Week 7: Fractured Alliance/Guomindang in Power

Oct. 5 – Oct. 11

Check you have completed the assignments for Week 6

Second week of Module 3: Envisioning State and Society

As we move into the twenties and thirties, two main visions of state and society, and two political parties begin to dominate the narrative: the Nationalist Party (Guomindang) and Communists.

At the same time, the fragmentation of the state continues, to the point that this week and next week we remain in the same time-frame but we follow two different groups in parallel. This week we look at the actions of the Nationalist Party (Guomindang). Next week, we will follow the story of the Communists. However, because they are constantly in conflict with each other you’ll see them running around in both weeks. Keep your eye on the timeline (part 3) and the map (layer for Part 3), and keep notes for yourself, too.

Background
Readings
Assignments
- Extra credit
Where to ask questions

Background

As pointed out in the opening remarks for week 6, a Chinese politician’s highest goal is to unify the state under one single political leader, yet it is not abnormal to see a lack of political or territorial unity.

Sun Yatsen’s dream of a Chinese Republic under a single unified leadership was a distant dream when he passed away in 1925. Leadership of the party went to Chiang Kaishek (Mandarin: Jiang Jieshi), a military man who leaned more to the right, and had a severe distrust of the communists with whom Sun had worked together. Yet Chiang saw the use of the “united front” with the communists, for as long as it suited him to try and get rid of the warlords who had carved up the republic “like a melon.” In 1927, he turned against them.

Why does this matter? This is the origin of the bloody and now almost century-long conflict between the two parties, both of which claim to be the true heir to Sun’s legacy. Clearly this won’t be easy to resolve. At the same time, the territorial integrity of the Republic was still compromised: the foreign concessions (result of the various nineteenth-century wars) still existed, and Japan occupied parts of the northeastern provinces, known as Manchuria, to protect its railway concessions, part of its imperialist ambitions, which set it on the road to WWII in East Asia. Bear in mind that at the same time, it already controlled the Korean peninsula, and Taiwan.

Readings

Basic Set

Slide deck
- not much in the presenter notes this time, but let me know if you need any clarifications, happy to add!
Summary chapter 14
Summary chapter 15
“Emergency Laws.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. (PDF) #government #authoritarianism
- Is a state which introduces these kinds of emergency laws “in power”?
OPTIONAL: Moïse Edwin E. Modern China: A History Third ed. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman, 2008.
- pp. 64-74.
OPTIONAL: Dillon, Michael. China: A Modern History. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.
- pp. 188-200, 204-214, 217-219
Note that both authors of these two optional textbooks try to follow the chronological sequence of events, Spence does not. I’m not sure which is the better way.
OPTIONAL: Hergé. Tintin: The Blue Lotus. (PDF) #Japan
- These extracts from the Blue Lotus shows how Hergé wove current affairs (in red brackets) into his adventures of Tintin. He collaborated closely with Zhang Chongren, a Chinese sculptor and personal friend of Hergé.
- Compare with the Japanese description of the incident in The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. (PDF)

Exploration Pack 1: Plain Textbook

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. Third ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.
- Chapters 14 and 15 (“The Fractured Alliance” and “The Guomindang in Power”)
“Purging the Communists: Three Documents.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. (PDF) #government #authoritarianism #nationalism

Exploration Pack 2: Taiwan

Caroline, Ts’ai Hui-yu. “Shaping Administration in Colonial Taiwan, 1895–1945.” In Taiwan Under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945: History, Culture, Memory, Edited by Ping-hui Liao and David Der-wei Wang, 97-121. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. (Chapter in ebook Trexler) #taiwan #colonialism #japan
- What were the obstacles Japan had to overcome in ruling its first foreign colony? Was it successful? Why (not)? Where could Taiwanese people find ways to resist the colonization?
- This type of text tries to convince you of an argument: can you summarize in three sentences what the “pitch” is the author makes? What do they want you to accept as true? –> that will help you through the text.
“A Chat with the Governor-General About Discontinuing Chinese Columns in Daily Newspapers.” In The Columbia Sourcebook of Literary Taiwan, edited by Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang, Michelle Yeh and Ming-ju Fan. Columbia Univ. Press, 2014. (PDF) #taiwan #colonization #cultural-policy
- In this short interview, you read the Japanese view of Taiwan within the greater Japanese empire
14.1: “A Patient Named Taiwan.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.d (PDF) #taiwan #colonization #nationalism
- This piece was written by a Taiwanese-Chinese, in Japanese.

Exploration Pack 3: Life in Shanghai

Carter, James. Champions Day : The End of Old Shanghai. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2020. (PDF) #shanghai #entertainment #international-community
- Chapters 5 and 6 give you a good insight in the complex international patchwork of Shanghai: it had multiple international concessions. The book takes place against the background of WWII (a few weeks into the future in our semester), but focus instead on the question of “cosmopolitan” life in Shanghai: what made Shanghai an international city? A desirable place to be? What were the relations between Westerners and Chinese people like?
OPTIONAL: “The Seven Great Singing Stars of Shanghai” on The China History Podcast (3 episodes).
There are multiple books on Shanghai night life and the jazz scene, and 1920s-40s Shanghai is the backdrop for many films.

A slightly different angle. Recognize any buildings?

Aerial view of the Bund, Shanghai, 1927

Ephgrave, Jack Collection
Adrienne Livesey, Elaine Ryder, & Irene Brien
ep01-746https://t.co/WAbRal0hDb #historicalphotographsofchina #historicalphotos #history #china #chinesehis pic.twitter.com/ng9n0q3hJv
— Visualising China (@vischina) August 2, 2020

Assignments

Peer feedback on post Week 6

3 points, due Monday Oct. by 11.59pm.

Ok, you know the drill, and why reading other’s posts is good for you… Below you find links to four blog posts from your fellow students. If one of the websites is your own, or it is twice the same person’s, refresh the page, and you should get new sites.

Post 1:
Post 2:
Post 3:
Post 4:

Leave feedback, questions, thoughts, insights about the contents of the posts of your fellow students using Hypothes.is group HST271. You can ask for clarifications, point out similarities and differences with the material you covered, or with your interpretation. This should encourage you to nose around in the other materials you did not read in the first round.

Use the “Architect’s Model” of giving feedback, and engage with concrete issues. Go beyond “Yeah, I agree,” “I like” or “I think the same”, and instead explain why you have that reaction, or if you disagree, you can try to persuade the original poster of your idea or interpretation.

Remember that Hypothes.is allows for hyperlinks, e.g. to materials that support your argument, or you can include pictures (memes! [yes, there she is again]), videos etc. that help the original poster to learn more.

When you’ve commented on four posts, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I commented on four fellow students’ initial posts on the readings from Week 6, using the group HST271.
– I made sure to leave substantial comments that move the discussion forward and help to create better insights, and go beyond a “nice” or “great”.
– I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

Show and Tell project for Module 2 (Fragmentation and Reform – weeks 4-5)

Due on Wednesday, Oct. 7., 11.59pm

Find all the details, suggestions for formats, and suggestions for additional materials on this dedicated webpage, as well as information on how and where to submit. (You submit a link on Canvas in this assignment)

Blog post

5 points, due by Thursday, Oct. 8. 11.59pm.

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester.

Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
- TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list here.
Add the words “Week 7” in the title (please use this exact phrase, or it trips up the filter I created to have your posts show up in the blog stream)
Indicate in your post which Exploration Pack you chose.
Including an image, and make sure to add a caption with the source/credit.
Post on your website, and add to the category hst271.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose.
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source) for the image.
– I use the words Week 7 in the title, and added the post to category hst271

Peer feedback on post Week 7

3 points, due Tue. Oct. 13 by 11.59pm (one-off change to the regular due day)

Post 1:
Post 2:
Post 3:
Post 4:

When you’ve commented on four posts, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I commented on four fellow students’ initial posts on the readings from Week 5, using the group HST271.
– I made sure to leave substantial comments that move the discussion forward and help to create better insights, and go beyond a “nice” or “great”.
– I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

Extra Credit Tasks

EC 7-1: Rewrite a post

3 points, due by Sunday Oct 11, 11.59pm

Unhappy about a post you wrote? Feeling you can do better now than a few weeks ago? Had a bad week and rushed to get it in but now you’re ready to do something you can be proud of? Now you can rewrite a post and get extra credit for it!

Pick a post from a previous week and use the comments you received to rewrite it.
Add a brief paragraph at the end explaining how you rewrote the post: which comments did you address, how did you go about the process (new blank page vs. tinkering), and what you learned about the process of rewriting.
tag the post with extra, and add the word rewrite to the title

Read the following Declaration carefully, and then head on over to Canvas to collect your points in the Declaration Quiz:

Declaration
I selected a post from a previous week and rewrote it, using feedback and insights I gained since writing it.
I added a brief paragraph at the end explaining what I did to rewrite the post, and what I learned about rewriting
I added the tag extra to the post, and added the word rewrite to the title.
I made sure the post is still in the category hst271.

EC 7-2: “Down the Rabbit Hole”

3 points, due by Sunday, Oct. 11, 11.59pm.

Are you curious? Can you spend hours on internet following one link after another trying to get to the bottom of something? Did you know you can now also get some extra credit for this?

Pick a topic, place name, object, book or person connected to our readings from this week, and follow your curiosity “down the rabbit hole”, like Alice in Wonderland. Then share in a blog post with us where you went, and what you found. Your post does not have to be very long: 250 words should work; more is fine if you went on a deep dive, of course. Here’s what to include:

What in the course materials this week got you inspired to go down the rabbit hole?
Include as hyperlinked text the websites you visited, and what you learned there.
Include an image, with caption giving credit for the image.
You may also critique the sources you find, in particular if you have your doubts about their reliability, or you come across conflicting interpretations. Which one did you side with, and why?
Add the post to category hst271, use the title template “Down the rabbit hole: [insert subject]”, and add the tag extra.