Week 3: High Qing

(Jan. 30 – Feb. 5)

Check you have done all the assignments for the end of Week 2! Then get started on this week.

Remember: Use the login name and password found on the Canvas page for the PDFs hosted in the PDF vault (url starting with “docs.tdh.bergbuilds”)

Table of Contents

Slides and class

Readings and class details

Wednesday: Library session 1 –– Meeting in Trexler library B01

9.30am. (corrected to our usual time) Prepare before class: 

  • Trexler Library subject guide : Article exercise: At to the top of the subject guide you find links to 6 articles. You are assigned 1 article in small groups. (see list below). Read through through the article and take brief notes (for reference in class) on what you see as strengths and weaknesses of the article. (Coordinate with your partner[s] if you want!)
    • TIP: you don’t have to read the entire article! We won’t discuss the contents in great detail, but you should look for the features that help you identify the strengths and weaknesses.
  • Where are we? Go down the stairs to B level and turn right. Walk past the vending machines and into the classroom at the end. (And yes, you can bring snax and drinks into the room).
  • Teams:
    • Article 1: Michelle & Declan
    • Article 2: Derek G & Dylan
    • Article 3: Liam & Jenny
    • Article 4: Esther & Josh
    • Article 5: Derek R & Madeline
    • Article 6: Reid, Grace & Collin

Friday (back in Ettinger!)

Remember: Use the login name and password found on the Canvas page for the PDFs hosted in the PDF vault (url starting with “docs.tdh.bergbuilds”)

Basic Set + 1 Exploration pack

All students look through the basic set:

  • Textbook summary chapter 5
  • Textbook summary chapter 6
  • Platt, Stephen R. “How Britain’s First Mission to China Went Wrong: Why the Macartney Mission Went Awry.” LA Review of Books, China Channel, May 18, 2018. https://chinachannel.org/2018/05/18/macartney/
    • While this was a momentous turning point in Chinese-Western relations, at the same time we should bear in mind that to China, the West appeared very small indeed!
  • “6.5: The Second Edict [from Qianlong to King George], Sept. 1793”. In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection, edited by Janet Y. Chen, Pei-kai Cheng, Michael Elliot Lestz, and Jonathan D Spence, 90-93. Third ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. (PDF)
    • The Qianlong Emperor sent this second edict to King George, in response to the request to open up diplomatic relations between equal states, and to allow for a permanent ambassador to reside in China, near the court of the Emperor.

Pick one of the following

Exploration Pack 1: Secondary sources

If you like to hear how present-day scholars think about the encounter between China and Europe, use this exploration pack.

  • Mungello, David. “4. European Acceptance of Chinese Culture and Confucianism.” In The Great Encounter of China and The West, 1500 – 1800. Critical Issues in History. World and International History. Lanham, Md: Rowman and Littlefield, 2013.
  • “Matteo Ricci and the Ming dynasty”. In Our Time, BBC Radio 4 (Podcast), April 16, 2015. URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05qjq67
  • Questions: How did Westerners respond to encountering China’s culture and history? Did anything change over time?

Exploration Pack 2: Primary Sources

If you like to get up close with the sources yourself and do the historian’s detective work, check out this exploration pack:

  • Du Halde, J.-B. The General History of China : Containing a Geographical, Historical, Chronological, Political and Physical Description of the Empire of China, Chinese-Tartary, Corea and Thibet. Done from the French of P. Du Halde. Ecco Database. London: Printed by and for John Watts, 1736.
    • ebook Trexler
    • Volumes 2, 3 and 4 contain the most interesting sections about Chinese customs and habits. (Volume 1 is “dry” Chinese history.)
    • Pick one (small) section from Vol. 2, 3 or 4 and give us a three-sentence summary of the contents. Then describe your reaction to it: do you think the Westerners understood what was going on? How would this information influence how Westerners (including Macartney, who knew this text) see the Chinese?
  • “Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining, 郎世寧): A Jesuit missionary paints the emperor of China”. Obelisk. URL: https://arthistoryproject.com/artists/giuseppe-castiglione/
    • Gallery with selected works from Guiseppe Castiglione
  • Wikipedia page: scroll through for the gallery with his works
  • Ehret-Kump, Matthew. “The Passion of Giuseppe Castiglione: How an 18th century Jesuit Painter Revolutionized Chinese Art”. LA Review of Books, China Channel, January 17, 2019. URL: https://chinachannel.lareviewofbooks.org/2019/01/17/castiglione/
    • More info on Castiglione.
  • Question: How does he combine Western and Chinese traditions in his work?

Assignments

0. Install a footnote plugin for WordPress

0 points task, due Fri. Feb. 3 11.59PM

Plugins are tiny pieces of code or software to add to your WordPress site that make it more awesome. For this task, I request that you install a plugin that will allow you to create footnotes. Then you can write like a professional historian with footnotes in the Chicago Notes and Bibliography style.

We will use the Easy Footnotes plugin by Jason Yingling. Follow these steps to install it, or scroll down a bit to find the video tutorial from Tim Clarke:

  1. Go to your WordPress site/blog. In the lefthand menu, click on Plugins
  2. Add the top, click on “add new”
  3. In the search bar (right, next to “keyword”), type easy footnotes
  4. Check that the first hit is Jason Yingling’s Easy Footnotes plugin, and click on “install”
  5. Click Activate

You now have installed the plugin!

To create a footnote you just wrap the text that needs to go inside the note between a tiny bit of code. (Replace stuff with the reference, here)

[efn_note]stuff[/efn_note]

The plugin will automatically take care of numbering and links to move your reader between note and text. Please use these notes for your Show and Tell projects to make sure you are in compliance with the AIC 😁

Please complete the Declaration on Canvas to allow us to keep track of your achievements in this course.

1. Reminder: Blog post (content week 2)

5 points, due Mon. Jan. 30, 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. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • 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 on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 2” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • 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), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 2 in the title, and added the post to category hst271

2. Hypothes.is: comments on Week 1 posts

3 points, due Wed. Feb. 1 by 11.59pm.

Below you find links to three 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. [posts coming on Tuesday]

  • Post 1:
  • Post 2:
  • Post 3:

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 tags in Hypothes.is: question: If you have a question (obvious); answered: if you gave an answer to a question; info: if you provide more information, looking up additional facts, drawing on knowledge from other classes; and other tags you can think of. This will help us to navigate more quickly to the questions that still need answering.

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 three fellow students’ posts on the readings from Week 2 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.

3. Weekly Blog post (content week 3)

5 points, due Mon. Feb. 6, 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. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • 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 on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 3” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • 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), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 3 in the title, and added the post to category hst271

[4. Heads up! Show and Tell coming up next week]

Create and share your first Show and Tell project! Find all the details on the dedicated webpage.

Reminders from the syllabus, about points and all that:

  • 20 points total – graded assignment (i.e. not a Declaration Quiz)
  • How to get your points?
    • Submit your Show and Tell project as a blog post which is the project, or contains a link to the project.
    • In the Canvas assignment, write a brief self-assessment and a suggested grade.
  • You have one free pass
    • TIP: You do not have to take the free pass: doing more research can only be good for your understanding of Chinese history!
    • to activate your free pass: In the Canvas assignment submit a comment “Free Pass” instead of the self-assessment, and I will award your full points for the project
    • If you choose to create a fifth project because you love Chinese history that much, I will at the end of the semester award the project with the lowest score the “Free Pass” equivalent (i.e. 20 points), so you can try something new, or creative without being punished.
  • The Show and Tell projects are open for “rewrite and resubmit”: after receiving feedback, you can rewrite and resubmit to improve your grade, within one month of receiving feedback.

Extra Credit tasks

Extra commenting

2 points, due by Sunday Feb. 5, 11.59pm.

Do you like reading your colleagues’ work? Do you like helping them out by identifying ways to make their posts better? Here’s some good news! You can earn extra credit by doing extra commenting! This assignment will be available regularly throughout the semester.

  • Go to the Blog Stream of the Class under Participants’ Posts on the website
  • Pick a post that piques your curiosity and that you have not yet commented on
  • Use Hypothes.is group HST271, and leave feedback as we practiced with the Architects’s model
  • Pick 2 additional posts (a total of 3 for this task): they can come from other students in the blog stream, or if you like the writer, you can stay with them and comment more.
  • The only conditions are:
    • that you do not comment on blog posts you already commented on before, as part of your regular weekly tasks.
    • that the post is actually written for HST271, and not some other class. Check the category, and the content. (Cat post or extra credit posts for this class are fair game!)
  • Add the tag extra to the comment (this helps me to keep track of how many people use this option.), in addition to other tags you find useful (e.g. “question”)

When you’re done, please read this declaration carefully and collect your points with the Canvas Declaration Quiz.

Declaration
I selected three blogs I have not yet commented on before, from our class’ blog stream, and I used the Hypothes.is group HST271 to comment.
I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
I added the tag extra to my Hypothes.is comments.
I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

“Down the Rabbit Hole”

3 points, due by Sunday, Feb. 5, 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? Found something during the research for your Show and Tell project you had to cut out, but it’s still so cool? Now you get credit for sharing!

Pick a topic, place name, object, book or person connected to our readings from this week (yes, the library’s topic is fine!), and follow your curiosity “down the rabbit hole”, like Alice in Wonderland. Then share in a short 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; of course use Alt Text
  • 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.

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

Declaration
I wrote a post about additional materials on the internet I found, starting from a topic connected to course materials from this week.
I included the sites I visited as hyperlinked text, and explained what I learned on these pages.
I included an image, with a caption and credit for the image, and Alt Text.
I added the post to the category hst271, used the tag extra, and used the title template “Down the rabbit hole: [insert topic]” for my post.

Where to get assistance?

  • Tea Room on Discord:
    • open anytime for you
    • I will be hosting Tue 2PM-3PM; Wed. 1-2PM, or at other times by appointment via Google Calendar (usually a 15-20min appointment is enough). You can also find me in my office during Tea Room times.
    • Private room for confidential chat available on request.
  • Discord Text Channel #hst271
  • DLAs: Digital Learning Assistants: check the schedule!
  • Writing Center: Schedule coming soon!
  • Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course 
  • Safety on/around campus: report an incident