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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Economic and Social History

Undergraduate Course: Tradition and Transformation in the Chinese Economy, 1842-1949 (ECSH10087)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course analyses the development of Chinas economy from 1842, when the Nanjing Treaty was concluded, until 1949, when the Peoples Republic of China was established. Today, this period of constrained sovereignty is regarded as a time of national humiliation and economic exploitation by foreign imperialists in China.

Course description In this course, we will examine the extent and nature of foreign economic influence in China during this period. We will also discuss Chinas indigenous economic modernization, the demographic transition of the late 19th century, and Chinas economic experience during the second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945. By the end of the semester, you will have developed an understanding of why the history of Chinas economic development is crucial to making sense of todays global economy. No previous knowledge of Chinese history or of the Chinese language is required to take this course.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking The Chinese Economy: Past and Present (ECNM10079)
Other requirements A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent. Students on Chinese (MA Hons) may take the course without meeting this requirement.

Before enrolling students on this course, PTs are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503780).
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students must have 3 History courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Enrolments for this course are managed by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department. All enquiries to enrol must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  19
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 10 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework: 3,000 word essay (30%)
Exam: 2 hour paper (60%)
Practical Exam: Class presentation (10%)
Feedback Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
  2. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
  3. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
  4. demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
  5. demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
Reading List
1. Sherman Cochran, Big Business in China: Sino-foreign Rivalry in the Chinese Cigarette Industry, 1890-1930 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980).
2. Robert Dernberger, The Role of the Foreigner in Chinas Economic Development, in Dwight H. Perkins (ed.), Chinas Modern Economy in Historical Perspective (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975).
3. Lloyd Eastman, Family, fields and ancestors: constancy and change in Chinas social and economic history, 1550-1949 (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).
4. David Faure, The rural economy of pre-liberation China: trade expansion and peasant livelihood in Jiangsu and Guangdong, 1870 to 1937 (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1989).
5. Albert Feuerwerker, Chinas Economy, 1870-1949 (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1995).
6. Philip C.C. Huang, The Peasant Family and Rural Development in the Yangzi Delta, 1350-1988 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990).
7. Frank H.H. King, Concise Economic History of China, 1840-1961 (New York: Praeger, 1968).
8. William Lavely, R. Bin Wong, Revising the Malthusian Narrative: the Comparative Study of Population Dynamics in late imperial China, Journal of Asian Studies, 57/3 (1998).
9. Sucheta Mazumdar, Sugar and Society in China: Peasants, Technology and the World Market (Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Asia Center, 1998).
10. Ramon H. Myers, The Chinese peasant economy: agricultural development in Hopei and Shantung, 1890-1949 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970).
11. Philip Richardson, Economic change in China, c. 1800-1950 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
12. G. William Skinner, Marketing and Social Structure, Journal of Asian Studies, Part 1, 24/1 (1964); Part 2, 24/2 (1965); Part 3, 24/3 (1965).
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsTradition 1842-1949
Contacts
Course organiserDr Felix Boecking
Tel:
Email: felix.boecking@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Annabel Stobie
Tel: (0131 6)50 3783
Email: Annabel.Stobie@ed.ac.uk
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