CCOG for HST 106 Fall 2024


Course Number:
HST 106
Course Title:
History of China
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Introduces the history of China. Includes political, diplomatic, economic, social, religious, and cultural themes from pre-history to modern times. Audit Available. Prerequisites: WR 115, RD 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement test scores.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion students should be able to:

  • Articulate and interpret an understanding of key historical facts and events in the history of China.
  • Identify the influence of culturally based practices, values, and beliefs to analyze how historically defined meanings of difference affect human behavior.
  • Identify and investigate historical theses, evaluate information and its sources, and use appropriate reasoning to construct evidence-based arguments on historical issues.
  • Construct a well-organized historical argument using effective, appropriate, and accurate language.

Social Inquiry and Analysis

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to apply methods of inquiry and analysis to examine social contexts and the diversity of human thought and experience.

General education philosophy statement

This course requires students to focus on the history of China from a variety of different perspectives, considering the ways in which the experiences of people in the past have been shaped by factors like social class, gender, race, religious belief, and ideology. Students must also evaluate relationships between different cultures, whether defined in terms of political identity (such as interactions between the people of two or more nations) or in terms of cultural groups within a larger society. One of the key goals of this course is to provide a perspective on the contemporary world that is grounded in a robust and accurate understanding of the past, ultimately in the name of encouraging a greater sense of social responsibility.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Assess by using any combination of the following:

  • Exams
  • Essays
  • Oral presentations
  • Research projects
  • Service-learning projects
  • Class participation and discussion
  • Other creative assignments

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Competencies and Skills:

  • Identify the characteristics of Chinese civilization
  • Identify key political, geographical, social, economic and cultural aspects of Chinese civilization
  • Appraise how civilizations changed over time
  • Analyze and evaluate primary and secondary sources
  • Connect evidence to its relevant historical context
  • Evaluate different interpretations of past events and construct your own
  • Recognize and understand the basis for various interpretations and views of historical issues
  • Identify an historian's thesis and supporting evidence
  • Select what is important from a large body of material
  • Connect present-day events to the past

Themes, Concepts, Issues:

  • Early China
  • Themes in Chinese history:
    • Mandate of Heaven
    • "Civilized" versus "Barbarian" world
    • China's regional role
       
  • Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and other schools of thought
  • Qin (Ch'in) and Han dynasties  
  • Growth and influence of Buddhism
  • Tang (T'ang), Song (Sung), Yuan, Ming, and Qing (Ch'ing) dynasties
  • China's reactions to western influence and imperialism
  • Chinese Revolution
  • World War I and its effects in China
  • Interwar period in East Asia
  • World War II and its effects in China
  • Communist Revolution and Mao Zedong (Tse-tung)
    • Great Leap Forward
    • Cultural Revolution
  • Modern China

Considering such factors as:

  • Geography
  • Social hierarchy
  • Gender
  • Institutions
  • Political and economic structures
  • Imperial governments
  • Law
  • Cultural contributions
  • Philosophies and religions