Foreign Societies in Classical Chinese Writing

Catalog description

This is a Classical Chinese class that covers writings on foreign societies in history. In this class, we will see how people used Classical Chinese to make records of foreign societies, descriptively or imaginarily. We will follow pilgrimages to India as well as adventures in Vietnam; we will encounter child-eating Dutch cannibals as well as people from the Country of Dogs. Beneath this exotic surface, we will examine the underlying schemes and tropes that are often used to describe foreign people and polities in Classical Chinese writing. In this way, we will know what to expect when we read a text of similar genre. Because this is a Classical Chinese class, we will learn how to use grammar and context to parse difficult passages: we will learn basic tactics to unpack sentences when their structures are unclear or the words’ meanings are opaque. These tactics are especially crucial when one encounters an unfamiliar text without any outside help. Prerequisite: CHIN-SHU 402 (Classical Chinese II) or equivalent; OR Chinese students who have studied classical Chinese before; OR Instructor Permission Fulfillment: CORE HPC/IPC; GCS advanced track Language course for Native Chinese speakers; Humanities Advanced course (18-19: topic course).