Yiming Ha 哈一鳴

Course Description:

This course examines the place of warfare in Chinese history and culture. We will cover such topics as the military philosophies that undergird warfare; the assassin-retainers who had the opportunity to reshape history; warfare’s influence on politics, religion, and the economy; the role of women in war; and how wars and conflicts found its way into modern popular culture. In the course we will read primary sources in translation, recent scholarly literature, historical novels, and engage with forms of popular media such as movies and video games. Additionally, this course will also shed light on how Chinese military history, in particular the popular Three Kingdoms Period (220-280 CE), impacts modern popular culture in East Asia, including video games, movies, television dramas, and animated shows. The time period that will be covered extends from the earliest records of how wars were fought in the 6th century BCE to how warfare shaped the development of video games in the 21st century.

This course has three main goals: first, it not only familiarizes students with major military developments in Chinese history, but also demonstrates the pervasive influence that military affairs and warfare had on different aspects of Chinese history and culture; second, it provides students a deeper understanding of the many facets that constitute China’s military history beyond just battles and weapons; lastly, it enables students to analyze literary works (and visual materials) through close reading and engagement with historical and critical discussions.