The essay should be 6-7 pages long (1750-2000 words, excluding the bibliography page),
double-spaced. Use Times New Roman 12 pt. for font and font size.
In the Museum Report, you had an opportunity to take advantage of museum resources to reflect
on how learning about “things” informs you of Chinese history and culture. In this essay project,
you will continue this journey to consider the following questions with more extensive research
and discussion: What new historical knowledge have you learned from the objects? How do they
inform you about some aspects of Chinese history, such as daily life, social, economic, cultural,
religious, and technological ideas and practices? How do they reveal about the particular
historical moments from which the objects were created or in use and about historical changes
over time, and how are you able to understand the objects by placing them in historical contexts?
Please do not address the above questions individually; rather, use these questions to help you
organize your discussion and develop coherent arguments.
Follow carefully these instructions:
1. Choose two or three objects that you are most interested in for your project, excluding
those that are covered in lectures or those you have written about in your Museum Report. The
objects should be related in some fashion, in terms of, for example, their functions, their
underlying ideas, or the time period in use. This will enable you to form a broad theme/thesis for
your essay. Your choice of objects is not limited to those from Museum collections; that is, you
can choose objects from other sources as well.
2. You can choose to focus on any historical period, or cover a number of dynastic
periods.
3. In your discussion, make an effort to engage in evidence that draw on a range of
sources, such as museum sources/catalogues, academic books, journal articles, and
archaeological reports. This way, you will be able develop more in-depth discussion on the
objects and their relationships with Chinese history and culture.
4. Online sources are acceptable, however, please be careful and consult only those from
credible sources.
5. Provide footnotes for your citations, using this format: author’s last name and page
number (For example, Mann, 50). Include a bibliography page that lists all the works cited in the
essay.
