Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE CHN1014

 
TITLE An Overview of Chinese History

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit will give the students a general overview of Chinese history from the Shang Dynasty right up to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The political, social, economic, religious and cultural aspects that defined the Chinese people will also be considered during the course of this study-unit.

Study-unit Aims

1. To give students an overview of Chinese history from circa 1600 B.C. till the contemporary period;
2. To help students appreciate the major Chinese values and cultural hallmarks which predominated in the course of Chinese history

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

1. demonstrate knowledge of the main political, social, economic, religious and cultural features of each period of Chinese history;
2. appreciate better the major Chinese values and cultural hallmarks which predominated in the course of Chinese history.

2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

1. appreciate the importance of traditional values for contemporary society.
2. realize the differences between the historical developments of the west and those in the Orient.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

1. FAIRBANK, JOHN K. AND TWITCHETT, DENIS C. EDS., THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF CHINA VOL.1 –VOL. 15, CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1979 ONWARDS.
2. WANG, SHUANGSHUANG, HISTORY OF CHINA I & II, BEIJING, PEKING UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2007.
3. SIMA, QIAN, SELECTIONS FROM RECORDS OF THE HISTORIAN, FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS, 2007.

These books can be found either at the University library or at the Confucius Institute library.

More bibliography will be given in class as necessary.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Examination (2 Hours) SEM1 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Stephen Cachia

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit