Classes

This seminar focuses on poetic and narrative texts from the late eighth and ninth century—the Mid Tang and Late Tang—and explores a series of important issues and changing values in literary, cultural, and intellectual history at this watershed time in the Chinese tradition.

This semester’s focus is Tang dynasty’s tales, balancing canonical tales with less well-known ones. Central themes include 1) the relationship between humans and things; 2) sexuality and romance—especially romance with the alien kinds; violence; metamorphosis; 3)...

This course offers an in-depth scholarly background in the history of Chinese literature and literary culture, examines issues particular to each period in classical literature and of the current state of the field, and engages critical reflection on the question of...

This semester’s focus is the poetry of the Southern Dynasties, Sui, and Early Tang. Tentative Meeting Times: Friday 9:00–12:00 or 12:45pm–3:45pm

This semester’s focus is the eighth-century poetry, the centerpiece of the poetry of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), long considered the crème of classical Chinese literature.

This semester’s focus is Tang dynasty’s tales, balancing canonical tales with less well-known ones. Central themes include: 1) the relationship between humans and things; 2) sexuality and romance—especially with the alien kinds; violence; metamorphosis; 3) representations of...

This semester we focus on a survey of early and early medieval Chinese autobiography in a variety of genres, and discuss the definition, history, and theories of self-writing.

This semester the topic is a review of the canonical poets of the Six Dynasties from Tao Yuanming to Yu Xin. Class Materials: Major Poets of the Six Dynasties WK 1/January 29 Introduction WK 2-3/February 5, 12 陶淵明 [use 曾集本陶集 ] Keywords: autobiography; self-representation...

This course explores medieval Chinese court culture from the fifth through early eighth century (the late Northern and Southern dynasties through the early Tang). This was a period when the court occupied a central position in the cultural life of society and played a role...

In this class we will read poetry and prose from the second half of the sixth century, with a focus on poetry and prose by members of the southern diaspora after the traumatic event of the Hou Jing Rebellion, but we will also examine the “western diaspora”—the Northern Qi...

The period of the “Three Kingdoms” at the turn of the third century was a dangerous and violent time; it is also one of the historical periods that have most inspired the Chinese cultural imagination. For more than a millennium, numerous works, from written to visual, have...