<p>Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Orientation of foundational philosophical and literary texts in the classical Chinese or Sinitic/East Asian tradition. Shared by modern China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, these texts provide the rhetorical, intellectual, and ethical framework for premodern cultural tradition; and also serve as political, aesthetic, and moral anchors for contemporary media, art, and social discourse. Reading of classical texts from the pre-Qin Chinese received tradition (Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism). Exploration of the religious canon of Mahayana Buddhism. Engagement with classical literary works representing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese traditions. Students relate the philosophical and literary works to their own lived experiences. P/NP or letter grading.</p>

Asian

College of Letters and Science

Asian Languages and Cultures

General Education — Philosophical & Linguistic Analysis (Arts & Humanities)

General Education — Literacy & Cultural Analysis (Arts & Humanities)

ASIAN 40 - Foundations of East Asia: Philosophical and Literary Traditions

Foundations of East Asia: Philosophical and Literary Traditions

Students will be able to reflect on these ideas, concepts, and motifs in these philosophical and religious traditions by relating them to ethical, moral, or political dilemmas in their own lived academic, personal, and professional experiences through classroom discussion, collaborative annotated responses to readings, and the writing of the first class essay.

Students will be able to analyze primary texts from these philosophical and religious traditions (in English translation) and examine their structure, arguments through classroom discussion and collaborative annotated responses to the readings.

Students will be able to integrate these reflections by incorporating passages from primary texts (philosophy and literature) to formulate their perspectives on the ethical, moral, or political dilemmas these texts confront through the writing of the first class essay.

Students will be able to analyze literary texts from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam to identify how they dialogue with Confucian, Daoist, Legalist, and Buddhist philosophical ideas, morals, and worldviews through classroom discussion and collaborative annotated responses to the readings.

Students will be able to explain how writers in later historical periods in East Asia engaged with these formative ideas in the foundational philosophical and religious traditions through classroom discussion and writing annotations to a variety of primary literary texts (literature: poetry, prose, and drama) from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Students will be able to analyze the historical, social, political, and economic conditions that led to the emergence of the formative corpus of the East Asian philosophical and religious traditions by integrating lectures and assigned readings with weekly annotations and discussion sections.

Students will be able to associate specific ideas, concepts, and motifs with Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism the chief intellectual, philosophical, and religious influences in traditional East Asian society, culture, and literature through the reading and discussion of original primary texts.

Students will be able to reflect and formulate their understanding of how these ideas, concepts, and motifs are expressed in literary texts.

General Catalog

Foundations of East Asia: Philosophical and Literary Traditions

ASIAN 40

5 units