Jonathan Dresner, Pittsburg State University, Department of History
They’re relatively recent, as these things go, but they were made for Qianlong, the longest-reigning emperor (and one of the most popular, still) in Chinese history. They were looted in the Boxer uprising Sino-French war of 1860 and China wants them back, but doesn’t have a legal claim.
update: interesting comments from a specialist on the subject of Qing art and law of possession.
3/3: Sale blocked by spurious bidder citing “patriotic duty.”
Sam Crane, who teaches Chinese philosophy, has been reading about Confucius and shares some interesting details of his life.
I have posted the first set of essay topics due in three weeks (2/26). Look at them over the weekend; we’ll make time to answer questions about them next week.
Well, better safe than sorry!
I thought about trying to compress two days into one, but I think it makes more sense to take advantage of the catch-up day I put into the schedule. We’ll have to make some room during our regular classes to talk about the essay assignments, and make sure we stay on schedule!
I have updated the reading and assignment schedule accordingly. Hope you’re all warm and safe, and see you Thursday!
Archaeologists have announced new bone inscriptions in Shandong province. Some similarities to other known early Chinese writing may force revision to earlier theories of language evolution. [via]
The NYT Obituary explains how John DeFrancis helped explain and popularize the study of Chinese in the US, and develop some of the first electronic dictionaries.
On a lighter note, the Shaolin monks who were featured in the Olympic opening ceremonies are on tour in the US
Early China specialist K.E. Brashier of Reed College talks about the historiography of Qin Shihuangdi, up to and including recent movies.
The Early China course covers from the age of antiquity up to 1700. Obviously, I’ll have to supplement the text a bit with lecture on the Ming-Qing transition. Feel free to purchase these texts in advance from anywhere. Just make sure you get the right edition on the last one.
A new call for democracy and human rights in China has, predictably, met with resistance from the government. You can see the AP report here, and a (barely readable) google-translation of the Charter ‘08 declaration semi-official translation here. China Beat has more details.
