HUMA2400 Approaches to Humanities in China Studies: Research Methods and the Humanities of Love, Hatred, Life and Death Monday 16:30-18:20, Room 2464 Friday 12:00-12:50, Room 2464 I. Instructors History: Billy So (billyso@ust.hk) Philosophy: Eric Nelson (eric.nelson@ust.hk) Arts: Fong Fong Chen (ffong.chen@gmail.com) TA: Wu Hang (hwuam@ust.hk) II. Course Description This course is designed to train students with the skills of academic research in the field of humanities in general, but with special reference to anthropology, arts, history, linguistics, literature, and philosophy of China, in particular. Students attention will be drawn to the issues of research methods in each discipline, such as (1) What constitute data or source materials? (2) How and where to collect them? (3) How data/ source materials are processed and analyzed? (4) What research questions are asked? (5) What conceptual and theoretical approaches are applied? By focusing on the common human experiences of love, hatred, life and death, and how they are studied in each discipline, students will be guided to compare the distinctive approaches to humanities in China Studies. The six modules corresponding to the six disciplinary areas will be divided into two groups: Group (1) Anthropology, Linguistics and Literature; and Group (2) Arts, History, and Philosophy. The two groups will be covered alternatively in the course, which will be offered in the spring semester of each academic year. In Spring 2016, the second group of modules in Arts, History, and Philosophy will be covered. There are a number of required readings to be assigned for each module. They are all in English. III. Intended Learning Outcomes On completion of this course, students should be able to 1. Comprehend the basic research methods of history, philosophy, and arts; 2. Understand human endeavors and appreciate their creative expressions through the different approaches to Humanities in China studies; 3. Develop cultural sensitivity toward human experiences and conditions; 4. Write a research proposal used in application for admission to a master s program 1
IV. Course Requirements Requirements consist of participating at lectures and tutorials, studying the required readings, viewing videoed lectures before class as assigned, taking 3 quizzes, and submitting a research proposal. Students are required to write a research proposal on any topic in one of the three disciplines (History, Philosophy, and Arts) the student is assumed to do some research on. Students will draw lots to decide which of the three disciplines their topic should build upon. Please treat this proposal as an application for admission to a master s program. A guide to the preparation for the proposal will be available from February 1 in the Canvas site of this course. The due date of the proposal is May 16, 2016. It must be submitted by uploading to the course Canvas site. Late submission will not be marked. V. Grading Quizzes for each module: Participation in lectures and tutorials: Research proposal: Total: 25 marks x 3 = 75 marks 5 marks 20 marks 100 marks VI. Class Schedule, Topics and Readings Module Dates General History Arts Philosophy No Class Feb 1 Introductory lecture May 9 Concluding lecture Lectures: Feb 15, 22, 29 (all three lectures mixed mode of lecturing and flipped class; students need to view videoed lectures before the class) Mar 4 (quiz) Lectures: Mar 7, 14, 21 Tutorials: Mar 11, 18; Apr 1 Apr 8 (quiz) Lectures: Apr 11, 18, 25 Tutorials: Apr 15, 22, 29 May 6 (quiz) Public holidays: Feb 8; Mar 25, 28; Apr 4; May 2 Feb 5, 12 (students view videoed lectures VLs 1 & 2 for flipped class for Feb 15) Feb 19 (students view videoed lecture VL3 for flipped class for Feb 22) Feb 26 (students view videoed lecture VL4 for flipped class for Feb 29) 1) Introductory lecture (attended by all instructors) 2
Feb 1 (Mon) Introduction of the instructors, the syllabus, and the requirements What do we mean by an approach? What is an approach in China Studies? What is an approach in history, philosophy, or arts? Basic research methods in history, philosophy, and arts The 3 common themes of Love, Hatred, and Life and Death in this course The 3 unifying principal values of Truth, Good, and Beauty in this course Briefing on the writing of research proposal 2) Module of History Feb 15 (Mon) Topic: How to study the historical truth of self-interest and trust in the contexts of profit and politics (Students need to view videoed lectures VL1 and VL2 before Feb 15 lecture. No tutorial on Feb 5 and 12) Fukien Pattern, 946-1368. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U Press, 2000. Chap. 11 So, Billy K. L. and Albert S. Lee, Legalization of Chinese Corporation, 1904-1929: Innovation and Continuity in Rules and Legislation. In Billy K. L. So and Ramon H. Myers eds., Treaty-port Economy in Modern China: Empirical Studies of Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Berkeley, CA: UC Berkeley, 2011. pp.185-2 Further Reading: Fukien Pattern, 946-1368. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U Press, 2000. Feb 22 (Mon) Topic: How to study the historical truth of hatred and conflict in social, racial, economic, and political contexts (Students need to view videoed lecture VL3 before Feb 22 lecture. No tutorial on Feb 26) Required Reading: Fukien Pattern, 946-1368. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U Press, 2000. Chaps.4-5. Further Reading: Fukien Pattern, 946-1368. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U Press, 2000. 3
Feb 29 (Mon) Topic: How to study justice and truth in life-and-death matters in the Chinese past (Students need to view videoed lecture VL4 before Feb 29 lecture. No tutorial on Feb 19) Required Reading: So, Billy K. L. Sung Criminal Justice and the Modern Implication of Chinese Legal Tradition. In Liu Tseng-kuei ed., Papers from the Third International Conference on Sinology, History Section: Law and Custom. Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 2002. pp.63-107. Further Reading: Alford, William. Of Arsenic and Old Laws: Looking Anew at Criminal Justice in Late Imperial China. California Law Review 72.6 (1984). History Module Assessment Quiz on Mar 4 3) Module of Arts Mar 7 (Mon) Topic: Representing Life and Death in Chinese Art Required Readings Ching, Dora C. Y. The Language of Portraiture in China. In Martin J. Powers and Katherine R. Tsiang eds., A Companion to Chinese Art (Blackwell Companions to Art History). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015. pp. 136-157. Clunas, Craig. Art in the Tomb. In Craig Clunas, Art in China. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Chap.1. Further Readings: Stuart, Jan, and Rawski, Evelyn. Worshipping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits. Washington, DC and Stanford, CA: Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in association with Stanford University Press, 2001. Chaps 1-2. Wue, Roberta. Picturing the Shanghai Artist: Subjects and Audiences. In Roberta Wue, Art Worlds: Artists, Images, and Audiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Shanghai. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2014. pp. 159-214. Mar 11 (Fri) Tutorial Mar 14 (Mon) Topic: Picturing Beauty and Love in Chinese Painting 4
Cahill, James. Beautiful Women and the Courtesan Culture. In James Cahill, Roberta Wue, Pictures for Use and Pleasure: Vernacular Painting in High Qing China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. pp. 149-198. Purtle, Jennifer. The Icon of the Woman Artist: Guan Daosheng (1262-1319) and the Power of Painting at the Ming Court c. 1500. In Rebecca M. Brown and Deborah S. Hutton eds., A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture. Oxford: Blackwell, 2011. Part IV, Chap.12, pp. 290-317. Further Readings: Handler, Sarah, Alluring Settings for Accomplished Beauties. In Cahill, James, et al. Beauty Revealed: Images of Women in Qing Dynasty Chinese Painting. Berkeley: Berkeley Art Museum, 2013. pp. 35-47. Ellen Johnston Laing, "Women Painters in Traditional China." In Marsha Weidner ed., Flowering in the Shadows: Women in the History of Chinese and Japanese Painting. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990. pp. 81-99. Mar 18 (Fri) Tutorial Mar 21 (Mon) Topic: Visualizing Hatred and Cultural Conflicts Wu, Hung. War Ruins: Conquering and Surviving. In Wu Hung, A Story of Ruins: Presence and Absence in Chinese Art and Visual Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. pp. 121-155. Wu, Hung. The Destruction, Ruination and Resurrection of the Garden of Perfect Brightness. In Wu Hung, A Story of Ruins: Presence and Absence in Chinese Art and Visual Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. pp. 155-163. Further Readings: Fraser, David E. Eyes in the Storm: The Historical Context for Artists in China from the Opium War to the Cultural Revolution. In Julia Andrews, et al., Between the Thunder and the Rain: Chinese Paintings from the Opium War to the Cultural Revolution, 1840-1979. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2000. pp. 15-23. Apr 1 (Fri) Tutorial Arts Module Assessment Quiz on Apr 8 (Fri) 4) Module of Philosophy Apr 11 (Mon) Topic: Love and the Good I 5
1. Mozi and Mengzi - The Ethics of Universal and Particular Love Apr 15 (Fri) Topic: Love and the Good II 2. Plato, Symposium - Eros from sensuous desire to love of the Good Apr 18 (Mon) Topic: Hatred, Resentment, and the Negative Emotions I 1. Kongzi and Nietzsche - Hatred, Resentment, and the Negative Emotions Apr 22 (Fri) Topic: Hatred, Resentment, and the Negative Emotions II 2. The Buddha, Dalai Lama, Paul Eckman, Owen Flanagan - Hatred, Resentment, and the Negative Emotions Apr 25 (Mon) Topic: Life and Death I 1. Zhuangzi -Nourishing Life and Accepting Death Apr 29 (Fri) Topic: Life and Death II 2. The Bhagavad Gita Duty, Virtue, and Preparing for Death Philosophy Module Assessment Quiz on May 6 (Fri) 5) Concluding lecture (to be attended by all instructors) May 9 (Mon) 6