Chinese 205 Xinda Lian Fall, 1997 Office: Fellows 310-A, ext. 6422 MWF 1:30-2:30 Hours: MW 2:30-4:00, T 12:30-1:00 Room: Fellows 206 and by appointment
This course will examine some representative masterworks of Early China from antiquity to the 13th Century, providing acquaintance with major literary types and landmarks in Chinese literary history. Readings will include a substantial selection of poetic works (ranging from poems from The Book of Songs to the poetry of the Tang Dynasty and the song lyrics of the Song Dynasty), various kinds of prose works such as philosophical text, history, biography, and fiction in its embryonic form. Relevant secondary readings in literary history and literary criticism will be introduced to those interested in further investigations of the subjects discussed. Materials covered will be selected and organized in such a way that not only can they be studied analytically in terms of themselves, but they can also be explored in their historical, social and cultural contexts. Class format: lecture accompanied by as much discussion as the size of the class allows. Students will be asked to keep journals of their reading. Required Texts: Cyril Birch, ed., Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1965). Frederick W. Mote, Intellectual Foundation of China (New York: McGraw-Hill Pub. Co., 1989). Coursepack (Denison Bookstore). Recommended Texts: Victor H. Mair, ed., The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994). Stephen Owen, ed. & trans., An Anthology of Chinese Literature (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1996). Burton Watson, tr., The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early Times to the Thirteenth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984). Requirements:
1.
a) Two 3-page essays during the course will be graded. The first essay, which will be a discussion on a story from the Biographies by Ssu-ma Chien, is due on October 15. The topic of the second essay, due on November 17, should be a close-reading analysis of a poem from the Tang Dynasty.
b) A research paper of 12 pages long is due on the last day of class. Suggested topics will be supplied, but topics may also be selected by students as long as the approval of the instructor is obtained. Criteria for essay and paper grading 60% development (depth and range of content, validity of ideas) 10% strong organization 10% clarity (of topic, of expression) 10% mechanics 5% richness 5% style Don't hesitate to be creative!
2. There will be a mid-term and a final. The one-hour mid-term will be given on October 17 and will cover materials studied through October 13. The final will cover the entire course. General review questions will be distributed during the last week of class.
3. Each student is to keep a journal in which you are to make a munimum of three out-of-class entries a week. Bring your journals to class every time it meets. Some days I will have you write briefly in them; some days I will take home 4 or 5 to read through. Each entry should start with date--day of week, calendar date and hour. Evaluation? Quality: I want your original idea based on your reading. Quantity: If you don't have a minimum of 3 entries weekly, it's a zero for that reading. At the end of the course, I will count your points and make it in weight 15% of the course.
4. Attendance and active participation in class. Notice that my definition of absence is "not being here," whatever the cause. Two absences are acceptable (but don't feel obliged to take them). These include near-death days, sports trip days, court appearance days, Friday afternoon before Thanksgiving week, wedding of your aunt's cousin's nephew, etc. After the second absence, twenty points is subtracted from your domposite course score for each day absent, regardless of the reason. Final Grade 15% Participation in discussion. 10% Mid-term 15% Final 20% Essays. 15% Reading Jounal 25% Research paper
Schedule of Readings and Topics:
Reading assignments should be completed before classes. W 1 9/1 Opening Class 9/3 Myth and Early Civilization (1) Wenli Ke and Meixue Hou, trs. & eds., Stories from Chinese Mythology (Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 1991), pp. 68-86, 106-122, 248-254 (Coursepack pp. 9-22). (2) F. W. Mote, Intellectual Foundation of China (New York: McGraw-Hill Pub. Co., 1989), pp. 9-10, 12-16. Euhemerism & Ancient Chinese World-view 9/5 James Legge, tr., "The Canon of Yao," and "The counsels of the Great Yu," from The Book of History, in Lin Yutang, ed., The Wisdom of China and India (New York: Random House, 1942), pp. 707-718 (Coursepack pp. 2-8). W 2 9/8 Intellectual Foundation, pp. 16-25. 9/10 The Book of Songs (Shi jing): Narrative Poetry (1) Arthur Waley, tr., The Book of songs (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1960), pp. 246-254 (Coursepack pp. 23-27). (2) Cyril Birch, Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century, pp. 3-7 (poem #1), 23-28 (poems #27-31). 9/12 The Book of Songs: Lyrics Birch, Anthology, pp. 7-23 (poems #2-26), 28-29 (poems #32-33). W 3 9/15 Secular as Sacred: Confucius (1) Confucius, The Analects of Confucius (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), pp. 159-161 (Coursepack pp. 31-32). (2) Selections from Confucian Analects and the Mencius in Victor Mair, ed. The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), pp. 40-44 (Coursepack pp. 33-35 right hand side). (3) Intellectual Foundation, pp. 27-46. 9/17 Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (1) D. C. Lau, tr. Tao Te Ching (Penguin Books, 1963), pp. 58-59, 67, 99, 122, 140, 142 (Coursepack pp. 28-31). (2) Intellectual Foundation, pp. 59-73. 9/19 Chuang Tzu (1) Burton Watson, tr., Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964), "The Secret of Caring for Life," "The Way of Heaven," pp. 150-153 (Coursepack pp. 41-42). (2) Intellectual Foundation, pp. 73-76. (3) Intellectual Foundation, pp. 92-94 (Section "Chuang Tzu"). W 4 9/22 Chuang Tzu Selections from the Chuang Tzu in Victor Mair, Columbia Anthology, pp. 45-55 (Coursepack pp. 35-40). 9/24 Birch, Anthology, pp. 82-90. 9/26 Make-up and Discussion W 5 9/29 The Songs of Ch'u Birch, Anthology, pp. 49-62. 10/1 Birch, Anthology, pp. 63-64 (poem #1), 65-66 (poems #3-5) 69-70 ("In Praise of the Orange Tree), 71-72 (From " The Nine Arguments), 79-80 ("Summons for a Gentleman Who Became a Recluse"). Early Historical Writings 10/3 (1) Birch, Anthology, pp. 30-38. (2) Selections from Burton Watson, tr., The tso chuan: Selections from China's Oldest Narrative History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989), pp. 40-49 (Coursepack pp. 43-47), W 6 10/6 (1) Birch, Anthology, pp. 39-45. (2) Selections from James I. Crump, tr., Chan-Kuo Ts'e (Oxford: Francisco: Chinese Materials Center, 1979), pp. 54-58, 151-153, 167-168, 262-263, 508-511 (Coursepack pp. 48-55). 10/8 Special session: Professor William Theodore de Bary Records of the Historian: History as Biography 10/10 Birch, Anthology, "Biographies by Ssu-ma Ch'ien," pp. 93-122. W 7 10/13 Birch, Anthology, "Biographies by Ssu-ma Ch'ien," pp. 123-133. 10/15 Rhyme-prose (fu) of the Han Birch, Anthology, "Rhyme-prose of the Han Dynasty," pp. 134- 141, 148 (middle of the page "Here, in late fall and early winter,...")-153 (end of the verse). !!! First 2-page essay due. 10/17 Mid-term W 8 10/20 Ballads (yuefu) of the Han (1) Selections from Arthur Waley, Translations from the Chinese (New York: Vintage Books, 1971), pp. 18-21, 26-33 (Coursepack pp. 56-61). (2) Selections from J. D. Frodsham, An Anthology of Chinese Verse (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), pp. 4-7 (Coursepack pp. 62-63). 10/22 Selections from the "Nineteen Old Poems," and others (Coursepack pp. 64-69) 10/24 New Biography Selections from Richard Mather, tr., A New Account of Tales of the World (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1976), pp. 371-391 (Coursepack pp. 69-79). W 9 10/27 Poetry from the End of the Han to the Wei and Jin Birch, Anthology, pp. 174-181, 189-193. 10/29 Rustic Poetry and Landscape Poetry (1) Birch, Anthology, pp. 182-188. (2) Wu-chi Liu and Irving Y. Lo, eds, Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), pp. 58-63 (Coursepack p. 80-82). 10/31 Tales of Marvels (zhiguai) of the Six Dynasties Selections from Hsien-yi Yang and Gladys Yang, trs., The Man Who Sold A Ghost (Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, 1974), pp. 1- 5, 22-23, 30-31, 70-73, 78-81, 100-101, 104-106, 126-127 (Coursepack pp. 83-92). W 10 11/3 Selections from Chi-chen Wang, tr., Traditional Chinese Tales (New York: Greenwood Press, 1968), pp. 1-16 (Coursepack pp. 93- 100). 11/5 Tang Poetry, I: Early Tang; Wang Wei Birch, Anthology, pp. 217-224. 11/7 Tang Poetry, II: High Tang; Li Bai and Du Fu Birch, Anthology, pp. 225-241. W 11 11/10 Tang Poetry, III: Mid-Tang; Han Yu, Bai Juyi and Hanshan Birch, Anthology, pp. 260, 261 ("The Withered Tree"), 266-270 ("A Song of Unending Sorrow" and "On the Lotuses Newly Planted..."), 278-280. 11/12 Tang Poetry, IV: Later Trends; Li He, Li Shangyin Birch, Anthology, pp. 281-287, 323-329. 11/14 Prose of Tang and Song Birch, Anthology, pp. 242-259, 364-384. W 12 11/17 Tang Short Stories (1) Selections from Chi-chen Wang, tr., Traditional Chinese Tales (New York: Greenwood Press, 1943), pp. 17-23 (Coursepack pp. 100-103). (2) Birch, Anthology, pp. 288-299. !!! Second 2-page essay due. 11/19 Discussion 11/21 Discussion W 13 Thanksgiving Recess W 14 12/1 Birch, Anthology, pp. 300-322. 12/3 Poetry of the Song Dynasty (1) Birch, Anthology, pp. 386-389. (2) Coursepack pp. 104-109. 12/5 Song Lyrics (ci) of the Song Dynasty (1) Birch, Anthology, pp. 333-335, 336 (poem #1), 338 (poem #3), 339-340 (poems #2, 4), 350-351 ("Wave-washed Sand" and "Gazing to the South"), 355-357. W 15 12/8 Feminine and Soft vs. Masculine and Heroic: Different Styles of Song Lyrics 12/10, 12 Review & Discussion Final Paper Due 12/16 9:00-11:00 Final exam