Preface
This textbook is designed to help learners have a full understanding of China’s politics, economy, culture, society, etc., both in the past and at present.
I. Who It Is For
This textbook is designed for: (1) international students in China taking general courses about China or college students who taking the similar courses in other parts of the world; (2) readers in need of this material;
(3) teachers who teach courses or give lectures pertinent to China’s culture or modern China.
II. Structure and Layout
This textbook is one of a two-part set: China Overview and China Overview: Further Readings.
Each chapter in China Overview contains three to four sections, each section with a “Key Points” column in the front, and “Reflection and Assignments” in the back. The key sentences and key words in the textbook are highlighted in bold, and the relevant events or cases are accompanied by audio or video. Each chapter in China Overview: Further Readings includes several texts for “further reading”, with “extended tasks” at the end of each chapter.
In conjunction with the above paper-based materials, audiovisual materials are provided, which will be updated on a regular basis.
III. Textbook Characteristics
This textbook is designed to reflect the following characteristics:
1. Covering both historical and modern China in a systematic manner, with a focus on contemporary China.
On the one hand, this textbook takes into account China’s past and present; on the other hand, it covers the main sectors of politics, economy, and culture. Considering the needs of most learners, we give more weight to materials about contemporary China.
This textbook consists of 15 chapters. The first four chapters are “Overview of China”, “Environment and Resources”, “History” and “Politics”, providing the basic discursive framework for the subsequent chapters from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. Chapter One and Chapter Two deal with the synchronic aspects, while Chapter Thirteen and Chapter Fifteen focus on the diachronic elements and the remaining chapters on the past and the present. In this way, the book forms a complete system that takes into account the ancient and the modern, the diachronic and the synchronic overview of China.
2. Properly layered and well organized.
This textbook aims to be concise and brief, so that learners can have a clear understanding of the basic key points; at the same time, it also tries to be specific and vivid, so that learners can deepen their understanding of the key knowledge through concrete cases and data.
This textbook uses China Overview as the mainstay to build a relatively complete framework, characterized by a concise outline, and takes China Overview: Further Readings as an extension that focuses on details and broadening of learners’ horizons in the hope that learners from different backgrounds can adapt to the teaching objectives of different institutions.
3. Generic contents from a cross-cultural perspective; seminar assignments and comprehensive objectives.
This textbook is a general introduction to China, not a thematic analysis. Edited for learners from different cultural backgrounds, it takes the perspective of cultural comparison as much as possible, and introduces the basic facts about China.
The core objective of this textbook is to develop learners’ understanding of China’s national conditions and culture, while taking into account the following three objectives:
(1) to enhance learners’ multicultural awareness and cross-cultural communication skills;
(2) to develop learners’ academic research skills;
(3) to develop learners’ Chinese learning skills, especially in academic Chinese.
To achieve these goals, both China Overview and China Overview: Further Readings include specially designed seminar tasks of different levels and difficulties.
4. Team efforts from experts; inclusive and updated.
This textbook is compiled by experts from the relevant departments at Fudan University and teachers from the International Cultural Exchange School of Fudan University. The former has profound academic attainments in these fields and experience in teaching international students; the latter is very familiar with the learning needs of international students and has rich experience in teaching courses about
China.
In the process of preparing the textbook, we have tried to incorporate the academic achievements at home and abroad and learn from the best textbooks of this kind. We have referred to the latest research results in various fields and adopted authoritative and up-to-date data to reflect the rapid development and changes in China.
IV. How to Use
Learners may use China Overview as the major textbook or select part or all of the contents from China Overview: Further Readings. Teachers may also make adjustments as appropriate, such as selecting, adding or modifying the seminar tasks in the textbook.
We expect that all the contents in this textbook can be covered within 72 teaching hours (including 4 hours of examination), and each chapter within 4 hours. Cultural visits, social practice, seminars and other activities may also be arranged within the remaining teaching hours.
In actual teaching, teachers can choose the contents in the textbook they find most appropriate according to the specific characteristics and interests of the students, and the students may also compare China’s national conditions and culture with those of the countries and regions where they are from.
We suggest China Overview be used as a core course of general education for undergraduate international students, and that teachers give due consideration to imparting of Chinese culture, cultivating students’ cross-cultural awareness and communication skills, and developing academic skills training and Chinese language proficiency in the teaching design, process and assessment. In the course of teaching, teachers are advised to compare China’s national conditions and culture with those of their native countries and regions, and organize seminar tasks to improve students’ academic experience and increase their comprehensive literacy.
Teachers should also encourage their students to learn autonomously, increase classroom interaction, and organize students to carry out field trips and research activities, so that students can better understand the contents of the teaching materials.
Editors in Chief
October, 2020
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