Death & Afterlife Chinese Rel

Catalog description

Across regions and millennia, human beings have pondered the perennial question of what happens when we die. This class takes a close look at the fascinating ways this question has been answered in the part of the world now called China. From the very outset, we enter into a world of tombs and transcendence, exploring some of China's earliest burial sites. As the course progresses, we turn to the Daoist quest for immortality, the Buddhist conception of reincarnation, and the Confucian practice of ancestor worship. The class considers points where these worldviews diverge, but takes a more interested look at the places where they have harmonized throughout China's long history. Upon completion of the course, students will have a map of China's afterlife, and an introduction to the beings who preside there, from the Supreme Gods of its Heavens, to the Ten Kings of its Hells.