Week 2: Bronzes and Oracle Bones – People and their stuff in Chinese history

This week we go to the earliest written documents from Chinese history, texts cast in bronze and carved in bone.

For Tuesday, everybody works through the same materials (“Basic Set”) The package looks larger than it is! For Thursday, you can prepare an Exploration Pack of your choice (Bronzes or Bones). The two Packs are about equal worth in terms of prep time, believe it or not – you’ll need to slow down a bit on the Bones reading, and maybe pull out a drawing pad?

This week you also get a chance to squirrel away (haha) some extra credit points to prepare against future lean times.

Squirrel chooses oracle bones, but you don’t have to follow his lead!

Slides
Readings
Assignments
Extra Credit Tasks
Where to Get Assistance?

Slides

Readings

Meeting in Ettinger 212, 3.30PM

For Tuesday: Basic set

Remember: Use the login name and password found on the Canvas page for the PDFs hosted in the PDF vault (url starting with “docs.tdh.bergbuilds”)

Hansen, Valerie. “Chapter 1: The Beginnings of the Written Record”. In The Open Empire: A History of China to 1800, 18-55. Seconded. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2015. (PDF)
- Read the selections indicated with red brackets.
Keightley, David. “Chapter 1: The Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Late Shang Dynasty”. Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1: From Earliest Times to 1600, edited by W. deBary et al. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1999. (PDF)
- A selection of oracle bones in translation, with background information and interpretation from the translator.
Bensimon, Rachel. “Four-Ram Fang Zun: A Bronze Master Piece.” 2019. (MP4)
- This was a mid-term project in 2019. (we don’t have a mid-term project)
Horowitz, Joshua. “Literacy in Ancient China”. In People and Their Stuff: A History of China in Objects Now Preserved in North America. URL: http://scalar.tdh.bergbuilds.domains/hst137/chapter-1-the-shang-dynasty
- Go through to the next chapters as well.
- You can annotate the project with Hypothes.is, use group HST137.
- This was a final project in 2019.

OPTIONAL EXTRA: Haapanen, Minna. “The Royal Consort Fu Hao of the Shang”. In The Human Tradition in Premodern China. Edited by Kenneth J. Hammond, 1-13. Scholarly Resources, 2002. (PDF)
- In this chapter, the writer uses materials from archaeology and inscriptions from the Shang dynasty to reconstruct a mini-biography of the royal consort Lady Hao (Fu Hao), the consort of King Wuding of the Shang. Read the final pages (11-12) for more information on the method used. This text should give you a better sense of life for a member of the elite in the Shang dynasty.
- Explore more about the tomb of Lady Hao on this other course site. This is the only Shang dynasty tomb so far that has been found completely intact (through sheer luck).

For Thursday: Pick one Exploration Pack

Choose from the following: option Bronzes or Bones

Exploration Pack 1: Bronzes

Bensimhon, Rachel. “Precious Metals: Animal-Shaped Bronze Vessels in the Shang-Dynasty Period.” In People and Their Stuff: A History of China in Objects Now Preserved in North America. URL: http://scalar.tdh.bergbuilds.domains/hst137/precious-metals-animal-shaped-bronze-vessels-in-the-shang-dynasty-period
Ledderose, Lothar. “Casting Bronze the Complicated Way” Chapter 2 in Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art. The A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, 1998. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000. (PDF)
- Questions to consider: why is this the “complicated way”? What can we learn about Shang and early Zhou dynasty as a state based on their capacity for creating these intricately decorated vessels?
Allan, Sarah. “The Taotie Motif on Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes.” In The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture, edited by Jerome Silbergeld and Eugene Yuejin Wang. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2016. (ebook Trexler)
- Read pp. 21-29 of the book (stop at the section “The problem of interpretation”). You may read the entire chapter if you’re interested, but I want to keep the reading relatively limited.
- Questions to ponder: what is this taotie motif? How might understanding this motif help us understand the Shang dynasty better?
Videos: I am still looking for the perfect video explaining the bronze casting process used in early China, so these ones will have to do for now. Let me know if you find a better one!
- How were ancient Chinese bronzes created
- The piece mold process (no sound)
Slides (Gdrive link)

Exploration Pack 2: Oracle Bones

Keightley, David N. Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.
- PDF, Preamble + Chapter 1 (29 pages, skim the footnotes)
- In some ways, our understanding of the Shang dynasty has evolved tremendously since 1978, when this text was published. Yet this remains one of the best texts discussing the materiality of the bones and turtle shells.
- I draw your attention in particular to note 93 on p. 21, where the author describes attempts to recreate an oracle bone. The other notes you can skim.
Slides (Gdrive link)

Assignments

1. Reminder: First regular blog post

5 points, due by Sunday, Jan. 22, 11.59pm.

Get your first regular blog post in, reflecting on the readings and class content of this week:

Write a blog post in the format of the “5-15 report” with a reading journal, exploring themes or ideas based on what we read this week and discussed in class. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester.

Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
- TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list last week.
Add the words “Week 1” in the title
Including an image, and make sure to add Alt Text and a caption with the source/credit.
Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Declaration quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I included an image, added Alt Text, and I provided a caption and credit (source) for the image.
– I use the words Week 1 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

2. Feedback with Hypothes.is

3 points, due Jan. 24

Below you find links to three blog posts from your fellow students. If one of the websites is your own, or it is twice the same person’s, refresh the page, and you should get new sites. [posts coming on Monday]

Post 1:
Post 2:
Post 3:

Leave feedback, questions, thoughts, insights about the contents of the posts of your fellow students using Hypothes.is group HST137. You can ask for clarifications, point out similarities and differences with the material you covered, or with your interpretation. This should encourage you to nose around in the other materials you did not read originally, too.

Use tags in Hypothes.is: question: If you have a question (obvious); answered: if you gave an answer to a question; info: if you provide more information, looking up additional facts, drawing on knowledge from other classes; and other tags you can think of. This will help us to navigate more quickly to the questions that still need answering.

Use the “Architect’s Model” of giving feedback, and engage with concrete issues. Go beyond “Yeah, I agree,” “I like” or “I think the same”, and instead explain why you have that reaction, or if you disagree, you can try to persuade the original poster of your idea or interpretation.

Remember that Hypothes.is allows for hyperlinks, e.g. to materials that support your argument, or you can include pictures (memes! [yes, there she is again]), videos etc. that help the original poster to learn more.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I commented on three fellow students’ weekly blog post on Week 1 materials, using the Hypothes.is group HST137.
– I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
– I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

3. Blog post (content week 2)

5 points, due Sun. Jan. 29, 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
- TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
Add the words “Week 2” in the title.
- Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose.
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 2 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

Extra credit exercises

Missed a task earlier this week? Want to try out some new things? Just like playing games and scoring as many points as possible? Here are some extra credit tasks. You can only get credit for them before the end of the week! These two tasks won’t return again, so grab your extra credit while you can!

EC 1: Add an image your Discord profile

2 point, due by Sunday, Jan 29, 11.59pm

If you look like the standard Discord avatar (a little circle with two eyes), please consider adding a splash of personality: a picture of you, or of something that represents you, for instance your pet, or a location you like.

If you already have a Discord profile picture, skip straight through to the Declaration Quiz and collect your extra credit points!

Use this web tutorial to walk you through the steps to change your avatar
- Top tip: if you have a favorite picture, place it in a top-level folder in your “Documents” folder or on the “Desktop”, so you can find it easily.
You can ask in the HST137 Channel if we see the change to confirm it worked.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your point.

Declaration
– I uploaded a picture to my Discord profile so I no longer look like a little circle with eyes.
– I checked it shows up on the the server as I intended.

EC 2: Change the theme on your WordPress site

4 points, due by Sunday, Jan. 29, 11:59pm

The standard theme for WordPress blogs at this moment is “Twenty Twenty-Three”. Maybe you like it well enough. But did you know there are thousands of free themes out there to make your blog look nice? For instance, my course website runs on “Catch Starter”, I have used “Noto Simple”, and many students like the look of the SPLOT, which is built on the Fukasawa theme.
Here’s how to have some fun with your site:

Spend ± 30 mins. exploring different themes, and pick a new one that fits your personal taste better, and customize it. You can find more information in the videos linked on this help page (scroll down).
Write a brief blog post explaining why you picked your new theme, and why you like it better, or how you customized it. If you stuck with the original “Twenty Twenty-Three” theme, remove extraneous links and information (so it looks nice), and then explain in the post why it’s still the best theme for you.
In the title of the post, include the words WordPress Theme, add the tag extracredit (one word) and add the post to category hst137.