ASIA 2607: Self and Society in Pre-modern Chinese Literature

MWF 10:10-11:00 Buttrick 201

Office Hours: Th 2:30-4:30 Buttrick 260

Prof. Guojun Wang (guojun.wang@vanderbilt.edu)

(Prior knowledge of Chinese language or literature is NOT required)

Course Description:

What is the Chinese tradition? What is the traditional China? How can such a millennia-long civilization enrich our experience as modern individuals? Through reading Chinese literature, we will together explore these questions. This course introduces you to the Chinese literary tradition, and will be a good starting point for you to explore Chinese literature, history, and culture.

In this course, you will learn about the major intellectual traditions, literary texts, and authors in pre-modern China (ca. 17th century BCE to 20th century CE). The readings follow a chronological order, but in each period we focus on some particular themes revolving around self and society. In turn we will discuss the early writings on man and nature, the birth of the poetic self, China as an open empire, Chinese ethnicity, vernacular literature and commercial culture, and the modern view of the Chinese tradition. Through this course, you will be familiar with

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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. MW meetings usually include a 30-minute lecture followed by a 20-minute discussion. Friday meetings are usually discussion sessions. The readings for each class average about 25 pages (I will designate sections to focus on if more readings are assigned). All readings are in English. Class is taught in English. No prerequisite.

Main Readings (all readings are available as E-books at VU library or PDF files on Blackboard):

• Mair, Victor H. The shorter Columbia anthology of traditional Chinese literature. Columbia University Press, 2000. (E-book at VU library; abbr. Mair, Columbia Anthology)http://proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=74644&site=ehost-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover

• Mair, Victor H., ed. The Columbia history of Chinese literature. Columbia University Press, 2010. (E-book at VU library)http://proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=461157&site=ehost-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_Cover

• Ivanhoe, Philip J., and Bryan W. Van Norden, eds. Readings in classical Chinese philosophy. New York: Seven Bridges Press. 2001.http://proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=64064&site=ehost-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_cover

• Owen, Stephen, ed. An anthology of Chinese literature: beginnings to 1911. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. [abbr. Owen, Anthology; excerpts provided]

• 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.

Requirements:

1) Class Participation; 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. You will have the opportunity to practise leading the discussion sessions in groups.

2) Online Posting: Please submit a post in the discussion section on Blackboard by 9:00 am before class at least once every week. Your post must be one of three types: a question about some problem in the primary readings (specify page numbers); a clarification question about difficult or confusing parts of the primary texts (explain why it’s difficult);

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response to other students’ posts. You must post for at least 15 class meetings. Late posts do NOT count.

3) Papers: Written requirements include two papers (4-5 pages each). Papers will be graded on originality, compelling argumentation, and clarity of style. I will provide rubrics for paper writing later in class. Late papers are NOT accepted. If you need an extension, please contact me in advance. Extensions are given with higher expectations.

4) Final Exam: The final 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.

5) Presentation: Early in the semester, please sign up on Blackboard for a presentation. 6) Absent Policy: You are 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.

7) Computer Policy: Electronic devices (computers and phones) are allowed in class ONLY for reading and note taking. Non-class-related activities such as texting and web-surfing are prohibited.

NB: Instead of the two short papers, graduate and professional school students will write a 20-25-page research paper. There will also be additional secondary readings based on your specific interests. All the other requirements and grading scheme apply to graduate students.

Grading:

In-class participation: 20% (including leading discussions)Online Posting: 10%Individual Presentations: 10%; Papers: 1st 15%; 2nd 20% Final Exam: 25%

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 section, we explore these earliest thoughts and literary forms.

Week 1

A 94-100A- 90-93B+ 87-89B 84-86B- 80-83C+ 77-79C 74-76C- 70-73D 60-69F 0-60

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8/24 Introduction: On why pre-modern China is important!

8/26 Words from Heaven and the Sage Kings Selections from The Classic of Documents (PDF Legge, Classic of Documents) “The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of the Late Shang Dynasty” (PDF Keightley, Oracle

Bones)

Week 2 Two Earliest Canons of Chinese Literature

8/29 Classic of Poetry: Songs of Love and Power Selections from the Classic of Poetry, Owen, Anthology (PDF Classic of Poetry)* Jeffrey Riegel, “Shih-ching poetry and didacticism in ancient Chinese literature,” in

Columbia History of Chinese Literature (PDF Riegel, Shih-ching poetry)

8/31 Shamanism in the Chuci: Lyric of Chu “Li Sao,” “Nine Songs,” in Owen, Anthology, 155-175 (PDF Lyric of Chu)

9/2 Session

Week 3 Two Sources of Chinese Philosophy

9/5 The Confucian Concept of Person and Writing Selected writings by Confucius and Mengzi, from Readings in Classical Chinese

Philosophy (VU E-book, pp. 1-13, 111-115, 127-133)

9/7 The Daoist Philosophers Selected writings by Laozi and Zhuangzi, from Readings in Classical Chinese

Philosophy (VU E-book, pp. 157-177, 203-209, 219-220)

9/9 Session

Week 4 Writing China as an Empire

9/12 The Chinese Empire and Fu “Sir Fantasy,” in Chinese Rhyme-Prose (PDF Watson, Chinese Rhyme-Prose)

9/14 The Grand Scribe and Historical Writing Selections from Sima Qian, Historical Records, in Owen, Anthology (PDF Sima Qian,

Historical Records)

9/16 Session

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

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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.

Week 5 Religion and Philosophy in Practice

9/19 The Coming of Buddhism “The Introduction of Buddhism,” in Sources of Chinese Tradition (PDF Introduction of

Buddhism) * “Buddhist Literature,” in Columbia History of Chinese Literature (E-book, pp. 160-172)

9/21 The Neo-Daoist Cultivation “Discourse on Nourishing Life,” “Rhapsody on Whistling,” in Mair, Columbia

Anthology, 359-363, 229-235. Additional readings on the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (PDF Bamboo Grove)

9/23 Session: clash of ideas Han Yu, “Memorial on the Bone of the Buddha” (PDF Han Yu, Bone of the Buddha) Debate in class

Week 6 The Fragile Life

9/26 Parting, Longing, and the Ephemerality of Life The “Nineteen Old Poems” and other poems, in Owen, Anthology, 249-261 (PDF

Nineteen Old Poems)

9/28 A Story of love suicide “Southeast Fly the Peacocks,” translated by Hans H. Frankel (PDF Frankel, Southeast Fly

the Peacocks)

9/30 Session: Peach Blossom Spring (The Chinese Utopia) Tao Yuanming, “The Peach Blossom Spring”, in Mair, Columbia Anthology, 364-366. In-class screening: “A Tale of the Fountain of the Peach Blossom Spring” (animation on

Youtube, 15 minutes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEJ-0SxADI8)

Part III The Tang China: a Cosmopolitan Empire

The Tang dynasty (618-907) is considered the apogee of Chinese history and literature. It boasts the only female Emperor in Chinese history, it embraced Buddhism and Christianity, its capital hosted tens of thousands of foreigners, and its imperial examination system nourished Confucian scholars as well as poets and fiction writers.

Week 7 City and Poetry

10/3 The Metropolitan Chang’an and Tang Literature

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Introduction to Tang poetry, in Owen, Anthology, 365-373 (PDF Introduction to Tang poetry)

10/5 The Immortal and Sage of Poetry Li Bai and Du Fu, in Owen, Anthology (PDF Li Bai and Du Fu)First paper proposal due at midnight

10/7 Session: The Buddha of Poetry Wang Wei, in Owen, Anthology (PDF Wang Wei)

Week 8 The Art of Telling Stories

10/10 Tang Tales on Love and Betrayal “The Yingying Story,” in Mair, Columbia Anthology, 507-517. Introduction to Tang Tales, in Mair, Columbia History of Chinese Literature (PDF On

Tang Tale)

10/12 Tang Tales on Enlightenment “The Governor of the Southern Branch,” in Mair, Columbia Anthology, 518-528.First paper due at midnight

10/13-14 Fall break

Part IV Becoming Chinese: New Identity, New Thoughts and New Genres

The dwellers of central China for the first time pronounced their ethnic identity as Han Chinese in the 10th-13th centuries against the military threats from the northern “barbarians.” Together with this emerging identity, we see new thoughts about Confucianism and new genres of literature.

Week 9 Introducing New Thoughts

10/17 New Identity: The Song Dynasty and the Beginning of “Modern” China In-class viewing of The Qingming Scroll (available at

http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/painting-along-the-river.php) A Dream of Splendors Past in the Eastern Capital (PDF Dream of Splendors)

10/19 Neo-Confucianism Selected readings by Zhang Zai and Zhu Xi (PDF Zhu Xi)

10/21 Session

Week 10 Inventing a New Genre

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10/24 The Song Lyric Owen, Anthology (PDF Selected Song Lyric Works)

10/26 Li Qingzhao: a female lyricist Biography and selected poems from Li Ching-chao Complete Poems (PDF Li Qingzhao) Mair, Columbia Anthology, 355-358.

10/28 Session: make your own timeline of Chinese history and literature

Part V Vernacular Literature in Late Imperial China

This unit includes literature of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. This period features the development of commerce, cities, and all forms of entertainment. Literature became a means to pleasure, a type of commercial product, and a way of unrestrained self-expression.

Week 11 Life and Entertainment in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty

10/31 The Troubled Empires Chinese Song Writers Under Mongolian Rule, Owen, Anthology (PDF Yuan Vernacular

Song)

11/2 Variety Plays (zaju) in the Yuan Dynasty Injustice to Tou O (Dou E), in Mair, Columbia Anthology, 673-713.

11/4 Session

Week 12 Commerce in Ming Fiction

11/7 Print, Profit, and Pleasure Introduction to Li Yu (PDF Li Yu) PDF Li Yu, A Tower for the Summer Heat

11/9 Print, Profit, and Pleasure “The Oil-Peddler Wins the Queen of Flowers,” in Feng Menglong, Stories to Awaken the

World (E-book, 38-77)http://proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=519832&site=ehost-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_38

Introduction to Feng Menglong (PDF Feng Menglong)

11/11 Session

Week 13 Imagining the World in Ming Novel

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11/14 Journey to the West: a novel about a Tang monk and his disciples The Monkey & the Monk, part 1 PDF Intro to Monkey and Monk

11/16 Buddhist Elements in The Monkey & the Monk The Monkey & the Monk, part 2

11/18 Session: in-class screening “The Monkey King” (1964)

11/19-27 Thanksgiving break

Week 14 Man and Ghost in the Manchu Qing Dynasty

11/28 Trauma Writing during the Ming-Qing Transition “The Massacre of Yangzhou,” in Struve, Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm (PDF

Massacre of Yangzhou)

11/30 The World of the Anomaly Strange tales by Pu Songling and Ji Yun (Mair, Columbia Anthology, 485-506)

12/2 Session: Zhang Dai Second paper due at midnight

Week 15 Toward Modern China

12/5 The “Doomed” Chinese Tradition

PDF Lu Xun, On Chinese Written Language

12/7 Review session (more items on timeline?)

Final Exam TBD

(Class schedule and readings are subject to changes)