On May 31st, Ms. Li Yunuo delivered the last lecture on ancient Chinese history to the 7th and 8th grade students in room 413 of the Middle School Building. This time, she focused on the period of the Qing Dynasty. Ms. Li mainly discussed the ruling system used by the Qing government. The Eight Banners system and the Grand Council were both unique organizations established by the Manchu people during the process of their rise, development, and consolidation. They reflected features of a nomadic people as well as influences from the Han Chinese people.

Ms. Li also encouraged the students to visit the museums around them and pay close attention to exhibition information. For example, an exhibit named “Yongzheng from the Palace Museum” is being displayed in Fengxian museum and offers a great opportunity for people to learn more about the life of Emperor Yongzheng, his political measures, and the arts and crafts produced during his reign.

The history department’s lecture series on ancient Chinese history covered the whole span of ancient Chinese history (from prehistory to the Qing Dynasty). All 6 lectures were delivered by 3 history teachers. Although lunchtime is always not long enough to share all of the interesting stories, students’ interest and passion still flourished during these short periods.

Here is one student’s feedback on the lecture series: “We learned about lots of events that happened during different dynasties, such as events that happened during the Ming and the Qing. We learned about the complicated structure of the Chinese social system, which made us to realize that there were so many levels in societies with a huge gap between the poor and the rich. We also learned about ancient China’s different types of writing systems, lots of conflicts and wars that happened inside China, and so on. Not only did all the students listen carefully to the lecture, but some were also willing to participate and give some ideas of their own. For instance, once in the lecture, each of us was given a slip of paper that had lots of interesting situations, and the main goal was to solve these problems. Overall, the series of Chinese history lectures helped us to expand our knowledge about Eastern history, rather than just the history of the Western world we often learn about in class.”

(Written by: Shen Zhou       Pictures by: Yunuo Li )