PREMODERN EMPIRES AND STATES IN EAST ASIA

The class constitutes an integrative learning course of the bachelor's degree program LICSAAM.
Formative objectives of the course are:
- to acquire the basic methodological tools for analyzing the nature of state formation and modes of governance in pre-modern East Asia, with a focus on the role of historical Chinese and Inner Asian forms of state organization in the management, maintenance and distribution of human and material resources;
- to acquire the tools to address primary source issues, as well as to critically analyze secondary sources;
- to be able to conduct independent scholarly research and produce written papers.

Knowledge and Comprehension
By the end of the course, the student will have acquired an awareness of the diachronic development of the history of states in pre-modern East Asia, as well as the tools for critical evaluation and analysis of primary sources; will be able to contextualize major works, outline their structure and textual history; and will be able to identify and critically analyze secondary sources.

Knowledge transfer and communication skills
The student will be able to process the state-of-the-art, to formulate hypotheses and argue theses, and evaluate different solutions and critical alternatives on the basis of objective textual evidence; will have acquired the ability to cite sources adequately and to attend to the formal aspects of textual production.

This course is intended for students who have already taken the History of China 1 class and at least one semester of classical Chinese.

Through the reading of a selection of texts, this course explores aspects concerning the ways in which governance systems were formed in pre-modern East Asia (historical China and Inner Asia) up to the 11th century, with a focus on the role of ruling elites in resource management, as well as strategies of power legitimation, imperial symbols, and institutions.

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.

Attending students will be required to prepare the readings (from primary and secondary sources) and to produce a paper/book review (1500 words or so, excluding bibliography and notes). The final examination consists of an oral test on the topic of the paper and course content.

The course consists of a lecture part and a seminar part.

Italian

written and oral