Your Task
-
Read and listen to a number of sources below on both the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion. Find at least one things of significance about each of these historical topics that surprised you. Come to class ready to talk about what you found and why it surprised you.
Possible Starting Places
-
"The
Opium Wars," In
Our Time, BBC Radio 4, April 12, 2007. -
"The
Taiping Rebellion,"
In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, February 24, 2011. -
Orville Schell, "Unheavenly Kingdom," New York Times, February 4, 1996.
-
Leslie R. Marchant, "The
Wars Of The Poppies,"
History Today, 52 (May 2002).
Articles
-
Jonathan Mirsky, "River Of Fire," New York Review Of Books (February 29, 1996).
-
Nicholas R. Clifford, "Chinese Apocalypse," Commonweal, 123 (August 16, 1996).
-
Richard L. King, "Olympics And Opium Wars," Chinese American Forum, 24 (October 2008): 17-18.
-
John Brown, "The Opium Wars," Military History, 21 (April 2004): 34-42.
-
John Newinger, "Britain's Opium Wars," Monthly Review, 49 (October 1997).
Opium Wars And Taiping Rebellion In The News
-
Mark Jenkins, "In
19th Century China, Brotherhood And Betrayal,"
NPR, April 1, 2010. -
Michael White, "David
Cameron Should Not Have Worn That Poppy In China,"
Guardian, November 10, 2010. -
"China
Renews Appeal For Looted Palace Relics Return,"
BBC News, October 19, 2010. -
David Barboza, "China Seeks To Stop Paris Sale Of Bronzes," New York Times, February 16, 2009.
-
"'Opium Financed British Rule In India,'" BBC News, June 23, 2008.
-
"The
Great Exhibition And London's Chinese Junk,"
BBC Newsmagazine, June 16, 2008.
Web-Sites
-
Ch'ing China -- The Taiping Rebellion: Condensed class notes from Richard Hooker's Washington State University World Civilizations course.
-
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom -- Wikipedia: An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.
-
Opium Wars -- Wikipedia: An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.
-
First Opium War -- Wikipedia: An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.
-
Second Opium War -- Wikipedia: An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.
-
Treaty Of Nanking -- Wikipedia: An entry from the on-line encyclopedia.
Audio Sources
-
"Symbolic Meaning Of Poppies," The World, PRI (November 10, 2010).
-
"'Sea Of Poppies': An Epic Tale Of Opium And Empire," NPR (January 7, 2009).
-
"China
And Sudan: A Marriage Sealed In Oil, History,"
NPR (July 28, 2008).
