2. What was Lu Liuliang's political stance in relation to the Ming-Qing transition? What is the irony in Lu's thinking regarding Neo-Confucianism, the Qing regime, and the latter's position vis-a-vis Neo-Confucianism? What was Lu's fate during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns?

3. What was Wang Fuzhi's stance in regard to the Ming-Qing transition? How is this amplified in his writings on the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, and on Chinese culture generally?

4. If interpreted in terms of the problem of Qing rule, why might Gu Yanwu have called for greater decentralization of the imperial system? How did Gu's foster-mother demonstrate her antipathy to Qing rule?

5. Once the Qing took power, they aggressively promoted Neo-Confucianism as an official sort of learning/ideology, thus preempting many of their late-Ming critics who had cast their negative remarks in Neo-Confucian terms. Thus, in the mid-Qing, especially in the eighteenth century, anti-Qing thinkers often shifted to anti-Neo-Confucian perspectives. How does Dai Zhen's critique of Neo-Confucianism figure in this context?

6. Confucianism is often criticized by moderns as a sexist philosophy that furthered the subjugation of women intellectually as well as in every other respect. To what extent does Zhang Xuecheng's writings on "Women's Learning" support such a view?

7. How does Sources of Chinese Tradition explain the relative disinterest in Western learning? See especially pp. 63-66. How did the Qing regime bring scholars into its fold?

8. Emperor Kangxi, though a Manchu, is often described even by traditionally-minded Chinese historians as one of the great sage-rulers of all Chinese history. In part this high praise is due to his promotion of Confucianism and Chinese culture, at both the scholarly level and at the popular level as well. How does Kangxi's "Sacred Edict" stand in this regard? What are your reactions to it? Does it seem "offensive" in any way? Does it seem to "ignore" significant areas of intellectual, philosophical, and/or religious concern?

CHAPTER 27
1. How did the so-called "three pillars of the early Chinese Christian Church," Li Zhizao, Xu Guangqi, and Yang Tingyun seek to "accomodate" Christian theology within the Chinese intellectual/religious tradition? What Chinese basis did they find for Christian notions? How did Buddhism figure in their efforts? Confucianism?

2. Briefly explain how Yang Guangxian criticized Christianity? What intellectual tradition did he draw upon in doing so? What do the attacks on and defenses of Christianity tell you about the intellectual climate of Qing China, i.e., about the dominant mode of discourse intellectually? Were intellectuals likely to be Confucians (Neo-Confucians), Buddhists, and/or Daoists?