Program Overview

Course Announcement: "English Archives of Modern Chinese History" by Professor Henrietta Harrison

Course Introduction

The course "English Archives of Modern Chinese History" is designed to introduce students to the rich archives of modern Chinese history in English. With the increasing availability of digital archives, students can now access a wide range of historical materials, including government documents, company records, missionary archives, and personal diaries. This course aims to train students to read and analyze these primary sources, exploring the content and usage of these archives, and discussing Western historical theories and Sino-Western exchange history.

Course Details

• Course Name: English Archives of Modern Chinese History
• Instructor: Professor Henrietta Harrison, Stanley Ho Professor of Chinese History at the University of Oxford
• Target Students: Graduate students from the School of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Philosophy (limited to 10 students)
• Course Requirements:
  • Pre-course reading of designated historical materials and theoretical works
  • Active participation in class discussions (no auditing)
• Application Procedure:
  • Interested students should submit their application forms to Professor Xiao Lianqi at the School of Humanities by September 30, 2017
  • Professor Harrison will review each application and select students based on the content and quality of their applications
• Course Schedule:
  • Autumn 2017, Mondays (weeks 5-8), specifically: October 9, 16, 23, and 30, 13:00-16:00 (Minhang Campus, Humanities Building 5305)
• Office Hours:
  • Starting from October 10, every Tuesday, 16:00-18:00 (Humanities Building 3111, please email Professor Harrison in advance to schedule a meeting)

Instructor Profile

Professor Henrietta Harrison is the Stanley Ho Professor of Chinese History at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of Pembroke College, and a Fellow of the British Academy. She has received her academic degrees from the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and the University of Oxford. Her research areas include Sino-Western exchange history and modern Chinese history. Her notable works include:

• "The Missionary's Curse and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village" (University of California Press, 2013)
• "The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Man's Life in a North China Village" (Stanford University Press, 2005)
• "The Making of the Republican Citizen: Ceremonies and Symbols in China" (Oxford University Press, 2000)

Teaching Plan

• The course will be taught in Chinese.
• Students are required to read English primary sources and related background materials in advance.
• The course will combine lectures and seminars, with each three-hour class divided into three parts: instructor lectures, group readings of primary sources, and thematic discussions, emphasizing student participation and discussion.

Course Content

1. Government Archives:
   • 19th-century British Foreign Office archives and 18th-20th century London court archives
   • Using London court archives to explore the history of Chinese people in the UK
   • Practice reading italic fonts
   • Discussion topics: Chinese immigration and Chinese knowledge of foreign countries
   • Primary sources: Transcript of the Trials of Ann Alsey and Mary Bush (1804)
   • Background reading:
     • Fang Hao: "A History of Sino-Western Relations" (Chinese Culture University Press, 1983)
     • Cheng Mei-bao: "Waterborne People and the Maritime World of Macau Sailors in the 16th-19th centuries" (Academic Research, 2010)
     • Michael H. Fisher: "Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain" (Permanent Black, 2004)
2. Company Archives:
   • 18th-century East India Company archives and 18th-century Barclays Bank archives
   • 19th-20th century Shanghai British merchant Little family archives
   • Practice reading commercial scripts
   • Discussion topics: The relationship between the British government and companies in imperialism
   • Primary sources: Selections from the letters of Robert W. Little relating to the introduction of Electric Light in Shanghai
   • Background reading:
     • H.V. Bowen: "The Business of Empire: The East India Company and Imperial Britain" (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
     • H.V. Bowen: "Bullion for Trade, War, and Debt-Relief: British Movements of Silver to, around, and from Asia" (Modern Asian Studies, 44.3, 2010)
     • Lai Hui-min: "The Purse of the Qianlong Emperor" (Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 2014; Zhonghua Book Company, 2016)
3. Missionary Archives:
   • 19th-20th century London Missionary Society archives and 19th-century Robert Morrison family letters
   • Introduction to Christian denominations and archival institutions
   • Practice reading 19th-century handwritten letters
   • Discussion topics: The social status of missionaries
   • Primary sources: To be determined
   • Background reading:
     • Jane Hunter: "The Gospel of Gentility: American Women Missionaries in Turn-of-the-century China" (Yale University Press, 1984)
     • Yang Nianqun: "Recreating the 'Patient': Spatial Politics in the Conflict between Chinese and Western Medicine" (China Renmin University Press, 2006)
4. Personal Archives:
   • 18th-century Macartney archives, Staunton family letters, and diaries
   • Introduction to the collection and cataloging of personal archives in Western libraries
   • Practice reading 18th-century handwritten diaries
   • Discussion topics: British concepts of family and lineage across different periods
   • Primary sources: Excerpts from the diary of George Thomas Staunton (young Staunton) and William Alexander
   • Background reading:
     • Dror Wahrman: "The Making of the Modern Self: Identity and Culture in Eighteenth-century England" (Yale University Press, 2004)
     • Roxann Wheeler: "The Complexion of Race: Categories of Difference in Eighteenth-Century British Culture" (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000)
     • Roxann Wheeler: "The Complexion of Desire: Racial Ideology and Mid-Eighteenth-Century British Novels" (Eighteenth-Century Studies, 32.3, 1999)