HISTORY OF IMPERIAL CHINA

Seminar: Topics in the history of Chinese imperial historiography

This course is one of the optional taught modules within the Master degree course in Languages and Civilization of Asia and Mediterranean Africa.

The course sets out to analyze some aspects of the history of pre-modern imperial historiography (2nd century BC to 11th century AD) through the reading of selected texts

The learning objectives of the course are:
-to acquire the methodological tools necessary to analyze the methods and purposes of premodern Chinese historiography, and in particular to obtain an understanding of issues concerning the development of different historical genres (chronicles and annals, biographies, treatises, dynastic histories, geographical treatises, institutional compendia), the figure of the historian and more generally the role of historiography in imperial China;
- to enhance understanding and critical assessment of the primary sources and the secondary literature;
- to be able to conduct autonomous scientific research and produce written essays.

Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course the student will have acquired a knowledge of the diachronic development of the history of the pre-modern Chinese historical text, will be able to contextualize the main sources, their structure and textual history; will have acquired the tools for evaluation and critical analysis of primary sources; will be able to critically analyze secondary sources; will also be able to conduct autonomous research on topics related to the history of imperial historiography.

Ability to apply knowledge and communication skills
The student will be able to elaborate (in the form of short written essays and oral presentations) on the available secondary literature, will have learned to formulate hypotheses and arguments and assess different solutions and critical alternatives on the basis of objective textual evidence; will have acquired the ability to cite sources adequately and to take care of the formal aspects of textual production.

Good knowledge of classical Chinese and basic knowledge of the history of imperial China is desirable.

The course proposes the reading and translation of a selection of texts from the Chinese dynastic sources on the Inner Asian political entities from the III to the X century: in particular, the Tabgach särbi (Tuoba Xianbei 拓跋鮮卑), the Turkic (Tujue 突厥) and Uyghur (Huihu 回鶻) khanates, and the pre-dynastic Kitan (Qidan 契丹). The course will consist of an introductory part on the history of imperial official historiography and the sources for the history of Inner Asia, as well as reading and translation sessions.

An updated list of reference texts and course material will be published in moodle shortly before the beginning of the course. A bibliography of supplementary texts and recommended readings on the topics dealt with in class will also be available in moodle.

Chavannes, Edouard. Documents sur let Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux. Librairie d’Amerique et d’Orient, Paris, 1903.
Chen Hao. A History of the Second Türk Empire (ca. 682-745 AD). Leiden: Brill, 2021.
Di Cosmo, Nicola et al. (eds.). Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Dropp, Michael. “Imperial State Formation in Inner Asia: The Early Turkic Empires (6th to 9th Centuries).” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 58.1 (2005): 101-11.
Golden Peter B. “The Ethnogonic Tales of the Tuerks,” The Medieval History Journal 21.2 (2018): 291-327.
Golden, Peter B. “Ethnogenesis of the Tribal Zone: The Shaping of the Türks”, Archivum Eurasiae medii aevi 16 (2008/09):73-112.
Holcombe, Charles. “The Xianbei in Chinese History,” Early Medieval China 19 (2013): 1-38.
Skaff, Jonathan K. Sui-Tang China and its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580 – 800. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

A written paper (ca. 2000 words, excluding bibliography and footnotes, 50%) on an agreed topic and an oral exam (50%).
Further details on delivery, presentation, and topics to be covered will be given in class during the first class.

The course consists of frontal and seminar lectures; attendees will be required to prepare translations of a selection of texts and participate in the in-class reading, as well as read the secondary reading.

Italian