Major Topics in East Asian Civilization
 

Course Syllabus

 
Week 1. The Placement of East Asia in Time and Space.
SEPTEMBER 4 and 6.
DAY 1: COURSE INTRODUCTION; ORACLE BONES AND BRONZE INSCRIPTIONS
 
DAY 2: MYTH AND HISTORY EAST ASIAN ORIGINS
        *Book of Songs: Poems # 245 "She Bore the Folk" and #303 "The Dark Bird," p. 2-4.
*The Mythology of Writing," p. 5.
Sources of Korean Tradition, pp. 1-17.
Sources of Japanese Tradition, pp. 1-31.
All readings marked with an *asterisk can be found in the course packet.
 
Week 2. Disputers of the Dao: The Way to Order in the Warring States Period.
SEPTEMBER 11 and 13. .
DAY 1: POETRY AND STATECRAFT; EARLY CONFUCIAN THOUGHT
  * "Examples of Diplomats Quoting from the Book of Songs" p. 6-14.
* "Confucius on the Book of Songs" p. 14.
* "The Great Preface" p. 15-16; * "Minor Preface to "Cry of the Ospreys" p. 17-18.
Sources of Chinese Tradition:
"The Canon of Yao and the Canon of Shun" pp. 29-30;
"The Metal-bound Coffer" 32-35 (also read the poem *"The Owl" p. 19);
Selections from the Analects of Confucius contained in Sources, pp. 41-63.
 
DAY 2: MOISTS, PROTO-DAOISTS, CONFUCIANS
  Sources of Chinese Tradition:
Mozi: pp. 69-72, 75-76, *"Against Music."
Laozi: pp. 77-94.
Zhuangzi: pp. 95-111.
Mencius: read at least the following:
1A:1; 1A:7; 2A:2; 2A:6; 3A:4; 3A:5; 6A:1; 6A: 2; 6A:4; 6A:10; 6B:2.
Xunzi: pp. 174-83; *"Discourse on Music."
 
Week 3. The Early Empire: Institutions, Ideology and Ritual Practice in the Qin and Han and Early Six Dynasties
SEPTEMBER 18 and 20 .
DAY 1: LEGALISM IN PRACTICE; THE COSMOLOGY OF HAN KINGSHIP; THE USE OF HISTORY
  Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 206-212, 234-241, 256-263, 268-82, 367-374.
 
DAY 2: CONFUCIAN AND DAOIST RITUAL
  Sources of Chinese Tradition: pp. 325-344.
* "An Early Poem on Mystical Excursion."
* "Seduction Songs of One of the Perfected."
* "The Method for Collecting and Swallowing the Yin Flower..."
 
Week 4. Early Buddhist China.
SEPTEMBER 25 and 27.
DAY 1: BUDDHIST DOCTRINES AND CULTURAL CONFLICTS
  Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 415-476.
 
DAY 2: BUDDHIST POLITICS AND PRACTICES
  Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 476-504, 522-36.
* "Buddhist Doctrines and Practices," pp. 97-104.
 
Week 5. Religion and Politics in Early Three Kingdoms Korea
OCTOBER 2 and 4.
DAY 1: RELIGION AND STATE FORMATION
  Sources of Korean Tradition, pp. 18-77.
 
DAY 2: BUDDHIST THEORIES AND PRACTICES
  Sources of Korean Tradition, pp. 78-108, 120-22.
 
Week 6. Buddhism and the Building of the Japanese State.
FIRST DRAFT OF FIRST PAPER DUE THURSDAY
OCTOBER 9 and 11.
DAY 1: RELIGIOUS KINGSHIP
  *Religions of Japan in Practice, "The Founding of the Monastery Gangoji," "Hagiography and History: The Image of Prince Shotoku," "The Confucian Monarchy of Nara Japan," pp. 299-333.
Sources of Japanese Tradition, pp. 114-117.
 
DAY 2: RELIGION IN THE HEIAN PERIOD
  Sources of Japanese Tradition: pp. 125-131, 140-142, 145-157.
* "A Memorial Presenting a List of Newly Imported Sutras and Other Items," pp. 140-150.

 
Week 7. The Religious Culture of Medieval Japan
Museum visit: date and time to be arranged.
OCTOBER 16 and 18.
DAY 1: HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND RELIGIOUS ARGUMENTS
  Sources of Japanese Tradition: pp. 180-187, 193-196, 211-237.
 
DAY 2: SECTARIANISM AND SYNCRETISM
  Sources of Japanese Tradition: pp. 292-305, 306-328.
*Religions of Japan in Practice, "Muju Ichien's Shinto-Buddhist Syncretism," pp. 415-422.
 
Week 8. Recovery of the Dao: The Way to Order in the Late Empire.
FINAL DRAFT OF FIRST PAPER DUE THURSDAY
OCTOBER 23 and 25.
DAY 1: BUDDHIST AND CONFUCIAN INTERACTIONS
  Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 568-573, 582-585.
*Religions of China in Practice, "Buddhist Ritual and the State," pp. 390-396.
 
DAY 2: SUNG NEO-CONFUCIANISM
  Sources of Korean Tradition, pp. 311-313, 382-388.
Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 682-714.
 
Week 9. Social and Cultural Orders
OCTOBER 30 and NOVEMBER 1.
DAY 1: GENDER, THE FAMILY, AND EDUCATION
  Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 819-840.
Sources of Korean Tradition, pp. 313-326.
 
DAY 2: GENDER, THE FAMILY, AND EDUCATION
  Sources of Japanese Tradition, pp. 399-412, 425-432, 458-465.
* "Japan a Documentary History," pp. 206-208, 212-215.
 
NOVEMBER 6 SCHOOL HOLIDAY: GO VOTE!
 
Week 10. Family Politics and Ritual Force in Choson Korea
NOVEMBER 8.
  * "A Heritage of Kings," pp. 219-230.
*The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong, pp. 241-336.
 
Week 11. Pacific Overtures: Japan's Place in the World in the Nineteenth Century
NOVEMBER 13 and 15.
DAY 1: REORIENTING JAPAN
  * "Seiyoga Dan," pp. 157-164.
* "Shinron: Kokutai," pp. 179-213.
 
DAY 2: INTERNATIONAL ENCOUNTERS
  *Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi, pp. 104-140.
*Report of the Iwakura Mission and Memoirs of Kume Kunitake, pp. 168-183
* Commodore Perry's Diary: " Japanese Curiosity," pp. 177-198, 323-24.
 
NOVEMBER 22 NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
 
Week 12. Reform and Revolution in China
FIRST DRAFT OF SECOND PAPER DUE TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 20 and 27.
DAY 1: CONFUCIAN REFORMERS AND REPUBLICAN REVOLUTIONARIES
  Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol. II, pp. 198-206, 260-280, 287-298, 314-326.
* "Liang Qichao On his Trip to America," Ebrey, pp. 335-340.
 
DAY 2: THE LITERARY REVOLUTION
  * "On the Relationship Between Fiction and the Government of the People," pp. 74-81.
* Selections from Lu Xun's fiction: Diary of a Madman, Medicine, Hometown. pp. 29-41, 49-58, 89-100.
E-BOOK VERSION: http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?ASR8318
 
Weeks 13-14: The Search for an East Asian Modernity
FINAL DRAFT OF SECOND PAPER DUE THURSDAY DECEMBER 6TH
NOVEMBER 29.
DECEMBER 4 and 6.
DAY 1: TBA
 
DAY 2: TBA
 
DAY 3: TBA
 
DECEMBER 6. Distribution of the take-home final.
 
DECEMBER 13. Take-home final due.