The University of Montana

Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures

Spring 2015 LA 140

CHIN/MCLG/LS/ 314 TRADITIONAL CHINESE LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION

Instructor: Tim Bradstock, Professor of Chinese & Section Head

Office: LA 319

Email:

Phone: 243-2602

Office Hours: MF 12-1, TR 11-1. Also at other times by app’t.

Course Description:

For the purposes of this course, we interpret the word “literature” in the broadest sense, ranging from canonical texts (on philosophy, history, ethics, etc) through to belles-lettres, prose essays, and semi-vernacular fiction. Both the high-culture and low-culture dimensions of China’s literary heritage find their place among our readings. Our time frame is a long one, spanning nearly three thousand years and ending somewhere around 1900; consequently, we will focus on a limited number of representative works. My hope is that the course will stimulate your interest and encourage you to continue exploring Chinese literature well beyond the end of this semester.

Besides an introduction to traditional Chinese literature, this course will also provide you with knowledge about pre-modern Chinese society and its institutions, the legacy of which is still very much evident to this day. The Chinese people are justifiably proud of their literary heritage and most have some degree of familiarity with the key works from their past. Reading this literature will add to your cultural literacy and help you build personal and professional relationships with the growing numbers of Chinese you are certain to have contact with in the coming years.

Our readings have been chosen not only for their literary and aesthetic value but also for their relative accessibility to the lay Western reader. In general, the individual selections tend to be short, but I will expect you to read them thoroughly and reflect upon what you have read. Make notes as you go along. Jot down ideas, comments and questions as they occur to you. There will be plenty of opportunity for class discussion throughout the semester. Although I will introduce each literary selection and sometimes do a fair amount of the talking, everyone is expected to contribute, asking and answering questions and offering comments and observations as we proceed. The success of this course will depend on everyone becoming actively involved, so please be aware of this expectation from the very outset.

We will be reading all selections in English translation. There are no prerequisites for this course and no prior knowledge about China is expected or assumed.

Please Note the Following Points:

1.  This course uses pluses and minuses in its grading. The lowest credit-receiving grade is D minus, the highest possible course grade a straight A, not A+.

2.  Auditors: Anyone auditing the class must formally enroll as an auditor.

3.  Anyone with a learning or medical disability and in need of special accommodations should inform me as soon as possible and provide official certification from the DSS office on campus.

General Requirements:

1.  You are expected to attend all classes, and I take attendance daily. You are allowed three absences without penalty; treat these like gold and do not squander them! For a fourth absence your course grade will be lowered one degree, e.g. from C+ to C. Five absences will result in your receiving a failing grade. A pattern of lateness may also result in a failing grade.

2.  Please come to class well prepared, having thoroughly read and made notes on the assigned readings for the day.

3.  Participate actively in class discussions.

4.  Turn in all written assignments on time. Your instructor reserves the right to refuse late papers..

Written Assignments and Exams:

1.  Four papers, each five (5) pages long (not counting cover page), typed and double-spaced, will be assigned during the semester. These will be graded not just for content but quality of writing also.

2.  There will be a final exam, covering the entire semester’s work, but no mid-term.

Grading:

Your overall course grade will be determined as follows-

1.  Papers: 4 x 15% each

2.  Final Exam: 30%

3.  Class Participation: 10%

**Note that university regulations prohibit giving exams before exam week, so please remember this when making your travel bookings.

Outcomes:

After successfully completing this course you will be acquainted with (and, it is hoped, have come to enjoy) a wide range of key texts from China’s classical literary tradition. Through reading these selections you will have become conversant with the main genres, styles, themes and concerns of Chinese classical literature and be familiar with many of the public and private values the Chinese historically have held dear. You will also emerge with sharper critical skills, and be able to take an informed position on the literary merits (and limitations) of the individual readings. The written assignments and the extensive feedback provided thereon will have helped turn you into a better writer. Through exposure to a culture that is both pre-modern and non-western you will have gained new perspectives on our own society and times and on humankind in general, especially with regard to what unites -- and also what distinguishes -- people from different eras and civilizations. You will also have developed a greater awareness of the roles literature can play (or at least is expected to play) in shaping a society and the individual, and possess new insights into the different forces that impel people to write.

COURSE READINGS

1.  Victor Mair, ed. The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (Required: available for purchase at the UC Bookstore)

2.  Readings on reserve at the Mansfield Library

3.  Various short items which will be distributed in class: these are listed as TBA.

**Note that minor changes in the readings may be made as the course proceeds.

By way of a warm-up, we will begin each class with a brief and very informal discussion of an excerpt from Li Shang-yin’s Miscellany (Mair, pp. 631-644), working our way through the various lists over the course of the semester. This item will not be included on the final exam.

Schedule

Week 1: Week of Monday, January 26

Mon: Course Introduction.

Wed and Fri: Yuan Chen: The Story of Ying-ying ( MAIR, pp. 851-61)

Week 2: Week of Monday February 2

M The Story of Ying-ying (cont’d.)

WF: A Peacock Southeast Flew (pp. 462-472)

Week 3: Week of Monday, February 9

MW: Kuan Chung attrib., Duties of the Student, (pp. 27-31)

F: Li Ji (The Book of Rites) excerpts (TBA)

Week 4: Week of Monday, February 16

(Monday is a holiday – Washington/Lincoln Day)

WF: Li Ji (The Book of Rites) continued

Week 5: Week of Monday, February 23

MW: Selections from Lunyu (The Analects of Confucius) TBA

F: Chuang Tzu, TBA

Week 6: Week of Monday, March 2

M: Chuang Tzu cont’d.

WF: The Owl: A Daoist prose-poem by Chia Yi pp. 389-392

Week 7: Week of Monday March 9

MW: The Biography of Ching K’o: From Shih Chi (The Historical Records) pp. 671-83

F: Selections from Shi Jing (Classic of Odes): It Takes a Very Stupid Dolt p. 155; Please Sir Second-born p. 157; Big Rats p. 158.

Week 8: Week of Monday March 16

Verse from the Late Han and Early Six Dynasties Periods (ca. 200-400 A.D.)

Selections from The Nineteen Old-Style Poems, TBA

Wang Ts’an – Seven Sorrows, p.170; Chen Lin – Song: I Watered My Horses p.455

Ts’ao Ts’ao – Song on Enduring the Cold, p.456;

Kuo Pu – Poem on the Wandering Immortal, p. 176

T’ao Ch’ien: The Return (pp. 435-437) Poems After Drinking Wine (No. 5) p. 180; On Reading the Seas and Mountains Classic, p. 182

Week 9: Week of Monday, March 23: Verse from the Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Meng Haoran: Seeking out Master Chan on Incense Mountain, p. 194

Li Po: Drinking Alone in the Moonlight (p.203) and Bring The Wine (TBA)

Tu Fu: Seven Songs Written While Living at T’ung-ku (pp. 214-16) Nos. 1-4 and 7

Wang Wei, Po Chu-yi: TBA

(WEEK OF MON. MARCH 30th – SPRING VACATION)

Week 10: Week of Monday, April 6: Verse from the Song Dynasty (960-1279)

Mei Yao-ch’en: various selections (pp. 243-247)

Su Shih: White Crane Hill (p.248) and Meng Chiao (p. 250)

Week 11: Week of Monday April 13 CLASSICAL AND VERNACULAR SHORT STORIES

MW: Liu Yi; or, Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Tung-t’ing Lake pp. 838-851

F: The Swindler Alchemists (On Reserve)

Week 12: Week of Monday, April 20

MW: The Swindler Alchemists cont’d.

F: Feng Meng-lung: The Canary Murders pp. 894-908

Week 13: Week of Monday, April 27 EXCERPTS FROM CLASSICAL NOVELS

MW: The Canary Murders

F: Water Margin (Shui Hu Zhuan), pp. 997-1007

Week 14: Week of Monday, May 4

M: The Water Margin cont’d.

WF: Chapter 3 from The Scholars (Ru Lin Wai Shi), pp. 1007-1019

Week of Monday, May 11: FINALS WEEK