Graduate Students only
3 credits

This course will introduce the students to the history of childhood
in China by examining the most relevant sources on different aspects
of childhood from Late Imperial China until the contemporary era. We
will look into texts on the meaning of childhood on the one hand and
the real conditions and experiences of children on the other hand,
especially in the field of education. Both aspects are interrelated
and vary over the times.
For understanding the theoretical approaches of recent studies on
childhood we will first read the most relevant books on the history
of childhood in western countries. Then we will focus on relevant
sources in Chinese history.  Art, medical and educational texts,
textbooks, children’s literature, curricula and philosophical
literature offer insights into historical and recent concepts of
childhood.  To collect information on the livelihood of children and
their personal experiences is much more difficult, since children
have not often left personal accounts or descriptions about their
experiences. Autobiographical literature often includes passages on
childhood, even if it is a narrative written much later based on the
memory of childhood. In addition to these texts we will use
literature of missionaries living in China, which provide
interesting documents on children, and secondary literature on
charities, family, and education. Issues as the concept of child and
childhood, status, role and function of children in traditional and
modern China as well as the conditions of education the child has
experienced throughout time will be discussed. In the 20th century
reflections on child and childhood were often associated with a
profound critique on culture and society. Analyzing childhood in its
broader context offers interesting aspects into the cultural and
social history of China.