1. China Overview Mr. Parker IBH2 Source:
Michael Lynch - China: from Empire to People’s Republic

2. Traditional China A Closed Society
Geography
Mountains, deserts and ocean isolated China from the rest of the world
China was isolated for centuries
Indigenous Development
China developed independently
Unique Greatness
Inward versus Outward Looking

3. Dynasties Han (206 BC - 220 AD) Ming (1398-1644AD)
Qing / Manchu ( AD)
Non-Han
Seen as foreign influence on China
Nationalism and anti-Manchu sentiment

4. Confucianism Importance of social and political harmony
Conformity deference Obedience
Mandate of Heaven
Imperial Authority
Minimal Contact with outside world
Shattering Impact of West on China
Bureaucratic and political elites - a self-serving and self-perpetuating elite

5. China and Historians
What might be the challenges for the historian of China
Access to sources
Through the prism of other nations - Japan, USSR and US/GB
All interpret China from own perspective and to justify their role in Chinese history
Japan
USSR
US/GB
Viewed through Japanese aspirations - economic
Japanese sense of superiority
Greatest range of sources
Relations with GMD and CCP
Role in Civil War
Role in WW2 and War in the Pacific
Impact of the West on Chinese History
China shaped by Western forces - not much history prior to 1840’s
China as passive victim

6. Chinese Views Very different approach to historical study
History is political
History is written in present tense - emphasizes continuity
Very different from western belief in objectivity and balanced analysis
Post CCP took control of historical narrative
Hagiography of the leadership and the party
Mao - the Great Helmsman - was/is he capable of mistakes?