Patterns of East Asian History

Author:
Charles A. Desnoyers

Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Publication date:
March 2019

Abstract:

Covering all of East Asian history from the Neolithic to the present--including Mongolia and Vietnam, alongside China, Japan, and Korea--Patterns of East Asian History uses recognizable and widely-accepted patterns of historical development as a loose framework around which to structure the material. This approach serves as both an organizational aid to instructors and as a tool to make complex material more comprehensible to students. The result is enhanced pedagogical flexibility. This subtly recursive format allows abundant opportunities for contrast and comparison among and within the societies under consideration. The overall aim is to simplify the immense complexities of history for beginning students without making them simplistic. Featuring nearly sixty maps and 200 photos, Patterns of East Asian History provides a rich visual history that complements its engaging narrative.

Table of Contents:

PART I: CREATING EAST ASIA 

Chapter 1: The Region and People
Varied Geographies
The Chinese Landscape
The Great Regulator: The Monsoon
Mountains and Deserts
Eurasia's Eastern Branch: Korea
The Island Perimeter: Japan
The Southern Branch: Vietnam 
East Asian Ethnicities and Languages
China and Taiwan
Tibet
Mongolia
Korea
Japan
Conclusion

Chapter 2: The Middle Kingdom: China to 1280 
Opening Vignette
China and the Neolithic Revolution
Neolithic Origins
Foundations of the Dynastic System
The Three Dynasties: The Xia
The Three Dynasties: The Shang
The Three Dynasties: The Zhou
Economy and Society
New Classes: Merchants and Shi
Family and Gender in Ancient China
Religion Culture and Intellectual Life
Chinese Writing
Ritual and Religion
The Hundred Schools: Confucianism and Daoism
Self-Cultivation and Ritual: Confucius
Mencius and the Politics of Human Nature
Paradox and Transcendence: Laozi and Daoism
The Structures of Empire
The First Empire, 221-206 B.C.E.
Qin Shi Huangdi
The Imperial Model: The Han Dynasty, 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.
Expanding the Empire
Downturn of the Dynastic Cycle
The Centuries of Fragmentation, 220-589 C.E.
Reconstituting the Empire: The Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties, 589-1280
China's Cosmopolitan Age: The Tang Dynasty, 618-907
Buddhism in China
Patterns Up Close: Creating an East Asian Buddhist Culture
The Period of Expansion: Emperor Taizong
"Emperor" Wu
Cosmopolitan Autumn
An Early Modern Period? The Song 
The Southern Song Remnant
The Mongol Conquest
Economics, Society, and Gender in Early Imperial China
Industry and Commerce
Agricultural Productivity
Gender and Family
Thought, Science, and Technology
The Legacy of the Han Historians
Neo-Confucianism
Poetry, Painting, and Calligraphy
Technological Leadership
Conclusion

Chapter 3: Interaction and Adaptation on the Sinitic Rim: Korea, Japan, and Vietnam to the Mongol Era
Opening Vignette
From Three Kingdoms to One: Korea to 1231
The "Three Kingdoms"
Korea to the Mongol Invasion
Economy and Society
Religion, Culture and Intellectual Life
Isolation, Interaction, and Adaptation: Japan to 1281
Jomon and Yayoi
Early State Building
Imperial Rule
Economy and Society
Family Structure
Religion, Culture, and Intellectual Life
Buddhism in Japan
Patterns Up Close: From Periphery to Center: Nichiren, Buddhism, and Japan
Forging a New Japanese Culture
Borders of Influence and Agency: Vietnam
Neolithic Cultures
Village Society and Buddhism
The "Far South"
Independence and State Building
Economics and Society
Officials, Peasants, and Merchants
Women and Family
Religion, Culture, and Intellectual Life
Chu Nom
Conclusion

Chapter 4: The Mongol Super-Empire
Opening Vignette
Genghis Khan and the Mongol Conquest
Strategies of the Steppes
Clashing Codes of Combat
Assimilating Military Technologies
The Mongol Conquest: The Initial Phase
The Drive to the West
Patterns Up Close: Pax Mongolica
Subduing China
From Victory to Disunity
Overthrow and Retreat
The Mongol Commercial Revolution
Rebuilding Agriculture and Infrastructure
Role Reversal: Artisans and Merchants
Family, Gender, Religion, and Culture
Egalitarian Patriarchy?
Religion: Toleration and Support
Conclusion



PART II: RECASTING EAST ASIA TO THE PRESENT

Chapter 5: From Superpower to Semi-Colony: China from the Ming to 1895
Opening Vignette
Remaking the Empire: The Ming
Centralizing Government and Projecting Power
Toward a Regulated Society: Foreign Relations
The End of the Ming
The Era of Dominance: The Qing to 1795
The Banner System
Universal Empire
Pacification and Expansion
Encounters With Europeans
Regulating Maritime Trade
The Struggle for Agency in "The Century of Humiliation"
The Horizon of Decline: The White Lotus Rebellion
Interactions with Maritime Powers
The Coming of the Unequal Treaties
The Taiping and Nian Eras
The Origins of Taiping Ideology
Defeating the Taipings
The Nian Rebellion, 1853-1868
Reform Through Self-Strengthening
Patterns Up Close: The Cooperative Era and Modernization
Nineteenth-Century Qing Expansion
The Limits of Self-Strengthening, 1860-1895
The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95
Society and Economics in Ming and Qing Times
Organizing the Countryside
Population and Sustainability
The "High-Level Equilibrium Trap" Debate
Technology and Intellectual Life
Philosophy and Literature
Poetry, Travel Accounts, and Newspapers
Conclusion

Chapter 6: Becoming "The Hermit Kingdom": Korea from the Mongol Invasions to 1895
Opening Vignette
Toward Semi-Seclusion
The Mongol Era and the Founding of the Yi Dynasty
The Japanese Invasion
Recovery and the Drive for Stability
The Shadow of the Qing
Strangers at the Gates
The Hermit Kingdom
Korea and the Sino-Japanese War
Economy, Society, and Family
Land Reform
Social Organization
The New Economy
Family and Gender Roles
Culture and Intellectual Life
Patterns Up Close: The Development of Han Gul
Neo-Confucianism and Pragmatic Studies
Conclusion

Chapter 7: From "Lesser Dragon" to "Indochina": Vietnam to 1885
Opening Vignette
The Lesser Dragon
Southward Expansion
Perils of Growth
Rebellion and Consolidation
Patterns Up Close: The French as Allies of the Imperial Court
Creating Indochina
First Footholds
Colonization by Protectorate
The Sino-French War
Conflict and Compromise: Economy and Society
The New Commercial Development
Neo-Confucianism in Imperial Vietnam
Toward "Modernity?" Culture, Science, and Intellectual Life
Asserting Incipient Nationalism
Struggles of Modernization
Conclusion

Chapter 8: Becoming Imperial: Japan to 1895
Opening Vignette
The Era of the Shoguns, 1192 to 1867
Kamakura and Ashikaga Shogunates, and Mongol Attacks
Dissolution and Reunification
The Tokugawa Bakufu 
"Tent Government"
Freezing Society
Securing the Place of the Samurai
Tokugawa Seclusion
Reunifying Rule
The Coming of the "Black Ships"
Restoring the Emperor
From Feudalism to Nationalism
The Meiji Constitution and Political Life
Becoming An Imperial Power
Economy, Family, and Society
Agriculture, Population, and Commerce
Late Tokugawa and Early Meiji Economics and Society
Patterns Up Close: Japan's Transformation Through East Asian Eyes
Railroads and Telegraphs
Family Structure
"Civilization and Enlightenment"
Religion, Culture, and Intellectual Life
Zen, Tea, and Aesthetics
The Arts and Literature
Bunraku, Noh, Kabuki, and Ukiyo-e
Intellectual Developments
Science, Culture, and the Arts in the Meiji Period
Conclusion

Chapter 9: From Reform to Revolution: China from 1895 to the Present, Part I
Opening Vignette
The Republican Revolution
The Last Stand of the Old Order: The Boxer Rebellion and War
The Twilight of Reform
Sun Yat-sen and the Ideology of Revolution
The New Warring States Era (1916-1926)
Creating Nationalism
The First United Front
Civil War, World War, and People's Republic
The Nationalist Interval
The Long March and Xi'an Incident
East Asia At War
From Coalition Government to the Gate of Heavenly Peace
A New Society and Culture
The New Culture Movement
City and Country
Conclusion

Chapter 10: From Continuous Revolution to Authoritarian Modernity: China from 1895 to the Present, Part II
The Maoist Years, 1949 to 1976
Early Mass Mobilization Campaigns
Land Reform
The Great Leap Forward
The Hundred Flowers and Anti-Rightist Campaigns
Taking a Breath in the Revolution
Becoming Proletarian: The Cultural Revolution
The End of the Maoist Era
A U-Turn on the Socialist Road
China's Four Modernizations
Modernizing National Defense 
"The Fifth Modernization"
Tiananmen Square and the New Authoritarianism
Ending the Colonial Era
Tiananmen Square
"Confucian Capitalism"
Growth and Its Discontents
Tibet and Minorities
Toward Harmony and Stability?
The Olympic Moment
Xi Jinping and "The Four Comprehensives"
Patterns Up Close: Confucius Institutes and China's Soft Power
Society, Science, and Culture
Recasting Urban Life
Modernization and Society
The New Technology
Art and Literature
The Media
Conclusion

Chapter 11: A House Divided: Korea to the Present
Opening Vignette
The Ebb and Flow of Colonialism
Military Rule
Relative Restraint: The Cultural Policy
Militarism, Colonialism, and War
Patterns Up Close: Nationalism, Empire, and Athletics
Cold War, Hot War, and Cold War
A Korean Civil War?
From Seesaw to Stalemate
Political and Economic Developments South and North
Republics and Coups
Land Reform and the Export Economy
From Authoritarian Rule to Democracy
The Democratic Era, 1993 to the Present
The New Hermit Kingdom of the North
War by Other Means
Juche and the Cult of Personality
The Kim Dynasty
Conclusion

Chapter 12: Colonized, Divided, and Reunited: Vietnam to the Present
Opening Vignette
The First Colonial Era: 1885 to 1945
"The Civilizing Mission" and Rebellion
Reform and Republicanism
Ho Chi Minh and Revolution
Patterns Up Close: Parsing the Language of Independence
The War for Independence
The American War
Tearing Two Nations Apart
"Peace With Honor" and National Unification
From Reunification to Regional Power
Building the New Socialist State
Politics and Genocide: Fighting the Khmer Rouge
Recovery and Prosperity
Conclusion

Chapter 13: Becoming the Model of Modernity: Japan to the Present
Opening Vignette
"A Wonderfully Clever and Progressive People"
The Russo-Japanese War
The Limits of Power Politics
The Great War and the Five Requests
Intervention and Versailles
Taisho Democracy
Militarism and Co-Prosperity: The War Years
Creating Manchukuo
State Shinto and Militarism
The "China Incident"
World War II in the Pacific
Allied Counterattack
Co-Prosperity and Conditional Independence
Endgame
The Model of Modernity: From Occupation to the Present
The New Order: Reform and Constitution
The Reverse Course: Japan and the Cold War
Moving Toward the 21st Century
Patterns Up Close: Japan's History Problem
Economy, Society and Culture
From Made in Japan to Total Quality Management
The Dominance of the Middle Class
Women and Family: A Half-Step Behind?
Godzilla and Sailor Moon: Postwar Culture
Conclusion

Epilogue: Breakneck Change and the Challenge of Tradition
One Region, Three Systems?
Colonialism and Imperialism
Twentieth Century Conflict and Political Configuration
1. China and Vietnam: Authoritarian Capitalism
· China
· Vietnam
2. Japan, Taiwan, South Korea: Representative Government and Capitalism
· Japan
· South Korea
· Taiwan
3. North Korea: Stalinist Self-Sufficiency
The "Chinese Dream" as the East Asian Dream?