All materials included in our workshop, "Teaching Modern China: A Century of Revolution," are linked here! Also check out the workshop's Google Slides presentation. Additional resources such as lesson plans and a collection of online resources on Modern China can also be found below.
Remembering Revolution: The Boxer Uprising
The Boxer Uprising | MIT Visualizing Cultures
This resource explores the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising in late 19th-century China, where martial arts-practicing peasants known as "Boxers" attacked foreign legations and Christian communities, prompting a multi-national military response and marking a pivotal moment in China's history and its interactions with global powers.
Arkansas State Standards:
H.6.WH.11 Analyze the social, economic, and political ideas, including self-determination, liberty, and human rights, that influenced the 18th and 19th-century revolutions.
H.6.WH.15 Analyze the causes and effects of European imperialism and new patterns of colonization in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in the 19th century, including the impact of advancements in medicine, weaponry, and technology
Republican Period
Before and After the May Fourth Movement | Asia for Educators
This resource examines the New Culture Movement in China, featuring primary sources from Chen Duxiu, Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao Zedong, which highlight the intellectual debates and ideological shifts that shaped China's modern transformation from 1916 to the 1940s.
Arkansas State Standards:
G.2.5.8: Examine physical and cultural changes regionally over time using primary and secondary sources
H.2.6.16: Analyze effects of cultural interactions and connections on civilizations over time.
H.6.WH.4: Analyze the social, economic, political, and geographic effects of the expansion of ideas and movements
A Madman's Diary | Marxists Internet Archive
Lu Xun presents a diary-style short story where the protagonist imagines being surrounded by cannibals. Through the protagonist's delusions, Lu Xun delivers a potent critique of conventional Chinese society, specifically targeting the oppressive and dehumanizing aspects of traditionalist and Confucian values.
Arkansas State Standards:
H.2.6.9 Examine key concepts and influences of major belief systems on societies, including Confucianism.
H.2.6.16 Analyze effects of cultural interactions and connections on civilizations over time.
H.6.WH.7 Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people
Mao Period
Chinese Posters | Chinese Posters Foundation
This resource is an evolving digital archive showcasing over 7,000 authentic Chinese propaganda posters, prints, and other images. The site provides historical context and artist information, enhancing understanding of modern Chinese history through visual propaganda.
Arkansas State Standards:
G.2.5.8: Examine physical and cultural changes regionally over time using primary and secondary sources
H.2.6.16: Analyze effects of cultural interactions and connections on civilizations over time. This may include art, literature, religion, architecture, Zheng He’s warships, printing press, Maya calendar, Great Zimbabwe, and technological innovations.
H.6.WH.19: Examine the outcomes of social, economic, and political transformations in the West, Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America.
China's Cultural Revolution | Stanford Education Project
This lesson plan from the Stanford Education Project explores the motivations of Chinese youth in participating in the Cultural Revolution through a series of primary documents, allowing students to consider the experiences of this tumultuous period in Chinese history.
Arkansas State Standards:
C.1.6.7 Analyze the impact of rules and laws on society and reasons people change rules and laws over time.
H.6.WH.18: Compare the complex causes of revolutions worldwide in various regions such as Eastern Europe, Russia, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, China, Vietnam, India, South America, and Central America.
Post-Mao Reform Period
Our World in Data | University of Oxford
"Our World in Data" is a comprehensive resource that aims to improve data literacy by making research and data on global issues like poverty, disease, and climate change accessible and understandable. It highlights the progress possible through existing research and focuses on making vital knowledge available to everyone.
Arkansas State Standards:
E.1.6.9 Identify barriers to trade and their impact on civilizations such as war/conflict, infrastructure, lack of technology, and geographic limitations.
HS.4.G.1 Use demographic data to characterize the populations of various places and reasons for the changes over time (e.g., birth rates, death rates, gender, age, race, ethnicity).
HS.4.G.2 Analyze the effects of various influences on population distribution (e.g., history, migration, physical environment, economy, politics, technology, climate, land use).
China's One Child Policy | Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
This lesson plan explores China's controversial One-child Policy, introduced in 1979 to limit population growth and improve living standards. It examines the policy's impacts, including economic growth and social imbalances, and considers differing perspectives on its success and consequences. The plan includes five different activities designed to engage students with the subject matter, encouraging critical analysis and discussion.
Arkansas State Standards:
G.1.6.9 Evaluate the impact of major population shifts in various eras and regions.
H.6.WH.33 Assess the social, economic, political, and technological efforts to address global poverty, food and water access, healthcare, and equal human rights among the world’s peoples.
C.1.6.8 Explain the development of policies to address public problems in various civilizations over time.
Contemporary China
The Warriors of Qiugang | Yale Environment 360
"The Warriors of Qiugang" is a video by Yale Environment 360 that documents the fight of villagers in the Chinese village of Qiugang against pollution from a local chemical plant. This resource provides an example of grassroots activism and environmental justice, ideal for teaching students about the impact of industrial pollution and community action.
Arkansas State Standards:
G.4.5.1: Examine ways people and cultures depend on, adapt to, and interact with the physical environment over time (e.g., technology, habitation, transportation, agriculture, communication).
G.1.6.6: Analyze ways climate and environmental characteristics influenced where groups lived and how the groups adjusted to the environment in various civilizations.
ES.7.G.1: Analyze effects of changes made by humans on the physical environment (e.g., industrialization, agricultural, rural land use, urban land use, mining, forestry).
Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy Protests | Arkansas PBS
The resource features a video documenting the recent violent clashes between protesters and police in Hong Kong, highlighting the pro-democracy demonstrations sparked by a controversial extradition law and calls for democratic rights and investigations into police brutality. The resource also includes discussion questions for further engagement with the political and social complexities of Hong Kong's relationship with China.
Arkansas State Standards:
C.1.6.7 Analyze the impact of rules and laws on society and reasons people change rules and laws over time.
C.1.6.2 Compare the structure of leadership/government and functions of civilizations in different times and places (e.g., patriarchal, matriarchal, tribal, city-state, national).
Teach Uyghur Project: One-Week Lesson Plan | Uyghur American Association
This lesson plan is a comprehensive one-week curriculum on the history of Uyghurs and East Turkistan, along with the current repression campaign by the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), designed for 11th and 12th grade social science and history students.
Arkansas State Standards:
C.1.6.1 Research origins, purposes, and structures of government citing primary and secondary sources.
C.1.6.7 Analyze the impact of rules and laws on society and reasons people change rules and laws over time.
HS.4.G.2 Analyze the effects of various influences on population distribution (e.g., history, migration, physical environment, economy, politics, technology, climate, land use, resources).