History Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing History Theses and Dissertations by Author "Asim, Ina"

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    China's Farthest Southwest: The Transformation of Yunnan During the Reign of Yongzheng (r. 1722-1735)
    (University of Oregon, 2021-11-23) Hou, Jue; Asim, Ina
    During the reign of Yongzheng (r. 1722-1735), the emperor initiated a radical frontier policy to consolidate and transform Yunnan, the province located in the far southwest of China that borders with the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Burma. The Qing expansion of Yunnan represented an intention to incorporate and dominate the population of Yunnan province. Shaped by the notion of cultural superiority in an area with a comparatively underdeveloped economy, the Han majority was viewed as representing the superior civilization capable of assimilating and civilizing the frontier communities. This thesis aims to challenge the myth of Han superiority by considering how ethnic communities and Han settlers equally contributed to Yunnan’s transformation. Although the tensions between the two groups were visible, they accommodated, acculturated, and influenced each other in constructing a new social order in Yunnan.
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    Finding Fault: Earthquakes During the Reign of Tang Dezong (785-805)
    (University of Oregon, 2014-09-29) Fortenberry, Kyle; Asim, Ina
    Drawing from trends in environmental and disaster studies, this study examines the meaning of earthquakes within the official histories of China's Tang Dynasty (618-907), specifically those during the reign of Emperor Dezong (r. 785-805), as both historiographic metaphors and incidents of real natural-induced disaster. Earthquakes, like other forms of potentially harmful natural phenomena, demonstrated, the Chinese believed, Heaven's dissatisfaction with a sitting ruler. Over time, ministers and court scholars sought to draw connections between earthquakes and specific forms of behavior in attempts to perhaps prevent future incidents of seismic reproach. And though certain relationships are articulated more clearly in some parts of the histories than others, earthquakes nevertheless demonstrated an ability to engender a great sense of uncertainty and discord within historical memory. Consequently, the reading of the natural world codified in the official histories marked an attempt by the Chinese state to control human behavior for generations to come.
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    Through Their Neighbors’ Eyes: Interactions and Relations between Korea, Japan and China during the Ming-Qing Transition
    (University of Oregon, 2017-05-01) Hua, Simeng; Asim, Ina
    In the period from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century, East Asia witnessed changes in the Chinese tribute system, the downfall of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu invasion of Korea, the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu in Japan, and the prosperity of the High Qing era. This extraordinary period disrupted the existing China-centered diplomatic system; however, at the same time, a fertile ground was created for new perceptions of the respective immediate neighbor for each individual state. In the struggle to achieve or maintain domestic and external stability, intellectuals, officials, and even commoners reflected on ways to express their individual and communal narratives that contributed to their nation’s history. This thesis explores Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese cultural and diplomatic interactions from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century based on primary sources with a special focus on diplomatic envoys’ travel reports.