LTEA 110A Traditional Chinese Stories 2015
LTEA 110A Traditional Chinese Stories Winter 2015
Classroom: CSB 001 Class Time: M/W/F 16:00-16:50
Instructor: Prof. Ping-hui Liao (Literature Building 443)
Office Hours: M/W 13:30-14:30 and by appointment
Description: Through reading traditional Chinese stories, we hope to address several critical issues of our time: among them, humanity’s collective ignorance of its own past, growing alienation and tension between China and the rest of the world, and global anxiety over oddities, violence, chaos, and the supernatural in everyday life--four major motifs prevalent in the texts that concern us here. In this course we will read a number of representative short stories from the Han dynasty to the late Qing, to examine ways in which “small talks” and tall tales shape Chinese novelistic discourses and cultural imaginaries. We shall consider how these stories help constitute the essential components for human capabilities development in the pursuit of happiness, drawing on a set of traditional values and concept metaphors like “loyalty,” “filial piety,” “compassion,” and “justice” as the norm. But as we read on, we often find the protagonists to be struggling under most demanding situations, always already tormented by adultery, avarice, betrayal, cruelty, deception, ingratitude, and many sorts of monstrosity. Sometimes, it would be a female ghost, cunning vixen, or a thousand-year old serpent coming to the rescue--or making things worse. Gods and deities seem to have disappeared long ago. Our main objective therefore is to share in class some intricate life lessons, as they testify to Chinese folk wisdoms and practical reasoning in time of crisis. Subgenres like “chuan chi,” “bian wen,” “hua ben,” among others, will be discussed in their historical, philosophical, and trans-regional contexts. Themes include the knight errant, heartless lover, femme fatale, ghost wife, dream adventure, justice, trickster, and so forth. Materials will be in English
Classroom: CSB 001 Class Time: M/W/F 16:00-16:50
Instructor: Prof. Ping-hui Liao (Literature Building 443)
Office Hours: M/W 13:30-14:30 and by appointment
Description: Through reading traditional Chinese stories, we hope to address several critical issues of our time: among them, humanity’s collective ignorance of its own past, growing alienation and tension between China and the rest of the world, and global anxiety over oddities, violence, chaos, and the supernatural in everyday life--four major motifs prevalent in the texts that concern us here. In this course we will read a number of representative short stories from the Han dynasty to the late Qing, to examine ways in which “small talks” and tall tales shape Chinese novelistic discourses and cultural imaginaries. We shall consider how these stories help constitute the essential components for human capabilities development in the pursuit of happiness, drawing on a set of traditional values and concept metaphors like “loyalty,” “filial piety,” “compassion,” and “justice” as the norm. But as we read on, we often find the protagonists to be struggling under most demanding situations, always already tormented by adultery, avarice, betrayal, cruelty, deception, ingratitude, and many sorts of monstrosity. Sometimes, it would be a female ghost, cunning vixen, or a thousand-year old serpent coming to the rescue--or making things worse. Gods and deities seem to have disappeared long ago. Our main objective therefore is to share in class some intricate life lessons, as they testify to Chinese folk wisdoms and practical reasoning in time of crisis. Subgenres like “chuan chi,” “bian wen,” “hua ben,” among others, will be discussed in their historical, philosophical, and trans-regional contexts. Themes include the knight errant, heartless lover, femme fatale, ghost wife, dream adventure, justice, trickster, and so forth. Materials will be in English
References: Jan. 21 The Ingrate: Fable of Chung-shan Wolf Commentary #1 Hardcopy due in class (1000 words) Feb. 20 Detective Stories Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) and Judge Dee