Printable Map • Maps of Chinese Dynasties: Ch'ing (Qing) Dynasty [The Art of Asia, Minneapolis Institute of Arts]
Color map showing land ruled by China's Qing dynasty relative to present-day political boundaries. Can be downloaded as a .pdf file.

• Recording the Grandeur of the Qing [Columbia University and The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
This interactive teaching unit gives the viewer unprecedented access to four monumental artworks of the Qing period — four of the twenty-four southern inspection tour scrolls commissioned by the Qing emperors Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) and Qianlong (r. 1736-1795). Each of the four featured scrolls is displayed online in its entirety, with key details annotated by Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Maxwell K. Hearn. Five background essays by Dr. Hearn and Columbia history professor Madeleine Zelin serve as guides to the historical and artistic context in which the scrolls were created. Topics discussed at length include: the reigns of the two emperors who commissioned the scrolls, Kangxi and Qianlong, as well as key aspects of the Qing government, economy, and art.

• The Late Qing Empire in Global History [Education About Asia, Association for Asian Studies]
The role of the Chinese empires in global history at the height of their economic power (roughly 1400–1800) has been well described in powerful books by Andre Gunder Frank, Kenneth Pomeranz, and Bin Wong. In that period, China’s advanced technology and commercial economy, as well as access to their markets over sea and land, created a market that drove technological development, efficiency in industrial organization, and an increasing volume of long-distance trade. The effects were felt first in East Asia and Southeast Asia, but eventually powered the development of travel, trade, and finance throughout the Indian Ocean, and finally drew Europeans, eager to connect with the center of wealth, out of their continent and into the oceans. After roughly 1800, however, various factors caused China to lose its global economic leadership as it experienced social turmoil, economic fracturing, and the imposition of European imperialism. Global historians sometimes lose sight of the China thread between this threshold of 1800 and the appearance of modern China as an ascendant power in the late twentieth century, but there are many reasons why we should continue to see important trends and their effects reflected in the modern Chinese experience. Download PDF on page.

Note to Teachers • The journal Education about Asia has many excellent teaching resources on-line on all topics related to East, South and SE Asia.

• Kangxi Emperor's Valedictory Address [SupChina]
The Kangxi Emperor's speech five years before his death evaluating his achievements, weaknesses, and fears.

The Qing emperors occupied two major palace locations: the official Imperial Palace or “Forbidden City” in Beijing, which they inherited from the Ming emperors, and the Yuanmingyuan (“Garden of Perfect Brightness”) or Old Summer Palace, on the outskirts of Beijing, begun by the Kangxi Emperor that was in fact their primary residence. (This is similar to the practice of the British Monarchs for whom Buckingham Palace is the official site of the monarchy in London and Westminster Castle outside of London a primary residence.)

• Map of the Forbidden City/Imperial Palace [PDF] [Peabody Essex Museum]
This detailed map of the buildings within the Forbidden City give special attention to the area frequented by the imperial women.

• Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong [The Field Museum]
Online presentation of a 2004 traveling exhibition developed in cooperation with the Palace Museum in Beijing. With a video introduction to the exhibition, plus a gallery of images organized under the following topics: 1) Symbols of Power; 2) Effective Leadership; 3) Family Life; 4) The Private World of the Emperor; 5) Religion. Also a Q&A section with 11 commonly asked questions about Imperial China.

• Symbolism in the Forbidden City: The Magnificent Design, Distinct Colors, and Lucky Numbers Of China's Imperial Palace [Education About Asia]
Home to 14 emperors of the Ming dynasty and 10 emperors of the Qing dynasty, this World Heritage Site in Beijing remains one of the most visited sites in China. It's architecture and symbolism has much to tell us about the Chinese emperors. Download PDF on page.

• The Palace Museum/Forbidden City [South China Morning Post/SCMP Graphics]
This excellent unit provides an intimate look at palace life at the time of the emperors and the construction and evolution of the Forbidden City itself. Visuals and the explanations they describe are stunning.

• Symbolism in the Forbidden City: The Magnificent Design, Distinct Colors, and Lucky Numbers Of China's Imperial Palace [Education About Asia]
Home to 14 emperors of the Ming dynasty and 10 emperors of the Qing dynasty, this World Heritage Site in Beijing remains one of the most visited sites in China. Its architecture and symbolism has much to tell us about the Chinese emperors. Download PDF on page.

• Garden of Perfect Brightness [MIT Visualizing Cultures]
Known as the “Summer Palace” of the Qing emperors, the Yuanmingyuan, or Garden of Perfect Brightness, was where the Qing emperors spent much of their time, using the Imperial City in the center of Beijing for official functions. “In order to create a private retreat near the Forbidden City but away from its formality, the Kangxi emperor created a villa with gardens to the northwest of Beijing… The emperor had taken frequent excursions to this area at the foot of the Western Hills, which had abundant streams and lakes and enjoyed cool breezes. Members of the royal family often joined him and official business was sometimes conducted.” Subsequent emperors built additional villas and gardens, extending the area, which became known as the Yuanmingyuan or “Garden of Perfect Brightness.” (It is also known as the “Old Summer Palace.") European visitors marveled at the palaces and gardens. The Yuanmingyuan was a paradise on earth for the Qing emperors: beautiful, extravagant, utterly private, and totally their creation – not an inheritance from previous dynasties. First constructed in 1700, it was completely destroyed and plundered by Anglo-French forces in 1860, following the second Opium War with China. Sections of this marvelous visual unit include:

• The European Palaces of the Qianlong Emperor, Beijing [Smarthistory]
In 2009, two eighteenth-century Chinese bronze sculptures — one representing a rat's head and the other a rabbit's — sold at a Christie's auction in Paris for $40.4 million. Soon afterwards, the art world watched, stunned, as the winning bidder, Cai Mingchao, announced at a press conference in Beijing that he had no intention of actually paying for the sculptures. Cai, a consultant for a group that seeks the return of Chinese artifacts, had intentionally sabotaged the auction as an act of patriotic protest. His bids on these bronze sculptures were intended to prevent the international sale of works of art that Cai and many Chinese citizens consider important artifacts of their cultural heritage…The rat and rabbit heads were originally created for the Garden of Eternal Spring, an enormous Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) garden northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing, commissioned in the mid-eighteenth century by the Qianlong emperor.

Background readings related to these primary sources can be found in the Years of Reform section, below.

Feng Guifen, 1809-1874
Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from "On the Adoption of Western Learning" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Yan Fu, 1854-1921
Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from "Learning from the West" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

• Liang Qichao, China's First Democrat [Asia for Educators]

Liang Qichao, 1873-1929
Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from "Observations on a Trip to America" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Han Yi (Pseudonym, possibly written by Liu Shipei, 1884-1917)
Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from "Destroying the Family" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

He Zhen (wife of Liu Shipei, 1884-1917)
Primary Source w/DBQs • "What Women Should Know About Communism" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Primary Sources • Before and After the May Fourth Movement [Asia for Educators]
The so-called "May Fourth" or "new culture" movement began in China around 1916, following the failure of the 1911 Revolution to establish a republican government, and continued through the 1920s. This unit includes a background reading and three primary-source readings [Chen Duxiu's "Our Final Awakening" (1916) [PDF]; Chiang Kai-shek's "Essentials of a New Life Movement" (1934) [PDF]; Mao Zedong's "Reform Our Study" (1941)], plus discussion questions and suggested activities for students.

More readings related to the May Fourth Movement can be found under Time Period 1900-1950.

• Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) [Asia for Educators]
An introductory overview of the Taiping rebellion. With suggested activities for students.

Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from The Land System of the Heavenly Kingdom (Tianzhao tianumu zhidu): "The Taiping Economic Program" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from Ode for Youth [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Primary Source • Qing China's Internal Crisis: Land Shortage, Famine, Rural Poverty [Asia for Educators]
This unit explores the domestic crises that China faced in the late nineteenth century. With woodblock prints that portray the extent of the 1876-1879 famine and a primary-source reading about the 1887-88 famine that afflicted North China. With discussion questions and suggested activities for students.

• Pictures to Draw Tears from Iron: the North China Famine, 1876-79 [PDF] [MIT Visualizing Cultures]

Primary Source • Fei Ch'i-hao on the Boxer Rebellion [Modern History Sourcebook, Fordham University]
The account of "the activities of the millennialist 'Boxers' in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900," by Fei Ch'i-hao, a Chinese Christian.

See the International Relations sections, below, for content about China's relations with Britain and the United States in the years before the Boxer Rebellion.

Primary Sources • From Reform to Revolution, 1842 to 1911 [Asia for Educators]
After China's defeat in the Opium War of 1842, thinkers tried to understand what made the West so strong and how China could best respond. This unit traces the debates about reform from the mid-nineteenth into the early twentieth century, as arguments for more radical reform, including revolution, increased. Includes background readings, two primary-source readings (Feng Guifen's "On the Adoption of Western Learning" [PDF] and Yan Fu's "Learning from the West" [PDF]) and brief discussions of Liang Qichao's ideas on democracy and Sun Yatsen's "Three People's Principles." Also see the Religion, Philosophy, Thought section, above, for more readings by these and other reformist thinkers.

• China's First Experiment in Overseas Education, 1872-1881 [Chinese Educational Mission Connections]
"Beset by the military and economic domination of the Western colonial powers, China had been forced to open up the country to foreign trade and settlements in the so-called Treaty Ports. The dispatch of the 120 students on what was called the Chinese Educational Mission (CEM) was a belated effort by the government of the Qing dynasty to stem the growing tide of aggression: harness the aggressors’ know-how and technology to defeat them at their own game." This website, created by several third-generation descendants of CEM students, provides an in-depth look at the history of the Chinese Educational Mission, with archival photographs and basic biographical profiles of all 120 CEM students.

Chu Chengbo's 1895 memorial to Qing emperor Guanxu (1871-1908, r. 1875-1908)
Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from Reforming Men's Minds Comes Before Reforming Institutions [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Kang Youwei's 1898 memorial to Qing emperor Guanxu (1871-1908, r. 1875-1908)
Primary Source w/DBQs • Excerpts from Comprehensive Consideration of the Whole Situation [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Reform Imperial Edict of 1901 (Issued by the Empress Dowager Cixi, 1835-1908)
Primary Source w/DBQs • Reform Edict of the Qing Imperial Government (January 29, 1901) [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

Teaching Unit w/Lesson Plans • Throwing Off Asia II: Woodblock Prints of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) [MIT Visualizing Cultures]
Featuring propaganda prints illustrating Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). A teaching unit richly illustrated with high-resolution images and maps and featuring essays by John W. Dower, MIT professor of Japanese history. The Visual Narratives section offers a shorthand view of the unit's primary themes and images; the Curriculum section includes eight lesson plans related to the unit.

• History of the China Trade [British Library]
A brief history of British trade with China from 1637 to the 1840s. With images from the British Library's collection.

• Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System [Visualizing Cultures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
I. China in the World (1700-1860s) | II. Macau & Whampoa Anchorage | III. Canton & Hong Kong | IV. Image Galleries | "From early times China engaged in extensive trade relations with other countries, and until the mid 19th century Chinese officials directed by the imperial court in Beijing dictated the conditions under which such trade was conducted. From the 16th century to mid 1800s, three cities became the centers of the trading system linking the 'Middle Kingdom' to Western European powers and eventually the United States: Macau, Canton, and Hong Kong." An extensive look at the Canton Trade system, richly illustrated with high-resolution images and maps. With essays by MIT Professor Emeritus of History Peter C. Perdue. The images in the galleries section "portray the abundant variety of commercial, art, and craft goods exchanged in the Canton region during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Three cities became the center of the trading system that linked China to the Western European powers and the United States. Macau, the oldest, stayed under Portuguese control from 1557 to 1999. Canton gathered traders from Europe, Southeast Asia, the U.S., and the rest of China. Hong Kong, acquired by the British after the Opium War, grew from a small fishing village to a major international port during the 19th century."

• China and Europe, 1780-1937 [Asia for Educators]
Part of the teaching module China and Europe: 1500-2000 and Beyond, with consultants Ken Pomeranz (Professor of History, University of California at Irvine) and R. Bin Wong (Professor of History, University of California at Los Angeles). The section on 1780-1937 discusses China's decline, focusing specifically on resource differences and the "Asian trade boom." With video interviews of the faculty experts, additional maps, images, and readings throughout.

Primary Source w/DBQs • Macartney and the Emperor [Asia for Educators]
The Qing dynasty's restrictions on foreign trade increasingly frustrated Europeans, especially the British. In 1792 Great Britain sent a diplomat, Lord George Macartney (1737-1806), to present its demands to the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1796). This unit includes an introductory note to teachers with suggestions for teaching about Macartney's mission; a student reading discussing European contact and trade with China prior to and on the eve of Macartney's mission to China; and the primary-source reading Two Edicts from the Qianlong Emperor, which were the Qianlong emperor's responses to the Macartney mission. With discussion questions and suggested activities for students.

• Lord Macartney, China, and the Convenient Lies of History [Supchina.com]
“In popular understanding, the Qianlong Emperor's rejection of Lord Maccartney and King George III was an act of hubris, a failure to recognize the military might of Britain and the West, the last prideful act of a waning empire before a “century of humiliation.” But what if our understanding is all wrong?”

Lesson Plan + Classroom Activity • Qianlong Meets Macartney: Collision of Two World Views (A One-Act Play) [Education About Asia, Association for Asian Studies]
A lesson plan that aims "to illustrate in dramatic form the clash of diplomatic objectives and ideological assumptions characterizing the Macartney mission and its reception in China; to lay out the issues dividing the British and the Chinese, and to assess their significance for future interaction between China and the West." With an in-depth teachers' introduction and study guide, full text of the play to be performed, and related questions and activities. Download PDF on page.

Primary Sources w/DBQs • The "Opening" of the East: Differing Perspectives [Education About Asia, Association for Asian Studies]
Provided with eight short primary-source selections and given only the date of the selection for reference, students are asked to provide a brief summary of the speaker’s position, to identify the nationality of the speaker, and to provide a rationale for choosing that speaker. Particularly relevant for AP World History courses. Download PDF on page.

Note to Teachers • The journal Education about Asia has many excellent teaching resources on-line on all topics related to East, South and SE Asia.

• Trading Places: East India Company: Opium and the Expansion of Trade [British Library]
A brief look at the circumstances leading to the British East India Company's smuggling of opium from India into China. Part of a larger unit on the history of the East India Company. With images from the British Library's collection.

Primary Source w/DBQs • The Opium War and Foreign Encroachment [Asia for Educators]
In the fifty years after Macartney's visit (see "Macartney and the Emperor," above), Western powers pushed their demands on China further, leading to war and the gradual shift from tribute to treaty relations. This unit examines the events surrounding the Opium War and the Treaty of Nanjing, which concluded that war, and the increasing foreign encroachments upon China during the nineteenth century. Included are two primary-source readings: Commissioner Lin Zexu's "Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria" (1839) and The Treaty of Nanjing (1842) [PDF]. With discussion questions and suggested activities for students.

Video • The Two Coasts of China [Annenberg/CPB – Pacific Century Series]
"The British send an expeditionary naval force to China. Using superior military technology they impose their will on China, gaining reparations and open access for Europen powers to China's ports. The British take the greatest prize, Hong Kong." Documentary streaming on Youtube - the complete video on the link above and in segements below.

• China and International Law in the 19th c. [China Mirror, U of Michigan]
What you can learn by looking at the actual "Treaty of Tientsin..." This was the 2nd of the “Unequal Treaties” that China was forced to sign with the Western imperialist powers. It was signed in 1858, after the first phase of the Second Opening War. The war continued, with the sacking of the Old Summer Palace (see "Destruction, Looting, and Memory" from MIT.)

• Garden of Perfect Brightness [MIT Visualizing Cultures]
The Yuanmingyuan was a paradise on earth for the Qing emperors: beautiful, extravagant, utterly private, and totally their creation—not an inheritance from previous dynasties. It was plundered by the Anglo-French forces that destroyed the Yuanmingyuan at the conclusion of the 2nd Opium War in 1860. Since the Yuanmingyuan was the primary residence of the Qing emperors, with the Imperial Palace/Forbidden City being the official, ceremonial palace. This destruction of the Yuanmingyuan would be the equivalent to a foreign force plundering Westminster Castle outside of London, which the British monarchs use as their primary residence.

• Culture and International Relations in the 18th c [China Mirror, U of Michigan]
Covers diplomatic use of gardens, and replications of other nation's gardens

• The US Founders and China: Origins of the Chinese Cultural Influence on the United States [Education about Asia]
"Walking from the east entrance up the steps to the Supreme Court building, one can see a sculpture of Confucius along with Moses and Solon. The sculpture may serve as an indicator of the impact of Confucius in the formation of American culture. Indeed, Chinese cultural and technological influence on what would become the United States started even before this country was born. Chinese culture became important when some of the US founders looked for resources that could be mobilized in their efforts to build a new nation after declaring independence from Great Britain. Chinese contributions to early America were varied. In their efforts to cultivate personal virtue and to educate the younger generations to be virtuous, several founding fathers sought guidance from Confucian philosophy. The founders also adopted Chinese inventions to facilitate the social and economic development of colonies and introduced elements of Chinese agriculture to North America. Facing British trade sanctions after the Revolutionary War, US political leaders initiated efforts to build direct economic connections with China. Robert Morris and George Washington were directly involved in the opening of trade with China with support from other American founders. One important reason behind Thomas Jefferson's quest for westward expansion through the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was the search for a shortcut to China, and late in his presidency, he communicated the desirability of creating something like a US-China policy." Download PDF on page.

• Two Hundred Years of U.S. Trade with China (1784-1984) [Asia for Educators]
This unit explores the 200-year history of U.S. trade with China. Discussion questions and a U.S.-China Trade Timeline are included.

Teaching Unit w/Lesson Plans • Early American Trade with China [Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
"After gaining its independence from Great Britain, the United States needed to develop its economic base. Restricted during colonial times to supplying raw materials to the industrializing English economy, and excluded from most of the British markets after independence, Americans looked to international trade as a means to generate wealth and provide employment for many. Trade with China, from which the colonies had been barred, seemed to offer immediate opportunities for wealth. .... The activities in this unit use the early China trade to explore the place of the United States in the world order and economy of late 18th and early 19th centuries. They also provide insight into the role of trade in nation building before and after the War of 1812. In addition, they provide the background for understanding the United States' interest in events in and along the Pacific Rim later in the 19th century." Includes lesson plans and questions for discussion.

• A Journey Shared: The United States and China, 200 Years of History [PDF] [U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian]
A module containing interesting historical documents and pictures regarding the early relations between the U.S. and China, up through the Nixon era. Of particular interest in this time period is the visit of China's leading diplomat, Li Hung Zhang, to the United States in 1897 in part to discuss the discrimination against Chinese immigrants in the U.S. Li Hung Zhang had met with former President Ulysses S. Grant in China in 1879. While visiting the U.S., Li Hung Zhang's delegation planted a ginkgo tree behind Grant's tomb in New York City to commemorate "the greatness" of former President Grant. The plaque remains there today, with the inscription: "THIS TREE IS PLANTED / AT THE SIDE OF THE TOMB OF / GENERAL U.S. GRANT, / EX-PRESIDENT OF THE / UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, / FOR THE PURPOSE / OF COMMEMORATING HIS / GREATNESS BY / LI HUNG-CHANG, / GUARDIAN OF THE PRINCE, / GRAND SECRETARY OF STATE / EARL OF THE FIRST ORDER, / YANG YU / ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY / AND MINISTER / PLENIPOTENTIARY OF CHINA, / VICE PRESIDENT / OF THE BOARD OF CENSORS' / KWANG HSU 23RD YEAR, / 4TH MOON, MAY 1897."

• China's First Experiment in Overseas Education, 1872-1881 [Chinese Educational Mission Connections]
"Beset by the military and economic domination of the Western colonial powers, China had been forced to open up the country to foreign trade and settlements in the so-called Treaty Ports. The dispatch of the 120 students on what was called the Chinese Educational Mission (CEM) was a belated effort by the government of the Qing dynasty to stem the growing tide of aggression: harness the aggressors’ know-how and technology to defeat them at their own game." This website, created by several third-generation descendants of CEM students, provides an in-depth look at the history of the Chinese Educational Mission, with archival photographs and basic biographical profiles of all 120 CEM students.

Primary Source • "The Missionary Enterprise in China," by Chester Holcombe (1906) [The Atlantic Monthly]
A defense of "the missionary enterprise in China," written by American diplomat and author Chester Holcombe (1842-1912) after the Boxer uprising. Holcombe was also an ordained minister and had worked as a missionary in China.

• Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 Mission to Asia (The Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods) [University of Cincinnati]
"On July 8, 1905, one of the first and largest U.S. foreign diplomatic delegations to Asia embarked from San Francisco for a three-month goodwill tour, stopping in Japan, the Philippines, and China. Under the leadership of Secretary of War, William Howard Taft... The 1905 voyage carried two serious diplomatic purposes: to assist with peace negotiations in order to end the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05); and to demonstrate American accomplishments in the Philippines." Includes a 25-page curriculum guide providing extensive historical background information, plus primary-source documents and map activities.

• American Influences on Sun Yat-sen [Education about Asia]
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States provided immigrants from troubled nations around the world with safe havens for revolutionary movements aimed at their homelands... The career of renowned Chinese revolutionary Sun Yatsen (1866–1925)" was one such immigrant. "In the course of his life, he converted to Christianity under American auspices, organized a revolutionary movement among ethnic Chinese in American-influenced Hawai`i, canvassed American Chinatowns for funds for his movement, and absorbed elements of the American political model into his famed Three People's Principles...Sun Yatsen has come to be known among many Chinese as "the father of modern China" for the roles he played in overthrowing China's last dynasty, the Qing (1644–1912), and subsequently leading the Nationalist Party (Guomindang, founded in 1912) while allying it with the then-fledgling Chinese Communist Party (founded in 1921). Today, the governments of the Republic of China on Taiwan and of the Communist-led People's Republic of China on the Chinese mainland regard Sun's ideas as a resource for a possible future reunification of China—leading Sun to serve once again as a bridge between contrary forces." Download PDF on page.

Note to Teachers • The journal Education about Asia has many excellent teaching resources on-line on all topics related to East, South and SE Asia.

Video • The Two Coasts of China [Annenberg/CPB – Pacific Century Series]
"The British send an expeditionary naval force to China. Using superior military technology they impose their will on China, gaining reparations and open access for Europen powers to China's ports. The British take the greatest prize, Hong Kong." Documentary streaming on Youtube - the complete video on the link above and in segements below.

• Immigration from China [Pacific Link, KQED Asian Education Initiative]
This short history of Chinese immigrants in the United States is part of a website about the Angel Island Immigration Station (San Francisco), which was in operation from 1910 to 1940. Also see the HISTORY and TIMELINES sections for more information about China.

Primary Sources • Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900: Chinese Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900 [The Library of Congress]
"After the Civil War, immigrants again began to stream to the United States. ... a relatively large group of Chinese immigrated to the United States between the start of the California gold rush in 1849 and 1882, when federal law stopped their immigration." A brief overview, with eight primary source documents on Chinese immigration written by various Americans of the time (including Mark Twain).

Primary Sources • The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 [The Library of Congress]
"The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials. Included are photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter." With essays discussing "Chinese and Westward Expansion," "San Francisco's Chinatown," "Anti-Chinese Movement and Chinese Exclusion," and more.

• Chinese Railroad Workers in North America [SPICE-Stanford]
Between 1864 and 1869, thousands of Chinese migrants toiled at a grueling pace and in perilous working conditions to help construct America's first Transcontinental Railroad. The Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project seeks to give a voice to the Chinese migrants whose labor on the Transcontinental Railroad helped to shape the physical and social landscape of the American West. The Project coordinates research in North America and Asia in order to publish new findings in print and digital formats, support new and scholarly informed school curriculum, and participate in conferences and public events.

Teaching Unit w/Lesson Plans • The Chinese-American Experience in 19th Century America [Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
"To understand the experience of Chinese immigrants to the United States in the mid-19th century, it is necessary to look at the intellectual, economic, and political climate of the times. Many of the issues that were important then are still part of the current discussion concerning political and economic effects of immigration and whether peoples who do not come from European stock are true Americans." Includes lesson plans and questions for discussion.

• Dragon Wings: The Story Behind the Story [Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
Scroll down the page to find the curricular materials and power point for "the story behind the story." The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to propaganda related to Chinese immigration from the United States in the 1870's through the 1890's in order to gain some understanding of the climate in which the story takes place. Students will identify the sentiment being suggested by the propaganda piece/ political cartoon and will discuss the meaning and the purpose of these with their peers. Laurence Yep's Newbery Award-winning book is based on the true story of Chinese-American aviator Fung Joe Guey, the first person to successfully fly a plane on the US West Coast. Click on the link for the PowerPoint to discover more about this aviation pioneer's life, and learn more about the Chinese Exclusion Act and the propaganda associated with Chinese-Americans in the early 20th century by clicking on the link for the curriculum unit.

• Chinese Immigration and Exclusion [Stanford History Education Group]
From 1860-1882, hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrated to the U.S. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act banned further Chinese immigration. In this lesson, students will explore the social and economic factors that fueled the wave of Chinese immigrants as well as the factors that eventually led to their exclusion. Students examine an excerpt from an anti-Chinese play, a political cartoon, an anti-Chinese labor speech, and an immigrant's autobiography.

• Conflict and Compromise: The Chinese Exclusion Act [Smithsonian Learning Lab]

• Chinese American: Inclusion/Exclusion [NY Historical Society]
This on-line exhibit teaching unit chronicles the complex history of Chinese in America—the challenges of immigration, citizenship, and belonging that shaped both the Chinese American experience and the development of the United States as a nation. Learn more about the first American trade ship to sail for China, the early Chinese laborers hoping to strike it rich on “Gold Mountain,” the passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act to limit Chinese immigration and access to citizenship, the experience of multiple generations of Chinese American families in the twentieth century…and see how this history contributed to shaping American society.

Primary Source • Original Text of the Chinese Exclusion Act (5/6/1882) [National Archives- Docs Teach]
Explore images of the scanned text of the originl document of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Primary Source • Departure Statement of Wong Kim Ark (Nov 5, 1894) [National Archives- Docs Teach]
Denied reentry to the United States upon his return from an 1894 visit to China, San Francisco–born Wong Kim Ark was detained by the collector of customs in San Francisco. The U.S. attorney argued that Mr. Wong was a citizen of China because his parents were born in China. However the U.S. District Court determined that Wong Kim Ark "is a citizen of the United States within the meaning of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment."

• Medicine and Childbirth [China Mirror, U of Michigan]

Primary Source + Lesson Plan + DBQ • Western Views of Chinese Women [Women in World History, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University]
An excellent teaching module about Western views of Chinese women, drawn from ten primary source documents, mostly from missionary journals dating from the 1830s to the 1890. With a lesson plan for high school students and a document based question (DBQ).

He Zhen (wife of Liu Shipei, 1884-1917)
Primary Source w/DBQs • "What Women Should Know About Communism" [PDF] [Asia for Educators]

• The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): Painting [Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
A discussion of painting during the Qing dynasty, with a focus on three principal groups of artists working during the Qing: the traditionalists, the individualists, and the courtiers and professional artists. With 14 related artworks.

• Recording the Grandeur of the Qing [Columbia University and The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
This interactive teaching unit gives the viewer unprecedented access to four monumental artworks of the Qing period — four of the twenty-four southern inspection tour scrolls commissioned by the Qing emperors Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) and Qianlong (r. 1736-1795). Each of the four featured scrolls is displayed online in its entirety, with key details annotated by Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Maxwell K. Hearn. Five background essays by Dr. Hearn and Columbia history professor Madeleine Zelin serve as guides to the historical and artistic context in which the scrolls were created. Topics discussed at length include: the reigns of the two emperors who commissioned the scrolls, Kangxi and Qianlong, as well as key aspects of the Qing government, economy, and art.

Find more art-related resources for China, 1750-1919 CE
at OMuRAA (Online Museum Resources on Asian Art)