Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature ASIA 3891: Special Topics Fall 2015 MWF 10:10-11:00 Buttrick Hall 250 Prof. Guojun Wang ([email protected]) Office Hours: MW 11:15-12:15 (and by appointment) (Prior knowledge of Chinese language or literature is NOT required) Course Description: How did traditional Chinese people think and write about their selves, society, state, and nature? How have these traditions sustained a millennia-long civilization? How is today’s China connected or severed from its past? And above all, how can we answer these questions through reading Chinese literature? This course is the first of two survey courses on Chinese literature from pre-dynastic to contemporary periods (the second one will be offered in 2016 spring). This ASIA 3891 Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature 2 course introduces the major intellectual traditions, literary texts, and authors in pre-modern China (ca. 17th century BCE to 13th century CE). The readings follow a chronological order, but in each period we focus on some particular themes about self and society. The central topics include the intersections between literature and history, religion, gender, urban life, and print culture. This introductory course will provide you with a firm grasp of Chinese literary tradition, and prepare you for further studies in Chinese literature and history. Through this course, you will be familiar with China’s intellectual traditions and literary history, hone the skills of close reading, and learn to think and write critically. Class meets three times a week. Each class meeting comprises a 30-minute lecture followed by a 20-minute discussion. The readings for each class total about 30 pages (I will designate sections to focus on if more readings are assigned). Required Texts: • Owen, Stephen, ed. An anthology of Chinese literature: beginnings to 1911. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. [abbr. Anthology] • Wu, Cheng’en. The Monkey & the Monk: a Revised Abridgment of The Journey to the West. Translated by Anthony C Yu. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. • Film: “The Assassin” (The Hidden Heroine), or alternative choice, to be uploaded to Blackboard. • All other readings will be made available as PDF files. Recommended Texts: • For a brief introduction to Chinese history, see Hucker, Charles O. China to 1850: A Short History. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1978 (Under Reserve: Central Library DS721 .H723). • For a comprehensive introduction to Chinese history, see Tanner, Harold Miles. China: From Neolithic cultures through the Great Qing Empire 10,000 BCE-1799 CE. Vol. 1. Hackett Publishing, 2010 (Central Library DS735 .T34 2010 v.1). • For further information about the history of Chinese literature, see Chang, Kang-I. Sun, and Stephen Owen, eds. The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature: To 1375. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 2010 (VU Library online resource). Requirements: 1) You will be allowed two unexcused absences for the semester. Beyond that, you will need to contact me in advance and provide verifiable excuses for absence to avoid losing grade. 2) All weekly readings are due before class. We will frequently refer to the texts in class, especially during the discussion, so you should bring the readings to class, in electronic or printed forms. Active participation in class discussion is very important. Please come to class with questions and opinions about the readings. 3) By midnight before class meeting, post one specific question about the primary readings in the discussion section on Blackboard (samples to be provided at first class meeting). 4) Four short papers assigned throughout the semester. The first two will be response essays (2 double-spaced pages each, topics to be assigned at the beginning of the week when a paper is ASIA 3891 Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature 3 due). For the other two papers (4 pages each), you will choose your topics. I encourage you to consult with me about your topic before you start writing the paper. Papers will be graded on originality, compelling argumentation, and clarity of style. I will provide rubrics for paper writing later in class. Printed papers should be submitted in class on the due date (the last one can be emailed to me). Late papers will lose at least half a letter grade. If you need an extension, please contact me in advance. 5) In-class midterm exam. The exam includes identifications and short essays. If the scheduled exam dates conflict with your religious holiday or your participation in Vanderbilt athletics or other activities, you should talk with me well in advance to schedule an alternative exam date. 6) Electronic devices are allowed in class only for reading and note taking. Non-class-related activities such as texting and web-surfing are prohibited. Grading: Classroom participation 15%: Please come to class well prepared, relate your comments to the themes and readings of the class, engage and respect others in discussion; Posted Questions 15%: Post for at least 30 out of 40 class meetings to get full credits; Midterm exam: 25%; Response papers 45%: 1st 5%; 2nd 10%; 3rd 15%; 4th 15%; Honor Code: The Vanderbilt Honor Code governs all work done in this class. For more information, visit http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/about-us/honor-code.cfm Class Schedule and Readings: (readings with * are optional) Part I Early China: between Heaven and Earth The written history of China (since ca. 17th century BCE) started with contemplating the relation between heaven, earth, and man as social and emotional beings. In the first four weeks, we explore these earliest thoughts and the literary forms that embody them. Week 1 8/26 Introduction: Course preliminaries, “The Chinese Dynasty Song” 8/28 Words from Heaven and the Sage Kings • Selections from The Classic of Documents, trans. James Legge (PDF Legge, Classic of Documents) • David Keightley, “The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of the Late Shang Dynasty” in Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume 1 (PDF Keightley, Oracle Bones) Week 2 ASIA 3891 Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature 4 8/31 Classic of Poetry: Songs of Love and Power • Selections from the Classic of Poetry, Anthology, 10-29, 58-70. • “Birth to the People” (PDF Waley, Birth to the People; compare with Anthology pp. 12- 13) * Jeffrey Riegel, “Shih-ching poetry and didacticism in ancient Chinese literature,” in Columbia History of Chinese Literature (PDF Riegel, Shih-ching poetry) 9/2 Classic of Poetry: The Origin of Chinese Literature • Selections from Classic of Poetry, Anthology, 30-57 9/4 The Confucian Concept of Person and Writing • Selected writings by Confucius and Mengzi, from Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (PDF Confucius and Mengzi) Week 3 9/7 The Use of Metaphor in Laozi • D.C. Lau, trans., Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, 5-30 (PDF Laozi) * Frederick W. Mote, “Early Daoism,” in Intellectual Foundations of China (PDF Mote, on Daoism) • Instruction on paper writing. 9/9 Zhuangzi’s Philosophy of Relativity • Watson, trans., Zhuangzi, 23-30, 89-95, 97-111 (PDF Zhuangzi) 9/11 Early Narrative • Anthology, 77-101 First paper due Week 4 9/14 Shamanism in the Chuci: Lyric of Chu • “Li Sao,” “Nine Songs,” in Anthology, 155-175, 189-197 9/16 The Chinese Empire in Fu • “Sir Fantasy,” “The Sea,” Wandering on Mount Tien-t’ai,” in Watson, Chinese Rhyme- Prose, 1-18, 72-79, 80-85. (PDF Watson, Chinese Rhyme-Prose) 9/18 The Grand Scribe and the Beginning of History • Selections from Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, Anthology, 135-154. (PDF Sima Qian, Grand Historian) Part II The Chinese “Middle Ages”: The Birth of the Poetic Self The time between the 1st and the 6th century in China saw continuous wars, plagues, large-scale ASIA 3891 Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature 5 migration, and the introduction of Buddhism. It was a time of “literary self-consciousness.” The readings for these weeks show the manifold ways of writing private life and social occasions, as well as the reflection over literary writing as an art and technique. Week 5 9/21 History in a Woman’s Voice • “Ban Zhao,” “Thoughts upon Reading the ‘Biography of Ban Zhao,’” in Idema and Grant, Red Brush, 17-42. (PDF Idema, Red Brush) * Lee, Lin-Lee. “Inventing familial agency from powerlessness: Ban Zhao's lessons for women” (PDF Lee, Ban Zhao's lessons) 9/23 Writing Private Life in Yuefu • Anthology, 227-248 9/25 Parting, Longing, and the Ephemerality of Life • “Nineteen Old Poems,” etc., Anthology, 249-273 • “Southeast Fly the Peacocks,” translated by Hans H. Frankel (PDF Frankel, Southeast Fly the Peacocks) Week 6 9/28 The Various Tones of Feast • Anthology, 274-294, 319-334 * Selection from Meow Hui Goh, Sound and Sight: Poetry and Courtier Culture in the Yongming Era, (Goh, Sound and Sight) 9/30 Parables and Jokes • Anthology, 295-310 • Selections from A New Account of Tales of the World, trans. by Richard B. Mather, pp. xiii-xxxi, 354-363. (PDF Tales of the World) 10/2 Traveling • Anthology, 176-188. * Chapter from Tian Xiaofei, Visionary Journeys: Travel Writings from Early Medieval and Nineteenth-century China (PDF Tian, Visionary Journeys) Second paper due Week 7 10/5 The Poetry of the Southern Dynasties • Anthology, 319-334. 10/7 Tao Qian and the Chinese Notion of Utopia • Tao Qian, Anthology, 312-19; • Victor Mair, Shorter Columbia Anthology, 77-79, 235-237 (“The Return”), 364-366 ASIA 3891 Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature 6 (“The Peach Blossom Spring”) (PDF Mair, Tao Qian). * Selection from Robert Ashmore, The Transport of Reading: Text and Understanding in the World of Tao Qian (PDF Ashmore, on Tao Qian) 10/9 Liu Xie and the Concept of Literature • Selections from Liu Xie, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, 299-317, 428- 435).