Records of the Grand History

Which of the six schools mentioned in Shitong do you think is the most influential and important and why? Make sure you compare at least 3 of the works examined.

In my opinion, Shiji is the most influential and important one among the six schools. As the first systematic Chinese historical text, the Shiji profoundly influenced Chinese historiography and prose. Lu Xun even positively commented this unprecedented book as The Unmetrical Li Sao and Incomparable Splendor of Historian

1） Art

2） History

3） Bureaucracy

4） Writing

5） Nation State

6） Economics

1) Compare and Contrast Chinese art theory with Western art theory. Make sure you talk about the three perspectives theory and the shifting perspective and the one pointed perspective.

2) Compare Chinese with English. Which script do you think is harder? Make sure you include a discussion on phonetic writing, logograms and pictograms. Other things you might want to include are alphabets.

3) What is the difference between a nation state and an empire? Do you think modern China is a nation state or an empire (or both) and when do you think China became a nation state? Make sure to include a discussion on how ancient ethnic groups differs from modern nations（民族）.

4) Which of the six schools mentioned in Shitong do you think is the most influential and important and why? Make sure you compare at least 3 of the works examined.

5) Why is China considered to be the first place in the world to have modern bureaucracy? Make sure you talk about the division of duty and the regional bureaucracy.

6) Compare the well field system with the equal field system. Make sure you talk about land distribution and ownership.

7) Describe how China was the center of world trade during the Ming and Qing. Make sure you include silver flow and exports and imports as well as surpluses.

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