This English-taught, introductory course provides a survey of Chinese culture and society. It focuses on basic social institutions and cultural norms in traditional Chinese society and their modern transformations. The readings, drawn mainly from the disciplines of history and anthropology, cover topics of family, kinship, marriage, popular religions, ethnicity, community institutions, imperial state power, and rural and urban political economies. The course draws particular attention to China's constant modernizing efforts in the past century, especially during the socialist revolution and post-Mao reforms, as well as their bearings upon contemporary Chinese social practices and cultural patterns.n
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
This English-taught, introductory course provides a survey of Chinese culture and society. It focuses on basic social institutions and cultural norms in traditional Chinese society and their modern transformations. The readings, drawn mainly from the disciplines of history and anthropology, cover topics of family, kinship, marriage, popular religions, ethnicity, community institutions, imperial state power, and rural and urban political economies. The course draws particular attention to China's constant modernizing efforts in the past century, especially during the socialist revolution and post-Mao reforms, as well as their bearings upon contemporary Chinese social practices and cultural patterns.n
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.