Course Description
An introduction to classical Chinese focusing on translation, analysis of grammar, and the semantic range and use of commonly occurring classical Chinese words. Readings include selections of the early classics through later imperial literature.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
In addition to undergraduate course assignments, graduate
students will be assigned an oral presentation and a substantive
final research paper. The oral presentation will provide an
integrated, synthetic and critical review of secondary materials
bearing on topics or texts covered in the course. The final
research paper will use primary documents in classical Chinese
and will demonstrate mastery of the course materials as well as a
critical and synthetic grasp of issues and fields in traditional
Chinese writings.
Athena Title
ADV CHINESE III
Prerequisite
CHNS 3020
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
To introduce students to the basics of the classical language, both for further study of literary texts and to improve formal reading and writing in modern standard Chinese.
Topical Outline
First Semester: Introduction to Classical Chinese Week 1: Introductory readings in Classical Chinese: modified teaching texts basic sentence structure, verbal and nominal predicates Week 2: Introductory readings in Classical Chinese: modified teaching texts subordinative constructions, modification Week 3: “The Good Archer” (adapted from Mencius) nominalization; nominal predicates Week 4: “Drawing a Snake and Adding Feet” (from Schemes of the Warring States) compound sentences Week 5: “King Tai Goes to Bin” (from Mencius) coverbal adjuncts Week 6: “Great Learning” (from Liji) sentences with multiple predicates Week 7: “Laughing at One Hundred Paces from Fifty Paces” (from Mencius) direct speech, conditionals Week 8: “Impartial Caring” (from Mozi) final particles, complex conditionals Week 9: “The Happiness of Fish” (from Zhuangzi) negatives, nominalization in adjuncts Week 10: “Sheep Butcher Yue’s Refusing Reward” (from Zhuangzi) pivotal constructions Week 11: “Lord Meng Chang’s Retainer Feng Xuan” (from Schemes of the Warring States) emphatic particles Week 12: “Fish is What I Like” (from Zhuangzi) connectives, correlative conjunctions Week 13: Selections of Tang Poetry rhyme and tonal form in shi poetry Week 14: “Hemmed in at Gaixia” (from Records of the Grand Historian) interjections, dislocation and ellipsis Week 15: Introduction to Classical Chinese Dictionaries (Cihai and Ciyuan)
General Education Core
CORE IV: World Languages and Global CultureSyllabus