Please choose one of the topics in the attached file.
Double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman, with 1.0-1.5 inch margins.
Draw from at least five sources. These may include books, essays in edited volumes, and outside sources.
Use MLA style ciatations.
1) Discuss the cultural, historical, social, and political dynamics contributing to the rise of diverse
philosophical schools during the East Zhou period. please make an argument and provide example to
prove it.
2) The concept of “Mandate of Heaven” was created in Zhou Dynasty and influenced China a lot. Please
describe the main idea of Mandate of Heaven and analyze how this idea was applied in the
transformation of political legitimacy.
3) Discuss the measures taken by the Qin imperial government to consolidate the empire after its
unification of China. In what ways they are different from the steps taken by the founders of Zhou?
4). Although the Analects, the Mencius and the Xunzi are all considered to be Confucian texts, there are
significant differences among them. Please discuss their similarities and differences based on the three
texts, and the main assertions of Confucianism.
5). Based on the selected acts and synopsis of the Peony Pavilion, discuss your understanding of Du
Liniang and Liu Mengmei. Support your argument with details from the text.
6). In the 3rd chapter of Dreams of the Red Mansion, the author introduced a lot of important characters
in the Jia family from Lin Daiyu’s perspective. In the 39 to 41 chapters, those characters’ performance
was described from another outsider, Granny Liu’s perspective. Discuss your understanding of this
literary device, and the characterization of Lin Daiyu, Jia Baoyu or Granny Liu. Support your argument
with details from the text.
7). What distinctions can you draw from the textual paradigm stressed by the traditionalists Confucian
in pre-Qin and Han period and Neo-Confucian in the Song dynasty? How did the Neo-Confucianists
develop the traditional Confucian ideas? What were their respective influences? Please compare the
Confucian thoughts during these two historical periods.
8). Please choose and compare two dynasties and discussed how Chinese religious tradition changed
through time. You can focus on aspects such as the form of cult/religion, the way of political interaction,
its social influence, its literary reflection, etc. Then base on your comparison, please relate to the
corresponding social context and talk about how such religious changes responded to the contemporary
need.
9). Base on your readings about both historical figures and fictional figures, think about the change of
female social status since the Tang dynasty. What were the changes? What led to these changes? What
were the social-political factors? For those fictional figures, what were the authors’ attitude towards
female’s fate? Please mention at least three examples and answer the above questions.
10) The Xinhai Revolution overthrew China’s last imperial Qing dynasty and established a Republic
China, thus ending 2,000 years of imperial ruling from Qin dynasty to Qing dynasty. Please analyze the
social or historical meaning of this revolution and use examples to illustrate the impact on the
development of Chinese civilization in terms of class, race, gender or some hot-button issues that you
think it should be addressed.
11) The ancient texts built up an intact framework of China. With the development of archaeology,
however, more and more records in the ancient texts were challenged. On the other hand, the
archaeological findings supplement our understandings which were not recorded by texts. Choose one
region in any period of China, and discuss the relationship between archaeology and texts.
12). The reforms in ancient China were closely related to the resilience or collapse of kingship. Please
choose one reform, either political or economic, and discuss its impact on the contemporaneous societies.
What was the background of reforms? How was the reform conducted? What was the impact on social
life, political structure, and economy?
13). The contemporary China is now undergoing the revival of Silk Road. However, the historical base
of Silk Road was established in very early ages. Choose one period of ancient China and discuss the
significance of Silk Road during that time. How did the Silk Road play as the transportation route during
ancient China? What cultures, religions, philosophical thoughts were introduced to China, or vice versa?
What was the impact the Silk Road bring? It is advised that you use texts and archaeological findings
to bridge the argument.
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
