Bachelor 2020/2021

Modern History of East Asia

Type: Compulsory course (HSE University and Kyung Hee University Double Degree Programme in Economics and Politics in Asia)

Area of studies: Foreign Regional Studies

Delivered by: Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

Where: Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

When: 1 year, 3, 4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Instructors: Olga Puzanova

Language: English

ECTS credits: 4

Contact hours: 84

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course presents a general introduction to the history of East Asia from the 17th century through the present with a focus on the process of modernization in China, Japan, and Korea. Adopting a comparative and international perspective, the course covers not only the domestic events in each of these countries, but also how they shaped and were shaped by the international developments in the region. Emphasis falls on a comprehensive understanding of the efforts of people across East Asia to respond to profound cultural, social and economic challenges of the 19th century and 20th century and to devise viable solutions. The course will prepare students for higher-level courses dealing with modern East Asia.

Learning Objectives

• Students gain a working knowledge of the history of modem China, Japan, and Korea. This knowledge will serve both as a foundation for further study and as a tool for more effectively understanding today's world.
• Students learn to think critically and comparatively about historical events in modern East Asia. They are able to understand and identify historical themes, causes, and effects.
• Students are able to use their knowledge and critical thinking abilities to intelligently consider journalism, published works, and scholarly articles on topics related to modem East Asia.
• Students acquire a perspective on history and an understanding of the factors that shape human activity.
• Students display knowledge about the origins and nature of contemporary issues and develop a foundation for future comparative understanding.
• Students think and speak critically about primary and secondary historical sources by examining diverse interpretations of past events and ideas in their historical contexts.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to operate the basic economic models, compare them and decide which of them are most applicable to East Asia.
• Students will be able to take part in a discourse regarding the rise of imperialism in Japan and its expansion in China
• Students will be able to evaluate the Tokugawa events, from national unification to a new political order
• Students will be able to analyze China's economic development after 1949, ups and downs, and Deng Xiaoping
• Students will be able to analyze the history of Japan’s participation in the Second World War, the reasons, the course of hostilities and the results of this conflict
• Students will be able to analyze the impact of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy, bushi and bourgeois culture on the development of Japan
• Students will gain the ability to discuss the colonialism in Asia, its forms, the process of penetration and the impact on the countries of the region
• Students will be able to analyze the politics of colonialism in Japan in Korea and Taiwan, achievements and crimes committed during colonial rule
• Students will be able to analyze the processes of economy development in Japan, Korea and Taiwan after the Second World War as well as the reasons for their rise
• Students will be able to analyze on the causes and results of the hegemony of Japan in East Asia in the first half of the 20th century
• Students will be able to evaluate Joseon Korea's relations with China
• Students will be able to discuss modern territorial issues in East Asia, the reasons for their appearance and possible solutions
• The students will be able to use the knowledge of East Asian history to analyze current trends and processes
• Students will be able to analyze the impact of the Unequal treaties on Japan, the development of Japanese expansionism and the first attempts to colonize nearby territories

Course Contents

• Course introduction. East Asia and its place in history.
  Periodisation of East Asian history; need for an integrated approach; course requirements
• Historical thought and historiography in Europe VS Asia
  Academic discourse on the nature of historical inquiry; facts, narratives, and lessons. Readings: 1) Carr, Edward Hallett. What Is History? Camberwell, Vic.: Penguin, 2008.
• Research methods in history. Approaches to modernity.
  Methods of historical inquiry. An introduction to historical and philosophical dimensions of ‘modernity’ Readings: 1)“Modernity” by Matthew J. Lauzon in Bentley, Jerry H. The Oxford Handbook of World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 2)Bayly, Christopher Alan. The Birth of the Modern World: 1780-1914: Global Connections and Comparisons. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 2005., Introduction.
• Ancient China and its impact on East Asia.
  An introduction to the ancient civilisations of China, Japan, and Korea. Readings: 1) Patricia Ebrey, Anne Whitehall, James B. Palais. East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. 2nd Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2009, chapter 16
• Chinese civilisation before the 17th century: periodisation
  Periodisation of Chinese history: dynasties prior to Qing.
• Japanese civilisation before the 17 century: a recap
  Periodisation of Japanese history: eras prior to Tokugawa. Readings: 1)Totman, Conrad D. Japan before Perry: A Short History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008., chapter 4. 2)Friday, Karl F. Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850. New York: Routledge, 2014., chapters 30–35, 38. 3)Hall, John W., ed. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989., chapter 8.
• Korean civilisation before the 17 century
  Korea prior to the 17 century: social and intellectual developments, domestic order and relations with China. Readings: 1)Patricia Ebrey, Anne Whitehall, James B. Palais. East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. 2nd Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2009, chapter 15
• Colloquium. The Advent of Modernity in East Asia
  A transition to modernity in Early Modern East Asia.
• Early Qing Empire.
  Ming-Qing transition, domestic and foreign policy, intellectual and material developments. Readings: 1) Balazs, Etienne. Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy. New Haven: Yale Uni. Press, 1964, chapters 1–4 (pp. 3-54).
• Tokugawa shogunate in Japan.
  Feudal state and military government of Japan in 1600-1868. From national unification to a new political order. Foreign relations in the age of sakoku.
• Qing China VS the West: the Opium Wars.
  The Opium Wars: a major shift in East Asian history. Economic, political and social changes they initiated. Post-war Chinese response to the West. Readings: 1)Patricia Ebrey, Anne Whitehall, James B. Palais. East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. 2nd Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2009, chapter 18 2)Fairbank, John K., ed. The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 10. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978., chapters 4, 6. 3)Lin Zexu, “Letter to the English Ruler” (SCT, 5–6).
• Rebellions in Qing China: the Taiping Rebellion, Dungan Revolt.
  Causes, consequences and legacy of the Taiping Rebellion and Dungan Revolt.
• Meiji Japan: a case of effective modernisation. Domestic reforms and the end of the ancien regime.
  Post-Perry political struggle and collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Meiji reforms and rapid westernisation. Readings: 1)Patricia Ebrey, Anne Whitehall, James B. Palais. East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. 2nd Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 2009, chapter 19, 21 2) William Theodore de Bary, et al, eds. Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2. From 1600 to 2000. 2nd Edition. 2005, chapters 36-37 3)Nagai, Yonosuke. "'In Spite of' or 'Because of'? Japan's Success and Japanese Culture." Speaking of Japan (December 1983): 7–11. 4)Levine, Solomon B., and Hirashi Kawada. Human Resources in Japanese Industrial Development. Princeton: Princeton Uni. Press, 1980, Ch. 2 (pp. 22–59).
• Meiji Japan: external relations.
  Japan from Black Ship to Meiji Restoration. Unequal treaties and Meiji diplomacy. First steps toward territorial expansion. Readings: 1)Jansen, Marius B., ed.The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989., chapter 12.
• Modernisation in Joseon Korea: failed reforms.
  Origins, course and consequences. Russian, Japanese and international receptions of the war in politics and culture. Readings: 1)Antony Best. “The Anglo-Japanese alliance and international politics in Asia, 1902–23.” In The International History of East Asia, 1900–1968. Edited by Antony Best. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2010. 2)Sato, Seizaburo. "Response to the West: The Korean and Japanese Patterns." In Albert M. Craig, ed. Japan: A Comparative View. Princeton: Princeton Uni. Press, 1979, pp. 105–130. 3) Moulder, Frances V. Japan, China and the Modern World Economy: Toward a Reinterpretation of East Asian Development, ca. 1600 to 1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). Skim the entire book.
• Colloquium. Colonialism in East Asia.
  The vicissitudes of exogenous modernisation.
• Qing China: an attempt at modernisation and reform. The Boxer Rebellion.
  Rivalling political groups and reforms in China in the late-19th century. Readings: 1)Immanuel C. Y. Hsu. The Rise of Modern China. Oxford University Press, 2000, chapters 15–17. 2)Perkins, Dwight H. "Government as an Obstacle to the Industrialization: The Case of Nineteenth Century China." The Journal of Economic History 27, no. 4 (December 1967): 478–492. 3)Levy, Marion J., Jr. "Contrasting Factors in the Modernization of China and Japan." Economic Development and Cultural Change 2 (1953–54). 4)Reischauer, Edwin O. "Modernization in Nineteenth-Century China and Japan." Japan Quarterly 10, no. 3 (July-September 1963): 298–307.
• The First Sino-Japanese War and its repercussions.
  Origins, course and aftermath of the war. International image of Japan at the turn of the century. Readings: 1)Stewart Lone, Japan's First Modern War: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, 1894-95. London: Macmillan, 1994., chapters 1, 6, 8.
• The Russo-Japanese war: World War Zero?
  Origins, course and consequences. Russian, Japanese and international receptions of the war in politics and culture. Readings: 1) Antony Best. “The Anglo-Japanese alliance and international politics in Asia, 1902–23.” In The International History of East Asia, 1900–1968. Edited by Antony Best. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2010.
• The last days of Joseon Korea and the Japanese occupation.
  Chinese, Russian and Japanese influences in Korea at the end of the 19th century. Japanese occupation of Korea. Readings: 1)Ki-baik Lee. A New History of Korea. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1984, chapter 15. 2)Ho, Samuel Pao-San. "Colonialism and Development: Korea, Taiwan, and Kwantung." In Ramon M. Myers and Mark Peattie, eds. The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945. Princeton: Princeton Uni. Press, 347–419. 3)Kohli, Atul. “Where do high growth political economies come from? The Japanese lineage of Korea's ‘developmental state’.” World Development, Vol. 22, No. 9 (1994): 1269–1293. 4)Cha, Myung Soo. “Facts and Myths About Korea’s Economic Past.” Australian Economic History Review, Vol. 44, No. 3 (November 2004): 278–293. 5)Haggard, Stephan, David Kang, and Chung-In Moon, “Japanese colonialism and Korean development: A critique.” World Development, Vol. 25, No. 6 (1997): 867–881. 6)Kohli, Atul. “Japanese colonialism and Korean development: A reply.” World Development, Vol. 25, No. 6 (1997): 883–888.
• Midterm Exam.
  Interim assessment: essay or multiple choice test. TBC.
• The Xinhai Revolution and the fall of the empire.
  The 1911 Chinese Revolution and the fall of China's last imperial dynasty. Warlordism and nationalist rule, establishment of the Republic of China. Readings: 1)Lasek, Elizabeth. "Imperialism in China: A Methodological Critique." Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 15, no. 1 (January-February 1983): 50–64. 2)Fairbank, John K., and Kwang-Ching Liu, eds. The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980, chapter 9. 3)MacFarquhar, Roderick, and John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 14. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, chapter 1.
• Taisho Democracy and the imperial expansion of Japan.
  Political liberalism in Taisho Japan: party politics in early-20th century. Readings: 1) Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez. Modern Japan: A Historical Survey. 5th Edition. Boulder, Colorado: The Westview Press, 2013. 2)Duus, Peter, ed. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, chapter 5.
• East Asia in World War I.
  The place of East Asia in the war and the reverberations of the conflict in the region.
• East Asia in the interbellum.
  1920-1930s in China, Japan, Korea.
• The Pacific War: historical background and causes.
  Manchukuo and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Tensions between Japan and the West. Japanese offensives.
• The Pacific War: stages.
  Campaigns and theatres of the war. Final stages and the surrender of Imperial Japan. The aftermath of the war.
• Colonial rule in Korea and Taiwan.
  Comparative colonial response in Korea and Taiwan.
• Colloquium. Consequences and legacies of the Pacific War in East Asia.
  Complex context in which the Pacific War continues to influence competition and geopolitics in the region.
• Japan during the Allied Occupation.
  Reforms and development of Japan under the administration of the SCAP: a unique experience.
• The Cold War in Asia.
  The interaction of the six powers - the US, USSR, China, Japan, North and South Korea - within the framework of the second front of the Cold War.
• The Korean war.
  Revolutionary pressure, counterrevolutionary measures and the Korean War. The aftermath of the war. Readings: 1)Ki-baik Lee. A New History of Korea. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1984, chapter 16.
• Political and economic developments in China.
  The Hundred Flowers Campaign; the Great Leap Forward; the Cultural Revolution.
• China’s external relations. The Sino-Soviet Split and its consequences.
  China’s foreign policy in 1950-1970s.
• 35) China in the 1980-1990s.
  Jiang Zemin and the third generation in China.
• Japan after the 1970s.
  Japanese economic development since the 1970s and its receptions in Asia.
• South Korea: from dictatorship to democracy.
  The history of South Korea after the Korean War.
• North Korea after the Korean War: the impossible state.
  The history of North Korea after the Korean War. Readings: 1) Cha, Victor. The Impossible State: North Korea, past and Future. New York: Ecco, 2012.
• Colloquium. Long shadows of the past.
  Contested Histories and the apology diplomacy. Territorial disputes in East Asia. Readings: 1)Dudden, Alexis. Troubled Apologies among Japan, Korea, and the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. 2)Lind, Jennifer M. Sorry States: Apologies in International Politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010. 3)“Nationalism, Historical Legacies and Territorial Disputes as Obstacles to Cooperation in Northeast Asia” in Flake, E. Gordon. Toward an Ideal Security State for Northeast Asia 2025. The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, 2010.
• The rise of China and its current state.
  China’s economic expansion and the challenges it created Readings: 1) Zhao, Suisheng. “Foreign Policy Implications of Chinese Nationalism Revisited: the Strident Turn.” Journal of Contemporary China (2013), 22:82, 535–553. 2)Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China, “Diaoyu Dao, an Inherent Territory of China,” September 26, 2012, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/topics_665678/diaodao_665718/t973774.shtml 3)Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan, “The Republic of China’s Sovereignty Claims over the Diaoyutai Islands and the East China Sea Peace Initiative” http://www.mofa.gov.tw/Upload/WebArchive/1384/a5646805-7335-43ea-b4b6-71d7058aa055.PDF
• Japan since the 2000s.
  Economic and political developments and socioeconomic issues. Readings: 1)Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, “The Basic View on the Sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands,” May 2013, http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/basic_view.html. 2)Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, “Japan’s Consistent Position on the Territorial Sovereignty over Takeshima,” April 11, 2014, http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/takeshima/index.html. 3)Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea, “Dokdo, Korean Territory,” http://dokdo.mofat.go.kr/upload/eng1.pdf. 4)Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, “Overview of the Issue of the Northern Territories,” http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/territory/overview.html.
• The Korean Nuclear Crisis as an international issue.
  Issues and implications of the Nuclear Crisis.

Assessment Elements

• Class Participation
• Attendance
• Midterm Exam
• Presentation
• Final Exam

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.1 * Attendance + 0.25 * Class Participation + 0.35 * Final Exam + 0.25 * Midterm Exam + 0.05 * Presentation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Binoche-Guedra Jacques. (1994). The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 5 : The Nineteenth Century, edited by Marius B. Jansen. Revue Française d’histoire d’outre-Mer, 81(305), 535–537.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Huang, H.-Y. (2017). Rethinking Taiwanese nationality and subjectivity: implications from language issues in colonial Taiwan in the 1920s. Paedagogica Historica, 53(4), 428–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2017.1290662