HST 123, 124 - Introduction to History: Half the Sky: Women in Chinese History

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR: Meets general academic requirement HU and DE (and is a linked IL course when offered as 123).
Where are the women in Chinese history? Men dominate the pages of most textbooks and surveys of Chinese history: emperors, generals, and scholar-officials are the ones making history. Yet “Women hold up half the sky,” as chairman Mao said, and there were female warriors, historians, poets, artists, rulers, and one even proclaimed herself “Emperor”. This course uncovers that hidden half of Chinese history. Using primary sources in translation, including many written by women, this course traces the story of women from the early traditional patriarchal society up to the twentieth century.