Major sources, ideas, and institutions of Chinese tradition.
Athena Title
Intro Chinese Civilization Hon
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about the history of Chinese civilization by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of Chinese civilization shaped diverse social and cultural attitudes toward religion, culture, and identity, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
1. Shang Oracle Bone Inscriptions
2. Zhou Political Theory and Rhetoric: The Book of Documents
3. Ancient Chinese Poetics
4. Intellectual Foundations
5. The Qin Dynasty: Legalism in Action
6. Han Historiography: Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian
7. Han Thought and Literature: Cosmic Kingship and Imperial Autocracy
8. The Age of Disunion: Daoism as Salvationist Religion
9. The Age of Disunion: Medieval Poetics
10. Chinese Buddhism: The Heart Sutra and The Lotus Sutra
11. The Splendors of Tang Poetry 1: Wang Wei and Li Bai
12. Late Tang Thought: Nativism and Xenophobia
13. Northern Song Thought: Reforming Idealism
14. Southern Song Thought: True Way Learning
15. Song Poetry and Prose
16. Yuan Drama and Poetry: Voices Calling from the Street
17. Ming Thought: Thought in Action
18. Ming Fiction: Comic Buddhist Epic and Scathing Social Satire
19. Qing Fiction and Memoirs: Self-Consciousness
20. The Late Nineteenth Century: The Imperial Order in Collapse
21. The Early Twentieth Century: Reconstructing Culture and Nation
22. Competing Visions of Modern China: Chinese Nationalism and Maoism
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
