ASIA 320

History of Early China

9.9, 2021

 • Instructor: MA Zoudan

• Email: mzd@ubc.mail.ca

• Lectures: 12:30-14:00, Tue & Thu, Buchanan A203

• O ce hours: 15:00-16:00 Thu, Zoom (link in Canvas)

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Priority: Safety and Health
• Provincial Health Orders and UBC policy now mandate masks in
all indoor public spaces on campus. These spaces include
classrooms, residence halls, libraries, and common areas.
Students who wish to request an exemption to the indoor mask
mandate must do so based on one of the grounds for exemption
detailed in the PHO Order on Face Coverings (COVID-19). Such
requests must be made through the Center for Accessibility
(Vancouver campus). After review, students that are approved for
this accommodation will be provided with a letter of
accommodation to share with faculty members teaching courses
in which they are registered. In the intervening time, these
students are welcome in the class. Mask wearing protects you
as well as others in your environment. Let’s do everything we
can as a community to stop the spread of this virus.
5 points on top of 100 rewarded to active participants
• 1. Quizzes: Starting from Week 3, a quiz will be posted in Canvas
biweekly. Each quiz take form as a combination of multiple choices and
short answers questions. The purpose is to evaluate if
students are familiar with the course materials, including both the
lectures and the readings. For details, see Canvas.

• 2. Online Discussions: Starting from Week 4, a discussion question will

be posted in Canvas biweekly. The purpose is to motivates students to
apply what they have learned in and o class, and more importantly to
have a meaningful intellectual conversation with their cohort. For details
about grading, see Canvas.

• 3. Take-Home Mid-Term Exam: The exam is conducted in Canvas and

will be available over Week 7, and students can start the exam anytime
according to their schedule. Once they start the exam, they have a 12-hr
window to complete it. The exam format is choosing two essay
questions out of four. Each answer should be no shorter than 500 words.
CMS style applies.
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 Group Presentation
• Total Value: 100 points, 20%

• Format: In a group of 6 (or 5), each group is required to give a 25-minute presentation (20 mins for a group of
6) on the theme or topic related to early China. The groups have already been formed. Find out where you
belong through the “People” in Canvas.

• Choosing a Topic: Each group is expected to come up with a topic of their own interest. It is also encouraged
to share ideas with the instructor, who may help shape ideas into an appropriate topic for presentation. Either
way, the topic should be con rmed with the instructor a week before starting the presentation in class.

• Supplementary Materials: PPT is required for presentation. Other visual and audio materials are also
encouraged. Please be familiar with the technology and the equipment due to limited time in class. Sending
materials to the instructor in advance is highly recommended.

• Q&A: A group presentation is essentially a mini lesson. Hence, it is expected to have some conversation
between presenters and audience. Each group is required to reserve 3-5 minutes for Q&A. People asking
questions is a sign that the presentation is of interest to some, if not all, audience. The goal here is to
motivate presenters to consider the audience and their delivery.

• Evaluation: Evaluation is at the hands of the whole class. All students are able to give immediate response to
presentation through “Menti.”

• www.menti.com
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 Final Project

• Total Value: 20+80 points, 20%  

• Deadlines: 23:59, 10.21 proposal due; 23:59 12.17  nal

paper due

• Format: Both proposal and nal paper should follow the

structure, format, layout, and documentation Mechanics.
Please follow Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) for both
assignments.
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 • Choose a Topic: Students are expected to come up with a topic of their own interest. It
is also encouraged to share ideas with the instructor, who may help shape ideas into an
appropriate topic for the nal paper. In general, avoid the following:

• A. Topics which are speci cally comparative in nature, since one needs to know
a great deal about an apple and an orange before trying to compare apples-and-
oranges. If a student does select such a topic, he or she is expected to answer
the question “so what?”

• B. Topics which are mainly biographical in nature, as a person’s life story is

di cult, if not impossible, to do well in a short paper. This does not mean that a
student ignores the contributions and comments of individuals as he or she
relates the subject chosen

• Sources: Sources are either the authorities to call upon or the issues to problematize.
The nal paper should show evidence of the use of a variety of sources. They include,
but not limited to, books, journals, magazines, various media, and online items as
appropriate to the topic chosen. However, the most common sources appear in a
research paper are the academic ones, namely journal articles and books. Hence the
paper should use at least 5 peer-reviewed academic sources, among which at least 3
should be written in English.
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• Research Summary: No longer than one page, the research summary is a research plan
submitted after a student has done some preliminary research. It is not a contract that a
student makes with the instructor—the student can still change some of the plan after
submission. However, changing the topic should be con rmed with the instructor.  

• Evaluating Research Summary: The very nature of a research summary as a tentative

plan determines that the evaluation is all about completion. Successful completion of a
research summary should include the follows:

• Title of the nal paper   (0-2)

• Introduction to the topic and its justi cation    (0-4)

• Thesis statement    (0-4)

• Topic sentences and key points    (0-4)

• Concluding statement   (0-4)

• References   (0-2)
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 • Final Paper: Writing an argumentative research paper is to advance
substantive issues and inquiry. There are a lot of ways of completing
the writing, but keep in mind three key investigative conventions:

• Analysis: Classify the major issues of your study and provide

detailed analysis of each in defense of your thesis.

• Evidence: Provide well-reasoned propositions and statements

that are supported by facts, details, and evidence with proper
documentation.

• Discussion: Relate the implications of your ndings and the

merits of the study, whether an author’s poetic techniques, a
historical movement, or a social issue.

• The nal paper should contain no less than 2,500 words, references

included.
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• Submission and Late Submission: All the assignments should be submitted to Canvas, and the
submission will be available over the course of this term. Hence, a student can still submit an
assignment after he or she misses the deadline. However, a LATE SUBMISSION PENALTY applies:
10% deduction for each day of delay, unless the student has a concession due to illness etc. That
is, an assignment submitted on the 11th day after the deadline, no matter how well-done it is, will
automatically receive a zero.

• Use of Electronic Devices: On the conditions of not interfering with others and, above all, not video
or voice recording the lectures, use as you wish.

• Responses and Feedback

• 1. Announcements: Statements including reminders and information pertinent to the course

will be posted in Canvas. It is the students obligation to check the announcements regularly.

• 2. Email Correspondence: Contact the instructor through email, and include your name,
student number, and course code in your email. I will aim to reply to class-related emails
within 48 hours, but it may take longer if the issue is not time-sensitive or the inquiry is
unclear. For questions about assignments, etc., please check the syllabus and Canvas
carefully before asking.

• 3. Assignment Feedback: Basic feedback will be given with discussions and essays. Detailed
explanation of feedback or marks may be received during o ce hours.
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 University’s Values and Policies Statement

UBC provides resources to support student learning and to maintain healthy lifestyles but recognizes that sometimes crises arise and so there are additional resources to access
including those for survivors of sexual violence. UBC values respect for the person and ideas of all members of the academic community. Harassment and discrimination are
not tolerated nor is suppression of academic freedom. UBC provides appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities and for religious and cultural observances. UBC
values academic honesty and students are expected to acknowledge the ideas generated by others and to uphold the highest academic standards in all of their actions.

Details of the policies and how to access support are available here.

 
Academic Integrity
The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of
conduct regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas
and attributing them to others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e.,
misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of
plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply when the matter is referred to the Of ce of the Dean.
Careful records are kept in order to monitor and prevent recurrences. A more detailed description of academic integrity, including the University’s policies and procedures,
may be found in the UBC Calendar: Student Conduct and Discipline.
 
Academic Accommodations
Academic accommodations help students with a disability or ongoing medical condition overcome challenges that may affect their academic success. Students requiring
academic accommodations must register with the Centre for Accessibility (previously known as Access & Diversity). The Centre will determine that student's eligibility for
accommodations in accordance with Policy LR7: Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities. Academic accommodations are not determined by your instructors,
and instructors should not ask you about the nature of your disability or ongoing medical condition, or request copies of your disability documentation. However, your
instructor may consult with the Centre for Accessibility should the accommodations affect the essential learning outcomes of a course.
 
Illness and Absence
If you experience medical, emotional, or personal problems that affect your attendance or academic performance, notify Arts Academic Advising or your home Faculty’s
Advising Of ce.  If you are registered with Access and Diversity, notify your instructor at least two weeks before examination dates. If you are planning to be absent for
athletics, family obligations, or other commitments, discuss your commitments with the instructor before the drop date.
 
Academic Concession
If you miss marked coursework (assignment, exam, presentation, participation in class) and are an Arts student, review the Faculty of Arts’ academic concession page and then
complete Arts Academic Advising’s online academic concession form, so that an advisor can evaluate your concession case.
If you are a student in a different Faculty, please consult your Faculty’s webpage on academic concession, and then contact me where appropriate.
 
Lectures and Intellectual Property
The lectures I give in this course, and the slides I use in support of the lectures, are my intellectual property, and as such are protected by law. That protection applies to the
slides themselves, and your transcription (e.g. copying word-for-word) of the slides (whether or not you've added annotations). Permission to make recordings falls within my
discretion as the instructor as informed by instructional purposes, classroom order, property interests and other reasonable considerations arising in the academic context. If I
do authorize you to record a lecture, the recording may only be used for the purpose of individual or group study, or for other non-commercial purposes that reasonably arise
from your membership in this class. Lecture slides and recordings of this class may not be exchanged for any commercial purpose, for compensation, or for any purpose other
than your personal study. Unless authorized by me in advance and explicitly, any other commercial or any non-personal use of slides or recordings constitutes a misuse of my
intellectual property and is a breach of the UBC Student Code of Conduct. I reserve the right to report students who misuse my intellectual property, and such students may be
subject to disciplinary measures: see the UBC Student Code Conduct here: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,750,0

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General Themes & Concepts

• The way that the Chinese organized their society and

government.

• The relationship between China and the outside world.

• The connections between economic and social life and

the worlds of art, literature, and philosophy.

• China, as the Other of the West

China Expanded Historically

• https://youtu.be/xF92B8lqbzA (credit: China X)

China’s Population Evolved

• Earliest people to call themselves Chinese lived on the

North China Plain. (Eg. the Xia)

• As time went, neighbouring peoples were either

displaced or assimilated.

• 95% Han Chinese and 5% ethnic minoroties

Origins of Chinese Civilization
• Other hominid fossils found in southwest China and in
the Yellow River valley.

• Modern homo sapiens remains appear in China 40,000

years ago.

• More sophisticated stone tools discovered.

Domestication of Rice 10,000 BCE
Neolithic Cultures
Yangshao & Longshan cultures
Liangzhu culture
The Xia Dynasty
• Optional reading:

• The Cambridge History of Ancient China, 37-54.

• Zhao Weijie, “New archaeological marvels of ancient

Shu civilization”