History 250/450
TRADITIONAL CHINESE CULTURE
(Spring 1998)
Instructor: Richard J. Smith, Professor of History
Office: Fondren Library, Room 506,
Phone: 527-4947 or ext. 2552; fax: 285-5207; e-mail address:
smithrj@.rice.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.; Wednesdays,
1:00-5:00 p.m. and by appointment
Place and Time: TuTh, 1:00 -2:20 p.m.
Course Description: An introduction to the language, philosophy, religion, art, literature, institutions and social customs of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty (1644-1912), the last imperial regime and a crucial bridge between "traditional" and "modern" China. Although this course is intended in part as an exercise in appreciation, it is designed primarily to encourage critical and creative thinking about another place and time. How did the Chinese make sense out of the world around them, and how can we evaluate their search for meaning without imprisonment by our own set or sets of conceptual categories? What were the primary principles and assumptions underlying Chinese thought and behavior? How were Chinese values, symbols, and myths expressed in rituals, institutions, and social life? In short, what was the "grammar" or "logic" of the Chinese cultural system, and how was it manifested? Class attendance and participation will be an important part of this course. Students who do not have an e-mail account will be disadvantaged in terms of access to certain course materials.
Requirements: Taken at the 200-level, this course involves one short >paper (c. 10 pages--typewritten, double-spaced, and paginated; no folders or fancy fonts; no e-mail or faxes--25%, due in class on March 31); one quiz (10%, February 10); one midterm (20%, March 12); and one three-hour final (45%). At the 400-level, the course also involves an extra 15-page paper (again, typewritten, double-spaced, and paginated; no folders or fancy fonts; no e-mail or faxes; due April 24 in my office before 5:00 p.m.). At the 400-level the short paper will be worth 15%; the quiz, 10%; the midterm, 15%; the longer paper, 25% and the final, 35%. Details on paper assignments to follow. At both levels (250 and 450), late papers and exams will be penalized one-third of a grade (e.g. l- to 2+) per day out of fairness to the rest of the class. The only valid excuse for an extension will be a medical one. I plan to be hard-nosed about this.
Students taking this course pass/fail must earn passing grades on both the paper(s) and the final in order to pass the course.
Texts (all paperbacks):
Cao, Xueqin [David Hawkes, trans.], The Story of the Stone, vol. 1 (1973);
Ebrey, Patricia, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook (1993);
Mann, Susan, Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century (1997);
Naquin, Susan and Evelyn Rawski, Chinese Society in the Eighteenth Century (1987);
Smith, Richard J., China's Cultural Heritage (1994).
Packets of photocopied materials will also be >available for purchase from the Campus Bookstore. Recommended: Smith, >Fortune-tellers and Philosophers (1993 edition). NOTE: IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO DO THE ASSIGNED READINGS LISTED FOR EACH LECTURE OR DISCUSSION PERIOD BEFORE THAT CLASS, IN ORDER TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE SESSION.
Course Outline:
INTRODUCTION (General reading for this segment: Naquin and Rawski, pp. 3-32; Mann, pp. 1-44; recommended: Ebrey, pp. xix and 335-340; Smith, CCH, pp. xi-xii and 299-303; Cao, 11-14)
Tuesday, January 13: Issues and Approaches
Thursday, January 15: Collaboration and Consensus
Required reading: Photocopy Packet "A," "The West and 'the Rest' in the
Humanities" (8 pp.)
Tuesday, January 20: Patterns of the Chinese Past
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 1-40
Thursday, January 22: The Origins of Manchu Rule
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 41-86; Ebrey, pp. 297-300;
Tuesday, January 27: Life in the Forbidden City
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 86-100
CHINESE THOUGHT (General reading for this segment: Cao, pp. 15-123; Naquin
and Rawski, pp. 138-216)
Thursday, January 29: Self-images and Images of the "Other"
Required reading: Smith, CCH, 131-138; Ebrey, pp. 3-5, 38-41, 54-56,
83-85. 109-111, 169-171, 188-191; Photocopy Packet "A," "Mapping China's
World: Cultural Cartography in Late Imperial Times" (33 pp.)
Tuesday, February 3: Language and Logic
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 101-128; Photocopy Packet "B," "The
Three Character Classic" (20 pp.)
Thursday, February 5: Varieties of Confucianism
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 129-131 and 139-150; Ebrey, pp. 6-26,
47-57, 64-68, 77-79, 172-177, 195-198, 256-262, 280-281; Photocopy packet,
"A," "Chinese Philosophy," pp. 1-11, 24-35 [PLEASE BRING YOUR PHOTOCOPY
PACKET TO CLASS]
Tuesday, February 10: Quiz and Discussion
Required reading: review previously assigned readings for this segment;
PLEASE BRING YOUR PHOTOCOPY PACKET TO CLASS
Thursday, February 12: Daoism and Other Discourses
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 150-153; Ebrey, pp. 27-37; Photocopy
packet, "A," "Chinese Philosophy," pp. 12-18 [PLEASE BRING YOUR PHOTOCOPY
PACKET TO CLASS]
Tuesday, February 17: The Cultural Significance of the Yijing
Required reading: review Smith, CCH, pp. 120-128 and Ebrey, pp. 8-10;
Photocopy packet, "A," "Chinese Philosophy," pp. 11-12 and "The Languages
of the Yijing (18 pp.); recommended: Smith, Fortune-tellers and
Philosophers, pp. 93-129 (ON RESERVE) [PLEASE BRING YOUR PHOTOCOPY PACKET
TO CLASS]
RELIGIOUS LIFE (General reading for this segment: Cao, pp. 124-242; Naquin
and Rawski, pp. 33-54 and 94-137; review ibid., pp. 3-32)
Thursday, February 19: State Sacrifice
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 155-165; Smith, Fortune-tellers and
Philosophers, pp. 49-91 (ON RESERVE)
Tuesday, February 24: Buddhism and Religious Daoism
Required reading: Assigned reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 165-185; Ebrey, pp.
97-108, 120-122, 142-150, 280-281, 385-390; Photocopy Packet "A," "Chinese
Philosophy," pp. 19-24
Thursday, February 26: Popular Religion
Required reading: Ebrey, pp. 120-122; Photocopy Packet "B," "Culture and Counter-Culture" (9 pp.); recommended: Smith, Fortune-tellers and
Philosophers, pp. 131-171 (ON RESERVE)
Tuesday, March 3: Mid-term recess
[Note: If you get a chance over the break, read Mann, pp. 121-142; it's
really interesting stuff, but I'm not sure where exactly to put it.]
Thursday, March 5: Mid-term recess
Tuesday, March 10: Divination
Required reading: review Smith, CCH, pp. 120-128 and Ebrey, pp. 8-10; also
"The Languages of the Yijing (18 pp.); recommended: Smith, Fortune-tellers
and Philosophers, pp. 93-129
Thursday, March 12: Midterm
ART AND LITERATURE (General reading for this segment: Cao, pp. 243-451;
Naquin and Rawski, pp. 55-93)
Tuesday, March 17: Chinese Aesthetics
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 187-201; recommended: Smith,
Fortune-tellers and Philosophers, 187-205, 245-257 (ON RESERVE)
Thursday, March 19: Chinese Crafts
Required reading: review Smith, CCH, pp. 187-201
Tuesday, March 24: The Arts of the Brush
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 201-217; Ebrey, pp. 199-201; Photocopy
Packet "A," "Chinese Philosophy," pp. 17-18; Photocopy Packet "B,"
"Excerpts from Some Qing Dynasty Artists" (6 pp.)
Thursday, March 26: Film ("To Taste a Hundred Herbs")
Required reading: review Photocopy Packet "B," "Culture and
Counter-Culture" (9 pp.); recommended, Smith, Fortune-tellers and
Philosophers, pp. 173-219; also 222-245, 259-271, 281-287 (ON RESERVE)
Tuesday, March 31: Discussion [PAPER DUE]
Required reading: review previously assigned readings for this segment
Thursday, April 2: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 219-230
Tuesday, April 7: Chinese Poetry
Required reading: Mann, pp. 76-120
Thursday, April 9: Spring recess]
Tuesday, April 14: Chinese Narrative
Required reading: Smith, CCH, pp. 230-243; Ebrey, pp. 226-237, 304-308;
review reading notes on The Story of the Stone
THE RHYTHMS OF DAILY LIFE (General reading for this segment: Cao, pp.
452-525; Photocopy Packet "B," "The Educational Role of Chinese Almanacs,"
10 pp.)
Thursday, April 16: Domestic Duties (A)
Required reading: Mann, pp. 45-75; 143-177; review pp. 19-44; strongly
recommended: Mann, pp. 121-142; Ebrey, pp. 57-59, 64-68, 77-79, 157-163
Tuesday, April 21: Domestic Duties (B)
Required reading: Mann, pp. 178-200; strongly recommended (again!): Mann,
pp. 121-142; also (less strongly) Smith, CCH, pp. 245-275
Thursday, April 23: Discussion
Required reading: Mann, pp. 201-226; review previously assigned readings
for this segment
Friday, April 24: 450 PAPER DUE
Richard J. Smith
Professor of History (MS-42) and
Director of Asian Studies (MS-47)
Rice University
6100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77005
Phone:(713) 527-4947 (History) or
(713) 737-5843 (Asian Studies)
Fax:(713) 285-5207
smithrj@ruf.rice.edu Thu Jun 18 19:11:59 1998