HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY OF IMPERIAL CHINA

The class constitutes an integrative learning course of the MA degree LICAAM.

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.

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

Through the reading of a selection of texts from official historiography, this course explores themes related to the history of states and empires from the 2nd century BC to the 10th century.

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.

A paper/book review (2000 words or so, excluding bibliography and notes). The final examination consists of an oral test.

written and oral

Grades will be assigned based on the following criteria:

A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- limited ability to analyze and interpret premodern historical text and secondary literature;
- sufficient communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.

B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- discrete ability to analyze and interpret premodern historical texts and secondary literature;
- fair communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.

C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or very good knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- good or excellent ability to analyze and interpret premodern historical texts and secondary literature;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.

D. "lode" will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding, excellent judgment and excellent communication skills.

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

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development