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Classical Chinese Poetry I. Course Description II. Course Classical Chinese Poetry CHI 341 32065 Spring 2017 Class Times: TTH 3:30 – 5:00 Location: CMA3.108 Instructor: Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang, Professor I. Course Description The class will read classical Chinese poetry of the shi 詩 subgenre from the earliest period (Shijing or the Books of Songs, dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC) all the way to the end of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). If time permits, we will also read some poems of the ci 詞 subgenre selected from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) in the last one or two weeks of the semester. Class activities involve: 1). Translation of pre-assigned poems into English and close analysis and discussion of their linguistic and aesthetic features. 2). Short lectures on such topics as the formal evolution of the poetic genres in early to medieval China, the distinctive styles of collections, periods, and individual poets, as well as the roles and functions of poetry writing, appreciation, and education in traditional Chinese society--primarily within its gentry class, but also beyond it. Given that an enormous number of poems from China’s pre-modern period have been preserved and are still available to us today, the class combines historical and anthological approaches to facilitate students’ understanding of this singularly important Chinese literary tradition. Through close examination of the ways different aspects of the Chinese language— graphic, audio, and grammatical—were explored to achieve poetic effects over a long period of time, we hope to enhance the students’ aesthetic sensibility in general and linguistic competence in Chinese in particular. Basis for assessing how each student has attained these goals include: class preparation, participation in discussions, performance in quizzes and poetry memorizations, and the quality of the papers. Students who have acquired Chinese as a second language should have completed at least three years of college-level Chinese in an American university (or the equivalents) before enrolling in this class. Native speakers of modern Chinese vernacular or a specific dialect, such as Cantonese, with an intermediate or advanced level of reading proficiency may enroll without the CHI 320L pre-requisite. Some knowledge of Classical Chinese would be helpful, but not required. II. Course Requirements 1). Poetry preparation Poems will be assigned for close linguistic analysis and verbal translation in class. Titles of poems and page numbers in textbook/course packet will be posted in the “Assignment” section of Canvas, which is the official website of the class. Every student is expected to look up words and expressions in the assigned poems that they do not already know and get their correct pronunciations before coming to class, and be prepared to read aloud the poetic lines and translate them into English in a somewhat fluent fashion. 2). Background reading Before we start a new historical period, background readings from Burton Watson’s book Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century will be assigned. Quizzes on these materials will be given in class. These quizzes will not always be announced in advance. 3). Poetry memorization Roughly in the second half of the semester and after reaching the Tang Dynasty, the class will be asked to memorize selected poems from different genres and write them down in Chinese characters in the classroom. 4). Papers Two interpretative papers, one mid-term and one final, are required. The papers may be written in either Chinese or English. The submission dates are March 21 and May 10. III. Grading Policies Grades will be based on: (a) Class preparation and participation in discussion (40%) (b) Papers (45%; 20% for mid-term and 25% for final) (c) Quizzes and memorization (15%) Attendance: Absences exceeding the allowed quota (3 times in the entire semester) may result in automatic dropping of the final grade by one or more levels. Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade. IV. Course Materials 1). Materials to be covered in the semester: • Book of Poetry (Shi Jing) • The Songs of the South (Chu Ci) • Rhyme-prose or rhapsody (fu) from Han Dynasty • Music Bureau ballads (Yuefu) • “The Nineteen Old Poems” • Poetry of the Six Dynasties • “Modern-style” poetry from the Tang Dynasty: a) Five- character cut-off verse (jueju) • “Modern-style” poetry from the Tang Dynasty: a) Seven-character cut-off verse (jueju) • “Modern-style” poetry from the Tang Dynasty: Five-character regulated verse (lushi) • “Modern-style” poetry from the Tang Dynasty: Seven-character regulated verse (lushi) • “Ancient-style” poetry from the Tang Dynasty • Lyrics (ci) from the Song Dynasty 2). Textbooks and course packets: (a) Jeannette Faurot, Drinking with the Moon: A Guide to Classical Chinese Poetry (University Co-op) (b) Xeroxed course packet, available through Paradigm Books, located inside Melissa’s Boutique, at 2401A Rio Grande St. (on the corner of Rio Grande and 24th). Phone: 512-472-7986. (c) Burton Watson, Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century (University Co-op) **Documented Disability Statement: Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice), 232-2937 (video phone) or http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd). Schedule and Assignments **This schedule is preliminary. Contents of assignments will be regularly updated based on the actual progress made in our class. Please check the updated assignments on Canvas before preparing for each class. Abbreviations: P: Course Packet W: Burton Watson, Chinese Lyricism F: Jeannette Faurot, Drinking with the Moon Week 1 Intro.; Shi Jing 詩經 1/17; 1/19 T Introduction Th W: 1-14 F: 1 (Intro); 2 Tao yao 桃夭; 3 Cai ge 采葛 Week 2 Shi Jing 詩經; Han poetry 1/24; 1/26 T P: 1 Bo zhou 柏舟; 2 Shi wei 式微, Feng yu 風雨, F: 4 Qiang zhongzi 將仲子 5 Ye you si jun 野有死麇 Th P: 2 Feng yu 風雨, Zi jin 子衿; 3 Jian jia 蒹葭 F: 4 Qiang zhongzi 將仲子 5 Ye you si jun 野有死麇 Week 3 Han: Yuefu 樂府, or Music Bureau ballads & anonymous songs 1/31; 2/2 T W: 52-57 "Yueh-Fu: Folk and Pseudo-Folk Songs" F: 6-7 Intro; 8 Da feng ge 大風歌; Th F: 9 Bei chou ge 悲愁歌 P: 5 Chang ge xing 長歌行; Bei ge 悲歌; start working on 6-7 Gu er xing 孤兒行 Week 4 Han: Yuefu 樂府, or Music Bureau ballads & anonymous songs 2/7; 2/9 T P: 6-7 Gu er xing 孤兒行 W: 15-32 "The 'Nineteen Old Poems' of the Han" (Quiz; especially the section on pp. 15-20 & pp. 30-32) Th B: Jiao Zhongqing qi 焦仲卿妻 Please try to prepare the following: From where we stopped today to "出門登車去,涕落百餘行" (about one third of the poem). And then re-start with "府 吏聞辭變, 因求假暫歸," which is about three quarter of the poem. Week 5 Han: Yuefu 樂府, or Music Bureau ballads & anonymous songs 2/14; 2/16 T B: Jiao Zhongqing qi 焦仲卿妻 Th B: Jiao Zhongqing qi 焦仲卿妻 Week 6 The Nineteen Old Poems 古詩十九首 2/21; 2/23 T F: 10 Qing qing he pan cao 青青河畔草; 11 Tiao tiao qian niu xing 迢迢牽牛星; 13 Ming yue he jiao jiao 明月何皎皎 P: 9 Yin ma chang cheng ku xing 飲馬長城窟行; Th P: 10 Xing xing chong xing xing 行行重行行; 11 Ran ran gu sheng zhu 冉冉孤生竹; 12 Hui che jia yan mai 迴車駕言 邁; Week 7 Jian'an (Chien-an) Period and Six Dynasties 建安時期，六朝 （魏晉南北朝 2/28; 3/2 T *Please start thinking about your mid-term paper. I'll ask you to select your own topic, as long as it relates to poetry written before Tang Dynasty. If you prefer to write in Chinese, please talk to me first. It should an analytical, interpretive paper, about 5 pages, double-spaced. I will give you more guidelines in class. P: 13 Meng dong han qi zhi 孟東寒氣至 F: 14 Shi wu cong jun zheng 十五從軍征 W: 33-51 "Chien-an and the New Realism" Th F: 16 Intro; 19 Ku han xing 苦寒行(Cao Cao or Tsao Tsao 曹操) 17 Qi ai shi 七哀詩(I) (Wang Can or Wang Ts'an 王粲) P: 15 Qi ai shi 七哀詩 (II)(Wang Can 王粲); Week 8 Six Dynasties 建安時期，六朝 （魏晉南北朝） 3/7; 3/9 T P: 16 Qi ai shi 七哀詩(III)(Wang Can 王粲); 17 Qi ai 七哀(Cao Zhi or Tsao Chih 曹植 ); 18 雜詩(II) (曹植); 19 Yin ma chang cheng ku xing 飲馬長城窟行(Chen Lin 陳琳, Imitation yuefu 擬樂府) Th P: Yin ma chang cheng ku xing 飲馬長城窟行(Chen Lin 陳琳, imitation yuefu 擬樂府) W: 68-89 The Poetry of Reclusion F: 23 Yong huai 詠懷 (Ruan Ji or Juan Chi 阮籍); *Mid-term paper outlines due Week 9 Spring Break 3/13 - 3/18 Week 10 Six Dynasties 3/21; 3/23 T F: 24 Gui tian yuan ju 歸田園居 (Tao Qian or T'ao Ch'ien 陶潛, also Tao Yuanming 陶淵明), 26 Yi ju 移居 (Tao Qian 陶潛) P: 24 Du shan hai jing 讀山海經 (Tao Qian 陶潛); 25 Qi li lai 七里瀨 (Xie Lingyun or Hsieh Ling-yun 謝靈運) **Mid-term paper due on March 21. 5 pages, double-spaced. Th P: 26 Deng jiang zhong gu yu 登江中孤嶼(Xie Lingyun謝靈運) W: 90-108 The Poetry of Love F: 16 (the last paragraph); 29 Zi ye ge 子夜歌(III) Week 11 Tang Poetry (Five-character Jueju 五言絶句) 3/28; 3/30 T [P:32 Liu yi shi si shou 六憶詩四首 (Shen Yue 沈約); Diao gan 釣竿(Shen Yue 沈約)] **We will discuss these poems, but you do not need to prepare the translation W: 109-115 "Innovations of the T'ang" (1st half) F: Intro.
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