University of Pennsylvania Department of History. Fall History Graduate Seminar: China s Cultural Revolution in Context

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1 [History Fall 2014 GPCR] University of Pennsylvania Department of History Fall 2014 History Graduate Seminar: China s Cultural Revolution in Context Professor Arthur Waldron A graduate research seminar, but open to interested undergraduates (see below) Introduction: One of the two or three most important events in the history of post China, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution [GPCR] raged throughout China from 1966 to It proclaimed an ambition to remake China totally and completely. The GPCR was a violent mass movement in which perhaps millions were killed and much of China s cultural heritage, both material and intellectual was attacked and much irrevocably destroyed. This revolution affected the life of every Chinese living at the time. The after- shocks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution are still being felt today. Simple documentation is incomplete, and although the authorities would prefer it be simply forgotten, Chinese want to know what it was and how to understand it. An underground debate is well under way about these questions in China. Using the available sources, this seminar will enter that debate. As the Cultural Revolution ran its course, what seemed to be an entirely new version of the New China proclaimed in 1949 seemed to come into being. Most observers took this as definitive, expecting that China would thenceforth follow the patterns established by the Cultural Revolution, even after Mao s death. Therefore it was considered of great importance, for both practical and intellectual reasons. The Cultural Revolution was followed, however, by a dramatic and entirely unexpected reversal of policies, which we will examine. They, rather than the GPCR, have defined today s China. The Cultural Revolution is of interest to students of comparative revolution and social change, for instance in comparison with events in Russia and France. It also raises broad historical issues of iconoclasm, utopianism, and nationalism. Students wishing to explore it from this perspective are most welcome.

2 2 This is a graduate seminar but it is open, with instructor s permission, to interested undergraduates. Such undergraduates should send an to me, copied to Yvonne Fabella fabella@sas.upenn.edu in the Department of History, telling me a little bit about themselves and their interests, and they can be admitted. This course has no prerequisites. Chinese language is not required. We will provide you all the materials you need to do well as the course progresses. In sum, History will provide a rigorous introduction to one of the most important and still baffling events in all the history of the last century. To succeed, however, will require a group of active and committed students, ready to advance their own ideas, and provide the kind of exciting and informative examination the topic demands. I promise you that this will be an interesting and thought- provoking seminar. If you do the work carefully, you will do well. I abhor curves. I want my students to do well. Requirements: We will meet Tuesday afternoons, 1:30 to 4:30 In My Office College Hall 311C One short paper, 3-4 pages more if needed, typed double- spaced, to be presented in class on December 9 this is early, but the reason should be apparent. Research Paper: This is the core of the course, to which you should devote your greatest effort. Each of you will take a full class at the end of the seminar to present your paper and discuss it. This will require that a draft of your work be available at that time. To give you extra time to work on your presentation, we will not meet for four weeks before these presentations begin. For undergraduates, the paper should be pages including notes and bibliography. For graduate students, the paper should be pages including notes and bibliography. Here are some thoughts on possible topics. Of course you may choose your own, in consultation with the instructor.

3 3 What are the origins of the Cultural Revolution? When was it proclaimed and what resonances did it elicit? What were Mao s intentions do you thing: ideological or political or some combination? Which groups were receptive? Which concerned? What was the course of the Cultural Revolution? Did it unfold as Mao had hoped? Did its constituencies change as it progressed? At what point did it reach its climax? When and why did it end? What were some small phenomena that perhaps capture the larger picture? Struggle sessions? The creation of Red Guards and their travel around the country and pilgrimages to Beijing where Mao received them several times? Torture and death? Suicides (much material available on the net) who and why? The cult of Mao? The Quotations from Chairman Mao? There are many. Often 小而大 xiao er da (to take a seemingly small event and draw large meaning from it) is a good intellectual approach. How was the Cultural Revolution intended to affect traditional Chinese culture? Did it seek to replace it? Purify it? What were approaches used? What and how much old was destroyed and how? What new- born things were intended to replace them? Does this process have anything in common with iconoclasm in the West (e.g. the iconoclastic furies of the sixteenth century see Alain Besançon and others)? How had China s cultural inventory (museums libraries), her self- understanding (old family letters, photographs, etc.) and living culture (actual singers, painters, composers, writers) been affected by the end? Can you draw up a before and after? Mao has remained the presiding and legitimating diety of China since his death on September 9, How does the fact of the Cultural Revolution affect how he is presented and understood? Examine events in the aftermath, including periodic re- castings of Mao. Comparison with the USSR and other countries may be useful, the fate of Stalin ( ) in particular. Did he achieve his goals (look at the Ninth Party Congress and what follows) What were the actual effects of the Cultural Revolution on China? Social? Political? Economic? Diplomatic? Intellectually? Was it a key turning point or simply an episode of chaos leaving few traces, or something in between? How did foreigners at the time assess the Cultural Revolution? A small number of Westerners the two hundred percenters lived in China from 1949 on and some took part in the Cultural Revolution. Some Western visitors traveled there at the time and wrote books? Others watching from afar but deeply interested, formed their own interpretations. Mainstream scholarship reflects certain influences as well. How did the Cultural Revolution affect China s diplomacy? The cases of France, Indonesia, and yes, the United States, are of great interest.

4 4 How, if at all, is the Cultural Revolution remembered today? Nearly fifty years have passed. A Red Guard is older than your professor. Has it vanished? Or is it celebrated? Or hidden? Look at both official and unofficial or dissenting sources. Did the Cultural Revolution create a literature or other forms of art? (Yes!) What are its characteristics? Who are some key writers? Can you present and analyze some examples? Or anything else But be sure to consult with the Instructor as you form your project. Papers should have the following structure: introductory statement, presentation of argument or historical findings, strong counter- argument where appropriate, or examination of other points of view, conclusion in which you show how your approach is best. I grade not on the basis of length or number of footnotes, but on originality of topic, use of relevant data, and insight and cogency of presentation. Instructor: Biography: Arthur Waldron has been the Lauder Professor of International Relations in the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania, since He works mostly on the history of Asia, China in particular; the problem of nationalism, and the study of war and violence in history. Educated at Harvard (A.B. 71 summa cum laude Valedictorian; PhD 81) and in Asia where he lived for four years before returning to Harvard. He previously taught at Princeton University, the U.S. Naval War College (Newport, RI) and Brown University. His publications include The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth (1989) also in Italian and Chinese; The

5 5 Modernization of Inner Asia (1991); How the Peace Was Lost: The 1935 Memorandum "Developments Affecting American Policy in the Far East" Prepared for the State Department by John Van Antwerp MacMurray (1992) also in Japanese; From War to Nationalism: China s Turning Point, (1995) also in Chinese, and (with Daniel Moran) The People in Arms: Military Myth and National Mobilization since the French Revolution (2003). His latest book, The Chinese should appear in In addition he has fourteen articles in peer reviewed journals, ten chapters in books, and two edited volumes in Chinese, as well numerous scholarly and popular reviews and journalistic essays. In government, he served as one of twelve members of the highly- classified Tilelli Commission ( ), which evaluated the China operations of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was also an original member of the Congressionally- mandated U.S- China Economic and Security Review Commission ( ). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. A regular traveler, he has visited some fifty countries in Asia and beyond. He has lectured all over the world, including Europe, Russia (in Russian), Australia and Japan. Born in Boston in1948, Professor Waldron married the former Xiaowei Yü (Born Beijing) in1988. With their two sons they live in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Office Hours: 311C College Hall; awaldron2@mac.com, T 4:30-6:00 R 1:30-3:30 Please make a point of coming to office hours often, and starting at the very beginning. This is how we get to know one another. It is also when we can discuss issues in depth impossible even in the seminar. I like nothing better than getting to know students Grading: Grading is an art, not a science. Your short paper will count about 20%; Your in- class presentation will count about 30%,; Your research paper will count 50%- - approximately. List of Readings: Background Reading: The following three books provide detailed narrative and documentation for the Cultural Revolution itself. You should own your own copies and read them as the course progresses. They are required and you are responsible for them. Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals, Mao s Last Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006)

6 6 Michael Schoenhals, ed. China s Cultural Revolution, : Not A Dinner Party (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1996) Barbara Mittler A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture (Cambridge, MA: Harvard East Asian Monographs, 2012) Weekly Reading (in order of appearance): Frank Diköttter The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution (London: Bloomsbury, 2013) Jasper Becker Hungry Ghosts: Mao s Secret Famine (New York: Free Press, 1996) Ken Ling with Miriam London and Da- ling Lee The Revenge of Heaven: the journal of a young Chinese (New York: Putnam, 1972) This book was published in England as Red Guard: From Schoolboy to Little General in Mao s China (London: Macdonald, 1972) William Hinton Hundred Day War: The Cultural Revolution at Tsinghua University (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972) Zheng Yi tr. T. P. Sym Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996) Richard Wolin The Wind from the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010) Roger Garside Coming Alive: China After Mao (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1981) Books that are in print are all available at the Penn Book Center, at the corner of 34 th Street and Sansom Street. This is a wonderful privately- owned bookstore where I order all my course books. If you find yourself in a vast hall full of Penn sweatshirts, you are in the wrong place. Books that are out of print will be at Rosengarten Reserve. They are also easily tracked down on line, e.g. at Schedule: Introduction and Context: (1) September 02 The Tragedy of Liberation (entire) (2) September 09 Hungry Ghosts (entire) Short Paper Due In Class:

7 7 Waldron s rule: never allow a new or key- word to come in and sit down at the seminar table without checking its papers. Where was it born? How did it grow up? Has it changed? Is it in a language now other than its birth language? Scrutinize and ask: does it convey a new concept or is it simply a new way of expressing an old idea? Is it solid intellectually or just for show? Who use it and when? Does it clarify or obfuscate? Lump or split? If we needed a word or phrase as a synonym, what would that be? In all: what do you make of it? Two choices: (1) For those having no Asian language skills: Examine and consider the meaning, etymology, and evolution of the word Revolution in English. When was it first used? How has its meaning changed over time? What would you say it meant today? When has it been intellectually popular? When not? You may also wish to consider the events to which it has been applied over the last two centuries or so. This is an immense topic as you will discover. (2-3 typed pages, more if you need it.) (2) For those having Asian skills, consider the English word culture and the modern characters 文化. What is the origin of the current two- character phrase that means culture in both Chinese and Japanese ( 文化 ), Korean ( 문화 munhwa) and Vietnamese (văn hóa).(you need not treat all these languages!) The combination exists in ancient Chinese, but did it mean the same then as it does now? In Western languages the word has Latin origin, but changed its meaning (how?) at a time that can be specified. How has that meaning evolved? Are there some key books? What would you say it means today? Above all: did the term originate in Asia in ancient times, or was it somehow borrowed? If so, when and how? Class Discussion of Readings: (3) September 16 Ken Ling with Miriam London and Da- ling Lee The Revenge of Heaven: the journal of a young Chinese (New York: Putnam, 1972) This book was published in England as Red Guard: From Schoolboy to Little General in Mao s China (London: Macdonald, 1972) (entire) This is a key text. Be prepared to discuss in detail, with page numbers, etc. (4) September 23 William Hinton Hundred Day War: The Cultural Revolution at Tsinghua University (entire) (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972) (5) September 30 Zheng Yi tr. T. P. Sym Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China (entire) (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996)

8 8 (6) October 7 Preparation no class (7) October 14 Preparation no class (8) October 21 Preparation no class (9) October 28 Preparation no class (10) November 4 Class Presentation (11) November 11 Class Presentation (12) November 18 Class Presentation (- - ) November 25 No Class (Thursday Friday Classes) Thanksgiving Break November (13) December 2 Class Presentation (14) December 9 Richard Wolin The Wind from the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010)(entire) Roger Garside Coming Alive: China After Mao (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1981) (entire) December 16 (Tuesday) Final Paper due under the door of my office