Subject Area: Chinese Studies

This course presents a number of major topics in classical Chinese literature from pre-Qin period (c. 1122-221 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). We will link these topics to various genres including philosophical writings, poetry, essays and fiction, as well as literary criticism. The topics include individual freedom in pre-Qin philosophers (including Lunyu, Mengzi and Zhuangzi), heroes and villains in biographies (Shiji [Records of the Historian]), love and nature in poetry (including Shijing [The Book of Odes], Tang Shi and Song Ci), fine arts in literati style, essays (focusing on the interrelationship between poetry and painting), as well as romance and courtship in vernacular fiction (from Tang Romances to Honglou Meng [A Dream of Red Mansions]). The course is intended to enhance your ability to read and appreciate classical Chinese literature in its different forms, as well as its underlying philosophical and aesthetic principles.