History Paper-Short-essay Questions

Short-essay Questions

PART II

Short-essay Questions (2 questions, 13 points total); the following instructions apply to all these questions.

*There is no length limit. The quality of your answer is more important than length. Ideal answers should demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, and critical thinking.

*Only use information from course material (textbook & assigned readings) and lectures. Please paraphrase rather than copying or directly quoting course material. Write the essays in your own words.

*Cite the sources of your information (textbook, title of course reading plus page number; lecture number) adequately. Even if you are using a phrase from the readings you still need to put it in quotation marks!

*Do not use external sources. If an answer borrows the language of information available on the Internet, it will be scrutinized for possibility of plagiarism.

*Bullet points are not acceptable; you are expected to write complete, coherent sentences.

Question 2 (7 points) In the 16-18^th centuries, the Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese had multi-dimensional interactions with the Europeans (religion and cultural ideas, trade, technology and knowledge, etc.).

1. What did the East Asian elite embrace when they were exposed to European influences in this period? Give 3 examples from China, 3 examples from Japan, and 2 examples from Korea. Please write 2-3 sentences to briefly describe each example. It is fine to mention the same things if you feel they were embraced by elite in all three countries, but you need to offer context-specific explanations.
2. Explain the fate of Christianity in each of these three countries during this period. Make sure to describe the government policies as well as the rationale and consequences of these policies.

 

How to prepare: The lectures and readings, including the historical sources assigned to the session on East-West encounters and relevant sections in the textbook chapters on Ming-Qing China, Muromachi-Tokugawa Japan, and Joseon Korea.

 

Question 3 (6 points) In this course we have read and discussed the premodern East Asian international relations, in particular the China-centered tributary system. Please answer the following questions:

1)    Explain the theory that puts China at the center of this system.

2)    Discuss what happened to this system during the period of “China among equals.” Please use the diplomatic and trade relations between the Song and the Liao as your example.

3)    How would you describe Korea’s position in this tributary system during the Goryeo period? Use its relationship with the Song and the Liao as your example.

4)    Offer an example from Qing China to discuss how the China-centered tributary system continued to evolve and adapt in the era of globalization.

How to prepare: Lectures (segments 2401-su-wk3-5, 2401-su-wk3-6) and textbook sections on Tang and Song China; textbook ch. 10 on Goryeo Korea; lecture on Qing China (segment 2401-wk4-13)