CLHUMHI131 - The History of China’s Foreign Relations
Analyze China’s foreign relations from 1500 to the present with global historian of Asia Dr. Jaymin Kim. Case studies illuminate China’s relationships with the rest of the world over the past 500 years. In contrast with the conventional emphasis on China’s interactions with the West over the past two centuries, this course highlights the pivotal role of the early modern period (16th–19th centuries) and China’s relationships with its Asian neighbors. We also explore frameworks and theories about China’s foreign relations. How have historians, international relations scholars and political scientists understood China’s place in the world? What have they identified as the key features of China’s foreign relations? What continuities or changes do they see over the centuries? Through answering these and other questions, gain a deeper understanding of China and its place in the world today.
Course Details
Jaymin Kim, Ph.D., T.T. & W.F. Chao Assistant Professor of Transnational Asian Studies at Rice University is a global historian of Asia. Prior to joining the Rice University faculty in 2021, Dr. Kim taught at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Korea Military Academy in Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Kim has taught courses on Asia and the world that emphasize the intersections between the global and the local including Orthodoxies and Heresies in Traditional East Asia, Modern East Asia, Pre-Modern China, History of China’s Foreign Relations, and Travel and Modern Asia. Dr. Kim’s research employs pan-Asian sources and interdisciplinary methods to examine the Qing empire (1636–1912) in global contexts. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan and his B.A. in Asian studies and history from Rice University.
On Campus
This course will be delivered on campus / in person. Parking and room information will be sent prior to the class start date.
- Tributary system in theory
- Tributary system in practice
- Opium Wars and the treaty system
- Sino-Japanese relations
- People’s Republic of China and the Cold War
- People’s Republic of China and United States relations
Department of Transnational Asian Studies, Rice University