HIST. 118: Premodern East Asia

Premodern East Asia
 

A survey of the history of premodern East Asia. It would be wonderful to be able to cover the 3,000 years of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean history in eight weeks, but that is not feasible.  To make the course manageable, the instructor has chosen to focus on several key historical moments and foundational issues in East Asian history.  Rather than use a dry and expensive textbook, we will read the words of people who lived in those eras both within their historical context and for the way that their thought endures to this day. Our starting point is ancient Chinese thought, because that powerfully shaped ideas, government, and people’s lives.  The culture of the Heian-period (794-1185) and early medieval Japan (1192-1333) likewise left a profound impact on Japanese civilization.  Studying these places and eras will give us a good grasp of traditional China and Japan, the two countries we will focus on.  Weekly online lectures serve as the "textbook" for this course providing a historical narrative and context for study of primary sources foundational for Chinese and Japanese civilization.