CLUSTER 40A

Chinese Classics, Their Legacy in East Asia, and Reimagination in Modern Times

• Literary and Cultural Analysis
• Philosophical and Linguistic Analysis
• Historical Analysis
• Social Analysis

Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Course 40A is enforced requisite to 40B, which is enforced requisite to 40CW. Limited to first-year freshmen. Learning in traditional China was defined through mastery of canon of classic texts that students memorized as part of their education. These classics were also taught in Vietnam, Japan, and Korea, and served to create cultural ties across East Asia. Many more texts came to be considered classics--works of enduring value, read by large numbers of people across centuries, including religious scriptures, legal codes, novels, paintings, and performances. Exploration of how Chinese classics have been used and reimagined in different places and times to demonstrate enduring importance of these texts and cultural artifacts. Emphasis on how these works were interpreted throughout East Asia, relationship with past, and how shared history is seen as informing present. Letter grading.