Final MA exam: China Section

 

Below are details of the final exam

 

1. The exam will be held twice a year (summer and December). A student should register for the final exam with the department secretary. A student can take the exam only after finishing all his/her MA assignments. In exceptional cases, and with the approval of the department chair and of the MA advisor, the student will be allowed to take the exam before submitting his/her final assignments. A student who had registered but cancelled his/her participation less than two weeks before the exam’s date will not be allowed to take it before the finalization of all the assignments (and the receipt of all the grades).
2. There are three types of exam. One for the students of a general MA route, the second for the research MA in traditional (pre-1900) China, and the third for the research MA in modern (post 1900) China. Research students’ exam focuses on their research period (but basic knowledge of the second period—on the level of introductory courses in HUJI—is still required).
3. The exam comprises of written exam, oral exam, and a book report as follows:
   1. The written exam is based on the reading list below
   2. Written exam is a take-home 24-hours exam. The submission is by mail (or physically, the typed version) to the department’s secretary.
   3. For general MA students: you must answer one integrative question (45% of the final grade) and one of two focused questions (one focuses on traditional, and one on modern China; each is 25% of the final grade).
   4. For research MA students there will be two questions of 35% each.
   5. The orals will be held within two weeks from the final exam. They will focus primarily on the questions you were asked in the written form (but other questions may be asked from time to time).
   6. The written + oral exam are 70% of the final grade.
   7. By the day of the written exam (or earlier) you should submit a book report on a book of your choice (approved by the teachers of China section). The book report should be 5-8 pp. length (use China Review International as your model).
   8. A month before the final exam (i.e., no later than May 31 or November 30) you must submit to the department’s MA advisor a list of five books from which we shall select one that will be the topic of your book report.
   9. The submission date for the book report is the date of the written exam. Earlier submissions are welcome.

To clarify: book report is your independent study. You are welcome to consult other publications (including relevant book reviews), but whenever you borrow from them, you must acknowledge this according to the norms of academic citations. Plagiarism of other studies may bring about cancellation of the book report and further disciplinary actions.

4. Most of the reading materials for the exam appear on the MOODLE site.
5. For further questions, please contact the department’s MA advisor.

Good luck!

Reading list for the General MA route (מסלול עיוני)

General

יורי פינס וגדעון שלח, עם יצחק שיחור (עורך ראשי): כל אשר מתחת לשמיים: סין הקיסרית (רעננה: הוצאת האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, כרך א' מ-2011; כרך ב' מ-2013; פרקים מכרך ג' ב –MOODLE

 (for students who cannot read Hebrew: any good introductory-level book in English or Chinese for the history before the Ming dynasty, such as Harold M. Tanner, China: A History [Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009], parts I-III [to the end of Qing]). See also Political History section, items with asterisks.

Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (New York: Norton, 1999), sections III and IV (from “The New Republic” to “The Birth of the People’s Republic”). For those who cannot read Hebrew also sections I-II. [DS 754 S65 1999]

Mark Elvin, The Pattern of the Chinese Past (Stanford 1973), chapters 1, 14, 17 (pp. 17-22; 203-234; 285-316). [DS 735 E48]

Roderick MacFarquhar, ed., The Politics of China, 1949-1989 (Cambridge, 1993 or 1997).   [DS 777.75 P64]

 

Political History: Pre-Imperial to Republican Period

[Items with asterisks are for those who do not read Hebrew]:

* Mark Edward. Lewis, “Warring States: Political History.” In The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C., ed. Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy, 587–650. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

* Vincent S. Leung, “The Former Han Empire.” In: Routledge Handbook of Early Chinese History, ed. Paul R. Goldin, 160-179. London: Routledge 2018.

* Wicky W.K. Tse, “The Latter Han empire and the end of antiquity.” In: Routledge Handbook of Early Chinese History, ed. Paul R. Goldin, 180-196. London: Routledge 2018.

Herbert Franke and Dennis Twitchett, “Introduction”, in idem, eds. The Cambridge History of China Vol. 6: Alien Rule and Border Regimes 907-1368      (Cambridge, 1994), 1-42. [DS 735 C31]

Willard J. Peterson, "Introduction: New Order for the Old Order", in idem, ed.,

The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 2002), 1-9. [DS 735 C31]

Susan Naquin and Evelyn S. Rawski, Chinese Society in the 18^th Century (New Haven,

         1987) [DS 754 N46], chapters 1, 4, 6.

* Philip A. Kuhn, "The Taiping Rebellion," in John K. Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge

History of China, Volume 10: Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 1978), 264-317. [DS 735 C31]

John K. Fairbank, "Introduction: Maritime and Continental in China's History", in John K.

Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 1983), 1-27. [DS 735 C31]

James E. Sheridan, "The Warlord Era: Politics and Militarism under the Peking

Government, 1916-1928", in John K. Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 1983), 284-321. [DS 735 C31]

Mary B. Rankin, John K. Fairbank and Albert Feuerwerker, "Introduction: Perspectives

on  Modern China's History", in Albert Feuerwerker and John K. Fairbank, eds.,

The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 2

(Cambridge, 1986), 1-73. [DS 735 C31]

Lloyd Eastman et al, eds., The Nationalist Era in China, 1927-1949 (Cambridge, 1991)

[DS 774 N38], chapters 1, 3 (1-52, 115-176).

 

Society and the State

Benjamin A. Elman, “Political, Social and Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service

Examinations in Late Imperial China,” Journal of Asian Studies, 50. 1 (1991): 7-28

Mary B. Rankin and Joseph E. Esherick, “Concluding Remarks,” in: idem, Chinese Local

Elites and Patterns of Dominance (Berkeley, 1990), 305-346 [HN 740 Z9 E426].

Liu Kwang-ching, “Introduction. Orthodoxy in Chinese Society” in Liu Kwang-ching, ed.,    Orthodoxy In Late Imperial China (Berkeley, 1990), 1-24 [DS 754.14 O78]).

Lucian Bianco, "Peasant Movements", in Albert Feuerwerker and John K. Fairbank, eds., The

            Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 2

(Cambridge, 1986), 270-328.  [DS 735 C31]

Strauss, Julia C. “The Evolution of Republican Government,” The China
Quarterly, No. 150, Special Issue: Reappraising Republic China (1997): 329-351.

Selden, Mark, and Elisabeth J. Perry. 2010. "Introduction." In Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (3^rd edition). Elizabeth J. Perry and Mark Selden (eds.). Pp. 1-30. London: Routledge. [HN 733.5 C46 2010]

Perry, Elisabeth J. "Permanent Rebellion? Continuities and Discontinuities in Chinese Protest." In Popular Protest in China. Kevin J. O'Brien (ed.). Pp. 205-216. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2008. [HN 737 P66 2008]

 

Chinese Family and Society

Ebrey, Patricia, "Conceptions of the Family in the Song Dynasty," Journal of Asian Studies  43. 2 (1984): 219-245.

Susan Naquin and Evelyn S. Rawski, Chinese Society in the 18^th Century (New Haven,     1987) [DS 754 N46], chapters 2, 5.

Glosser, Susan L. Chinese Visions of Family and State, 1915-1953. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. “Introduction,” pp. 1-26.  [HQ 684 G56 2003]

Yan, Yunxiang. Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village 1949-1999. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003. “Conclusion,” pp. 217-235 [HQ 684 Z9 X539 2003]

Greenhalgh, Susan & Edwin Winckler. Governing China's Population. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005. “Chapter 7: The Shifting Local Politics of Population," pp. 212-244. [HQ 766.5 C6 G68 2005]

 

Intellectual History, Political Culture

Pines, Yuri, The Everlasting Empire: Traditional Chinese Political Culture and Its Enduring Legacy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. [ordered]

Peter K. Bol, Neo-Confucianism in History. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008: chapters 1, 3, 4, 7+ Afterword. [B 127 N4 B65 2008]

Peter K. Bol, “Government, Society and State: On the Political Visions of Ssu-ma Kuang and Wang An-shih,” in: Robert  R. Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer, eds., Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China (Berkeley, 1993), 128-192 [DS 751 O73].

Liu Kwang-ching, “Socioethics as Orthodoxy,” in Liu Kwang-ching, ed., Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, 1990), 53-100 [DS 754.14 O78]).

Merle Goldman and Leo Ou-Fan Lee, eds., An Intellectual History of Modern China          (Cambridge, 2002), chps 2 and 5-7. [DS 775.2 I56 2002]

Ogden, Suzanne. 2004. “From Patronage to Profits: The Changing Relationship of Chinese Intellectuals with the Party-State”. In Edward Gu and Merle Goldman (eds.). Chinese Intellectuals between State and Market. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon. Pp 111-137 [DS 779.23 C46 2004]

                                                                                  

 

Economy

Kang Chao, "Conclusions" in idem, Man and Land in Chinese History: An Economic

     Analysis (Stanford: 1986), 221-228. [HB 2114 A3 C45]

Richard von Glahn, "Conclusion" in idem, Fountain of Fortune: Money and Monetary Policy in China, 1000-1700 (Berkeley, 1996), 246-257 [HG 1282 V66].

Pomeranz, Kenneth, “Calamities without Collapse: Environment, Economy, and society in China, ca. 1800-1949,” in Patricia A. McAnany and Norman Yoffee,  eds., Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability and the Aftermath of Empire. (Cambridge, 2010),  71-110.

Christopher Howe, China's Economic Reforms (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003), ch. 1, "China's Economic Reform Strategy" (pp. 1-29) [HC 427.92 C4648 2002].

Barry Naughton, The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth (London and Cambridge, 2007), 86-111. [HC 427.95 N38 2007]

 

Foreign Relations, the Other, Alien Rule, Minorities, Nationalism

Morris Rossabi, “Introduction,” in idem, ed., China Among Equals (Berkeley,

1983), pp. 1-13 [DS 750.82 C46]

Thomas J. Barfield. “Inner Asia and Cycles of Power in China’s Imperial History,” in G. Seaman and D. Marks, eds. Rulers from the Steppe (Los Angeles, 1991), 21-63. [DS 329.4 N66]

Evelyn S. Rawsky, “Re-invisioning the Qing: The Significance of the Qing Period in Chinese History,” Journal of Asian Studies, 55.4 (1996), 829-850.

Yen-p'ing Hao and Erh-min Wang, "Changing Chinese Views of Western Relations, 1840-95", in John K. Fairbank and Liu Kwang-ching, eds., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 11: Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911, Pt 2 (Cambridge, 1978), 142-201. [DS 735 C31]

Colin Mackerras, China’s Minorities (Oxford, 1994), pp. 260-278 [DS 730 M33].

Zhao Suisheng. A Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism (Stanford, 2004), Chapters 1-2, pp. 8-78. [DS 779.26 Z43 2004]

 

Current China (1978-)

 

Li Cheng, Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2016), 1-76 [DS 779.46 L53 C44 2016].

Shambaugh, David L., "Civil-Military Relations," in idem, Modernizing China's military: progress, problems, and prospects (Berkeley, 2002), pp. 11-55 [UA 835 S46 2004]

 

 

Reading list for the research MA route: Traditional China

General (including working knowledge of modern period)

יורי פינס וגדעון שלח, עם יצחק שיחור (עורך ראשי): כל אשר מתחת לשמיים: סין הקיסרית (רעננה: הוצאת האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, כרך א' מ-2011; כרך ב' מ-2013; פרקים נבחרים מכרך ג' ב –MOODLE

(for students who cannot read Hebrew: Read sections I-II of Spence, The Search for Modern China [New York: Norton, 1999]; add any good introductory-level book in English or Chinese for the history before the Ming dynasty, such as Harold M. Tanner, China: A History [Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009], parts I-III [to the end of Qing])

Mark Elvin, The Pattern of the Chinese Past (Stanford 1973), chapters 1, 14, 17 (pp. 17-22; 203-234; 285-316). [DS 735 E48]

Political History: Late Imperial Period

Herbert Franke and Dennis Twitchett, “Introduction”, in idem, eds. The Cambridge History of China Vol. 6: Alien Rule and Border Regimes 907-1368      (Cambridge, 1994), 1-42. [DS 735 C31]

Willard J. Peterson, "Introduction: New Order for the Old Order", in idem, ed.,

The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 2002), 1-9. [DS 735 C31]

Susan Naquin and Evelyn S. Rawski, Chinese Society in the 18^th Century (New Haven,

         1987) [DS 754 N46], chapters 1, 4, 6.

[For non-Hebrew readers] Philip A. Kuhn, "The Taiping Rebellion," in John K. Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 10: Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 1978), 264-317. [DS 735 C31]

Society and the State

Benjamin A. Elman, “Political, Social and Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service

Examinations in Late Imperial China,” Journal of Asian Studies, 50. 1 (1991): 7-28

Mary B. Rankin and Joseph E. Esherick, “Concluding Remarks,” in: idem, Chinese Local

Elites and Patterns of Dominance (Berkeley, 1990), 305-346 [HN 740 Z9 E426].

Liu Kwang-ching, “Introduction. Orthodoxy in Chinese Society” in Liu Kwang-ching, ed.,    Orthodoxy In Late Imperial China (Berkeley, 1990), 1-24 [DS 754.14 O78]).

Chinese Family and Society

Ebrey, Patricia, "Conceptions of the Family in the Song Dynasty," Journal of Asian Studies  43. 2 (1984): 219-245.

Susan Naquin and Evelyn S. Rawski, Chinese Society in the 18^th Century (New Haven,     1987) [DS 754 N46], chapters 2, 5.

Intellectual History, Political Culture

Pines, Yuri, The Everlasting Empire: Traditional Chinese Political Culture and Its Enduring Legacy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. [JQ 1510 P56 2012]

Peter K. Bol, Neo-Confucianism in History. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008: chapters 1, 3, 4, 7+ Afterword. [B 127 N4 B65 2008]

Peter K. Bol, “Government, Society and State: On the Political Visions of Ssu-ma Kuang and Wang An-shih,” in: Robert  R. Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer, eds., Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China (Berkeley, 1993), 128-192 [DS 751 O73].

Liu Kwang-ching, “Socioethics as Orthodoxy,” in Liu Kwang-ching, ed., Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, 1990), 53-100 [DS 754.14 O78]).

 

Economy

Kang Chao, "Conclusions" in idem, Man and Land in Chinese History: An Economic

     Analysis (Stanford: 1986), 221-228. [HB 2114 A3 C45]

Richard von Glahn, "Conclusion" in idem, Fountain of Fortune: Money and Monetary Policy in China, 1000-1700 (Berkeley, 1996), 246-257 [HG 1282 V66].

Pomeranz, Kenneth, “Calamities without Collapse: Environment, Economy, and society in China, ca. 1800-1949,” in Patricia A. McAnany and Norman Yoffee,  eds., Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability and the Aftermath of Empire. (Cambridge, 2010), 71-110.

 

Foreign Relations, the Other, Alien Rule, Minorities, Nationalism

Morris Rossabi, “Introduction,” in idem, ed., China Among Equals (Berkeley,

1983), pp. 1-13 [DS 750.82 C46]

Thomas J. Barfield. “Inner Asia and Cycles of Power in China’s Imperial History,” in G. Seaman and D. Marks, eds. Rulers from the Steppe (Los Angeles, 1991), 21-63. [DS 329.4 N66]

Evelyn S. Rawsky, “Re-invisioning the Qing: The Significance of the Qing Period in Chinese History,” Journal of Asian Studies, 55.4 (1996), 829-850.

Yen-p'ing Hao and Erh-min Wang, "Changing Chinese Views of Western Relations, 1840-95", in John K. Fairbank and Liu Kwang-ching, eds., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 11: Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911, Pt 2 (Cambridge, 1978), 142-201. [DS 735 C31]

 

 

Reading list for the research MA route: Modern China

General (including working knowledge of traditional China)

יורי פינס וגדעון שלח, עם יצחק שיחור (עורך ראשי): כל אשר מתחת לשמיים: סין הקיסרית (רעננה: הוצאת האוניברסיטה הפתוחה, כרך א' מ-2011; כרך ב' מ-2013; פרקים נבחרים מכרך ג' ב -

MOODLE

(for students who cannot read Hebrew: Read sections I-II of Spence; add any good introductory-level book in English or Chinese for the history before the Ming dynasty)

Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (New York: Norton, 1999), sections III and IV (from “The New Republic” to “The Birth of the People’s Republic”).

Roderick MacFarquhar, ed., The Politics of China, 1949-1989 (Cambridge, 1993 or 1997)  [DS 777.75 P64]

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China (New York: Palgrave, 2001) [DS 777.75

        S25 2001]

Li Cheng, Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2016), 1-76 [DS 779.46 L53 C44 2016]. (optional: pp. 351-398).

 

Political History: Republican Period

John K. Fairbank, "Introduction: Maritime and Continental in China's History", in John K.

Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 1983), 1-27. [DS 735 C31]

James E. Sheridan, "The Warlord Era: Politics and Militarism under the Peking

Government, 1916-1928", in John K. Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 1 (Cambridge, 1983), 284-321. [DS 735 C31]

Mary B. Rankin, John K. Fairbank and Albert Feuerwerker, "Introduction: Perspectives

on  Modern China's History", in Albert Feuerwerker and John K. Fairbank, eds.,

The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 2

(Cambridge, 1986), 1-73. [DS 735 C31]

Lloyd Eastman et al, eds., The Nationalist Era in China, 1927-1949 (Cambridge, 1991)

[DS 774 N38], chapters 1, 3 (1-52, 115-176).

 

Society and the State

Lucian Bianco, "Peasant Movements", in Albert Feuerwerker and John K. Fairbank, eds., The

            Cambridge History of China, Volume 13: Republican China 1912-1949, Pt 2

(Cambridge, 1986), 270-328.  [DS 735 C31]

Strauss, Julia C. “The Evolution of Republican Government,” The China
Quarterly, No. 150, Special Issue: Reappraising Republic China (1997): 329-351.

Selden, Mark, and Elisabeth J. Perry. 2010. "Introduction." In Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (3^rd edition). Elizabeth J. Perry and Mark Selden (eds.). Pp. 1-30. London: Routledge. [HN 733.5 C46 2010]

Perry, Elisabeth J. "Permanent Rebellion? Continuities and Discontinuities in Chinese Protest." In Popular Protest in China. Kevin J. O'Brien (ed.). Pp. 205-216. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2008. [HN 737 P66 2008]

Chinese Family and Society

Glosser, Susan L. Chinese Visions of Family and State, 1915-1953. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. “Introduction,” pp. 1-26.  [HQ 684 G56 2003]

Yan, Yunxiang. Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village 1949-1999. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003. “Conclusion,” pp. 217-235 [HQ 684 Z9 X539 2003]

Greenhalgh, Susan & Edwin Winckler. Governing China's Population. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005. “Chapter 7: The Shifting Local Politics of Population," pp. 212-244. [HQ 766.5 C6 G68 2005]

Intellectual History, Political Culture

Merle Goldman and Leo Ou-Fan Lee, eds., An Intellectual History of Modern China (Cambridge, 2002), chpts. 2 and 5-7. [DS 775.2 I56 2002]

Ogden, Suzanne. 2004. “From Patronage to Profits: The Changing Relationship of Chinese Intellectuals with the Party-State”. In Edward Gu and Merle Goldman (eds.). Chinese Intellectuals between State and Market. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon. Pp 111-137 [DS 779.23 C46 2004]

Economy

Christopher Howe, China's Economic Reforms (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003), ch. 1, "China's Economic Reform Strategy" (pp. 1-29) [HC 427.92 C4648 2002].

Barry Naughton, The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth (London and Cambridge, 2007), 86-111. [HC 427.95 N38 2007]

Foreign Relations, the Other, Alien Rule, Minorities, Nationalism

Colin Mackerras, China’s Minorities (Oxford, 1994), pp. 260-278 [DS 730 M33].

Zhao Suisheng. A Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism (Stanford, 2004), Chapters 1-2, pp. 8-78. [DS 779.26 Z43 2004]

Zhao, Suisheng. 2013. “Foreign Policy Implications of Chinese Nationalism Revisited: The Strident Turn,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 22, No. 82, pp. 535-553

 

Military

Shambaugh, David L., "Civil-Military Relations," in idem, Modernizing China's military: progress, problems, and prospects (Berkeley, 2002), pp. 11-55 [UA 835 S46 2004]