First-Year Seminar: Empire At Play: Gaming, Gambling, & Material Culture in Late Imperial China

3 units

This course offers a new perspective on what people played, how they played, and why. A series of historical changes in late imperial China, including domestication, consumerism, gender divisions, sexual fetishes, war and finances, westernization, and diasporas, have shaped the activities that people enjoyed. This course will examine game play and material culture as a lens to examine Ming-Qing history and people, especially the people's anxiety, excitement, taboos, desires, and daily life that was shaped by the broader social environment.