George Mason University
Department of Modern and Classical Languages
Chinese 310—Survey of Traditional Chinese Literature, Fall 2003
Instructor: Dr. Karl K. Zhang
Office: 215-A Thompson Hall
Phone: (703) 993-4231
Email: kzhang@gmu.edu
Web Page: http:// mason.gmu.edu/~kzhang/
Meeting Time: MW 12:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m.
Meeting Place: Thompson Hall  227
Office Hours: MW 10:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m., and by appointment
Summary of the Course: An introduction of the outlines of Chinese literature from the beginning to the nineteenth century, presented through literary sources arranged in roughly chronological order. Our readings include poetry, fiction and personal essays as well as documents of philosophy, history, religion, and transcribed oral records. No one can expect to “cover” traditional Chinese literature in one semester, but I hope that you will leave this course with a sense of the richness of the literature, a basic map of China’s literary development, and an interest in investigating it further.

My Expectations of You: Participation in class is very important, because I take seriously the idea that my job is not simply to “present” material but to work through, analyze and add to it. Classes will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Be sure to have the material read before class meeting so that you can contribute to the discussions. This course fulfills the General Education literature requirement, so in addition to weekly take-home short reaction papers, you will also write for me two exams and one paper (five to eight pages) on assigned topic. Point breakdown: participation, 20%; weekly short reaction papers, 20%; first exam, 20%; second exam, 20%; research paper, 20%.

Bibliography: This book is for sale at the University Bookstore: Victor Mair, The Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature  (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994).  This text is required; by the end of the course we will have read it almost from cover to cover. Other readings will be distributed in class or put on reserve in Johnson Center Library as we advance. In addition, I hope to bring in visiting speakers, show slides and perhaps show two or three video tapes.

For the research paper you will want to broaden your reading. A good general/intellectual history of China in English is Charles O. Hucker, China’s Imperial Past (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975). An excellent and frequently updated bibliography of Chinese history is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/elman/ClassBib. Most of the titles listed there are in Chinese and intended for graduate-level researchers; scroll down to section 10 which presents books and journals in English.


Session-by-Session Syllabus (in case you cannot finish reading everything, try to finish the first two readings of the day at least):

Week 1. Beginning of the Poetic and Philosophical Traditions.
8/25 M: Introduction to the Course and a Short Video Show on Chinese History.
8/27 W: “Classics of Odes” (149).
              “The Great Preface” (121).
  Homework
________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 2.
9/1 M:  Labor Day, No Class.
9/3 W: * “Confucian Analects” (40); * “Mencius” (43).  * “Chuang Chou” (45); * “Lao Tzu” (57)

Week 3. The “Warring States,” Qin and Han.
9/8 M:  * “Mo Tzu” (31); “Duties of the Student” (27); * “Ground-Thumping Song” (444);
             * “Heavenly Questions”(371).
9/10 W:  * “Two Avengers” (handouts); “Qin Penalty Code” (handouts).
              * “Biography of Ching K’o” (671); Part of the Video Show: The Emperor and Assassin.
Week 4
9/15 M: Chia Yi: * “ The Owl” (389), “Biographies of Transcendents”(771); "Sir Fantasy" (392); * "Seven Stimuli" (411).
9/17 W: * “Song of  the Great Wind” (443);* "Li Yen-nien” (445), * “They Fought South of the Wall” (452);
             * “Watering Horses” (454); * “I Watered my Horse” (455);  * “Enduring the Cold” (456).
           
Week 5. From Han to Tang.
9/22 M: * “Nineteen Old Poems” (451); * “A Peacock Southeast Flew” (462).
9/24 W:  * “Orchid Pavilion” (565); * “Peach Blossom Spring” (578).
             * “The Return” (435); * T’ao Ch’ien selections (177); 
Week 6.
9/29 M:  “Hsi K’ang” (573); “Tales of the World” (768), * Hsieh Ling-yun selections
             (183); Pao Chao selections (472); “Pao Ling-hui selections” (473); * “Mulan” (474).
10/1 W:  (133) * “Mahamaudgalyayana” (1093);
            “How Tripitaka Brought Back the Sutras” (1181); “Literary Selections”.
             Part of the Video Show: Mulan.
Week 7.
10/6M: Midterm Exam.
10/8 W: A Video Show: Chinese Tang Dynasty
Week 8. Tang, Song and Yuan .
10/14 T: (Monday classes meet on Tuesday according to the university calendar) * All Selections from Wang Wei
             (196, 477); * Li Po (198, 300, 437, 556); * Tu Fu (208); Wang Chi-huan (193); Meng Hao-jan (194);
             Meng Chiao (222); Han Shan/Cold Mountain (228); Li Ho (235), Li Shang-yin (237); Yu Hsuan-chi (241);
             Liu Tsung-yuan (702, 767); Han Yu (747); “Li Shang-yin’s Miscellany” (631).
10/15 W: * “The Story of Ying-ying” (851); "Jokes" (224).
            * “The Transcendent Marriage” (838); “Governor of the Southern Branch (861).
Week 9.
10/20 M: * Su Shih selections (248, 320, 438);  * Li Ch’ing-chao selections (334);  * “Li Ch’ing-chao, Bronze and Stone”                   (569); “Longing to Recover the North (handouts); Mei Yao-ch’en selections (243).
10/22 W: Ou-yang Hsiu selections ( 589), * “Autumn Thoughts” (353); * “Injustice to Tou O” (1279); “Country Cousin at                 the Theater” (350); * “The Lute” (1285).
Week 10. Ming and Qing.
10/27 M: * “Strange Tales” (786).
10/29 W:  * “Sketches from the Cottage” (806); "Gold Vase Plum" (981).
               
Week 11.
11/3 M: * “Wu Song Fights the Tiger” (997); “The Peach Blossom Fan” (1306).
11/5 W: * “The Scholars”(1007).
                “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” (947).
Week 12.
11/10 M:  * “Six Chapters of Floating Life” (709).
11/12 W: * “The Journey to the West” (966).
                  Video Show: Monkey King.
Week 13.
11/17 M: * "The Mortal Thoughts of a Nun" (1315).
11/19 W: * “Burial Mound for Flowers” (1020).
                  Video Show: Perfumed Handkerchief.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 14
11/24 M: * “The Peony Pavilion” (1298).
11/26 W:  Thanksgiving Recess.
Week 15
12/1  M: Student Presentation
12/3  W: Student Presentation and Course Evaluation.           
12/10 Wednesday: Paper due in my office (215A Thompson Hall) by 12:00 noon, or via email attachment
          to kzhang@gmu.edu
12/12 Friday: 10:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.: Written Final Exam in the same classroom.