Program overview
This major focuses on Chinese history since the Opium War of 1840, covering three periods: the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China. You will learn how China transformed from a traditional empire into a modern nation, and explore changes in society, economy, culture, and diplomacy. Core courses include Modern Chinese History, Contemporary Chinese History, History of the Chinese Communist Party, History of Sino-Foreign Relations, Chinese Socio-Economic History, and Historical Philology. Many universities also offer specialized courses such as Urban History, Gender History, and Borderland History, allowing you to approach the subject from different angles. Who is this major for? If you are curious about "why China is the way it is today," enjoy reading archives, looking at old photos, analyzing the logic behind historical events, and are willing to spend time in libraries or archives, this major will suit you well. Chinese universities have a natural advantage in this field: Peking University, Fudan University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing University, and others have strong faculty and rich archival resources, such as the Second Historical Archives of China in Nanjing and the Shanghai Municipal Archives, which are especially helpful for studying Republican-era history and modern Sino-foreign relations. International students can also leverage their language and cultural backgrounds to conduct transnational or comparative studies—something that is not as easy for Chinese students to do.