Prof. Joseph Adler	Fall 2000
Ascension 310	MWF 1:10-2:00 (Per. 6)
E-mail: adlerj@kenyon.edu	Ascension 226
PBX 5290	Office hours: MTW 3-4

This course is a survey of the major historical and contemporary currents of religious thought and practice in Chinese culture. Our aim will be to gain a richer understanding of some characteristic Chinese ways of experiencing the self, society, and the world. We will examine the three traditional “teachings” (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism), as well as “popular religion,” and the contributions of all four to Chinese culture. Specific themes will include ancestor worship, sacrifice and divination, religious ethics, meditation, and longevity techniques. In each section we will attempt to distinguish those aspects of Chinese religion which are inextricable from traditional Chinese culture from those which are capable of crossing cultural boundaries. Readings will focus on primary religious texts; films and slides will be equally important.

Reading

Available in Bookstore
Deborah Sommer, ed., Chinese Religion: An Anthology of Sources
Simon Leys, trans., The Analects of Confucius
D.C. Lau, trans., Mencius
D.C. Lau, trans., Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Burton Watson, trans., Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings
Chien Bhikshu, Sun Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-tsu and the Hung-chou School of Ch'an
Joseph Bosco, Temples of the Empress of Heaven

On Course Reserve [CR]
Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed., Religions of China in Practice Arvind Sharma, ed., Women in World Religions
Lloyd E. Eastman, Family, Fields, and Ancestors
David K. Jordan, Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors: The Folk Religion of a Taiwanese Village
Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, 2^nd ed., vol. 1
Julia Ching, Chinese Religions

On Electronic Course Reserve [ERes]
Patricia Buckley Ebrey, ed., Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, 2nd ed.

The Master said, “Learning without thinking is in vain; thinking without learning is dangerous.”	Lao Tzu departing through the Western Pass.	Bodhidharma (Da-mo) in meditation.

Course Requirements and Grading

1. Participation (15%). Regular attendance, timely completion of reading assignments, active participation in class discussions, and one short conference with me in my office no later than Friday, September 22. Grading criteria are as follows:
   

   A:    Regular attendance, regular contribution to discussion
   B:    Regular attendance, occasional contribution
   C:    Too many absences OR too little contribution
   D:    Too many absences AND too little contribution
   F:    Other serious problems

   Option: To supplement the class discussion portion of your participation grade, you may turn in, at any time but a maximum of one per week, written “reaction papers” (1-2 pages, typed) containing your reactions to, reflections on, and questions about course readings and lectures. These will be graded 1 (credit), 2 (good), or 3 (excellent) and will be returned within a week.
   

2. Two take-home essays (40%), 3-5 pages each, due Friday, Sep. 22 and Friday, Nov. 17. Topics will be distributed in class one week before they are due.
   

3. Midterm exam (20%), Friday, Oct. 13, consisting entirely of short-answer questions.
   

4. Final exam (25%), Saturday, Dec. 16, consisting of short-answer questions and one essay.

Option: If you have received B+ or better on both the first take-home essay and the midterm exam, and if you have a topic in Chinese religions that you would like to pursue further, you may write a 8-12 page research paper (typed, double-spaced, plus bibliography) instead of taking the final exam. You must clear your topic with me before Thanksgiving break. The paper will make use of at least two books or articles outside of assigned class readings, and will be due the day of the final exam.

Note: If you have a disability that will affect your work or participation in this class, please contact Erin Salva, Coordinator of Disability Services, at PBX 5453 or via e-mail at salvae@kenyon.edu, and speak to me individually, early in the semester, about the arrangements you will need.

1	Aug 28-Sep 1		Introduction: What is religion? What is Chinese religion? Shang religion: Divination and sacrifice
		Read:	Robert Eno, “Deities and Ancestors in Early Oracle Inscriptions” (in Lopez, Religions of China in Practice [CR], pp. 41-51) Sommer, Chinese Religion, pp. 7-37
			(Recommended:) Ebrey, Chinese Civilization [ERes], Introduction (Parts I-VIII), (2) “The Metal Bound Box”
			Classical Confucianism: The Way of the Sages
2	Sep 4-8		The Mandate of Heaven and the Five Classics Confucius (K’ung Tzu): humanity (jen) and ritual propriety (li)
		Read:	The Analects, Introduction and text
3	Sep 11-15		Mencius (Meng Tzu) and his theory of human nature “Centrality and Equilibrium” (Chung-yung) "The Great Learning” (Ta-hsüeh)
		Read:	Mencius, Introduction and sections 1A (i.e. Book I, Part A), 1B, 2A, 3A:3, 4A, 4B:28, 5A:5-6, 5B:9, 6A, 7A, 7B Sommer, pp. 37-39
4	Sep 18-22		Hsün Tzu: another theory of human nature Women in Confucianism Filial piety
		Friday:	Essay 1 due
		Read:	Sommer, pp. 63-70, 105-112 Sharma, Women in World Religions: “Confucianism,” by Theresa Kelleher (pp. 135-159) Ebrey [ERes], (15) “The Classic of Filial Piety,” (17) “Women’s Virtues and Vices”
5	Sep 25-29		Classical Taoism: The Way of Nature Lao Tzu
		Read:	Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, Introduction and text
6	Oct 2-6		Chuang Tzu, Epistemology, and Mysticism
		Read:	Chuang Tzu, Introduction and text
	October Break
7	Oct 11-13	Wed.:	Film, “A Question of Balance”
		Friday:	Midterm exam
8	Oct 16-20		Cosmology and Popular religion Ch’i, yin-yang, Five Phases, and the I Ching
		Read:	Eastman, Family, Field, and Ancestors [CR], ch. 3 (pp. 41-61) Sommer, pp. 3-6, 249-278 “Lord Kuan Manifests a Divine Presence...” [handout] (excerpt from Lo Kuan-chung, Three Kingdoms)
			(Recommended:) Ebrey [ERes], (3) "Hexagrams in the Book of Changes," (13) "Heaven, Earth, and Man," (18) "Yin and Yang in Medical Theory," (19) "Local Cults," (60) "Proverbs about Heaven"
9	Oct 23-27		Ancestor worship, divination, village festivals, and state religion
		Read:	Jordan, Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors: The Folk Religion of a Taiwanese Village [CR], ch. 4 (Divination) and ch. 8 (The Family Ghosts) Bosco, Temples of the Empress of Heaven Smith, "The State Cult" [ERes]
		Film:	“To Taste a Hundred Herbs”

The Temple of Prayer for the Year(ly Harvest), commonly called the Temple of Heaven, in Beijing.

10	Oct 30-Nov 3		Taoist Religious Experience and Practice Revelation, ritual, meditation, alchemy
		Read:	Livia Kohn, “Laozi: Ancient Philosopher, Master of Immortality, and God” (in Lopez, Religions of China in Practice [CR], pp. 52-63) Paul W. Kroll, “Body Gods and Inner Vision: The Scripture of the Yellow Court” (in Lopez [CR], pp. 149-155) Stephen Bokencamp, “Declarations of the Perfected” (in Lopez [CR], pp. 166-179) Sommer, pp. 85-98, 145-151, 199-210
			(Recommended:) Ebrey [ERes], (20) “Uprisings,” (21) “Ge Hong’s Autobiography,” (33) “Book of Rewards and Punishments,” (34) “Precepts of the Perfect Truth Daoist Sect”
			Chinese Buddhism
11	Nov 6-10		Basic concepts Mahayana
		Read:	Sommer, pp. 119-143 Cheng Chien, Sun Face Buddha, Part One (pp. 1-56)
			(Recommended:) Ebrey [ERes], (31) "A Pilgrim's Visit to the Five Terraces Mountains"
12	Nov 13-17		Pure Land Buddhism Ch'an Buddhism
		Friday:	Essay 2 due
		Read:	Sommer, pp. 155-168, 239-246, 331-348 Excerpts from the Platform Sutra [handout] Cheng Chien, Sun Face Buddha, Parts Two and Three (pp. 57-144)
	Thanksgiving Break
13	Nov 27-Dec 1		Neo-Confucianism: The Learning of the Way
		Read:	Sommer, pp. 169-173, 187-198, 227-232 Adler, “Chou Tun-i: The Metaphysics and Practice of Sagehood,” in de Bary and Bloom, Sources of Chinese Tradition [CR], pp. 667-678 Ebrey [ERes], (45) “A Schedule for Learning”
			(Recommended:) Ebrey [ERes],(37) “Ancestral Rites,” (40) “Zhu Xi’s Conversations with his Disciples,” (72) “Genealogy Rules”
14	Dec 4-8		Western Religions in China and the Contemporary Scene
		Read:	Ching, Chinese Religions [CR], pp. 170-201, 221-230 Sommer, pp. 281-316
14½	Dec. 11		Review

Edit date: 5/1/00