Xuyun H3 IS

Some readings on S-J war

Thesis: The defeat of China in the Second Sino- Japanese War and the subsequent Nanking Massacre was inevitable, because of the strategic errors made by China in the battle of Shanghai, the weakness of China’s military and incompetence of China’s government.

Argument 1: The strategic errors made by China in the Battle of Shanghai caused China’s inevitable defeat and the subsequent Nanking Massacre.
The ineffective strategy of Nanking relying on Shanghai as a defence without any other alternative defence method led to China’s inevitable defeat.
• “The Chinese (appeared) to regard Shanghai as the main theatre of war because Shanghai protects Nanking.”
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek made a strategic error by positioning the majority and the best divisions of China’s army to resist in Shanghai. This concentrated defence collapsed when Japan attacked on land and water.
• Jiang Jieshi [Chiang Kai-shek] ordered his best German trained troops- the 87th and 88th Divisions- to resist the Japanese in Shanghai at all costs, which they did heroically for three months. But the defense disintegrated when the Japanese made an Amphibious landing at Hangzhou Bay, to the south of Shanghai.
The Chinese soldiers lacked the tactics associated with using the new machines in the battle of Shanghai, since Shanghai was the first major city to be attacked by armored columns and bomber armadas in the mechanized warfare of WWII.
China’s retreat route by going through the safety zone of Nanking gave the Japanese soldiers a motive to enter Nanking, as they were ordered to kill all Chinese military.
• “The retreating straggling troops were going right through the zone.”

Counter Argument 1: China’s strategic method of guerrilla warfare led by Mao Zedong helped reduce many of the Japanese forces.
Argument 2: China’s defeat in Nanking by Japan was unavoidable, since China’s military at the time was too weak.
Japan trained its soldiers early in life. As little boys, they were taught how to handle wooden gun models, as they aged they learned how to handle real guns in military schools. In contrast, the young boys in China did not have the chance to experience gun handling, since China did not produce such arms in the country at the time.
The military training class work and study hours of a Japanese officer quadrupled that of an English officer. In contrast, the Chinese officers were poorly trained as the intensity of training did not equal to the level of the English nor Japanese officer.
• The intensity of the training in Japan surpassed that of most Western military academies: in England an officer was commissioned after some 1,372 hours of class work and 245 hour of private study, but in Japan the standards were 3,382 hours of class work and 2,765 hours of private study.

The Chinese army lacked proper equipment, since China did not produce its own airplanes, heavy artillery, and other modern equipment. China’s arsenals could only produce little arms to equip its troops, as it relied on foreign suppliers for modern equipments.
China’s army lacked devotion and loyalty to its country, because the remaining soldiers in Nanking surrendered to Japan when their fear of death took over their sense of nationalism.
• “Night fell… Seven thousand prisoners all in one place, gathering around the two white flags attached to a dead branch.”

Counter Argument 2: China possessed the largest army in the world at the time in terms of troop number. In addition, the seven thousand remaining soldiers that were ordered to protect Nanking could have prevented the massacre.
Argument 3: China’s incompetent government could not function properly to assist in the Second Sino- Japanese War, leading to China’s defeat and the following Nanking Massacre.
China’s government was financially unstable and was too poor to afford an adequate amount of equipment for its army due to China’s indemnities from previous wars.
• The Opium war of 1842: China paid 21 million taels to the British government. The first Sino-Japanese war: China paid 200 million taels to Japan and also ceded Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, but China bought back the Liaodong Peninsula for 30 million taels. In the Boxer Rebellion of 1911: China paid an indemnity of 982 million combining the interest and principal over the next 38 years.
Due to the internal conflicts of China’s government between the Communists and Nationalist, China could not concentrate on the war against Japan.
• The leader of the Nationalists, Chiang Kai Shek ignored the Japanese invaders and was busy planning the fifth extermination campaign against the Communist Party. This angered his own generals, who arrested him and forced him to agree to form a united front against the Japanese with the Communists.
There was a lack of good government leaders since there were corrupt political leaders in China, who betrayed the country.
• Wang Jing –wei, the chairman of the National Party and also the next major leader to Chiang Kai-shek, vied with Chiang for the control of the National government causing many internal conflicts. He later collaborated with the Japanese and betrayed his own country by announcing to the Chinese to cease resistance.
Counter Argument 3: the defeat of China in the Second Sino Japanese War and the Nanking Massacre could have been avoided if Chiang Kai-shek did not concentrate on creating extermination campaigns against the Communists, since this created a climate of fear and confusion for the citizens. There was also an organization, called the “Great Way”, whose purpose was to eliminate people who had collaborated or cooperated with the Japanese.

Hi, I have tried to find out thesis on S-J War for you, but they were topics that were either researched many times over or those beyond your ability for this year. Please try the search engine and churn out as many ideas as possible.

Hi Mr. Lim, attached is the proposal that I have drafted. I have not done the Literature Review part, but I do plan to do it later.

Research Topic:
Historiography of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Civil War and Chinese intervention in Korean War as depicted in China’s state television.

Rationale for Choice of Research Topic:

The Chinese media is inherently inextricable to the state direction, despite strong liberalization, the government continues to play a part in what and why the media broadcasts programs. History is a tool that the Chinese government uses to suit its present-day agendas. I am personally curious on how Chinese history has been manipulated in suiting the Chinese government’s political agenda, especially since I have not been able to find any scholarly work on the topic.

I have also decided to research on three events, as opposed to focusing on one, to be able to draw a more solid conclusion. In order to delineate a conclusion on the government’s agenda, I find that this necessitates the use of different events in order to draw similarities in how entities are portrayed, how this varies from the true history, and why.

Proposed Title of Independent Study:
To what extent, and for what reason, has the Second Sino-Japanese War, Civil War and Chinese intervention in Korean War been manipulated in television to suit the Chinese’s government’s agenda?


Synopsis of Independent Study:
[State clearly the objective(s) and scope of your research, and identify any potential problems or limitations.]

Objectives:
- Determine how entities are portrayed
- Assess the veracity of history as portrayed by Chinese television
- Investigate why they are portrayed as such
- Explain how this plays into the agenda of the Chinese government

Scope:
- This essay will examine the historiography of Second Sino-Japanese War, Civil War and Chinese intervention in Korean War from 1937-1953. It will then relate to the developments in Chinese television after the opening up of China in 1978.

Problems:
The television programs that will be reviewed certainly pose a restriction to the breadth of my research. I will only be able to research upon programs that are accessible in Singapore, through video discs or the Internet.

In addition to the above, you must also said that with rising economic affluence, most Chinese families have access to TV entertainment, hence TV shows, like TV commercials, became strong "propaganda tool".

Also, most Chinese who watched these shows became overtly nationalistic. So this are actually programmes welcomed by the people, including overseas Chinese who have strong links with China.

My only worry is that you have no training on the study of historiography, and may write out of point in the process. This is not an easy research, to say the least.

Hi Mr Lim, this is the proposal as of today. 498 words. I tried to add in your new points, but as a result of the addition of the Lit Review and Methodology, I don't have extra words to spare. Something has to go in order for them to go in, however, I do find that the rationale part is taking up too many words, and more space should be left for my Lit Review.

For the Lit Review, I have read some other articles, one on Political Psychology which talks about how propaganda affects a person's perception, and another on Chinese nationalism (which might, or might not have links to what I'm writing... I just came across it by searching). I guess another category for my Lit Review would be Historical Works, books/journals etc. that write about History, like those that you passed me, dunno how to describe. What do you think?

Thanks!



Research Topic:
Media Historiography: Depiction of Major Wars fought by the CCP on Chinese Television.

Rationale for Choice of Research Topic:

The Chinese media has been and still is inextricable from the state direction, despite trends at liberalization towards the end of the last century. The government continues to exert influence on the content of programs telecasted through China's media. Like all communist regimes, history is often the tool employed by the Chinese Communist Party to achieve its present-day agendas, as it can serve to re-interpret and manipulate the nation's collective memories. I am personally curious on how modern Chinese history, especially those concerning exploits of the CCP, has been portrayed in the media, through televised drama series, especially since I have yet to come across any scholarly work on the topic.

I have also decided to research on three major wars, as opposed to focusing on only one, so that I can arrive at a more concrete conclusion. Subsequently, I find that this necessitates the examination and comparison of different events in order to draw out the similarities in how war is portrayed in the media, how such is differentiated from the true history (if it is), and the reasons why.

Proposed Title of Independent Study:
The three major wars fought by the CCP (namely, the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War and the Korean War) as portrayed on Chinese television: History politicised or pure entertainment for the masses?
Synopsis of Independent Study:
[State clearly the objective(s) and scope of your research, and identify any potential problems or limitations.]

Objectives:
- Determine how entities are portrayed
- Assess the veracity of history as portrayed by Chinese television
- Investigate why they are portrayed as such
- Explain how this plays into the agenda of the Chinese government

Scope:
- This essay will examine the historiography of Second Sino-Japanese War, Civil War and Chinese intervention in Korean War from 1937-1953. It will then relate to the developments in Chinese television after the opening up of China in 1978.

Problems:
The television programs that will be reviewed certainly pose a restriction to the breadth of my research. I will only be able to research upon programs that are accessible in Singapore, through video discs or the Internet.

Literature Review (i.e. an overview of the current state of knowledge in this topic):
Currently, I have not come across scholarly work on this topic per se, however other articles with indirect relation to this topic can be categorized as such:

Scholarly Work on Chinese media
Scholarly works talks about the relationship between the Chinese government and the media (i.e radio, television, newspapers etc.). It often talks about how the media is engaged for raising political consciousness, changing people’s attitude of politics and other goals that the Chinese government might have. This is evident in “News Media, Power and Hegemony in South China” by Kevin Latham. Similarly, Lucien Pye, in “Communications and Chinese Political Culture”, also discusses the relationship between the trinity of media, society and government.

Methodology
[State clearly qualitative and/or quantitative methods that will be used]
This research will have an inevitable qualitative slant. My conclusion of this research would be the formulation of an argument that is deduced from facts. It is not empirical as there is no need to quantify sets of data against each another.

Congrats. Its your research, so you take out whatever in your opinion is not too important, so that the word limit can be met. With regard to the Lit Review, yes, you can add the books in, they are scholarly studies on modern Chinese history. You must qualify that these will furnish the back ground for your research and will not answer the topic directly.

Hi Mr Lim. This is the proposal as of today. Some parts have been abridged... too many words again. Just a question: do you think that a more appropriate and exacting word for what is referred to as "television" in my proposal would be "films"?

Do let me know what you think. Thanks!



Research Topic:
Media Historiography: Depiction of Major Wars fought by the CCP on Chinese Television.

Rationale for Choice of Research Topic:

The Chinese media has been and still is inextricable from the state direction, despite trends at liberalization towards the end of the last century. Like all communist regimes, history is often the tool employed by the Chinese Communist Party to achieve its present-day agendas, as it can serve to re-interpret and manipulate the nation's collective memories. I am personally curious on how modern Chinese history, has been portrayed through films, especially since I have yet to come across any scholarly work on the topic.

My research will encompass three wars, as opposed to focusing on only one, so that I can arrive at a more concrete conclusion. Subsequently, I find that this necessitates the examination and comparison of different events in order to draw out the similarities in how war is portrayed in the media, how such is differentiated from the true history (if it is), and the reasons why.

Proposed Title of Independent Study:
The three major wars fought by the CCP (namely, the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War and the Korean War) as portrayed on Chinese television: History politicised or pure entertainment for the masses?
Synopsis of Independent Study:
[State clearly the objective(s) and scope of your research, and identify any potential problems or limitations.]

Objectives:
- Determine how entities are portrayed
- Assess the veracity of history as portrayed by Chinese television
- Investigate why they are portrayed as such
- Explain how this plays into the agenda of the Chinese government

Scope:
- This essay will examine the historiography of Second Sino-Japanese War, Civil War and Chinese intervention in Korean War from 1937-1953. It will then relate to the developments in Chinese television after the opening up of China in 1978.

Problems:
The television programs that will be reviewed certainly pose a restriction to the breadth of my research. I will only be able to research upon programs that are accessible in Singapore, through video discs or the Internet.

Literature Review (i.e. an overview of the current state of knowledge in this topic):
Currently, I have not come across scholarly work on this topic per se, however other articles with indirect relation to this topic can be categorized as such:

Scholarly Work on Chinese media
Scholarly works talks about the relationship between the Chinese government and the media. It often talks about how the media is engaged for raising political consciousness, changing people’s attitude of politics and other goals that the Chinese government might have. This is evident in “News Media, Power and Hegemony in South China” by Kevin Latham. Similarly, Lucien Pye, in “Communications and Chinese Political Culture”, also discusses the relationship between the trinity of media, society and government.

Scholarly Studies on Modern Chinese History
These works write about the specific years of history that I will be examining in the films. The information in these books serves to furnish the background knowledge of my research, but will not answer my question directly. For example, an overview of the relationship between the CCP, KMT and Japanese Army is explored in “Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945” by Chalmers A. Johnson.

Methodology
[State clearly qualitative and/or quantitative methods that will be used]
This research will be qualitative. The conclusion would be the formulation of an argument that is deduced from facts. It is not empirical as there is no need to quantify sets of data against each another.

Your proposal is okay. Films will include movies too, it'll make your life more difficult. Your job now is to go find tv dramas on Chinese wars.