Final Exam

Our final will be on Monday, December 9th, 2-4:30 p.m., in 22 Cuvilly.

The exam will consist or three questions (one long and two shorter) and a little feedback:

1. What impact did the Cold War have on the countries of Monsoon Asia? (this is the long one)
2. Where did the British, Dutch, French, and Japanese have colonies in Asia, and how did they treat their colonial subjects?
3. How did World War II affect nationalist movements in Asia?
4. Please give me a little feedback on the documentary we watched, "Every Day Is a Holiday," if you wouldn't mind.

If you think these need adjustment, please comment below ASAP.

Current and Future Trends

For Wednesday's class, please read Mahbuhani, chapter 4-6.
Never mind... Look at this for fun instead, and we'll sort out questions for the final and review on Wednesday and Friday. Please bring suggestions for final exam questions to class.

Emerging Asia

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, please read Mahbuhani, chapters 1-3.

South Asia Since Independence from British Rule

For Wednesday's class, please read chapter 20.

Cool exhibit link.

Korea and Southeast Asia I

REVISED:
For Friday's class, please read chapter 19 to p. 422.
For Monday's class, please read the rest of chapter 19.

Lunch and Museum Plans

We have reservations for dim sum at 1:30 on Saturday, 11/23, in Palo Alto. From there, we'll head to the Cantor Museum on the Stanford campus.

Tai Pan
560 Waverley Street at University Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
650-329-9168

The video (in three parts) about Occupied Japan that we watched on Friday can be found at the following links: video1, video2, video3.

China Under Communist Rule; Taiwan and Hong Kong

For Monday's class, please read chapter 18 from page 411, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• What was Mao's background, and what was his philosophy?
• Was the revolution a radical departure from Chinese tradition?
• What left a legacy of anti-American bitterness?
• What was the purpose of the Great Leap Forward, and why did it fail?
• What alarmed the Russians about China?
• What was the Cultural Revolution, and why is it considered the greatest cataclysm in world history?
• Imagine what a movement like the Cultural Revolution would be like in America.
• What brought an end to the Cultural Revolution?
• What successes has China had since 1949?
• What has been the cost of progress?
• What are the "Autonomous Regions"?
• When discussing the trade imbalance, what do we need to realize about 60% of China's exports?
• What was Taiwan's experience after 1945?
• What is the status of Hong Kong and why?
• What are Southeast Asian countries concerned about with regard to the Chinese living there?

Japan's Postwar Revival

Sunday Extra Credit Opportunity: Korean Cultural Day at Asian Art Museum in San Francisco: http://sf.funcheap.com/korean-cultural-day-festival-asian-art-museum/

For Friday's class, please read chapter 18 to page 411.

Here are the links to the video (in three parts) about Occupied Japan that we watched in class: video1, video2, video3.

Asia from 1920 to the End of World War II (2)

For Monday's class, please read chapter 17 from page 384 to the end, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• How did Japan benefit from WW I?
• How did the Japanese treat Korea, Taiwan, and Manchuria?
• What was unfortunate about the 1889 constitution? What were the results?
• How did the Great Depression effect Japan?
• How did the Japanese military respond to the threat of a unified China? Was the response supported by the civilion government?
• Who was Henry Puyi?
• How did Japanese fascism differ from Italian and German fascism?
• Why did the U.S. forbid the export of oil and scrap iron to Japan?
• What was Japan's response to the U.S. embargo? Why?
• What arguments can be made against Japanese claims that they were the victims in WW II?
• What mistakes did Chiang Kai-shek make?
• How did the communists gain wide popular support?
• What reinforced Allied stereotypes of the Japanese as fanatics?
• Why were the Japanese ready to surrender by early 1945, and why did the U.S.  use the atom bombs anyway?

Asia from 1920 to the End of World War II (1)

For Wednesday's class, please read chapter 17 to page 384, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• Why did full colonialism come so late to most of Southeast Asia?
• What marked the end of colonialism in Southeast Asia?
• What effect did Western colonialism have on Southeast Asia?
• Who did Western colonial powers protect? How?
• Where was Western-style education restricted? Why?
• Describe plantation agriculture.
• Outline America's history with the Philippines.
• Who were Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah, and what roles did they play in India's independence movement?
• What/who can be blamed for the tragedy of partition?
• What was going on in Manchuria during the warlord period in China?
• Why were the communists working for and with the Guomindang?
• Describe the promising start of Chiang Kai-shek's leadership?
• How did the relationship between the communists and Guomindang change?
• What is the Long March?
• What were Mao's strategies?
• Why did the Japanese launch a full-scale assault on China in 1937?
• Why did the communists come out on top?

Nationalism and Revolution in China and India

For Monday's class, please read chapter 16, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• How did the Qing respond to its defeat in the Opium War? How did foreigners react to this response?
• How much impact did westerners have on the majority of Chinese people?
• What were limitations of the "self-strengthening" movement?
• What was done militarily to combat internal rebellion in China, and what were the unintended consequences?
• Why wasn't there a complete colonial takeover of China?
• How did the efforts of the Guomindang (Nationalist party) play out?
• What inspired the May Fourth movement? Why did it ultimately fail?

• List the key changes in India's economy after 1857? Were they beneficial or detrimental?
• What is the root cause of India's poverty?
• How did the Indian response to foreign domination differ from that of China?
• What did the INC have in common with the May Fourth movement?
• What enraged Indians in 1905, and how did they respond?
• Why did most Indian nationalists support World War I? What was India's role in the war? 
• What was the British parliament's declaration of 1917, and what sabotaged it?
• What did Gandhi get that the INC and the May Fourth movement missed?
• Why was the colonial government so repressive after World War I?

• What were the differences and similarities between India's and China's responses to the challenges of imperialism? (good final exam question!)

Colonialism and Spheres of Influence (2)

For Wednesday's class, please read chapter 15 from page 325 to the end, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• Where did the French, Dutch, and Americans have colonies in Asia, and how did they treat their colonial subjects?
• Why was Siam (Thailand) able to maintain its independence?
• Why were Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia resented and discriminated against, and where did they assimilate?
• If Westerners tend to overemphasize their role in the downfall of the Manchu dynasty, who or what really was responsible?
• Who was Cixi, and how did she handle China's problems?
• What was the goal of the new Meiji government of Japan?
• What advantages did Japan have that made it able to meet that goal?
• How was Japan able to defeat Russia in 1904-1905 and what was the result of that victory?
• Why did Japan join the Allies in World War I?
• What was Japanese policy in Taiwan, Manchuria, and Korea?
• What did American missionaries do in Asia?
• What were the attitudes and policies of the U.S. towards Asian immigrants, and how did the Chinese react to them?
• What was the most important long-term effect of imperialism in Asia?

Colonialism and Spheres of Influence (1)

For Monday's class, please read chapter 15 to page 326, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• How did the new imperialism of the 19th century differ from the per-1800 mercantilist economies?
• What are some of the explanations for the causes of imperialism?
• What gave Westerners "a new sense of overwhelming self-confidence in the superiority of their civilization"?
• What raw materials and markets were they after?
• Why does Murphey describe Imperialism as a disease?
• How did Indians respond to British control? To Queen Victoria?
• Who mainly ran colonial India with its population of 350 million people?
• Why did the British Raj move its capital from Calcutta to Delhi?
• Who wanted independence for India and why? What delayed it?
• Why did civil disobedience movements spread after World War I, and what were the consequences? 
• Why did the British take over Singapore and Burma?
• What effect did British colonialism have on the population of Malaya?
• Describe "The White Man's Burden."

Tokugawa Japan

For Wednesday's class, please ready chapter 13, pp. 272-284, and be prepared the answer the following questions:

• What led to civil war at the end of the Ashikaga shogunate?
• How did the Tokugawa clan unify Japan, and how did they control it?
• What was the Sankin Kotai, "alternate residence" system, and what effects did it have?
• How were merchants viewed and treated by the Tokugawa shogunate?
• Why did the Tokugawas expel foreigners and suppress Christianity and foreign trade?
• What changed the fortunes of samurai and merchants?
• Why did Shinto see a revival?
• What made Edo such a populace city?
• What endangered Japanese forests, and what was done about it?
• How did Japanese art come to Europe, and what influence did it have there?
• Who forced Japan to normalize trade?
• What is the Meiji restoration?
• What made it possible for Japan to modernize so rapidly?

Manchu China

For Monday's class, please read chapter 13 through p. 272, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• What was the Manchu approach to ruling China?
• What elements of Manchu culture did the Qing retain?
• What advantages do historians studying the Qing period have?
• How did Europeans view China in the early Qing period? What was going on in Europe at the same time?
• What improvements did the Manchu's make, and what were the consequences?
• What were the Asian and European views of corruption and nepotism?
• What internal crisis did the Qing dynasty face and why? What was the White Lotus?
• Why didn't the Chinese have commercial and industrial revolutions like Europe's?
• Who used opium; how did they use; and why did they use it?
• Why did opium provide the occasion for the first military confrontation between China and Britain? 
• What was the outcome of the Opium War?

The West Arrives in Asia

For Wednesday's class, please read chapter 12, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• Who held monopolies on trade between Asia and Europe (list the two) before Vasco de Gama's breakthrough?
• What were Portugal's early advantages? What were their motives?
• What was the European strategy for trade with Asia? Why?
• Where in Asia were Catholic missionaries most successful and why?
• What is the significance of Goa?
• How did the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation impact Asia? Was it a significant impact?
• How did Russia's approach to Asia differ from that of the rest of Europe?
• Why did Japan initially welcome Christianity and then reject it?
• Why were the Dutch able to break the Portuguese monopoly?
• Where did the Dutch concentrate their efforts and how did they operate?
• Where did the English focus their efforts? Why?
• Make a rough outline of the chronology (who was ruling) and geographical range of European trade in Asia by country.

Midterm Questions!

Thanks for your posts (four of you).  Here is what I've come up with. Please feel free to comment...

Midterm Exam for Friday:

• Where did Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Islam originate; where and how did they expand; and how were they adapted by the cultures that adopted them?
• What is the significance of the monsoon for the region we are studying? (socially, culturally, commercially, historically, politically, agriculturally, etc.)
• Map test

Midterm Review

Wednesday's class will be a review session for the Midterm Exam. The exam will focus on Murphey, chapters 1-11 and will be held in class on Friday, 10/11.

Carmen has requested reading questions for the first few readings that aren't already on the blog. Here they are:

Reading 1 (Murphey, pp. 1-16):

• --------------- intro
• What are the modern countries of monsoon Asia (include name changes).
• What are monsoons and how do they impact Asian society and culture?
• How do south Indian and especially Southeast Asian civilizations differ from the rest of monsoon Asia?
• What do monsoon Asian civilizations have in common?
• --------------- ch. 1
• What were the effects of the agricultural revolution?
• Where did the Malay people come from and where did they settle?
• What possible migrations of people were there between Southeast Asia and China?

Reading 2 (Murphey, pp. 17-31):

• --------------- ch. 1
• What is the significance of pottery in prehistoric China?
• What plants and animals were important in China, and where did they come from?
• What are oracle bones?
• Where did the ancestors of the Korean people come from? What's the evidence?
• Who were the Jomon people and how do they relate to the ancestors of the Japanese?
• --------------- ch. 2
• What are the world's oldest texts still used in worship and what, chronologically, is the last of them?
• Define dharma, karma, samsara, and moksha.
• Why do most devout Hindus consider themselves monotheists?
• What are the fundamental differences between Hinduism and Buddhism? Between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism?

Reading 3 (Murphey, pp. 31-49):

• --------------- ch. 2
• Who was Confucius and when did he live?
• What are the basic tenets of Confucianism?
• What is Daoism, and how does it relate to Confucianism?
• What is the demographic importance of Islam in Asia? (i.e. what is the largest Muslim country in the world?)
• How did Islam spread though Asia?
• Why was Sufism so popular in India?
• What is the nature of Shinto and where is it practiced?
• --------------- ch. 3
• What region of Asia stressed equality rather than hierarchy?
• What benefits did the caste system provide for Indians?
• Define jatis, varnas, and dalits.
• What was the social structure of Chinese empires?
• What roles did women play in Southeast Asia?

Reading 4 (Murphey, pp. 49-65):

• Why are sons so important in India, China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan?
• What is credited for limiting crime in much of Asia?
• What's the downside of the family hierarchy?
• How does footbinding relate to Confucian ideals?
• How did Asians compare to Europeans life expectancy and material well-being until the mid-nineteenth century?

Reading 5 (Murphey, ch. 4):

• What was the relationship between the Indus Valley civilization and Mesopotamian civilization?
• What is surprising and impressive about the cities of the Indus Valley civilization?
• Who were the Aryans and how do we know that they were not the cause of the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization?
• What was the secret of Ashoka's success? How did he influence cultures beyond India?
• Why is the Gupta era considered a "golden/classical age"? 

Ming Era China

For Monday's class, please read Murphey, Chapter 11, and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• What weakened the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty?
• Describe Hongwu's background and his feelings about eunuchs and intellectuals.
• How does the Ming dynasty fit the pattern of the dynastic cycle?
• What was so impressive about the Ming maritime expeditions under Emperor Yongle and his admiral Zheng He? Why were they stopped?
• How did the government promote agriculture?
• What came to China from the Spanish colonies?
• How did commercialization of the economy expand? What was the impact on taxes?
• Describe the difference between elite culture and popular culture.
• What prompted Yongle to restore the Grand Canal?
• What evidence is there for Ming conservatism?
• What were huge imperial expenses at the end of the Ming dynasty?
• Who took over and how did they manage it?

Mughal India and Central Asia

For Wednesday's class, please read Murphey, Chapter 10, and be prepared to discuss the following questions:

• Where did the Mughals come from and who did they claim descent from?
• What culture did they infuse Indian culture with? What were the results?
• What was so great about Akbar? Who was ruler of England at the same time?
• What bad habits did the Mughals inherit from their Central Asian origins that blighted their achievements and drained their resources?
• What are the most notable monuments of Shah Jahan?
• What was so terrible about Aurangzeb? Who ruled France at the same time?
• Who were the Rajputs, Sikhs, and Marathas, and what did they fail to do?
• What might or might not have happened if all the Mughal rulers had been like Akbar?
• What was the relationship between the nomads of Central Asia and their settled neighbors?
• What was their military advantage?
• You won't be responsible for the info on Iran, but it's useful to know.
  
  video (18)

Japanese & Korean Civilization

For Monday's class, please read Murphey, Chapter 9, and be prepared to discuss the following questions:

• What aspects of Chinese culture did Japan and Korea take? What did they do with it?
• How did the geography of Japan and Korea effect their development?
• Where did the Japanese and Koreans come from originally? How are they related to each other?
• What was the original social pattern of Japan?
• What were the mythological origins of the rulers of Japan? How does it compare to the Chinese?
• What is the nature of Shinto? Why might the Japanese have retained this form of religion after other places abandoned it?
• What did Prince Shotoku do?
• What has generally been the role of the Japanese emperor?
• What did the adoption of Confucian values do to the role of women in Korea and Japan?
• What era of Chinese culture is best preserved in Japan?
• What is the shoen system?
• What happened with economic and cultural development during periods of political turmoil in Korea and Japan (and China, too)?
• Who wrote The Tale of Genji, and what is it about?
• What are Kana and Hangul? Why were they developed? Who used them first/most initially?
• Buddhist armies?!
• Define samurai, bushido, daimyo, kamikaze, shogun, and Noh.
• What was the role of piracy in Japan and Korea?
• What element of Chinese Confucianism was not adopted in Korea and Japan because of the strong role of the aristocracy?

Chinese Civilization II

For Wednesday's class, please read Murphey, Chapter 8, and be prepared to discuss the following questions:

• Why did Buddhism flourish after the fall of the Han dynasty?
• Who controlled northern china and what was going on in the south in the post-Han era?
• Who reunified China and did they follow a pattern from earlier times in China?
• What was the most notable building project of Yang Di?
• What are the two golden age dynasties that follow after Yang Di's dynasty? (know the order)
• Come up with one-word descriptions of the poetry of Du Fu and Li Bo. Which poet do you prefer?
• Describe the tribute system.
• Where did most of the empire's revenue come from and most of its population live?
• What is the significance for the West of the battle of the Talas River?
• What important technologies were developed by the Chinese? What were the main exports?
• Define and describe Chang'an.
• Who is Wu Zhao?
• What happened to Buddhism in Chinese? Why?
• The size of China was much reduced during the Song dynasty. Was that a good or a bad thing?
• What were Wang Anshi's reforms? Where they successful?
• How did the Song dynasty become the Southern Song? What developments and advances were made to deal with the loss of access to their overland trade routes?
• How do we know so much about the glories of Hangzhou?
• How might history be different if the Mongol invasion had occurred a bit later or if Genghis Khan had died young?
• What was the size of the Mongol people? Why were they able to conquer? How long did their dynasty last?
• Describe the dynastic cycle.
• How did the progressive shortage of fuel influence Chinese cuisine?

Southeast Asian Civilization

For Monday's class, please read Murphey, Chapter 7, and be prepared to discuss the following questions (there might be a quiz):

• List the countries of Southeast Asia (old and new names for two of them).
• Where did the people of Southeast Asia originally come from?
• Why is java so fertile, and what food plants are native?
• Which countries got significant Indian culture, and what forms of culture did they get?
• The first kingdoms were based on what rather than agriculture?
• Who brought Islam to insular (=island) Southeast Asia?
• What is the significance of the Malaka Straits?
• What Islamic custom was rejected in Southeast Asia?
• Describe Angkor.
• Which was the only state of Southeast Asia to be Sinified (=Chinesified) rather than Indianized?
• What culture and language family dominate insular Southeast Asia?
• What is Srivijaya? Borobudur?
• Describe the Philippines before the Spanish conquest and the cultural effect of four centuries of Spanish control there.

Indian Civilization II

For Friday's class, please read Murphey, Chapter 6, and be prepared to discuss the following questions:

• Who were the new invaders into northern India in the Medieval period?
• Who resisted the invaders? Why couldn't the rest resist?
• Why did the invaders make their capital at Delhi?
• How were Hindus treated?
• Why was southern Indian not successfully invaded?
• What weakened the sultanates?
• Define jizya and Mamluk and dhimmi.
• What cultural influence did the invaders have?
• What did the sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji manage to do that no one else could?
• Who was Tamerlane?
• What is bhakti?
• Of the 35 sultans, how many died by assassination?
• The chief cities of southern India were mainly what?
• Where did south Indian states get a lot of their wealth?
• What does Vijayanagara mean and what is it?

Ancient China I

For Wednesday's class (re)read Murphey, Chapter 5 and be prepared to discuss the following questions:

• What's the Xia dynasty? What's the evidence for it?
• What did Chinese culture during the Shang dynasty borrow from elsewhere, and what is original to China?
• What brought the Shang dynasty to an end?
• What was the Zhou dynasty system that was admired by Confucian scholars and for which the Zhou period was considered a golden age? Why did the system break down?
• Describe the rival kingdoms of the Warring States period.
• How might the history of China be different if the Chu kingdom had won out over the Qin kingdom?
• How did what was happening in China during the Warring States period parallel what had happened in Mauryan India a century earlier?
• What is your impression of Confucius? 
• Why was Qin victory over the other kingdoms surprising?
• What changes did the Qin bring to the rest of China when they took over?
• What were the upsides and downsides of Qin Legalism?
• How did the Han dynasty differ from the Qin? What stayed the same?
• What was the relationship of the Han dynasty to Vietnam and Korea?
• The Han Dynasty and the Roman empire never connected. How might history have been different if they had?
• What was important about the imperial examination system?
• What were Wang Mang's reforms? What was the problem with landowning?
• What is interesting about the roles of (some) women during the Han dynasty?
• What do you think are the greatest achievments of the Han period?

Link to video Engineering an Empire: China

For Monday's class, please read Murphey, pp. 49-65. Be prepared to discuss family and gender; education; livelihood; and law.

For Friday's class, please read Murphey, pp. 31-49, and prepare to be quizzed on the first three reading assignments and the map of Monsoon Asia. 

For Wednesday's class, please read Murphey, pp. 16-31. Have a great long weekend!

Asia: Continent and Concept

What countries should we include? Why?

Please order your textbooks ASAP. You can order them from wherever you prefer as long as you get the correct edition of Murphey. For example, Murphey and Mahbubani are both available on Amazon. If you find a better deal, please let us know in the comments below.

Here is a link to the first reading assignment: Murphey, pp. 1-16 (due Friday).