Eastern Civilizations

Scholarship

Historical Thinking Skills

Analyzing Historical Evidence

Historical Argumentation

Chronological and Spatial Content

Historical Themes

Scholarship

Causation

Contextualization

Continuity and Change Over Time

Summarize a source

Explain a source

Analyze a source

Make a defensible claim using 3-4 relevant pieces of historical evidence. 

Comparison of Creation Myths and Empirical Evidence 

The Effect of Geography on the Growth of Civilizations

The Start of the Imperial Lineage in Yamato Japan

The Arrival of the Aryans and the Caste System

Centralized Government under the Qin Emperor

The Spread and Importance of Philosophy in China

Nature Worship and Shintoism in Japan

The Formation of Hinduism and Buddhism in India 

The first Indian Empires and the Spread of Culture through the Silk Road. 

 Cultural influence of the Han through trade on the Silk Road.

The Cultural Exchanges from Korea to Japan. 

Flourishing Art and Architecture in Classical Tang and Song

The Assimilation of Chinese culture in the Heian Period

Development of science and medicine in the Gupta period 

Periods of Unity and Disunity during the Three Kingdoms

The Imperial Power and the Warring States during Sengoku Japan

Transition to a Multi-Cultural India during the Muslim Conquest

The Positive and Negative Effects of the Expansion of the Mongol Empire

Repelling the Mongol Invaders in Kamakura Japan

Restoration of the Chinese Identity in Ming China 

The Creation and Development of Mughal India

Fracturing and Social Structures Under the Mughal Rulers

Neo-Confucianism and Social Structures in Feudal China

Samurai Culture and Social Structures in Feudal Japan

The Expeditions of Zheng He and the Height of Chinese Power

The Expulsion of Foreigners from Tokugawa Japan

Development of Kingdoms in Southeast Asia and Korea

The Manchu Conquest and the Expansion of the Imperialist Qing 

The Rise of Mercantilism and East India Company’s Occupation of India

External and Internal unrest in Japan after the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry

Meiji Restoration and Japanese Ambition Expanding across East Asia

Failure to Self-Strengthen and the Consequences of the Opium Wars

The Legacy of the Foreign Occupation in India and Southeast Asia 

Pan-Asianism and Rise of Sun-Yat-Sen

The Contributions of the Asian Nations to World War I in Europe

War-time Atrocities and Conflict during World war II.

The student will be able to explain how Authority, Cultural Constructs, Cross cultural interactions, geography, technology, trade and the environment act as common themes in Eastern Civilizations.  

The student will be able to summarize the main ideas and events of significant moments in Eastern Civilizations.

The student will be able to explain commonly held opinions and assumptions about Eastern Civilizations and may be able to correctly identify misconceptions.

The student will be able to present historical arguments in both written and oral form.

The student will be able to compose argumentative essays which include a simple thesis, use specific evidence and generate a targeted analysis. 

The student will be able to draw upon different historical sources, relating to Eastern Civilizations and use them to develop critical judgements presented in written format.

The student will be able to engage in self-directed research to develop their own conclusions concerning significant events in Eastern Civilizations. 

The student will be able to identify how particular events in Eastern history led to significant changes to Eastern Civilizations.   

The student will be able to explain the significance of both important events and gradual developments to Eastern Civilizations which led to historical moments or significant changes for Eastern Civilizations

The student will be able to interpret which events in Eastern Civilizations led to more important and/or less important changes for Eastern Civilizations. 

The student will be able to distinguish and appraise how changes to technology, social belief politics, economics, at different times have a greater impact on the history of Asia. 

The student will be able to illustrate alternative historical consequences based upon the removal or substitution of historical events for Eastern Civilizations.

The student will be able toevaluate with critical precision if individual historical events being removed/altered would actually considerably different continuity. 

The student will be able to remember how geographic conditions have influenced how Eastern Civilizations have developed.

The student will be able to explain how geographic conditions have impacted how Eastern Civilizations have influenced one another.

The student will be able to apply their knowledge to maps to demonstrate how Eastern Civilizations were heavily influenced by geography.

The student will be able to analyze to what extent geographical conditions influenced the development of Eastern Civilizations. 

The student will be able to evaluate which Eastern Civilizations were most influenced by their geographical conditions.

The student will be able to accurately remember the chronological development of Eastern Civilizations. 

The student will be able to explain how Golden Ages/Disunity/Reunification and other key themes of Eastern Civilizations lead into one another.

The student will be able to create timelines and other graphical demonstrations of Japanese Periods, Chinese and Indian Dynasties.  

The student will be able to contrast the different speeds at which China, Japan and India develop. 

The student will be able to produce extended writing which compares how at different points in time China, Japan and India develop more rapidly than one another.

The student will be able to analyze how the history of Eastern Civilizations resulted in the establishment of the world they live in today, taking into consideration the cultural/political/economic/geographical changes over time.  

The student will be able to summarize the main ideas of a primary source 

The student will be able to summarize the main ideas of a secondary source.

Students will be able e to explain the main ideas of a primary source.

Students will be able e to explain the main ideas of a secondary source.

The student will be able to analyze the intentions of a primary source.

The student will be able to analyze the intentions of a secondary source.

The student will be able to state a plausible historical claim based on evidence. The student will be able to draw a conclusion from a simplistic piece of historical evidence. 

The student will be able to explain how the evidence they are using supports a historical claim they have made.

The student will be able to articulate a historically defensible claim that describes the relationship between 3-4 pieces of historically relevant evidence.  

The student will be able to identifyways that diverse/alternative evidence could be used to qualify or modify an argument.

The student should be able to distinguish between myths and empirical facts.

The student will be able to use historical thinking skills to draw conclusions about how myths connect to the real world.

The student will be able to explain how geography plays a part in the growth of civilization. 

The student will be able to compare and contrast the quick progression of the river valley civilizations of the Indus and Yellow river to the slow development of the Jomon culture on the Island of Japan. 

Students will compare and contrast the processes that formed the Yamato Emperors compared to the Qin Dynasty.

The student will be able to describe how the preservation of the Yamato line became a center point of Japanese politics.

The student will be able to interpret the significance of the Aryans in shaping the life and culture of early India, i.e.; the caste system. 

Students will compare contrast the processes that formed the QinDynasty compared to the Yamato Dynasty.

The student will be able to analyze the most significant changes brought about by the Qin Emperor.

The student will be able to distinguish the differences between the major philosophies which developed during the Zhou Dynasty. 

The student will be able to compare and contrast the three major philosophies of Ancient China

Students will examine the continuity of how Chinese religion and ideology played a role in the formation of the Han Chinese cultural identity today.

The student will be able to understand the core concepts behind worshipping nature and how Shintoism shaped Japanese society.

Students will examine the continuity of how Shintoism helped define the modern Japanese cultural identity

The student will be able to explain how the pressures of Hinduism led to the formation of Buddhism. 

Students will examine the continuity of how Buddhism helped define the modern Indian cultural identity.

The student will be able to discuss the different ways culture diffuses along the Silk Road. 

Students will analyze the life of Ashoka and how he contributed to the spread of Indian culture and Buddhism. 

Students will be exposed to how the spice trade led to some early historical themes concerning trade.

The student will be able to map out how the Han dynasty strengthened and expanded along the Silk Road.

The student will be able to analyze how geographical positioning led to the development of the Silk Road. 

The student will be able to understand how Korea functioned as a cross-road between China and Japan.

The student will be able to describe the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea and how it thematically connected to ‘Greater China’.

The student will be able to analyze life in the Tang and Song Dynasties.  

The student will be able to explain why China stood as the center of culture and art in Asia. 

The student will be able to study ceramics and water painting as primary sources from the Tang and Song dynasty.

Students will understand how the Heian period took classical Tang culture and adopted it as their own

The student will be able to draw conclusions by comparing the maps of Chang’an, Kyoto and Nara.

Students will outline the characteristics of the Gupta empire which allowed it to rapidly develop in the fields of science and mathematics. 

The student will be able to draw thematic parallels between the Gupta period and classical Tang and Song China.

The student will be able to identify the continuity and change found between the Romance of Three Kingdoms and the Record of Three Kingdoms

The student will be able to begin to analyze the role Romance of Three Kingdoms has played in romanticizing modern Chinese interpretations of the Three Kingdoms Period.  

The student will be able to understand how the Japanese Emperor managed to remain on the throne throughout the chaos the Sengoku Jidai.

The student will be able to explain the role of the Shogun.

The student will be able to identify the significance of Oda Nobunaga in the continuity of a re-unified Japan

The student will be able to analyze the changes that the introduction of Islam brought to Indian society, particularly the decline of Buddhism. 

The student will be able to compare competing theories of the decline of Buddhism and determine their own conclusions.

The student will be able to analyze the pros and cons of the Mongol conquest. 

The student will be able to interpret and weigh the benefits, such as religious freedom and cultural diffusion, against the Mongol’s brutal methods of conquest and the relatively short life of their Empire. 

Students will examine how the Mongol invasion reshaped Japanese society.

The student will be able to explain how the Mongol invasion led to the rise of the Samurai class.

Students should understand why the Ming dynasty introduced what is now seen as a nationalistic agenda to wipe out the multi-culturalism of the Yuan Dynasty.

The student will be able to draw similarities between how the Ming and the Mughal dynasties handled multiculturalism. 

Students will study how the Mughal empire embraced the multi-culturalism of their nomadic ancestors.  

The student will be able to interpret why not everyone in India was on board with multi-culturalism. 

Students will analyze how social structures changed during the Mughal empire. 

Students will examine how the revival of Confucianism into Neo-Confucianism shaped the social structures of Ming Dynasty China. 

The student will be able to identify the start of Confucian scholar dominance over Chinese society.

The student will be able to compare and contrast he feudal samurais in Japan and the medieval knights in Europe. 

The student will be able to compare the stark similarities and differences between the Chinese and Japanese hierarchy.

Students will explore the journey of Zheng He and his role in spreading Chinese power and influence throughout South East Asia.

Students should analyze how the end of Zheng He’s expeditions enclosed China in a bubble of ego.

Students will examine the spheres of influence of the Ming Dynasty.

Students will examine the causes and effects of theban on foreigners in Edo Japan, particularly its effects on innovation and politics.

The student will be able to compare the thematic similarities between Chinese and Japanese isolationism. 

Students will be introduced to the various Southeast Asian and Korean kingdoms and how they were influenced by China and India

Students will learn how the Manchus entered China as foreigners to create a Chinese identity and establish an ethnic hierarchy.

Students will explain how the Manchu’s created and expanded an empire based on tributary relations.

The student will be able to explain how European mercantilism drove colonialism around the world.

The student will be able to interpret how mercantilism led to the rise of the Honorable East India Company and its takeover of continental India.

The student will be able to draw parallels between how Matthew Perry forced the reopening of Japan with how the British forced their way into China. 

Students will examine how the restructuring of Japan led to a civil war.

Students will consider the differences between ‘Westernization’ and ‘Modernization’. 

The student will be able to explain how the Meiji Restoration gave more power to the emperor and the individuals around him. 

The student will be able to draw connections between how the ambition to modernize led to Japan colonizing smaller countries across Asia.

The student will be able to contrast the failure of China to modernize with Japans success. 

The student will be able to list out the reasons why the Qing dynasty failed to modernize.

The student will be able to explain why the events after the Opium Wars are considered the Hundred Years of Humiliation for China. 

The student will be able to map out how European colonialism reshaped India and Southeast Asia. 

The student will be able to highlight the infrastructure and policies left behind by the different colonizers. 

The student will be able to analyze how the resistance to white colonialism led to the rise of nationalist sentiments across China and the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty.

The student will be able to trace the rise of Sun Yat Sen. 

The student will be able to describe the contributions of Asians to WW1. 

The student will be able to analyze the reasons behind the contributions of Asian people to WW1 being so often overlooked.

The student will be able to explain the racial aspect of interpreting history

Students will analyze the war-time atrocities and the circumstances that led to them. 

The student will be able to draw parallels between the Nanjing Massacre and the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Insofar as both are acts of great inhumanity to man. 

The student will be able to describe how major Eastern Civilizations often follow a pattern of uniting, destabilizing, collapsing into conflicting kingdoms before seemingly inevitably reuniting again.

The student will be able to explain how geography frequently impacts how India, China and Japan have developed throughout history.

The student will be able to recognize consistent themes across India, China and Japan and replicate these themes with their own created societies via projects. 

The student will be able to begin to evaluate why historians often compartmentalize history into themes.