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KIIS Japan, Summer 2022 ARC 401/RELS 399: Topics: Nara Period Japan KIIS Japan, Summer 2022 ARC 401/RELS 399: Topics: Nara Period Japan Professor: Dr. J. L. Richey Email: [email protected] Office hours: on site & by appointment Syllabus subject to change For information about disability accommodation and discrimination/harassment, see p. 7 COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES This course explores the art, history, literature, politics, and religion of Japan during the Nara 奈良 period (710-784 CE). During this time, Japan experienced sudden, intense, and lasting artistic, political, religious, and social changes. Through the examination of images, sites, structures, and texts of this period in the city of Nara and elsewhere in Japan, as well as the reading and discussion of a classic graphic novel, students will develop an informed understanding of this formative era and its cultural legacies in Japan. COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES Students who complete this course successfully should be able to demonstrate (1) familiarity with major historical developments and cultural artifacts of the Nara period, (2) ability in written and oral communication about Japanese cultural history, and (3) critical appreciation of cultural history as a way to understand Japan. KIIS Study Abroad Mission Statement: KIIS provides high-quality education abroad programs for students from all diverse backgrounds that promote deep international learning, are integrated into the curriculum, and encourage critical and creative thinking. Our goal is to help students understand the wider world and develop personal and professional skills for lifelong enrichment. We strive to go beyond generalizations and cultural stereotypes to help foster a nuanced appreciation of the world in which we live. Students participating on KIIS study abroad programs aim to: 1) Understand contemporary issues of their host country/countries (i.e. KIIS program location). 2) Develop skills to interact comfortably in a global setting. 3) Understand other cultures. Prior to your KIIS study abroad program, and again at the conclusion of your program, KIIS will ask each student to a) answer a few multiple-choice questions, and b) write a short reflective essay (two paragraphs in length) related to the elements detailed above. There is no right or wrong answer, and your responses will not affect your grade in any way. The purpose of the exercise is to help KIIS measure the effectiveness of its study abroad programs. 1 COURSE ASSESSMENT REFLECTIONS (4) = 40% of grade SITE VISIT REPORTS (2) = 40% of grade PRESENTATION (1) = 20% of grade Each reflection should be no fewer Each reflection should be no fewer than Each in-class presentation will be oral and than 250 words of error-free English 500 words of error-free English prose consisting 15-20 minutes in duration. Each should offer prose consisting of comments and of analysis of a site visited during the program a detailed analysis of a specific artifact, questions (not summaries) about using relevant terminology and primary-source event, person, or site from the Nara period assigned material, with sources cited texts (at least 2) introduced in the course. (e.g., ítems from Nara or Tōkyō National completely and correctly according Sources must be cited completely and Museums or at various sites visited by the to a recognized documentation style correctly according to a recognized group) using relevant terminology, primary (e.g., APA, Chicago, MLA). (See documentation style (e.g., APA, Chicago, source texts (at least 4), and secondary COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY below for MLA). ). (See COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY below sources (at least 2) introduced in the course. Chicago-style citations of sources.) for Chicago-style citations of sources.) Due by The use of visual aids is encouraged, and a Due by start of class as indicated in COURSEstart of class as indicated in COURSE correctly-cited bibliography of all sources is CALENDAR below (email or print). CALENDAR below (email or print). required. Due in class as assigned by instructor. COURSE MATERIALS 1. Ishii, Ayako. Buddhist Statuary [BS]. Tōkyō: Shō̄gakukan, 2017. ISBN: 9784093884600 2. Tezuka, Osamu. Phoenix, Vol. 4: Karma. Trans. Dadakai. San Francisco: VIZ, 2004. ISBN: 9781591163008 3. Richey, J. L., ed. Nara Period Japan [NPJ]. [Course reader -- provided by instructor as PDF] 4. Access to Nara National Museum Collection Database [https://www.narahaku.go.jp/english/collection/] and E-Kokuhō 国宝 [http://www.emuseum.jp/] websites COURSE CALENDAR KIIS program participants are expected to be punctual to and in attendance at all classes, presentations, meetings and required excursions, and to remain with the program for the full academic period. Unexcused absences from classes and/or mandatory meetings will result in a lowering of the student’s final grade, as will excessive tardiness. Multiple unexcused absences could result in expulsion from the program. Any absence from an academic class session must be excused for medical reasons. # DATE (DAY) TO READ/DO TO VISIT TO TURN IN 1 6月5日 (火) Early Japan in Context Nara National Museum 1. “Top 3 Things to Remember Bring BS with you! About Early Japan” (NPJ 3-4) 2. Benn, “Tang Chang’an” and “Cities and Urban Life” (10-27) 3. Okazaki, “Japan and the Continent” (29-77) 4. Aoki, “Jitō Tennō: The Female Sovereign” (79-97) 2 6月6日 (水) The Founding of Nara 1. Piggott, “Mokkan” (99-120) 2. Naoki, “Nara and Tōdai-ji” REFLECTION 1 (122-138) 3. “The Earliest Japanese Chronicles” and “Early Shinto” (139-148) 4. R. Bender on Shintō (196-197) 5. “The Merger of Buddhist and Shinto Deities” (156) 2 # DATE (DAY) TO READ/DO TO VISIT TO TURN IN 3 6月7日(木) State and Sōni 僧尼 Tōdai-ji 東大寺 1. “Nara Buddhism” (149-152) Kasuga Taisha 春日大社 2. “The Bodhisattva Gyōgi” Bring BS with you! (153-154) 3. Yiengpruksawan, “The Legacy of Buddhist Art at Nara” (161-194) 4 6月8日(金) Emperor Shōmu 聖武 1. Shoku Nihongi 続日本紀 entry REFLECTION 2 for April 21, 749 (198-202) 2. “Proclamation of the Emperor Shōmu” (153) 3. Holcombe, “The Confucian Monarchy of Nara Japan” (208-213) 5 6月9日(土) Empress Kōken 孝謙 1. Shoku Nihongi entries for July 29 & August 1, 752 and June 30 SITE VISIT REPORT 1 & July 12, 753 (203-206) 2. Bender, “Auspicious Omens in the Reign of the Last Empress of Nara Japan” (215-246) 3. Farris, “Trade, Money, and Merchants in Nara Japan” (248-279) EXCURSION TO BYŌDŌ-IN 平等院 (Bring BS with you!) 6 6月12日(火) Rebellion and Reform 1. Shoku Nihongi entries for REFLECTION 3 February 17 & October 1, 758, and September 23, October 11, & October 14, 763 (281-287) 2. Shoku Nihongi entries for October 17, November 6, November 8, & December 17, 764 (289-295) 3. Kornicki, “Empress Shōtoku as a Sponsor of Printing” (309-314) 7 6月13日(水) The “Nun” and the “King” 1. “Edicts of the Empress Shōtoku Concerning Dōkyō” (155-156) 2. “Empress Shōtoku: Edict on the Great Thanksgiving Festival” (157-158) 3. Shoku Nihongi entries for November 26, 27, & 29, 766 (304-307) # DATE (DAY) TO READ/DO TO VISIT TO TURN IN 3 8 6月14日(木) Witchcraft and Treachery 1. Shoku Nihongi entries for REFLECTION 4 January 16, July 7, & October 28, 769, and March 24 & August 10, 770 (323-334) 2. Bender, “The Hachiman Cult & the Dōkyō Incident” (345-373) 3. Yano, “The Tale of Emperor Shōtoku and the Monk Dōkyō” (374-377) 9 6月25日(月) Tezuka, Phoenix, Vol. 4: Karma (entire graphic novel) EXCURSIONS TO NIKKŌ日光, TŌKYŌ NATIONAL MUSEUM, & MIYAJIMA 宮島 (Bring BS with you!) 10 6月26日 (火) PRESENTATIONS Kiyomizu-dera 清水寺 As scheduled by instructor 11 6月27日 (水) PRESENTATIONS Kinkaku-ji 金閣寺 As scheduled by instructor Ryōan-ji 龍安寺 12 6月28日(木) WRAP-UP & EVALUATIONS Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社 COURSE BIBLIOGRAPHY Aoki, Michiko Y. “Jitō Tennō: The Female Sovereign.” In Chieko Irie Mulhern, ed., Heroic with Grace: Legendary Women of Japan (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1991), 40-76. Aston, W. G., trans. “The Birth of the Land.” In Wm. Th. De Bary, et al, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to 1600 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 13-15. _____, trans. “Birth of the Sun Goddess.” In Wm. Th. De Bary, et al, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to 1600 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 20-21. _____, trans. “Descent of the Divine Grandson with the Three Imperial Regalia.” In Wm. Th. De Bary, et al, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to 1600 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 27-28. _____, trans. “Enshrinement of Amaterasu.” In Wm. Th. De Bary, et al, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to 1600 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 30-31. Bender, Ross. “The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident.” Monumenta Nipponica 34/2 (Summer, 1979): 125- 153. _____. “Auspicious Omens in the Reign of the Last Empress of Nara Japan, 749-770.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 40/1 (2013): 45-76. _____, trans. Nara Japan, 749-757: A Study and Translation of Shoku nihongi, tenpyō shōhō 1- tenpyō hōji 1. Middletown, DE: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. _____, trans. Nara Japan, 758-763: A Study and Translation of Shoku nihongi, tenpyō hōji 2- tenpyō hōji 7. Middletown, DE: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. _____, trans. Nara Japan, 764-766: A Study and Translation of Shoku nihongi, tenpyō hōji 8 - tenpyō jingo 2. Middletown, DE: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. 4 _____, trans. Nara Japan, 767-770: A Study and Translation of Shoku nihongi, jingo keiun 1-hōji 1. Middletown, DE: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. Benn, Charles. "Tang Chang'an.” In Benn, Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press 2002), xiii-xix. _____. "Cities and Urban Life." In Benn, Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press 2002), 45-70.
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