics of the region.
  • Analyze the threat to regional stability posed by North Korea.
  • Identify and evaluate the implications of major political, economic, social, demographic, environmental and technological changes in the twenty-first century.
Historical Thinking Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  • Analyze and interpret primary sources.
  • Identify and explain possible reasons for ‘bias’ in primary and secondary sources, e.g. through examining who is writing, when and where he/she is writing, how he/she is writing (the type of language used), and for whom he/she is writing (who is paying and who is the intended audience).
  • Recognize that multiple answers are possible to many questions—that there is not necessarily a single, ‘correct’ answer (although there may be ‘wrong’ ones). 
  • In order to do this, you must learn to interpret and deploy evidenceto support or refute an argument, opinion, or idea. As you work through this course, you will be given questions and suggestions to help you critically evaluate the sources you are using.

Course Requirements  showclose

In order to take this course you must:
 
√    Have access to a computer.
 
√    Have continuous broadband Internet access.
 
√    Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins or software (e.g., Adobe Reader or Flash).
 
√    Have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer.
 
√    Have the ability to open Microsoft files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.).
 
√    Be competent in the English language.
     
√    Have read the Saylor Student Handbook.

√   Have completed all courses listed in “The Core Program” of the History discipline (HIST101, HIST102, HIST103, and HIST104).

Unit Outline show close


Expand All Resources Collapse All Resources
  • Unit 1: The Early Modern Era  

    In this unit, we will first ask some important questions about the origins of the modern period and the very concept of ‘modern’ itself. We will then survey the histories of Tokugawa Japan, Qing China and Chos?n (Joseon) Korea during the time-frame variously known as the ‘late imperial’, ‘early modern’, or ‘late traditional’ period; that is, the eighteenth-mid-nineteenth centuries. Examining broad economic, political, intellectual and social trends during this period, we will evaluate the extent to which they can be considered ‘traditional’, ‘modern’ or precursors of modern developments. Last, but by no means least, we will assess the degree to which Japan, Korea and China were isolated from the outside world by ‘closed door’ or ‘seclusion’ policies designed to keep the local population in and foreigners out.

    Unit 1 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 1 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 1.1 Introduction: Locating the Modern Era  
  • 1.2 Tokugawa Japan  
  • 1.2.1 Shogun Rule  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.1 The Tokugawa Shogunate (bakufu)  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.2 The Role of the Imperial House  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.3 Daimyo and Domains (han)  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.4 Social and Economic Structure in the Tokugawa Period  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.5 The Tokugawa Class System  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.6 The Tokugawa Economy  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.7 Social and Cultural Change  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.2.1.8 Urban Life  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.2.

  • 1.3 Late Qing China  
  • 1.3.1 Qing Imperial Rule  
  • 1.3.1.1 The Reach of Empire  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the lecture and reading for subunit 1.3.

  • 1.3.1.2 The Structure of Government  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the lecture and reading for subunit 1.3.

  • 1.3.2 Domestic Problems  
  • 1.3.2.1 Discontent and Popular Uprisings  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the lecture and reading for subunit 1.3.

  • 1.3.2.2 Religious Movements and Secret Societies  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the lecture and reading for subunit 1.3.

  • 1.4 Late Chos?n Korea  
  • 1.4.1 Chos?n Class Structure: Continuity and Change in the 18th-19th Centuries  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.4.

  • 1.4.2 The Chos?n Economy  
  • 1.4.2.1 Urban Economy and Commerce  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.4.

  • 1.4.2.2 Agriculture and Land-holding Patterns  
  • 1.4.3 Domestic Unrest  
  • 1.4.3.1 Political Factionalism  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.4.

  • 1.4.3.2 Popular Religion and Discontent  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.4.

  • 1.5 Seclusion: Fact or Fiction?  

    Note: Please use the first three readings in this subunit to compare the attitudes of the Tokugawa, Qing and Chos?n regimes to engagement with the outside world in terms of hierarchies, trade, migration and cultural exchange.

  • 1.5.1 Intra-Asian Relations: The Tribute System and Private Trade  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.5.

  • 1.5.2 Asian Cultural Transfers  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.5.

  • 1.5.3 Ideas and Ideology  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.5.

  • 1.5.4 Trade beyond Asia: Macau, Canton System, Nagasaki  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.5.

  • 1.5.5 Jesuit Missionaries in Northeast Asia  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.5.

  • 1.5.6 Seclusion Policies: impact on trade and population mobility  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 1.5.

  • Unit 2: The Barbarians Are Coming  

    Since the discovery of new sea-lanes to Asia in the sixteenth century, commerce between Asia and Europe had accelerated rapidly. Following the industrial revolution, European traders gradually expanded their commercial interests in Asia, interests later supported by their governments with political and military action, leading eventually to conquest and colonization of many Asian states and societies.

    Japan, China and Korea did not become European colonies, but they were, nonetheless, profoundly impacted by the European presence in Asia. Under military pressure, they were forced to lift the tight restrictions they had formerly imposed on European traders, and to make substantial concessions to foreign interests, losing some of their political and economic autonomy in the process.

    In this unit, we will study the arrival of European and US forces and their efforts to enforce ‘gunboat diplomacy’, as well as the reaction of the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans to peoples they had long considered ‘barbarians’, uncivilized and uncouth, possessing next-to-nothing that Northeast Asians could possibly want.

    Unit 2 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 2 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 2.1 Barbarians  
  • 2.2 The First Opium War  
    • Reading: MIT Visualizing Cultures: Peter Perdue’s “ The Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System Part III”

      Link: MIT Visualizing Cultures: Peter Perdue’s “The Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System Part III”  (HTML, PDF)
       
      Instructions: Select either the html or pdf version of the essay (on the right of the screen). Read the sections on “End of the Canton System” and “Hong Kong.”
       
      Reading and viewing the images should take approximately 40 minutes. 

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Lecture: Harvard Extension School’s “Opium and the Opium Wars”

      Link: Harvard Extension School’s “Opium and the Opium Wars” (Adobe Flash)
       
      Instructions: Scroll down the page and select your preferred format (audio or video with Power Point slides) and connection type. Listen to/watch the lecture, paying attention to the “Sinocentric” world-view described and the way in which it shaped Qing foreign relations. Note the impact on the Chinese economy of the opium trade.
       
      Watching/listening to the lecture and note-taking should take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: Brooklyn College CUNY: Paul Halsall’s Version of Lin Zexu’s “Letter to Queen Victoria”

      Link: Brooklyn College CUNY: Paul Halsall’s Version of Lin Zexu’s “Letter to Queen Victoria” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the first primary source document, Lin Zexu’s “Letter to Queen Victoria.”
      Using the information from the Harvard lecture and this source, can you identify the attitude of the Qing regime to opium? What measures were taken to address the opium problem? What was the attitude of the regime to the British? How and why did the old patterns of dealing with foreign ‘barbarians’ fail? Comparing Lin’s letter to the primary source documents you read in unit 1.5 on the reception of the English Ambassador, Lord Macartney, and Qianlong’s letter to King George III, do you think that the Qing regime’s attitude had changed at all over this forty-year period?
       
      This reading and questions should take approximately 40 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: USC US-China Institute’s “Treaty of Nanjing”

      Link: USC US-China Institute’s “Treaty of Nanjing” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the terms of the Treaty of Nanjing. What were the key concessions made by the Qing to the British? How did it affect Qing sovereignty?
       
      This reading should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 2.2.1 Causes of the war  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.2.

  • 2.2.2 Course of the war  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.2.

  • 2.2.3 Outcome of the war  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.2.

  • 2.2.4 Treaty of Nanjing  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.2.

  • 2.2.5 Cession of Hong Kong  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.2.

  • 2.3 More Wars with Europe  
  • 2.3.1 Unequal Treaties and the Establishment of Treaty Ports  
  • 2.3.2 The US and the ‘Open Door’ Policy  
  • 2.3.3 Missionary Inroads  
  • 2.4 Domestic Rebellions in Qing China  
  • 2.4.1 Taiping Rebellion  
  • 2.4.2 Nian Rebellion  
  • 2.4.3 Other contemporaneous uprisings  
  • 2.5 The Opening of Japan  
    • Reading: MIT: Visualizing Cultures: John Dower’s “Black Ships and Samurai”

      Link: MIT: Visualizing Cultures: John Dower’s “Black Ships and Samurai” (HTML, PDF)
       
      Instructions: Select “Essay” on the right side of the screen (PDF or html). Pay particular attention to the introduction (which provides an overview) and the sections on “Facing East” and “Facing West,” which show how each side viewed the other. Also, note the items described in the section on “Gifts.” What do you think this tells us about the values and objectives of the US and Japan?

      If you wish to see a more detailed view of these images and others, go to the menu at the top of the page and select “II-Visual Narratives” from the drop-down menu under “Black Ships and Samurai.” On the right, you will see “Visual Narratives” and “The Black Ship Scroll.”
       
      Reading the essay and viewing the images should take approximately 1.5 hours to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: Fordham University: Paul Halsall’s Version of Admiral Perry’s “When we landed in Japan”

      Link: Fordham University: Paul Halsall’s Version of Admiral Perry’s “When we landed in Japan” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the document and think about how Perry’s first impressions compare to the images depicted by Heine shown in “Black Ships and Samurai.”
       
      This should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: Fordham University: Townsend Harris’ “The President’s Letter”

      Link: Fordham University: Townsend Harris’ “The President’s Letter” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the document, noting the cultural differences that strike Harris. Do you think his impression of the Japanese and their reception of him is favorable?
       
      This unit should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 2.5.1 The United States as an Asian Power  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.5.

  • 2.5.2 Admiral Perry and the Black Ships  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.5.

  • 2.5.3 Treaties of Kanagawa (1854) Amity and Commerce (1858)  
  • 2.6 Chos?n: ‘The Hermit Kingdom’  
  • 2.6.1 Conflict with France and US  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.5.

  • 2.6.2 Unequal Treaties  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 2.5.

  • Unit 3: Reform and Resistance  

    Despite the widespread view of Europeans and Americans as barbarians, it was quickly recognized that the weapons and technologies which had allowed them easily to vanquish the dominant Asian power, Qing China, might be worth studying if Asia were to be able to resist continued foreign incursions and humiliations, as well as to defeat various rebellious uprisings that had erupted on home-soil (largely unrelated to the Western intrusion).

    Efforts were accordingly made to learn from the West, at least insofar as science and technology were concerned.  Western ideas and institutions, on the other hand, were regarded by most of the ruling elite as entirely unsuited to local conditions, and thus—under slogans such as ‘Chinese learning for the essence, Western learning for practical application’ and ‘Eastern ethics, Western science’—attempts were made to implement a ‘self-strengthening’ programme that would allow industrial and military modernization without undermining the traditional political or value systems.

    Not everyone, of course, held the same view, and many were eager to learn more than mere ‘techniques’. Tensions accordingly arose between those who did not want to see any kind of institutional reform, and those who pursued thoroughgoing, even revolutionary, change. As you work through this unit, you will see that the pace and scope of change varied quite significantly between Japan, China and Korea. Note some of the key factors that might explain why reform was more easily implemented in Japan than it was in China and Korea. 

    Unit 3 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 3 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 3.1 Japan  
  • 3.1.1 The Fall of the Tokugawa  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.1.

  • 3.1.2 The Meiji Restoration  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.1.

  • 3.1.3 Age of Enlightenment  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.1.

  • 3.1.4 Enrichment and Strengthening  
  • 3.1.4.1 Rise of the Military  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.1.

  • 3.1.4.2 Emergence of the Zaibatsu  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.1.

  • 3.1.4.3 Education Expansion  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.1.

  • 3.2 China  
  • 3.2.1 The Tongzhi Restoration  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.2.

  • 3.2.2 Self-Strengthening  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.2.

  • 3.2.3 Challenging the Status Quo: Tensions between Reformers and Conservatives  
  • 3.3 Korea  
    • Lecture: Korea Society: Charles Armstrong’s “History of Korea Part II”

      Link: Korea Society: Charles Armstrong’s “History of Korea Part II” (iTunes U)
       
      Instructions: Listen to the first 28 minutes of the podcast; which will take you up to 1910 when Japan annexed Korea as a colony. This provides the overview for unit 3.3. The remainder of the lecture will provide relevant information for subunits 6.2 and 8.4.
       
      The required portion of the lecture and note-taking should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

      Instructions: Listen to the first 28 minutes of the podcast; which will take you up to 1910 when Japan annexed Korea as a colony. This provides the overview for unit 3.3. The remainder of the lecture will provide relevant information for subunits 6.2 and 8.4.
       
      The required portion of the lecture and note-taking should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above. 

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 3.3.1 Domestic Threats to Royal Power  
  • 3.3.1.1 Tonghak  
  • 3.3.1.2 Christianity  
  • 3.3.1.3 Court Factionalism  
  • 3.3.2 Taew?n’gun (Daewongun) Regency and Reforms  
  • 3.3.3 Conservative Resistance to Reform  
  • 3.4 Attitudes to ‘Western’ Knowledge: Acceptance, Resistance, Adaptation  
  • 3.4.1 Translation of Foreign Books  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.4.

  • 3.4.2 Overseas Missions  
  • 3.4.2.1 Iwakura Mission  
    • Reading: Chinese Educational Mission Connections 1872-1881’s “The Chinese Educational Mission”

      Link: Chinese Educational Mission Connections 1872-1881’s “The Chinese Educational Mission” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the overview on the page to which you are directed. Then, click “History” and read the sections on “Origins,” “Termination and Recall,” and “After the CEM.”
       
      How do the writers of this text view the overseas education mission? What are the principal reasons they identify for the initiation of the mission, and its later termination? How does this mission compare to the Iwakura Mission?
       
      This reading should take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above.   

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 3.4.3 Developing Interest in Science and Scientific Method  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.4.

  • 3.4.4 Establishment of Universities  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.4.

  • 3.4.5 Expansion of Modern Education Provision  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 3.4.

  • Unit 4: Redrawing the Map: The Changing Balance of Power in Northeast Asia  

    This unit examines the rise of Japan as the dominant economic and military power in the region from the late nineteenth century until World War II. We will look at why Japan engaged in imperialist expansion and how its expansionist efforts brought it into conflict over territory and resources with existing Asian powers (China) and rising ones (Russia and the US).  We will also examine domestic developments in Japan from the late Meiji through the Taish? period and into the early Sh?wa period (until the mid-1930s), and the ways in which they not only shaped Japanese society, but also supported its foreign exploits. (See Unit 6 for details of Japanese colonial rule.)

    As you work through the primary source materials, pay particular attention to the ways in which Japan couched its demands of Korea, China and Russia (the type of language it used), and try to identify some of the arguments and ideas that were deployed to legitimize Japanese imperialism.

    Unit 4 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 4 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 4.1 Japan Becomes an Imperialist Power  
  • 4.1.1 Japan Eyes Korea  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.1.

  • 4.1.2 The Sino-Japanese War  
    • Reading: MIT Visualizing Cultures: John Dower’s “Throwing off Asia II”

      Link: MIT Visualizing Cultures: John Dower’s “Throwing off Asia II” (HTML, PDF)
       
      Instructions: Select either the html or pdf version of the essay at the right. Read all sections of the essay, paying particular attention to the ways in which Japan used images of the war to reconfigure its relationship with China. Also, note the ideas and concepts borrowed from the West that Japan used to legitimize its self-assertion as an imperialist power.
       
      Optional reading/viewing: More detailed analyses of the images are given in the section on “Visual Narratives.”
       
      Reading the text and viewing the images should take approximately 1.5 hours to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above. 

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 4.1.2.1 Causes of the War  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.1.

  • 4.1.2.2 Outcome of the War: Treaty of Shimonoseki, Cession of Taiwan  
  • 4.2 Russian interests in Northeast Asia and Conflict with Japan  
  • 4.2.1 Russia in Manchuria  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.2.

  • 4.2.2 Russia in Korea  
  • 4.3 Anglo-Japanese Treaty  
  • 4.4 The Russo-Japanese War  
    • Reading: MIT Visualizing Cultures: John Dower’s “Asia Rising”

      Link: MIT Visualizing Cultures: John Dower’s “Asia Rising” (HTML, PDF)
       
      Instructions: Select the html version of the essay (the pdf is not currently available) at the right of the screen. Read the essay, then return to the main page and select “Visual Narratives” for a more in-depth look at the images.
       
      How does the representation of the Russo-Japanese War differ from that of the Sino-Japanese War 10 years earlier? Do you think the fact that the first was a war with a (weak) Asian power and the second a war with an expanding European power affected the depiction?
       
      This reading should take approximately 1.5 hours to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: Fordham University: Paul Halsall’s Version of Lt. Tadayoshi Sakurai ‘The Attack upon Port Arthur”

      Link: Fordham University: Paul Halsall’s Version of Lt. Tadayoshi Sakurai ‘The Attack upon Port Arthur” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read this eyewitness account of a battle during the Russo-Japanese War. To what extent do you think the writer is motivated by patriotism?
       
      This reading should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 4.5 Japan and Russia Scramble over Mongolia and Manchuria  
    • Reading: Hathi Trust’s “Documents regarding the negotiations between Japan and China”

      Link: Hathi Trust’s “Documents regarding the negotiations between Japan and China” (PDF)
       
      Instructions: The link takes you to the first page of this primary source reading. Read the treaty terms on pages 38-40, and the discussion of further dealings on pages 45-55.
       
      What rights and privileges does Japan gain by the treaty? How does this treaty compare to “unequal treaties” signed between China and foreign powers? To what do you attribute any differences? Why do you think the respective Ministers repeat the contents of the correspondence verbatim in their replies to one another?
       
      The reading and questions should take you approximately 1 hour to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web pages above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 4.6 Japan Annexes Korea  
  • 4.6.1 China and Russia Ousted  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.6.

  • 4.6.2 Japan Asserts ‘Protectorate’ 1905  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.6.

  • 4.6.3 De Facto Control 1907  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.6.

  • 4.6.4 Formal Annexation 1910  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.6.

  • 4.7 Mongolia Seeks Independence  
  • 4.7.1 1911 Xinhai (Republican) Revolution in China Ousts Qing  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.7.

  • 4.7.2 Multiple Regions Declare Independence, Including Tibet and Mongolia (Khalkha)  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.7.

  • 4.8 Japan Pressures China  
  • 4.8.1 Japan and WWI  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.8.

  • 4.8.2 Japan Seizes Shandong  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.8.

  • 4.8.3 Twenty-one Demands of China  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 4.8.

  • 4.9 Developments in the Japanese Home Islands  
  • 4.9.1 Taish? Democracy  
  • 4.9.2 Labor Movements and Communism in Japan  
  • 4.9.3 The Rise of the Military  
  • 4.10 Japan Annexes Manchuria  
  • Unit 5: China: From Reform to Revolution  

    By the late nineteenth century, it was clear that Self-Strengthening was not enough to keep Europe or the US at bay. Furthermore, Japan was rapidly modernizing and Chinese students were flocking there to study the ‘ways of the West’ in the hope that they might be able to ‘save China’. In the process, many of them transformed from reformist to revolutionary modernizers, and when they returned to China promoted their ideas to the public through the newly burgeoning newspaper industry. Following humiliating and devastating defeat in the 1894-1895 War with Japan, the revolutionaries’ ideas gained traction, and despite a last-ditch effort by the Qing to enact widespread reforms that would establish a constitutional monarchy, it was too little too late, and the Imperial system was swept away in the 1911 Revolution.

    Following the 1911 Revolution, the revolutionaries were unable to establish a central government and China was ruled at the local level by various strongmen until the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) was able to unify the country (with the cooperation of the local warlords) in 1927. Political disunity, however, did not prevent social and cultural change, and the period is regarded as one of a great flourishing of new ideas.

    After 1927, the Kuomintang oversaw a period of limited economic growth and modernization in the eastern part of China, but was never able to assert nationwide control. Throughout the period, the KMT was also at loggerheads with the Communists, as well as with Japan, which continued to encroach on China, culminating ultimately in the 1937 invasion.
     

    Unit 5 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 5 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 5.1 The Hundred Days Reform  
  • 5.2 The Boxer Rebellion  
  • 5.3 The Move towards Constitutional Monarchy  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 5.1.

  • 5.4 The 1911 Revolution  
    • Reading: IUP: Zou Rong’s “The Revolutionary Army”

      Link: IUP: Zou Rong’s “The Revolutionary Army” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read these excerpts from Zou Rong’s treatise. At what audience do you think he is aiming? Why does he believe revolution is essential for China’s future? On what theories and examples does he draw to support his contention? How do you interpret his definition of “race” here? Identify his definition of “traditional” society and the “modern” society he hopes to create through revolution.
       
      The primary source reading and questions should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.

      Submit Materials

    • Reading: Fordham University: J. S. Arkenberg’s Version of “Proclamation of the Abdication of the Manchus, 1912”

      Link: Fordham University: J. S. Arkenberg’s Version of “Proclamation of the Abdication of the Manchus, 1912” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Pay attention to the language used in this short announcement. On whose/what authority does the imperial family declare a republic? Who will be citizens of the new state? Compare this to Zou Rong’s position on the driving force for political change and his attitude to the Manchus.
       
      The primary source reading and questions should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: CUNY: Paul Halsall’s Version of Sun Yat-sen’s “Fundamentals of National Reconstruction”

      Link: CUNY: Paul Halsall’s Version of Sun Yat-sen’s “Fundamentals of National Reconstruction” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: What differences and similarities between Sun’s and Zou Rong’s definitions of revolution can you identify? Compare Sun’s views on the Manchus and the Chinese “nation” to Zou Rong’s. Compare Sun’s and Zou’s views on the form of government and type of society they hope to create. Why do you think Sun (and the Manchus in their abdication proclamation) appeals to Chinese tradition to support his argument?
       
      The primary source reading and questions should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 5.5 New Culture Movement  
  • 5.6 The May 4th Movement  
  • 5.7 The Nationalist Revolution  
  • 5.7.1 Establishment of KMT Government in Nanjing  
  • 5.7.2 Industrial and Commercial Development 1927-1937  
  • 5.7.3 Politics and Ideology  
  • 5.7.3.1 Three Principles of the People  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 5.1.

  • 5.7.3.2 The New Life Movement  
  • 5.8 The Chinese Communist Party  
  • 5.8.1 Establishment of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)  
  • 5.8.2 Suppression by KMT: From Shanghai to Yan’an  
  • 5.8.2.1 Massacre of Communists in Shanghai  
  • 5.8.2.2 Jiangxi Soviet  
  • 5.8.2.3 The Long March  
    • Reading: Columbia University: Asia for Educators’ “The Long March”

      Link: Columbia University: Asia for Educators’ “The Long March” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the introduction and the account by Edgar Snow. Use the text to give you a general idea of the progress and events of the Long March—you do not need to remember all the details. Do you think Snow’s account is “objective”?
       
      This reading should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 5.8.2.4 Yan’an  
  • Unit 6: Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan and Korea  

    Japan acquired its first colony, Taiwan, in 1895, and its second, Korea, in 1910.

    In this unit, you will study both the ideology and practice of Japanese imperialism in its new territories. You will learn how and why colonial authorities adopted particular policies at particular times, and how these policies were shaped by domestic developments in the Japanese Home Islands, developments in the colonies themselves, and Japan’s wider imperialist ambitions.

    Unit 6 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 6 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 6.1 Taiwan  
  • 6.1.1 Historical Background (Taiwan’s status)  
  • 6.1.2.1 Qing Cession of Taiwan and Taiwan’s ‘Declaration of Independence’  
  • 6.1.2.2 Resistance and Suppression  
  • 6.1.3 Integration of Taiwan into Empire—‘A Civilizing Mission’  
  • 6.1.3.1 Making Modern Subjects  
  • 6.1.3.2 Education  
  • 6.1.3.3 Social ‘Modernization’ Campaigns  
  • 6.1.4 Wartime Taiwan  
  • 6.1.4.1 K?minka Policy  
  • 6.1.4.2 Taiwan’s Role in War  
  • 6.1.5 Economic Development during Colonial Period  
  • 6.2 Korea  
  • 6.2.1 Annexation of Korea  
  • 6.2.1.1 Resistance—‘Righteous Army’  
  • 6.2.1.2 Suppression  
  • 6.2.2 Military Policy 1910-1919  
  • 6.2.2.1 Establishing Colonial Rule  
  • 6.2.2.2 Land Survey  
  • 6.2.2.3 March 1st Movement  
  • 6.2.3 Cultural Policy 1919-1931  
  • 6.2.3.1 Relaxation of Colonial Control  
  • 6.2.3.2 Emergence of Civil Society  
  • 6.2.3.3 Spread of Mass Culture (See Unit 7)  
  • 6.2.4 War Mobilization 1931-1945  
  • 6.2.4.1 K?minka – ‘Japanization’  
  • 6.2.4.2 Korea as Base of Operations  
  • 6.2.4.3 Koreans in the Japanese Military: Soldiers and ‘Comfort Women’  
  • 6.2.4.4 Korean Labor in Japan  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 6.2.4.3.

  • 6.3 Colonialism and Development  
  • Unit 7: Social and Cultural Change in the Early Twentieth Century  

    Despite the initial efforts of the traditional elite to adopt little more from the Western barbarians than advanced industrial and military technologies, a market for translations of foreign writings quickly emerged, exposing the literate classes to a wide range of ideas, many of which challenged the traditional social and political order. Likewise, ever-growing numbers of students traveled to Europe and the USA where they studied far more than mere ‘techniques’. When they returned, they often promoted radical political and social ideas, in both political writings and activities, and through art forms, such as literature, film and theater. As cities expanded and the numbers of educated urbanites grew, a consumer culture began to emerge.

    In this unit, we will examine cross-regional as well as nation-specific trends in culture and society that emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on the roles played by education, rising literacy, and the emergence of a new intelligentsia as ‘producers’ of ideas, and on the place of consumers in the new society.
     

    Unit 7 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 7 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 7.1 Mass Education  
  • 7.1.1 Public Schools  
  • 7.1.2 Government Intervention in Curriculum and Textbook Production  
  • 7.2 Higher Education and the New Intelligentsia  
  • 7.2.1 Establishment of Universities  
  • 7.2.2 Scientific Method and New History  
  • 7.3 Vernacular Literature  
    • Reading: Marxists.org: Lu Xun’s “Literature of a Revolutionary Period”

      Link: Marxists.org Lu Xun’s “Literature of a Revolutionary Period” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the article by Lu Xun (Lu Hsun), who, despite his claim to know nothing about literature at the beginning of this document, is one of China’s most celebrated twentieth-century authors. Does he believe that social change impacts literature, or that literature can effect social change? What does he mean by “people’s literature,” and why does he think China does not have such a genre?
       
      This reading and questions should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 7.4 Development of Mass Media  
  • 7.4.1 Role of the Press as Agent of Civil Society  
  • 7.4.2 Role of the Press as Agent of State Propaganda  
  • 7.5 Emergence of Film Industry  
  • 7.6 Consumer Culture  
    • Reading: MIT Visualizing Cultures: Gennifer Weisenfeld’s “Selling Shiseido I” and “Selling Shiseido II”

      Link: MIT Visualizing Cultures: Gennifer Weisenfeld’s “Selling Shiseido I”(HTML, PDF) and “Selling Shiseido II” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: For part I of the reading, please select either the html or pdf version of the essay on the right side of the page and read the introduction.
       
      For part II, select “Visual Narratives” at the right. Examine the images and read the accompanying text for all sections listed in the menu on the left.
       
      Analyze the images and styles used in advertising during different periods. At what audiences are the products principally aimed? What effect do you think the war had on advertising?
       
      The reading and viewing should take approximately 1.5 hours.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above. 

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Web Media: Washington University’s A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization: “Commercial Advertisement”

      Link: Washington University’s A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization: “Commercial Advertisement” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read the short introduction, then scroll to the bottom of the page. Click the links to view images of calendar posters and magazine advertisements. (The section on book jackets is optional). View the images and answer the questions. Compare these advertisements with the Shiseido advertisements from Japan in the previous assignment. What similarities and differences strike you?
       
      Viewing the images and answering the questions should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 7.7 Social Movements  
  • 7.7.1 Women’s Movement  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 7.7.

  • 7.7.2 Minority Rights  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 7.7.

  • 7.7.3 Anti-imperialism/colonialism  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 7.7.

  • 7.7.4 Socialism  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 7.7.

  • Unit 8: Hot and Cold Wars  

    The tensions in Northeast Asia and Japan’s intensifying expansionist ambitions led ultimately to the outbreak of war in 1937. While the Japanese had imagined a swift conquest of China would be possible, and quickly overran the industrialized eastern heartland, the western half of the country proved much more inaccessible. Japan became bogged down in a long conflict, while simultaneously expanding into Southeast Asia and taking on the US. Despite spreading its resources so thinly, Japan was able to wage a long and often successful campaign, but finally surrendered after the US dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

    Despite the horrors endured in WWII, both Korea—liberated from Japanese colonial rule, but occupied by the USA and USSR—and China descended almost immediately into civil war. In this unit, we focus on the causes and consequences of this long wartime period, examining the effect of defeat on Japan, and paying particular attention to the role of the Cold War in driving the ‘hot’ wars in Northeast Asia.

    Unit 8 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 8 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 8.1 WWII in Northeast Asia  
  • 8.1.1 Japan Invades China  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.1.1.1 Marco Polo Bridge Incident  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.1.1.2 Southward Advance/East Coast Landings  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.1.1.3 Fall of Shanghai—Advance to Nanjing  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.1.1.4 Nanjing Massacre  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.1.2 Japan Invades Southeast Asia  
  • 8.1.3 The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere  
  • 8.2 The Fall of Japan  
  • 8.2.1 Fire-bombings  
  • 8.2.2 Atomic Bombs  
    • Web Media: MIT Visualizing Cultures’ “Ground Zero 1945: A Schoolboy’s Story”

      Link: MIT Visualizing Cultures’ “Ground Zero 1945: A Schoolboy’s Story” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Select “Introduction by Yuki Tanaka” on the right side of the screen. Read this short text, then, return to the main page and select “Visual Narratives.” Examine the images and read the accompanying text. What view of the atomic bombs and Japan’s wartime past is promoted here?
       
      This should take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Web Media: US War Department’s “A Tale of Two Cities”

      Link: US War Department’s “A Tale of Two Cities” (YouTube)
       
      Instructions: Watch both parts of the film. Bear in mind when the film was made, who made it, and the target audience. Does anything strike you as missing from the account presented here either in the narration or the images shown? Why do you think the narrative focuses on structural rather than human damage from the bombs?
       
      Watching the film and answering the questions should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Pages above. 

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 8.2.3 The End of Empire  
  • 8.3 The Chinese Civil War  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.3.1 Aftermath of WWII: KMT-CCP Conflict Resumes  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.3.2 KMT Gradual Retreat  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.1.

  • 8.4 The Korean War  
  • 8.4.1 Four-Power Trusteeship Divides Korean Peninsula  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • 8.4.2 Formation of ROK and DPRK  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • 8.4.3 Skirmishes Escalate—Civil War Breaks Out  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • 8.4.4 Course and Outcome of the War  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • Unit 9: Japan: Out of the Ashes  

    This unit studies the history of Japan from the end of WWII to the 1990s. It explores the impact of the US occupation and the Cold War, and the formulation of a new constitution on subsequent political and economic development. It also addresses the question of war responsibility and guilt (a topic to which we will return in the final unit in the context of regional relations), and the ways in which this has affected Japan’s self-identity as a ‘Peace State’.

    Unit 9 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 9 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 9.1 Japan Defeated  
  • 9.1.1 Japan surrenders  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.2.3.

  • 9.1.2 US Occupation  
  • 9.2 Tokyo Trials  
  • 9.3 1946 Constitution  
  • 9.4 Life under US Occupation—SCAP  
  • 9.5 Japan’s Economic Miracle  
  • 9.6 Japanese Politics and the Dominance of the LDP  
  • 9.7 Japan as ‘Peace State’  
  • 9.8 Contemporary Japanese Society  
  • Unit 10: The Asian Tigers  

    After WWII, Japan quickly rebounded. It was economically booming by the 1960s, and was one of the richest countries in the world from the 1970s onwards. The Japanese ‘miracle’, was soon followed by spectacular economic growth in the “Four Little Tigers”: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. In this unit, we will explore the origins of this growth (excluding Singapore), as well as some of the domestic and international political factors and social and cultural matrices that may have catalyzed or obstructed it along the way. We will also examine the ways in which economic success was deployed by authoritarian regimes to stave off calls for democratization, and assess whether indeed authoritarian rule was a necessary condition for development (an argument China uses today, as we will see in Unit 13).

    Unit 10 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 10 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 10.1 Hong Kong  
  • 10.1.1 Immigration of Chinese Refugees from Civil War  
  • 10.1.2 Riots and Reforms  
  • 10.1.3 Economic Growth  
  • 10.1.4 Civil Society and Calls for Democracy  
  • 10.2 Taiwan  
  • 10.2.1 Hand-over to KMT rule  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.2.

  • 10.2.1.1 Resistance to New Regime  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.2.

  • 10.2.1.2 Feb. 28th Massacre 1947  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.2.

  • 10.2.2 KMT Retreat to Taiwan 1949  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.2.

  • 10.2.2.1 KMT Authoritarian Rule: Anti-Communism and the White Terror  
  • 10.2.2.2 Re-making Taiwan ‘Chinese’  
  • 10.2.3 Economic Development  
  • 10.3 South Korea  
  • 10.3.1 State Formation 1948  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.3.

  • 10.3.2 The Impact and Aftermath of Civil War  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • 10.3.3 Authoritarian Rule and its Challengers  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.3.

  • 10.3.3.1 Anti-Communism as State Raison d’Être  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.3.

  • 10.3.3.2 Suppression of Social and Political Opposition  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.3.

  • 10.3.4 Economic Development  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 10.3.

  • Unit 11: Communism in Northeast Asia  

    With the success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, communism gained a rapid foothold in Northeast Asia. Social reformers were attracted by the message of equality, nationalists by the fact that Russia—a largely agrarian, barely industrialized society like their own—could bypass the historical materialist stage of capitalism (represented by Europe and the United States) to reach the ‘higher’ evolutionary stage of socialism.
    Mongolia, long a target of Tsarist Russian designs, but still under de jure Chinese sovereignty, found its independence movement quickly taken over by communists, and was thus able to maintain its de facto independence from China (achieved in 1921) with support from the USSR, forming the Mongolian People’s Republic in 1924.

    In colonial Korea, as in the Japanese Home Islands, communism was suppressed by the Taish? and Sh?wa regimes, but communists, again supported by the USSR, continued  anti-Japanese resistance activities from bases across the Korean border in Siberia, resistance which was to gain them a great deal of support in Korea after liberation.

    In China, the KMT (itself a Leninist party) initially cooperated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but soon began to view it as a threat, and carried out a brutal purge, driving the CCP into exile. Even after Japan attacked China, Chiang Kai-Shek, the KMT leader, resisted an alliance with the CCP, but was finally forced to form a ‘United Front’ against the Japanese. As soon as war with Japan ended, the KMT and the CCP resumed their conflict.

    In this unit, we will look at the development of these three communist states, focusing on their economic and political systems, and the ways in which they adapted communist ideology to suit their own, often nationalist or authoritarian, purposes. We will also examine the rivalry for leadership of the international socialist movement between the USSR and China, and evaluate the impact on each of the three countries discussed here.

    Unit 11 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 11 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 11.1 Mongolia  
  • 11.1.1 Proto-nationalism  
  • 11.1.2 Independence from China  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.1.1.

  • 11.1.3 Formation of Mongolian People’s Republic  
  • 11.1.3.1 Transformation of Mongolian Culture  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.1.3.

  • 11.1.3.2 Collectivization and Communes  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.1.3.

  • 11.1.3.3 Purges  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.1.3.

  • 11.1.4 Mongolia after WWII  
  • 11.1.4.1 Denunciation of Choibalsan ‘Personality Cult’—Renewed Purges  
  • 11.1.4.2 Another Round of Collectivization  
  • 11.1.4.3 Industrialization  
  • 11.1.5 Mongolia’s International Status and Foreign Relations  
  • 11.2 North Korea  

    Note: This subunit is also covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • 11.2.1 Formation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea  
  • 11.2.2 Aftermath of Civil War  
  • 11.2.3 Relations with China and Soviet Bloc  
  • 11.2.4 Industrial Growth  

    Note: This subunit is also covered by the reading for subunit 11.2.2.

  • 11.2.5 Personality Cult of Kim Il Sung  
  • 11.2.6 Chuch’e (Juche) Ideology  
  • 11.2.7 Increasing Isolation and Economic Fragility  
  • 11.3 The PRC under Mao  
  • 11.3.1 Formation of the People’s Republic of China  
  • 11.3.2 Early Years of the PRC  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.2.1 Conflict and Cooperation  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.2.2 Consolidating Communist Party Rule  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.2.3 Minority Policies  
  • 11.3.2.4 War in Korea  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 8.4.

  • 11.3.3 Socialist Transformation  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.3.1 Planned Economy  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.3.2 Collectivization and Communes  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.3.3 Great Leap Forward  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.4 Ideology and the Struggle for Power  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.4.1 Hundred Flowers and the Anti-Rightist Movement  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.4.2 Socialist Education  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.4.3 Tensions and Rivalry in the CCP  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 11.3.

  • 11.3.5 Cultural Revolution  
  • 11.3.6 International Relations of the PRC  
  • 11.3.6.1 Relations with USSR and Eastern Bloc  
  • 11.3.6.2 China as ‘Leader’ of Third World and International Socialist Movement  
  • 11.3.6.3 China in Africa  
  • Unit 12: Democratization in South Korea, Taiwan and Mongolia  

    Despite (or perhaps because of) economic success in South Korea and Taiwan, long championed by the state as a justification for continued authoritarian rule, the clamor for democracy did not cease. In the face of growing domestic and international pressure, the regimes in both countries finally relented and began to implement democratic reforms, first at the local, then at the national level. Since the 1990s, both countries have had vibrant representative democracy and an entirely free (and frequently highly partisan) press. Mongolia, meanwhile, democratized following the adoption of the perestroikaand glasnostpolicies in the USSR. As in the USSR, the reforms were soon not felt to have gone far enough, and following massive demonstrations in early 1990, multiparty democracy was introduced and direct election of the president authorized.

    In all three countries, however, much of the authoritarian old guard (bureaucrats or political parties) has continued to enjoy power in the democracy era. In addition to examining the origins and course of democratization, therefore, this unit also explores the domestic and international factors shaping the composition of the new regimes.

    Unit 12 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 12 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 12.1 Mongolia  
  • 12.1.1 Perestroika and Glasnost in USSR  
  • 12.1.2 Perestroika and Glasnost in Mongolia under Batmonkh (1985-1990)  
  • 12.1.3 Demonstrations in Ulaanbaatar 1990  
  • 12.1.4 Democratization  
  • 12.1.5 Continued Strength of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP, re-named Mongolian People’s Party, MPP) in the Democracy Period  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 12.1.4.

  • 12.1.6 Old Friends, New Alliances?  
    • Reading: Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s “Concept of Foreign Policy”

      Link: Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s “Concept of Foreign Policy” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read Sections I, II and III. How does foreign policy in the democracy era reconfigure Mongolia’s former position as a Soviet satellite?
       
      This reading should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Page above. 

      The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.

      Submit Materials

  • 12.2 South Korea  
  • 12.2.1 Challenges to State Authority 1970s-1980s  
    • Reading: The May 18 Memorial Foundation’s “May 18 Democratic Uprising”

      Link: The May 18 Memorial Foundation’s “May 18 Democratic Uprising” (HTML)

      Instructions: Read the history section. What perspective on the Kwangju uprising does this account attempt to convey? Do you agree that this was the “starting point” of South Korea’s democratization? (Compare this to the view expressed by Paik Nak-Chung in the reading under subunit 12.2.3.) How do you think these events were viewed by the regime? By its US allies?
       
      When you have completed this reading and answered the questions, select “testimonies” from the menu on the left. Read the testimonies – there is no need to take notes. Why do you think these particular testimonies (from foreigners) have been chosen over others that could have been included?
       
      OPTIONAL: Search Youtube for video footage of the uprising and news coverage from the time.
       
      These readings and questions should take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 12.2.2 Liberalization 1980s  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 12.2.1.

  • 12.2.2.2 Legalization of Opposition Parties  
  • 12.2.3 Democratization  
  • 12.2.3.1 Peaceful Transfer of Power to Kim Young Sam  
  • 12.2.3.2 Prosecution of Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh Tae-Woo  
  • 12.2.3.3 Election of Kim Dae Jung  
  • 12.3 Taiwan  
  • 12.3.1 Liberalization in 1980s  
  • 12.3.1.1 Lifting of Martial Law 1987  
  • 12.3.1.2 Legalization of Opposition Parties  
  • 12.3.2 Democratization in the 1990s  
  • 12.3.2.1 Temporary Provisions Effective during the Period of Communist Rebellion Lifted  
  • 12.3.2.2 Reform of Legislature  
  • 12.3.2.3 First Direct Elections for President  
  • 12.3.2.4 First non-KMT President, Chen Shui-Bien, Elected 2000  
  • 12.3.3 Continued Dominance of KMT in Democracy Era  
  • Unit 13: China’s Re-emergence as a Global Power  

    With the death of Mao Zedong, the hated ‘Gang of Four’ was arrested and after a brief two-year transition phase, power handed over to Deng Xiaoping. Under Deng, China embarked on a path of domestic reform and opening to foreign trade, modern technologies and knowledge it had once scorned as ‘bourgeois’, replacing ‘red’ bureaucrats with ‘expert’ technocrats in an effort to effect rapid modernization.

    Needless to say, the modernization path has not always gone smoothly. As in South Korea and Taiwan during the 1970s, the economy has boomed, but political liberalization has been stifled, leading to intermittent protests and official clamp-downs.

    Since the 1990s, economic development has accelerated, leaving many people behind and leading to rising social inequality and discontent. At the same time, China’s growth has given it huge economic (and military) clout internationally, renewing national pride, and fueling an upsurge in popular nationalism and demands that China take hard-line stances in international relations. Even though it is not democratically accountable, the regime thus faces constant challenges in attempting to retain one-party control, continue economic development that satisfies its more than a billion consumers, maintain national face in international dealings, and address discontent from various sectors of society.

    Unit 13 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 13 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 13.1 End of an Era  
    • Lecture: Harvard Extension School’s “China’s Re-birth in the 1970s”

      Link: Harvard Extension School’s “China’s Re-birth in the 1970s” (Adobe Flash)
       
      Instructions: Select your preferred format, audio or video, and connection type.
       
      What are the major changes in China that took place beginning in the early 1970s that are identified in the lecture? How do you think those changes laid the foundation for China’s dramatic development from the 1990s onward?
       
      Watching/listening and note-taking will take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 13.1.1 Death of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.1.

  • 13.1.2 Arrest of Gang of Four  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.1.

  • 13.2 Reform and Opening  
  • 13.2.1 Economic Reform  
  • 13.2.1.1 De-Collectivization of Agriculture  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.2.

  • 13.2.1.2 Establishment of Limited Market Economy  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.2.

  • 13.2.1.3 Establishment of Special Economic Zones  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.2.

  • 13.2.2 Political Reform  
  • 13.2.2.1 Ousting of Conservative Elders from Government  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.2.

  • 13.2.2.2 Reform of Nomenklatura System  
  • 13.2.3 Limits of Reform  
  • 13.2.3.1 Democracy Wall  
    • Reading: PBS’s The Gate of Heavenly Peace: “Wei Jingsheng”

      Link: PBS’s The Gate of Heavenly Peace: “Wei Jingsheng” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Click the link to “Democracy Wall,” then click the hyperlink “Wei Jingsheng” to read a short biography. When you have read the biography, return to the “Democracy Wall” page to read short excerpts from his writings.

      This reading will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 13.2.3.2 Campaign against Bourgeois Liberalization  
  • 13.2.3.3 Tian’anmen Square Demonstrations  
  • 13.2.3.4 Tian’anmen Square Demonstrations  
  • 13.3 China in the 1990s: ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’  
    • Reading: Atlantic Monthly: Yin Xiao-huang’s “China’s Gilded Age”

      Link: Atlantic Monthly: Yin Xiao-huang’s “China’s Gilded Age” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: This reading provides the overview for subunits 13.3.1, 13.3.2, and 13.3.3.
      What types of economic and social changes does Yin identify? Does Yin think that China is “socialist”? What political changes have there been and to what extent has China democratized?
       
      This reading will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 13.3.1 Socialist Market Economy’  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.3.

  • 13.3.1.1 Boom in Private Industry  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.3.

  • 13.3.1.2 Dismantling/Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.3.

  • 13.3.1.3 Fiscal Decentralization  
  • 13.3.1.4 Rising Regional Economic Disparities  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.3.

  • 13.3.2 Limited Political Change  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.3.

  • 13.3.3 Social Change  
  • 13.3.3.1 Increasing Urbanization  

    Note: This subunit is covered by the reading for subunit 13.3.3.

  • 13.3.3.2 Consumer Culture  
  • 13.3.3.3 Emergence of Civil Society Movements  
  • 13.3.3.4 Effects of One-Child Policy  
  • 13.4 Chinese Nationalism and International Relations  
  • 13.4.1 Ethnic Minorities in Contemporary China  
  • 13.4.1.1 Tibet  
  • 13.4.1.2 Xinjiang  
  • 13.5 China in the World  
  • Unit 14: Regional Problems and Prospects for the 21st Century  

    In the preceding units, we have learned a great deal about the resurgence of the Northeast Asian region after the humiliation and debacle at the hands of Western barbarians in the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the states of the region are once again dominant economic powers. In this final unit, we look at some of the consequences and corollaries of the region’s late twentieth century dynamism and assess some of the problems that have arisen along the way so as better to evaluate the prospects for the region going forward.

    Unit 14 Time Advisory   show close
    Unit 14 Learning Outcomes   show close
  • 14.1 Aging Populations  
  • 14.2 Resource Scarcity and Competition  
  • 14.3 Environmental Degradation  
  • 14.4 Bureaucratic Corruption  
  • 14.5 Rising Socio-economic Inequalities  
  • 14.6 Territorial Disputes  
    • Web Media: YouTube: Peter Tetteroo and Raymond Feddema’s “Welcome to North Korea”

      Link: YouTube: Peter Tetteroo and Raymond Feddema’s “Welcome to North Korea” (YouTube)
       
      Instructions: Watch the documentary for a (limited) look inside North Korea today.
      There is no need to take notes, but pay attention to the cult of leadership on display. Does anything surprise you about what you see in the film?
       
      Watching the film will take approximately 1 hour to complete.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: Japan Focus: Gavan McCormack’s “Sunshine, Containment, War: Korean Options”

      Link: Japan Focus: Gavan McCormack’s “Sunshine, Containment, War: Korean Options” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Read this analysis of South Korea’s policy options in dealing with the North. How do you think recent events, such as the sinking of the South Korean ship, the Cheonan, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, might shape South Korean policy toward its neighbor going forward?
       
      This reading should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
       
      OPTIONAL: Search for news articles or footage related to the recent Cheonan and Yeonpyeong incidents. Try to find different perspectives on the incidents (for example, compare articles in the Chinese or North Korean press with those from South Korea, the US or Europe).
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

  • 14.7 Cross-Straits Relations  
    • Lecture: Harvard Extension School’s “The Origins of the Taiwan Question”

      Link: Harvard Extension School’s “The Origins of the Taiwan Question” (Adobe Flash)
       
      Instructions:  Scroll down and select your preferred format (video or audio, accompanied by PowerPoint slides) and connection type.
       
      Watching/listening and note-taking should take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the web page above.

      See a broken link? Please let us know!

    • Reading: ROC Government Information Office’s “Cross-Straits Relations”

      Link: ROC Government Information Office’s “Cross-Straits Relations” (HTML)
       
      Instructions: Select “Cross-Straits Relations” from the menu on the left to open a pdf file. What perspective on Sino-Taiwan relations does it present? (Note that this is a document produced by a government agency.) Do you think it leans “Blue” or “Green”?
       
      This reading should take approximately 1 hour.
       
      Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Web Page above.

      The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.

      Submit Materials

  • 14.8 The Past in the Present: History Problems in Regional Relations  
  • 14.8.1 Japan-US  
  • 14.8.2 China-Korea  
  • 14.9 The History Problem in Regional Relations  

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