Week 9: WWII and Civil War

March 22 and 24

This is a tough week content-wise: the Second World War was brutal in China, and it was followed immediately after by an equally brutal civil war between the Nationalists (Guomindang, GMD) and the Communists (CCP). I’m afraid I can’t find any light topics as options amidst all of this. In fact, the next few weeks have a heavy death-toll, so prepare yourself mentally. Chinese history is not all about monochrome ink paintings and dainty poetry.

Table of Contents

Slides

Readings and class details

Wednesday

Ettinger 204, 9.30AM

  • Summary Chapter 17 (WWII)
  • TEXTBOOKS: Pick one:
    • Crossely, Pamela. The Wobbling Pivot: China since 1800. Wiley-Blackwell.Chapter 13: “War”, p. 198-205
      • Note how many parallels there are between the Japanese conquest and the conquest and early occupation of China by the Manchu in the Ming-Qing transition.
    • Moïse Edwin E. Modern China: A History Third ed. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman, 2008.
    • Dillon, Michael. China: A Modern History. London: I.B. Tauris, 2010.

Exploration Packs:

Pick 2 of these bullets as your curiosity leads you.

  • Hershatter, Gail. Women and China’s Revolutions. Critical Issues in World and International History. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
    • In this short extract you can read about how women (young soldiers and feisty grandmas alike!) fought against the Japanese, and how women fared during the Civil war. (PDF) (30 min read)
  • Smedley, Agnes, J. F Horrabin, and Victor Gollancz Ltd. China Fights Back: An American Woman with the Eighth Route Army. Left Book Club Edition. London: V. Gollancz, 1938.
    • The Eighth Route Army was the name for the Communist Army. Agnes Smedley was not shy about her sympathies for the communist cause, and as a journalist had already earlier reported on their travails during the Long March, but never was she as close to the action as during the late 1930s. This is a small section when she allowed to tag along with Lin Biao (Lin Piao in her transcription), who will rise to become Mao’s designated successor until his sudden fall from power in 1971.
    • PDF
  • Fan Liya. “Weibo Suspends Relationship Guru Over ‘Comfort Women’ Comments.” Sixth Tone. May 22, 2018. (6 min. read
    • This article gives you a good sense of how tense the collective memory and pain about WWII in China still is.
  • Li Bin. “Reimagining a Tokyo Trial Tableau“. Sixth Tone. Nov. 11, 2019. (5 min. read)
    • The Chinese painter used a traditional (Western) medium (oil painting) to depict the East Asian equivalent of the Nuremberg trials.

Friday:

Ettinger 204, 9.30AM

Exploration Packs:

Pick 2 of these bullets as your curiosity leads you.

  • “Mao Zedong: The Rectification Campaign.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection, Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al., W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
    • In the middle of WWII, the rectification campaign aimed to root out enemies of the communist cause who had somehow managed to find their way into the party. The campaign would also educate those who were in need of revising their views to be more in line with the party’s. Art and culture played a central role in this.
    • PDF, 25 min. read
  • “Ding Ling: Thoughts on March 8, 1942.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection, Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al., W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
    • Ding Ling was a communist and feminist writer, but she was too independent-minded to fit in the CCP of Mao Zedong. She became the target of many rectification campaigns over the years.
    • PDF, 15 min read
  • Meyer, Mahlon. Remembering China from Taiwan: Divided Families and Bittersweet Reunions After the Chinese Civil War. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012.
    • Chapter 1 “Degrees of Escape” has stories of escaping from the Japanese and the communist forces. It is a longer chapter, so peruse and focus on the sections you find interesting.
    • Ebook Trexler
  • Williams, Sue. China: A Century of Revolution. Zeitgeist Films, 2007.
    • Available through the Internet Archive
    • Look at part 1, starting at 1hr to begin at the start of WWII, to the end of part 1. (±53min)
    • (Note: no closed captions)

Assignments

1. Reminder: Weekly Blog post (content week 8)

5 points, due Mon. March 20, 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 8” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose (if applicable)
  • 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(s) 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 8 in the title, and added the post to category hst271

2. Hypothes.is: comments on Week 8 posts

3 points, due Wed. March 22 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 three 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 8 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. Show and Tell 3

20 points, due Mon March 27, 11:59PM

Find all the details on the dedicated webpage! Content for your Show and Tell needs to connect to something we covered/timespan covered in weeks 7, 8, or 9, that is from 1911 to 1949.

If you used your Free Pass already this semester, you MUST complete the remaining Show and Tell projects!

4. Weekly Blog post (content week 9)

5 points, due Mon. March 27, 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 9” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose (if applicable)
  • 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(s) 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 9 in the title, and added the post to category hst271

Extra Credit tasks

EC9-1: Introduce an image

3 points, due Sunday March 26 11.59pm

All the details on this webpage, incl. a link to declaration quiz.

EC9-2: Follow that footnote!

3 points, due by Sunday March. 26, 11.59pm

Read the instructions on this separate webpage , incl. the link there to the declaration quiz.

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: Sunday – Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 & 7 – 11 PM; Thursday 3:30 – 5:30 PM &  7 – 9 PM
  • Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course 
  • Safety on/around campus: report an incident