EAST 493-001 Special Topics in East Asian Studies: The Culture(s) of the Great Ming

Syllabus Fall Term, 2021 Instructor: Robin D.S. Yates; email: [email protected] Class Hours: Tuesday 2.35-5.25 Location: Room 109, Leacock Instructor’s Office: Room 265, 688 Sherbrooke Street West Office Hours: Th. 3:00-5:00: please make an appointment by email to request an appointment within those hours 3 credits NOTE: This course will be taught in person

Course description: This course is an exploration of some of the complex cultures that flourished during the Ming dynasty in China (1368-1644), a period of great social, political, and economic change and development that culminated in the Great East Asian War involving Japan, Korea, and China, the arrival of Westerners (both pirates and missionaries, the Jesuits), and ultimately in the conquest by the Manchus, who founded the last dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911). It was a period of immense dynamism and cultural innovation: the economy boomed in the latter part of the dynasty; commercial cities grew huge and urban life thrived; porcelain and other products were produced in industrial facilities and exported to Western Asia and Europe; literati painting flourished; and the first great Chinese novels were written. At the same time, the Ming has been seen as militarily weak, although this characterization is now being challenged. We will be looking at the vitality of all levels of society; at the Ming’s discovery of their world, both externally and internally; and at their responses to their engagements with outside military and cultural forces, and peoples in a global context.

Course format: The class will be a reading and discussion seminar with no lectures. Reading assignments, listed below as either required or recommended, will be apportioned to different students each session, according to their own interests, to present in class and to lead the ensuing discussion. In advance of each session, the student(s) reporting and leading the discussion will choose the focus of the topic, will inform the rest of the class which items they intend to concentrate on and will request the rest of the class to read one or more of the items listed as “required” or “recommended” or a portion of the same (e.g., one or two chapters in a book). All students will be expected to read and think about at least ONE of the required/recommended readings per class, depending on the recommendations of the instructor and the student(s) responsible for the presentations. Students should discuss their presentations with the instructor in person prior to the class and/or email the instructor with their plans or discussion outline at least 2-3 days in advance, certainly no later than the Friday prior to the Tuesday class. It is NOT intended that all items listed for each session will be read by the entire class; however, the leader(s) of the discussion should cover many, if not all of the readings for their particular topic, in order to be able to decide which issues they intend to consider in depth and to build their background knowledge for the final research paper. A discussion leader may choose to focus on one of the recommended readings, rather than any of the items listed as “required.” It is strongly recommended, but not required, that students base their final research paper on one of the subjects on which they have reported in class. The presentations will give an excellent basis for the final research paper.

Evaluation: Grades for the course will be based on 1. A short (5-6 page) take-home mid-term essay (a choice of essay topics will be handed out in advance) (15%); 2. Two presentations of discussion/reading material (10% each; total: 20%); 3. Class participation (10%); 4. An annotated bibliography for final research paper (15%); 5. Oral presentation of research topic (10%); 6. Final research paper (at least 15 pages, exclusive of bibliography) (30%). For late submission of the mid-term take-home essay and final research paper without prior approval from the instructor, 1% will be taken off per day late. The Annotated Bibliography will be due one week before presentation of research at the end of November. Final papers are due, according to the Faculty’s regulations, on the last day of classes, but will be due one week after the last class. Instructions for the preparation of the Annotated bibliography will be distributed separately.

Learning outcomes: Students will learn about the many facets of Ming society, how to make convincing oral presentations, lead discussions, report on their research projects, and to prepare and write a research essay that is logically constructed, makes use of appropriate secondary (and, if possible and/or appropriate, primary) sources to bolster the argument, is free of grammatical and typographical errors, and expresses clearly the intent and meaning of the author.

Policies on Academic Integrity:

In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. This does not apply to courses in which acquiring proficiency in a language is one of the objectives.” (Approved by Senate on 21 January 2009 - see also the section in this document on Assignments and Evaluation.)

« Conformément à la Charte des droits de l’étudiant de l’Université McGill, chaque étudiant a le droit de soumettre en français ou en anglais tout travail écrit devant être noté (sauf dans le cas des cours dont l’un des objets est la maîtrise d’une langue). »

“McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures” (see www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information). (Approved by Senate on 29 January 2003) « L'université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent à tous les étudiants de comprendre ce que l'on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions académiques, ainsi que les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l'étudiant et des procédures disciplinaires (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le site www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/).»

Class Schedule:

Week 1 Sept. 7 Introduction to the course and documentary film on the Ming dynasty “Secrets of the Forbidden City”

Week 2 Sept. 14 Political, Economic and Social Transformations in the Ming Required reading: John W. Dardess, Ming China, 1368-1644: A Concise History of a Resilient Empire (2011) (e-book) Recommended reading: Peter K. Bol, “The ‘Localist Turn’ and ‘Local Identity’ in Later Imperial China,” Late Imperial China 24.2 (2003): 1-50. , The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. (e-book) Richard von Glahn, The Economic : From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century, pp. 255-94. (e-book) Sarah Schneewind, A Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming Dynasty China. Craig Clunas, Fruitful Sites: Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China.

Week 3 Sept. 21 Legal Culture Required reading: John D. Langlois, Jr., “Ming Law,” in the Cambridge History of China: Volume 8 The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 Part 2, pp. 172-213. Michael Szonyi, “The Case in the Vase: What Can a Ming Novel Tell Us about Traditional Chinese Legal Culture?” Frontiers of History in China 12.4 (2017): 621-25. Recommended reading: Ann Waltner, “Breaking the Law: Family Violence, Gender and Hierarchy in the Legal Code of the Ming Dynasty,” Ming Studies 36 (1996): 29-43. Kathryn Bernhardt, “A Ming-Qing Transition in Chinese Women’s History? The Perspective from Law.” In The History and Theory of Legal Practice in China: Toward a Historical-social Jurisprudence (2014) (e-book), pp. 29-50. Yonglin Jiang, “In the Name of ‘Taizu’: The Construction of Zhu Yuanzhang’s Legal and Chinese Cultural Identity in the Veritable Records of Taizu,” T’oung Pao 96.4-5 (2010): 408-70. Timothy Brook, Jérôme Bourgon, and Gregory Blue, Death by a Thousand Cuts, Chapter 4 “Lingchi in the Ming Dynasty,” pp. 97-121. Yonglin Jiang, The Mandate of Heaven and The Great Ming Code. (e-book)

Week 4 Sept. 28 Religious Culture Required reading: Ann Waltner, “Religion and Gender in the Ming,” in The Ming World, ed. Kenneth M. Swope, Ch. 7, pp. 150-60. Romeyn Taylor, “Official and Popular Religion and the Political Organization of Chinese Society in the Ming,” in Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China, pp. 126-57. Yü Chün-fang, “Ming Buddhism,” in the Cambridge History of China: Volume 8 The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 Part 2, pp. 893-952. Judith A. Berling, “Taoism in Ming Culture,” in the Cambridge History of China: Volume 8 The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 Part 2, pp. 953-86.

Recommended reading: Timothy Brook, Praying for Power: Buddhism and the Formation of Gentry Society in Late-Ming China. Jennifer Eichmann, “Zhuhong’s Communal Rules for the Late Ming Nunnery Filiality and Righteousness Unobstructed,” Nannü: Men, Women and Gender in China 21.2 (2019): 224-75. Chün-fang Yü, “The Cult of Kuan-yin in Ming-Ch’ing China: A Case of Confucianization of Buddhism?” In Meeting of Minds: Intellectual and Religious Interaction in East Asian Traditions of Thought, ed. Irene Bloom and Joshua A. Fogel, pp. 144-74. Chün-fang Yü, Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokiteśvara. (e-book) Mark R. E. Meulenbeld, Demonic Warfare: Daoism, Territorial Networks, and the History of a Ming Novel (2016). Anne Gerritsen, Ji’an Literati and the Local in Song-Yuan-Ming China, Chapters 6-8. Sarah Schneewind, Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos (2018).

Week 5 Oct. 5 Cultures of Violence Required reading: Craig Clunas, Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368-1644, Ch. 6 “Dark Warriors: Cultures of Violence,” pp. 160-87. H. Laura Wu, “Corpses on Display: Representations of Torture and Pain in the Wei Zhongxian Novels,” Ming Studies 59 (2009): 42-55. Edward L. Dreyer, Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405- 1433. Recommended reading: David Robinson, Bandits, Eunuchs, and the Son of Heaven: Rebellion and the Economy of Violence in Mid-Ming China. David M. Robinson, Martial Spectacles of the Ming Court. Michael Szonyi, The Art of Being Governed: Everyday Politics in Late Imperial China. Princeton: Princeton University Press (2017). Michael Szonyi et al. ed., The Chinese Empire in Local Society: Ming Military Institutions and Their Legacy. (e-book) Kenneth M. Swope, A Dragon’s Head and a Serpent’s Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592–1598.

Tuesday October 12 Study Break

Week 6 (Friday) Oct. 15 Women’s Culture, Courtesan Culture, and Cultures of Pleasure and Excess Required reading: Daria Berg, “Courtesan Editor: Sexual Politics in Early Modern China,” T’oung Pao 99.1-3 (2013): 173-211. Monica Merlin, “The Nanjing Courtesan Ma Shouzhen (1548-1604): Gender, Space and Painting in the Late Ming Pleasure Quarter,” Gender and History 23.3 (2011): 630-52. Paul Ropp, “Ambiguous Images of Courtesan Culture in Late Imperial China,” in Writing Women in Late Imperial China, pp. 17-45. Craig Clunas, Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368-164, Ch. 5 “Pleasure, Play and Excess,” pp. 137-59.

Recommended reading: Daria Berg, Women and the Literary World in Early Modern China, 1580-1700. Guo, Qitao, “Engendering the Mercantile Lineage: The Rise of the Female Chastity Cult in Late Ming Huizhou,” Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in China 17.1 (2015): 9-53. Xiaoqian Ji, “Embellishing Appearances with Fragrant Cosmetic Cases: Transforming Women’s Bodies to Nourish Life in the Late Ming,” Frontiers of History in China 14.1 (2019): 137-62.

Distribution of Mid-term take-home examination

Week 7 Oct. 19 Cultures of Knowledge and Cultures of Text Submission of Mid-term Essays Required reading: Craig Clunas, Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368-1644, Ch. 4 “Pictures in the Chinese Encyclopaedia: Image, Category and Knowledge,” pp. 112-36. Craig Clunas, Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368-1644, Ch. 3 “The Word on the Streets: Cultures of Texts,” pp. 84-111. Recommended reading: Jin Jiang, “Heresy and Persecution in Late Ming Society: Reinterpreting the Case of Li Zhi,” Late Imperial China 22.1 (2001): 1-34 Antonio S. Cua, “Wang Yangming,” in Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy, pp.760-75. (e-book) Joseph P. McDermott, A Social History of the Chinese Book: Books and Literati Culture in Late Imperial China, Chapters 3 and 4, “Distribution of Books and Literati Culture,” and “The Problem of Access in the World of Chinese Learning.” (e-book) Harriet T. Zurndorfer, “Women in the Epistemological Strategy of Chinese Encyclopedia: Preliminary Observations from Some Sung, Ming, and Ch’ing Works,” in Chinese Women of the Imperial Past: New Perspectives, ed. Harriet T. Zurndorfer (Brill, 1999), pp. 354-95.

Week 8 Oct. 26 Scientific, Technological, and Material Cultures Required reading: Craig Clunas, Fruitful Sites: Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China Carla Nappi, The Monkey and the Inkpot: Natural History and Its Transformations in Early Modern China. (e-book) Anne Gerritsen, The City of Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World (e-book, 2020)

Recommended reading: Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China Stacey Pierson, “The Movement of Chinese Ceramics: Appropriation in Global History,” Journal of World History 23.1 (2012): 9-39. Klaas Ruitenbeek, Carpentry and Building in Late Imperial China: A Study of the Fifteenth-century Carpenter’s Manual, Lu Ban jing. Dagmar Schäfer, The Crafting of the Ten Thousand Things: Knowledge and Technology in Seventeenth-Century China. Dagmar Schäfer, ed., Cultures of Knowledge: Technology in Chinese History (2012). Matteo Valleriani, “The Knowledge Agora: The Role of the Officials,” in Cultures of Knowledge: Technology in Chinese History, pp. 233-46. (e-book)

Week 9 Nov. 02 Medical Cultures Required reading: Marta Hanson, Speaking of Epidemics in Chinese Medicine: Disease and the Geographic Imagination in Late Imperial China, Part 2 “New Ming Medical Boundaries,” pp. 47- 103. Yunu Chen, “Buddhism and the Medical Treatment of Women in the Ming Dynasty: A Research Note,” Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in Early and Imperial China 10.2 (2008): 279-303.

Recommended reading: Joanna Grant, A Chinese Physician: Wang Ji and the ‘Stone Mountain Medical Case Histories’. Charlotte Furth, A Flourishing Yin: Gender in China’s Medical History: 960-1665, Chapters 4-8, “Rethinking Fuke in the Ming Dynasty,” “To Benefit Yin: Fuke and Late Ming Medical Culture,” “’Nourishing Life’: Ming Bodies of Generation and Longevity,” “A Doctor’s Practice: Narratives of the Clinical Encounter in Late Ming Yangzhou,” and “In and Out of the Family: Ming Women as Healing Experts.”

Week 10 Nov. 09 The Late Ming World and the Arrival of the Westerners Required reading: Catherine Jami, Peter Engelfriet, and Gregory Blue, eds., Statecraft and Intellectual Renewal in Late Ming China: The Cross-cultural Synthesis of Xu Guangqi (1562-1633) (selections).

Recommended reading: Qiong Zhang, Making the New World Their Own: Chinese Encounters with Jesuit Science in the Age of Discovery. (e-book) Jonathan D. Spence, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. D. E. Mungello, The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800. (e-book) Rivi Handler-Spitz, Symptoms of an Unruly Age: Li Zhi and Cultures of Early Modernity.

Week 11 Nov. 15 The Ming as a Eurasian Empire Required reading: Edward L. Farmer, “The Ming as a Eurasian Power,” in The Ming World, ed. Kenneth M. Swope, Ch. 20, pp. 409-24. Recommended reading: Geoff Wade, “Engaging the South: Ming China and Southeast Asia in the Fifteenth Century,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2008, 51.4: 578– 638. Kenneth M. Swope, “Causes and Consequences of the Ming Intervention in Vietnam in the Early Fifteenth Century,” in Ming China: Courts and Contacts, 1400–1450, ed. Craig Clunas, Jessica Harrison-Hall, and Luk Yu-ping (London: The British Museum, 2016), pp. 37–45. Masato Hasegawa, “War, Commerce, and Tributary Relations in the Sino-Korean Borderland of the Late Sixteenth Century,” in The Ming World, ed. Kenneth M. Swope, Ch. 24, pp. 481-99. David M. Robinson, Ming China and Its Allies: Imperial Rule in Eurasia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020). David M. Robinson, In the Shadow of the Mongol Empire: Ming China and Eurasia (2019)

Week 12 Nov. 23 Student research reports

Week 13 Nov. 30 Student research reports

Dec. 7 Due Date for Final Papers