Introduction to East Asian Cultures:
China and Japan
Autumn 2000 Prof. Thomas A. Wilson
Class time: MWF 11-11:50 Office: KJ 122
Room: KJ 221 Office Hours: MW 3:45-4:45
* Required texts for purchase:
* Conrad Schirokauer, Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, 2nd ed.
* Monkey/Folk Novel of China, Wu Ch'eng-en
* Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu
* Musui's Story, The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai, Katsu Kokichi
On reserve in library
Lopez, Religions of China in Practice
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook
de Bary & Bloom, Sources of Chinese Tradition from Earliest Times to 1600
* photocopied materials to be distributed
I. Introduction
A. Course requirements 8/28
B. Chinese history & Geography (slides) 8/30
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 3-8
II. Classical China
Chronology: Three Dynasties
Xia (2205-1766 B.C.)
Shang (1766-1122 B.C.)
Zhou (1100-256/221 B.C.):
Western Zhou, 1027-771 BC
Eastern Zhou, 770-221 BC:
Spring and Autumn period, 770-476 BC
Warring States period, 475-221 BC
A. Zhou Feudalism and Mandate of Heaven 9/1-6
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 8-26 * film (9/4): "Old Treasures from New China"
"The Announcement of the Duke of Shao," The Book of History, 161-166
Eno, "Deities and Ancestors in Early Oracle Inscriptions" (Religions of China in Practice), 41-51
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "The Battle between Jin and Chu," 14-16
Themes & key terms: Di «Ò vs. Heaven (Tian); oracle bones (jia-gu wen); Mandate of Heaven (Tian-ming); Eastern Zhou: feudalism: royal domain, lords and fiefdoms; decline of feudalism; Eastern Zhou: peasants; warfare, rise of administrative system (jun-xian) in Qin
B. Early Confucianism 9/8-13
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 28-42, 45-49
* Confucius, Analects, Books 3-4
"The Li Yun," The Book of Rites, 364-393
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Confucian Teachings," 17-26
"The Classic of Filial Piety," 64-68
Themes & key terms: Confucius/Kongzi; Confucian humanism; Confucian idea of Heaven (compared w/ Christian God); religious aspects of Confucianism; humanity (ren); gentleman (junzi); ritual (li §); miracles associated with Kongzi
Mencius/Mengzi: humanity & righteousness, true king; innate goodness of human nature (xing); Four Virtues (humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom)
Xunzi: nature, education & ritual; Xunzi and Mencius compared: humanity & rites, mind (xin)
C. Taoism/Daoism 9/15
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 42-46
* begin reading Monkey
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Daoist Teachings," 27-31
Themes & key terms: Laozi & Zhuangzi: limited human understanding; Laozi, Daode jing; Zhuangzi: fasting the mind (zhaixin); on value of moral doctrines, language; mutual production of things (fang-sheng)
! short writing assignment due 9/15 4:30!
(one page critical reflection on readings and
class session on II.B Early Confucianism)
III. Early Imperial China
Chronology:
Early Imperial China
Qin, 221-207 BC
Han, 202 B.C.-A.D. 220
Three Kingdoms, 220-265
Jin, 265-317
North-South, 304-589
Middle Imperial China
Sui, 589-618
Tang, 618-907
A. Emperor and the Imperial Court 9/18-22
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 51-76, 82 (middle of pg.)-85 * film (9/18): "The Emperor's Eye:
* continue reading Monkey Art and Power in Imperial China"
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Cultural Differences," 109-111
Themes & key terms: End of feudalism, rise of universal emperor & imperial bureaucracy; royal family, foreign regimes
Qin: Legalism, social regimentation; unification reforms: administration, economy, thought
Han: Emperor Wu's Legalism and Confucianism; Dong Zhongshu's eclecticism; court erudites, formation of Confucian canon; tax quotas & squeeze; population dislocation
North-South era: political disunity, southern migration: distinctions between north and south; rising importance of south China (south of Yangtze river)
B. Decline of the Medieval Aristocracy 9/25
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 102-114, 122-128
* continue reading Monkey
Themes & key terms: Sui unification, Grand Canal; great families (aristocracy); An Lushan revolt, peasant uprising; decline of feudalism and emergence of bureaucracy; economic expansion, growth of cities; printing; money economy; Wang Anshi's reforms
C. Buddhism & Popular Religion 9/27-29
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 79-100, 114-122, 167-172 * film (9/27): "Buddhism in China"
* finish reading Monkey
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Buddhist Doctrines and Practices," 97-104
"Local Cults," 80-82
"Tales of Ghosts and Demons," 105-108
"A Pilgrim's Visit. . . ," 132-138
"Book of Rewards and Punishments," 142-145
"Proverbs about Heaven," 280-281
Themes & key terms: Buddhism: Gautama Sakyamuni (ca. 560-480 BC), dharma, karma, samsara, nirvana, rebirth, hell (purgatory); Pure Land: Western Paradise, Amida; Four Noble Truths, eight-fold path; Theravâda, Hînayâna, Mahâyâna, sutra; Tendai: Lotus Sutra; Chan/Zen: sudden enlightenment; Kâsyapa, Linji/Rinzai, kôan (public case)
Popular religion: Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, popular lore; ancestor worship; spirit & ghost, importance of filial piety; pantheon of deities as parallel bureaucracy: Jade Emperor, city gods, earth god, stove god
IV. Late Imperial China
Chronology:
Song, 960-1279
Northern Song, 960-1127
Southern Song, 1127-1279
Jin, 1115-1234
Yuan, 1279-1368
Ming, 1368-1644
Qing, 1644-1911
A. Rise of the Confucian Gentry 10/4
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 185-199, 215-222
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "The Examination System," 128-131
"A Schedule for Learning," 195-198
"Lan Dingyuan's Casebook," 292-296
Themes & key terms: emergence of Confucian gentry, civil bureaucracy, three examination levels: licentiate/county level, recommended person/provincial, presented scholar/metropolitan; Confucian Classics; local administration, Mutual Responsibility System and Gentry-bureaucratic alliance
B. Late Imperial Confucianism/Neo-Confucianism 10/6-9
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 199-213, 251-257, 334-339, 344-348
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Zhu Xi's Conversations with his Disciples," 172-177
"Two Philosophers," 256-262
Themes & key terms: Confucian revival, ancient and late imperial Confucianism compared; moral self-cultivation & sagehood; social theory; Five Relations; theory of human nature; Cheng-Zhu School: Cheng Yi & Zhu Xi, state orthodoxy, Principle & material force; Lu-Wang school (Lu Xiangshan & Wang Yangming)
C. Ming-Qing Autocracy 10/11
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 222-260
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Proclamations of the Hongwu Emperor," 205-207
"A Censor Accuses a Eunuch," 263-266
Themes & key terms: son of Heaven, Heaven's mandate, koutou, autocracy; Tang-Song vs. Ming-Qing emperors: chancellor vs. grand secretary, Wanli emperor, Feng Bao, Eastern Depot
! writing assignment due: *Thursday* 10/12 4:30
(in KJ 136 or KJ 122)
D. Late Imperial Society 10/13
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 329-334, 339-351
Themes & key terms: economic macro-zones, rice; free commoners, feudalistic manors, non-hereditary bondservants; global economy, sericulture & commercialization of agriculture; literacy, woodblock printing
E. Family & Gender 10/16-18
Readings: * Dorothy Ko, "The Body as Attire: The Shifting Meanings of Footbinding," 8-27
Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: "Women's Virtues and Vices," 72-76
"Rules for the Fan Lineage. . . ," 155-156
"Ancestral Rites," 157-163
"Women and the Problems they Create," 164-168
Themes & key terms: patrilineal descent lineage, conjugal, primogeniture, eldest son's ritual obligations; adoption, seminal spirit; chastity; peasant women; wife vs. concubine; footbinding; female literacy; Li Ruzhen, Flowers in the Mirror
F. End of Empire 10/20
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 351-352, 385-406
Mid-Term Examination!! Oct. 25
V. Ancient Japan
Chronology:
Yamato 552-710
A. Geography & historical survey 10/27
* begin reading Tale of Genji
key terms: Hokkaidô, Honshû, Kyûshû, Shikoku; Kyoto-Kantô plain; Japanese language: Ural-Altaic
B. Early Japan 10/30
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 130-144
* continue reading Tale of Genji
Themes & key terms: Sacred Origins, Kojiki (Record of ancient affairs), gods (kami), Izanagi & Izanami, Amaterasu/goddess of the sun; Yamato clan, unbroken dynastic succession," Divine emperor (Tennô); Yamato aristocratic uji clans: sacred ancestry: Nakatomi (ritual), Mononobe (warrior), Soga (treasury); imperial clan (Tennoke); occupational guilds; special rankings (kabane); Empress Suiko (r. 592-628) & Prince Shôtoku (573-622), 17-Article Constitution (607), Chinese institutions, Buddhism
VI. Classical Japan: Gods & Emperor
Chronology:
Taika Reforms (Great Changes) 646
Nara 710-784
Taihô code 702
Heian 794-1185
reign of imperial family 781-858: Emperor Kammu (r. 781-806)
aristocratic influence 858-1068
imperial revival (1068-1156): Emperor Go-Sanjô (1068-73)
cloistered emperor system (in): Emperor Shirakawa(r. 1155-58)
Gempei War 1180-85
A. Politics & Society 11/1-6
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 144-167, 172-182 * film (11/6): "Hoichi the Earless," Kwaidan, Kobayashi
* continue reading Tale of Genji
* Ueda Akinari (1734-1809), "White Peak" (Shiramine), from Ugetsu
Themes & key terms: Nakatomi Kamatari (611-669) & Fujiwara clan
Heian stratification of uji clans: courtier aristocrats (kugyô), or court nobles, estates or shôen; estate managers (keishi); Fujiwara, regent (sessho) & chief councillor (kampaku)
B. Shinto 11/8-10
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 274 (sic) * film (11/10): "Shinto: Nature, Gods, and Man in Japan"
* "Early Shinto," Sources of Japanese Tradition 1: 21-33
* finish reading Tale of Genji
Themes & key terms: Shintô: Way of the kami ¯«: factors in the formation of Shintô: dominance of imperial court; introduction of Buddhism. The problem of religion and the separation of secular & sacred; Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801)
VII. Japan under the Shoguns
Chronology:
Gempei War 1180-85
Kamakura 1185-1333
Hôjô regency 1199-
Ashikaga/Muromachi 1338-1573
Warring States 1467-1568
Onin War 1467-77
Oda Nobunaga (1534-82)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98)
Tokugawa 1600-1867
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)
A. Shogun & Samurai 11/13
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 262-266
* begin reading Musui's Story
Themes & key terms: Succession struggle of 1156-60: cloistered emperor Toba, Sutoku (1119-64) & Minamoto (Genji) vs. cloistered emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127-92) & Taira (Heike); Minamoto & bakufu/tent gov't, Seii Taishôgun (barbarian suppressing general), delegated authority
B. Kamakura & Samurai culture 11/15
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 266-283
* don't forget about Musui's Story
Themes & key terms: military feudalism; military land Stewards (jitô); provincial military constables (shugo); samurai class: hereditary military families, bushi/samurai Hôjô regents, Jôei Code (1232). Samurai culture (Tokugawa: bushidô, seppuku
! Essay Due *Thursday* Nov. 16 (in KJ 136 or KJ 122)
C. Ashikaga-Tokugawa: disintegration & reunification 11/17
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 285-310, 355-381
* Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), 322-334
* some more of Musui's Story
Themes & key terms: daimyô, Oda Nobunaga (1534-82), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98); Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), Sekigahara
D. Changing Status of Samurai 11/27-12/1
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 285-310, 355-381 * Film: Yojimbo, Kurasawa, dir. (110 mins.)
* how about more of Musui's Story?
Themes & key terms: Peace after Sekigahara dismantling of feudalism, fixed stipends, ronin, bureaucratization of samurai; daimyo; Fiscal crisis, money economy, bakufu/samurai debts
VIII. Society & Gender
Family, Gender & Sexuality 12/4-6
Readings: * Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), "The Love Suicides at Amijima"
* Anne Walthall, "The Life Cycle of Farm Women," 42-70
* Film: Double Suicide, Shinoda, dir. (105 mins.)
Themes & key terms: Classical era: Murasaki Shikibu, Tale of Genji, feminine & masculine scripts; impact of militarization of society; Tokugawa able to enforce stricter legal barriers between classes; triple obedience; peasant women; Geisha; impact of Meiji reforms; women's role in industrialization; Civil code 1898, Kishida Toshiko (1864-1901)
IX. End of the Shogun
Decline of Tokugawa 12/8
Readings: * Schirokauer, Brief History, 409-429
* finish reading Musui's Story
Themes & key terms: Fiscal crisis, emergence of chônin(urban merchant), merchant class, Osaka rice merchants, Kaitokudô Merchant Academy, political economy; restorationism; Commondore Perry; Ii Naosuke (1815-60), "revere the emperor and repel the barbarians" (sonnô jôi); Chôshû & Satsuma, Shimonoseki