HIS 347 Cities in Chinese History

This course explores cities in late imperial and modern Chinese history. We will examine the spatial structure and the social and cultural institutions of Chinese cities through regular class sessions as well as a field trip to three representative cities in the late imperial and modern Chinese history: Suzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. The historic cities of Suzhou and Beijing, both with a history of more than one thousand years, embody some important features of Chinese civilization. While Shanghai, a city at the crossroads between Chinese and Western cultures, epitomizes China's turbulent modern history as well as its role in the current global economy. This course is designed to help students explore the rich cultural and social history of these cities in order to get a better understanding of China's past and present. We will read several scholarly books on China's recent history and the history of these three cities during the spring semester. Meanwhile, students are expected to develop a research project with focus on one of these cities and complete a research paper after the field trip to China in May.