The themes introduced in lectures will be pursued more intensively in weekly section meetings of two hours.  These meetings are the heart of the course and attendance is mandatory.  Special readings are assigned for discussion in sections; almost all of them, after the first three weeks, are primary sources — that is, documents from the period under study.  The readings (revised for this fall) have been chosen from the most up-to-date materials with a view to enabling students to engage quickly and deeply with the civilization celebrated here.  Note that specific readings are assigned for most lectures.  These should be read before the lecture.  The themes introduced in the lectures will be pursued more intensively in weekly section meetings of two hours. These meetings are the heart of the course and attendance is mandatory.  Special readings are assigned for discussion in sections.  Almost all of them, after the first three weeks, are primary sources—that is, documents from the period under study. 

A major goal of the course is to help students improve their writing skills.  Accordingly, there will be two papers, which together will account for 30% of the grade:            

—one of 4-5 pages on a single passage or chapter of an early philosophic text (12%), and      

—one of 5-6 pages that represent a mini-research paper (18%).

• Instructions for Research Paper

In addition, there will also be a one-page assignment that sends students to the Berkeley Art Museum.  There will be a one-hour mid-term (for 15%) and a one-hour final examination (for 25%).  Note that make-up exams are not given except in cases of documented serious illness or dire family emergency.  There will be no exceptions to this rule, so all students are advised to carefully note the date of the two exams.  Summary of grading policy: section: 30%; first paper: 10%; second paper: 20%; mid-term: 15%; and final 25%.  Active participation, not mere attendance, is necessary to earn a high grade for your section work.  To encourage this, all students will submit brief "response papers" giving their reactions to the section readings before each section meeting.  Where students make improvements over the course of the semester, grades will be weighted to reflect that

History 6A Reader.  Except for assignments in the books listed below, all readings for the course will be in the Reader.  The Reader will be available at Metro Publishing, 2440 Bancroft.  One copy will be placed on reserve as soon as possible.  Most students will want to purchase the reader, however.

Tony and Willis Barnstone, Laughing Lost in the Mountains: the poems of Wang Wei (University Press of New England, 1991), paperback.

Basic Writings: Chuang tzu; Basic Writings (Columbia University Press, 2003), Burton Watson, trans.).

Patricia Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge University Press, 1996), paperback.  All references to "Ebrey" are to this edition unless noted.

Corinne Debaine-Francfort, The Search for Ancient China (Abrams, 1999), paperback.

Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, Burton Watson, trans. (Columbia University Press, 1993). 

Jacques Gernet, A History of Chinese Civilization (Cambridge University Press, 1991).  [This remains the single best introduction to Chinese history.  It is not used in this course for the simple reason that it has no illustrations.  Copies are on reserve in Moffitt.]

Craig Clunas, Art in China (Oxford University Press, 1997).

Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, Second Edition, Volume 1 (paperback edition) (Columbia University Press, 1999).  This edition is substantially revised and improved over the first edition.  When buying or consulting this, do not confuse the two.  The syllabus draws upon the first edition only where specifically noted.

Karen Armstrong, Buddha (Penguin, 2001).

8/30  Introduction to the course.  Why bother with history?  Why bother with China?

9/06  Geography, climate, and population.

• Lecture readings (9/6) (in History 6A Reader): Mark Elvin, The Retreat of the Elephants (Yale, 2004), pp. 3-39.

• Handout on the environment

• Handout on Elvin, The Retreat of the Elephants

• Section readings (getting organized): Robert C. Williams, The Historian's Toolbox, chap. 1-4, 11 (pp. 1-27; 94-113); Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing History, pp. 13-20; Colin McVedy and Richard Jones, Atlas of World Population History (Penguin, 1978), pp. 170-74.  In this section, the two romanization systems are explained; and maps are examined.  Students may consult the dialect map at www.ctlwmp.cityu.edu.hk/dialects  [The key in English: red=Wu; teal=Min (Fujianese and Taiwanese); yellow=Hakka; lavender=Yue (Cantonese); gold=Gan; rose=Xiang; green (all of north China)=Northern Mandarin.  The large pale blue areas in the northwest and north are the "languages of fraternal peoples," according to the Chinese legend.]

9/11  Chinese language: the spoken and written languages.

• Lecture readings (9/11): John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, pp. 1-57; Cecilia Lindqvist, Empire of Living Symbols, pp. 16-35.  Also recommended: A. Zee, Swallowing Clouds, pp. 47-52.

• Handout on Difficult Characters

9/13  Neolithic and Shang

• Lecture readings (9/13): Ebrey, pp. 16-30 (until "The Zhou Conquest"), 36-37; Debaine-Francfort, The Search for Ancient China (purchase), pp. 13-67; Robert Bagley, "Shang Archaeology," Cambridge History of Ancient China, pp. 124-39; 180-83; 202-8; 212-19; 229-31; David Keightley, "Late Shang Divination: the Magico-Religious Legacy," Explorations in Chinese Cosmology, 11-35.  Also recommended: Lothar Ledderose, Ten Thousand Things, chap. 2, "Casting Bronze the Complicated Way," pp. 25-49 (on reserve).
• Section readings: no additional reading. Section review of the writing system.

9/18  The Zhou dynasty (11th-5th centuries B.C.) 

• Lecture readings (9/18): selections from two of the Five Classics, the Shijing xx and the Shangshu xx (sometimes called the Shujing xx).  For these, see Arthur Waley, trans., Odes 24-33, 142-43, 238, 241-42, 245 [pp. 34-41, 141-45, 241-243, 250-54, 260-61]); and James Legge, trans., pp. 20-25, 135-38, pp. 179-82 ("The Counsels of the Great Yu"; "The Metal-Bound Coffer"; "Against Luxurious Ease").  Then check the WEB for a 5-page work by Tze-ki Hon on the Yijing [I ching].

9/20  On social forces in the Zhou empire

• Lecture readings (9/20):  Ebrey, pp. 30-35; Debaine-Francfort, pp. 69-87; The Tso chuan: Selections from China's Oldest Narrative History, Burton Watson, trans., pp. 1-8, 50-64, 76-80, 154-63.

• Section readings:  "How to Read a Document," in Sources of the West: readings in Western civilization, ed. Mark A. Kishlansky (New York: Longman, 2003), pp. xi-xix.  Recommended: Alec Fisher, The Logic of Real Arguments, chaps. 1-3, pp. 1-47.  Required trip scheduled to Moffit to familiarize students with the resources there.  The trip is no longer optional, except for students who have attended multiple formal sessions conducted by the reference librarians before, because it will facilitate thinking about good paper topics and the proper evaluation of sources

9/25  Warring States: A new order emerges.

• Lecture readings (9/25):  Ebrey, pp. 38-59; Victoria Tin-bor Hui, War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe, pp. 1-54.

9/27  INTERLUDE: The historian's workshop, 1: Interpreting documents through short readings

• Lecture readings (9/27): J. Holmgren, "Myth, Fantasy, or Scholarship: Images of Women in Traditional China," The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs 6 (July, 1981), 147-70 (JSTOR).

• Texts to be covered in class (just for your reference):
  • A Tang dynasty household register (Patricia Ebrey, Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, pp. 62-63;
  • Wang Pao [Bao], "The Contract for a Youth," Victor Mair, The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, pp. 510-13;
  • Su Ch’e [Che], "Biography of Ch'ao Ku [Chao Gu]," in Shih-shen Liu, Chinese Classical Prose: The Eight Masters of the T'ang-Sung Period, pp. 298-303. 
  • Liu Tsung-yuan (Zongyuan), "The Deer of Lin-chiang," in Yu-shih Chen, Images and Ideas in Chinese Classical Prose, p. 92.

• Section readings: The Way and its Power, Arthur Waley, trans., "Introduction" pp. 17-39; Li Ki: The Book of Rites, James Legge, trans., pp. 210-35 ("The Meaning of Sacrifices," focusing on the first page); Mark Edward Lewis, Sanctioned Violence in Early China, pp. 15-52.  Also recommended: Albert Dien, "Chinese Beliefs in the Afterworld," The Quest for Eternity, pp. 1-15 (in reader)

• Some Close Reading Tips

10/2 Confucius

• Lecture readings (10/2):  The Analects of Confucius, Simon Leys, trans. (New York: Norton, 1997), Introduction + chapters 1-4 (pp. xv-xxxii, 1-33).  Also recommended: Thomas Wilson, "Sacrifice and the Imperial Cult of Confucius," History of Religions, 41:3 (February, 2002), pp. 25l-87 (copy on reserve).  

• Confucius in Modern China

10/4  Zhuangzi

• Lecture readings (10/4): Begin reading in Chuang tzu: Basic Writings, Burton Watson, trans., Introduction, sections 1-4, 6 (pp. 1-63; 73-88).  

• Section readings: Mencius, D.C. Lau, trans. Introduction, Books 1A; 2A/2; 6A/1-4, 10 (pp. 7-28 [top]; 44-46; 49-54, 76-80, 160-63, 166-67).  Do not obsess about names here, but note the appearance of Bo Yi and Shu Qi [Po Yi and Shu Ch'i], whom you will soon meet again.

• Zhuangzi Handout

10/9  Xunzi:

• Lecture readings (10/9): from WEB, Xunzi readings translated by Eric Hutton, plus Burton Watson, trans., Introduction from Hsun tzu: Basic Writings [newer editions called Xunzi: Basic Writings], pp. 1-14.
  • Chapter Nineteen: Discourse on Ritual
  • Chapter Seventeen: Discourse on Heaven
  • Chapter Twenty-One: Undoing Fixation
  • Chapter Twenty-Three: Human Nature is Bad

10/11  Han Feizi raises objections

• Lecture readings (10/11): Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, Burton Watson, trans., Introduction; "Way of the Ruler," and "Difficulties of Persuasion" (pp. 1-20; 73-79).

• Section readings (debate on the four thinkers): Michael Nylan, "The Politics of Pleasure," Asia Major 14.1 (2003), 73-124

10/16   Qin and Han: the first empire.

• Lecture readings (10/16): Ebrey, pp. 60-85; ; DeBaine-Francfort, pp. 134-35; Mark Elvin, The Pattern of the Chinese Past, "Empires and Their Size" (pp. 17-22).

10/18  Han empire and the attempt to make coherent systems

• Lecture readings (10/18): Michael Nylan, The Five "Confucian" Classics, pp. 1-71; 363-71; DeBaine-Francfort, pp.100-27; Bret Hinsch, Women in Early Imperial China, pp. 59-96, 114-19.  

• Section readings:  Sima Qian, "Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin," in Records of the Grand Historian (purchase): focus on pp. 35-52 (until "A comet appeared in the western sky."); 61-67, until the par. beginning with "In the seventh month,..."); pp. 74-83 ("The Grand Historian remarks..."), and skim the rest; "The Han Reaction to Qin Absolutism," in de Bary, vol. 1, 227-234.

• Sima Qian

• Also recommended: Michael Nylan, "Golden Spindles and Axes," in Chenyang Li, ed., The Sage and the Second Sex (Chicago: Open Court, 2000), pp. 199-222 (on reserve)

10/17, evening review session

10/23: in class MIDTERM

10/25: session with Corliss Lee, University Librarian, to start us off on research.

• Library Handout #1
• Library Handout #2

10/27, 5 p.m.: first papers due.

10/30: Sima Qian, China's Greatest Historian

• Lecture readings (10/30): Burton Watson, "The Beginnings of Chinese Historio- graphy," in Ssu-ma Ch'ien: Grand Historian of China, pp. 70-108; de Bary, vol. 1, 370-371.

• Sima Qian Handout

11/1: social, religious and political developments, 3rd-7th centuries, the Three Kingdoms

• Lecture readings (11/1): Ebrey, pp. 86-107; Albert Dien, State and Society and Early Medieval China, pp. 1-31; Elvin, Pattern of the Chinese Past, pp. 35-41.

• Section readings: "Sima Qian's Letter to Ren An," in Records of the Grand Historian: pp. 227-37; The Biography of Po Yi and Shu Qi," in Records of the GH, pp. 11-15; Luo Guanzhong, Three Kingdoms, tr. Moss Roberts, pp. 3-102; Tao Qian, "Peach Blossom Spring."

• Handout on the Age of Division

11/6: Daoism and Buddhism

• Lecture readings (11/6): Kristofer Schipper, The Taoist Body, pp. 1-15, 20-47; Timothy Barrett, " Religious Change from the Second Century CE: Some Current Perspectives and Problems" (WEB); Michel Strickmann, Chinese Magical Medicine, "Demonology and Epidemiology," pp. 58-88. also recommended as background: China's Golden Age, "Sickness and Health," pp. 215-235 ("down to "Stones, Minerals, and Metals").

• Lecture readings (11/8): Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism, pp. 7-111; 224-52; John Kieschnick, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, pp. 275-280. highly recommended: Robert H. Sharf, Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism, pp. 4-27 (this will be available on reserve).

• Section readings: Robert Sharf, "The Scripture in Forty-two Sections"; Alan J. Berkowitz, "Biography of a Buddhist Layman," both from Religions of China in Practice, pp. 360-72; 397-404.

• Handout on the Gods
• Handout on Buddhist Cosmology

11/13-15: Week to do reading and research. There will be no lectures, but Michael Nylan will be in her office during office hours, as will the GSIs. Berkeley Art Museum visits scheduled for each section; no preparation is needed for the visits and no response papers are to be prepared for the visits. These are required visits; they are not optional.

• Library Handout #1
• Library Handout #2
• Library Research Website

11/20: Sui and Tang politics

• Lecture readings (11/20): Ebrey, pp. 108-35. Second papers are due by 4 p.m., on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 22nd), via email. No class on Nov. 22. Sections will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday sections will meet earlier than Wednesday, at a time to be arranged by those in the section.

• Section readings: Stephen Owen, "Poetry in the Chinese Tradition," in Paul Ropp, ed., Heritage of China, pp. 294-308; Tony and Willis Barnstone, Laughing Lost in the Mountains: the poems of Wang Wei (purchase).

• assigned over the vacation: Stephen Owen, "The Snares of Memory," Remembrances: The Experience of the Past in Chinese Classical Literature, pp. 80-99 + two-page synopsis of the history behind that piece. This piece is quite engaging. Everybody will enjoy it.

• Handout on Sui and Tang

11/27: barbarians:

• Lecture readings (11/27): Han Yu, "Memorial on the Bone of the Buddha"; Emperor Wuzong, "Edict on the Suppression of Buddhism," in de Bary, Sources, vol. 1, pp. 371-82; Susan Whitfield, Life along the Silk Road, "The Horseman's Tale," pp. 76-94; and James Leibold, "Competing narratives of racial unity in Republican China: from the Yellow Emperor to Peking Man," Modern China 2 (2006), 181-220.

• Handout on Foreigners and Religion

11/29: Song: Crisis, reform, and factionalism in Northern Song, and Southern Song reactions

• Lecture readings (11/29): Ebrey, pp. 136-163; James Liu, Reform in Sung China, pp. 1-10, 22-58.

• section readings: Cheng Hao, "Remonstrance against the New Laws" to Zhu Xi, "Wang Anshi in Retrospect," in de Bary, Sources, vol. 1, 618-28.

Dec. 4: wrap-up

• Lecture readings (Dec. 4): Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, pp. 1-58.

Dec. 6: in class exam (one-hour). No sections readings this week. Nylan and the GSIs will be holding regular office hours and they will be in their offices during section times.