Joseph Adler

Spring 2003

Ascension 310

Wednesday, 7:30-10 p.m.

PBX 5290

Ascension 114

E-mail: adlerj@kenyon.edu

Hours: M 3-4, TTh 2-4 and by appointment

This seminar will explore the philosophical and cultural history of the Confucian tradition, primarily in China, from its inception to the present day. Reading will include both primary texts and secondary studies covering the Five Classics and the sayings of Confucius and Mencius, the Neo-Confucians of the Sung and Ming dynasties, the "New Confucians" of the twentieth century. We will also examine the influences of Confucianism on Chinese and other East Asian societies, its involvement in the tension between tradition and modernity, and its influence on East Asian family dynamics and values. Among the general questions to be considered are: In what senses can Confucianism be considered a religious tradition? Which aspects of the tradition are culture-bound and which are universally applicable? How has Confucianism contributed to the growth (and more recent decline) of East Asian economies?

READING

Available in Bookstore:

Xinzhong Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism
Raymond Dawson, trans., The Analects
D.C. Lau, trans., Mencius
Philip J. Ivanhoe, Confucian Moral Self-Cultivation, 2^nd ed.
Tu Wei-ming, ed., Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity: Moral Education and Economic Culture in Japan and the Four Mini-Dragons
Wm. Theodore de Bary and Tu Wei-ming, eds., Confucianism and Human Rights

On Course Reserve [CR]:

Classics
Richard John Lynn, tr., The Classic of Changes [I Ching]
Richard Wilhelm, tr., The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Arthur Waley, tr., The Book of Songs [Shih Ching]
James Legge, tr., The Shoo King [Shu Ching, or Book of Documents], in The Chinese Classics, v.3
James Legge, tr., The Li Ki [Li Chi, or Record of Ritual], in Sacred Books of the East, v. 27-28
James Legge, tr., The Ch’un ts’ew [Ch’un Ch’iu, or Spring and Autumn Annals], in Chinese Classics, v.5
Mary Lelia Makra, tr., The Hsiao Ching [Classic of Filial Piety]

Others
Bryan W. Van Norden, ed., Confucius and the Analects: New Essays
Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, 2^nd ed., vol. 1
Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T’ang and Sung China
Daniel K. Gardner, Chu Hsi and the Ta-hsueh: Neo-Confucian Reflection on the Confucian Canon
Donald Hall and Roger Ames, Thinking Through Confucius
Gilbert Rozman, ed., The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation
Kidder Smith, Jr., Peter K. Bol, Joseph A. Adler, Don J. Wyatt, Sung Dynasty Uses of the I Ching
Benjamin I. Schwartz, The World of Thought in Ancient China
Rodney L. Taylor, The Religious Dimensions of Confucianism
Tu Wei-ming, Humanity and Self-Cultivation: Essays in Confucian Thought
Carsun Chang, The Development of Neo-Confucian Thought, 2 vols.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

1. Participation (20% of grade). The seminar format requires regular attendance, completion of reading assignments, and active participation in discussion by all members, every week. Necessary absences must be cleared in advance with the instructor; unexcused absences will result in a grade penalty.
2. Four papers (20% each), 5-8 pages each, due in weeks 2, 4, 10, and the end of the semester.

The Confucian Temple (Kongzi miao) in Quzhou, China.

SEMINAR SCHEDULE

2 Jan 22		The Five Classics (Wujing / Wu-ching五經 )
	Read:	Yao: Preface, Introduction, pp. 47-67 Schwartz, The World of Thought [CR]: ch. 2 "Early Chou Thought" (pp. 40-55). Optional: ch. 10 "The FiveClassics" (pp. 383-406) (The following are all on Course Reserve; read the one you are assigned and skim the rest): Wilhelm, I Ching [Yijing] 易經 : pp. 3-15 (first two hexagrams), 262-272 (Discussion of Trigrams), 280-355 (Great Treatise) Waley, The Book of Songs [Shijing / Shih-ching] 詩 經 : pp. 226-280 Legge, Shoo King [Shujing / Shu Ching] 書 經 (following Prolegomena): pp. 1-75, 92-127, 141-151, 184-198, 213-219, 281-297, 300-305 Legge, Li Ki [Liji / Li Chi] 禮 紀, vol. 27:  pp. 1-14, 61-90, 109-119, 120-132, 161-173; vol. 28: 29-39, 93-114, 173-185, 200-235, 428-434. Legge, Ch’un ts’ew [Chunqiu / Ch’un-ch’iu] 春 秋 : skim Friday, Jan. 24: Paper 1 due

3 Jan 29		Confucius (Kongzi / K’ung-tzu 孔子) and the Analects (Lunyu / Lun-yü 論語) • Learning the cultural tradition (wen  文 ) and reviving the Way (dao / tao 道 ) of the Sages • Being humane (ren / jen 仁 ), ritually proper (li 禮), and appropriate (yi / i  義 ) • A religious dimension?
	Read:	Yao, ch. 1 Bryan Van Norden, "Introduction" (pp. 3-12, 18-36), in Confucius and the Analects [CR] The Analects Ivanhoe, Self-Cultivation: Introduction, ch. 1 Tu Wei-ming, "The Creative Tension Between Jen and Li" and "Li as Process of Humanization," in Humanity and Self-Cultivation [CR]

4 Feb 5		Mencius (Mengzi / Meng Tzu孟子) • Human nature (renxing/jen-hsing人性)
	Read:	Ivanhoe, ch. 2 Tu, "On the Mencian Perception of Moral Self-Development," in Humanity and Self-Cultivation [CR] de Bary and Tu, Confucianism and Human Rights, ch. 5 (Irene Bloom, "Mencius and Human Rights") Friday, Feb. 7: Paper 2 due

5 Feb 12		Special guest: Kong Defang
	Read:	Yao, ch. 3 de Bary and Tu, Confucianism and Human Rights, ch. 14 (Merle Goldman, "Confucian Influence on Intellectuals in the People’s Republic of China"

6 Feb 19		Xunzi / Hsün Tzu 荀子 The Daxue / Ta-hsüeh  大學 (“Great Learning”) The Zhongyong / Chung-yung 中庸 ("The Mean")
	Read:	de Bary and Bloom, Sources, pp. 159-183, 329-339 Gardner, Chu Hsi and the Ta-hsueh [CR], ch. 2 ("The Ta-hsueh before Chu Hsi," pp. 17-26) Ivanhoe, ch. 3 Hall and Ames, Thinking Through Confucius [CR], pp. 11-25

7 Feb 26		Han 漢 through Tang / T’ang 唐 Dynasties • Dong Zhongshu / Tung Chung-shu  董仲舒 • The Yijing / I Ching  易經  (Classic of Change) • The Xiaojing / Hsiao Ching 孝經(Classic of Filiality) • Women and Confucianism
	Read:	Yao, pp. 81-96 de Bary and Bloom, Sources, pp. 283-285, 292-329, 344-346, 568-573, 582-585, 819-831 Smith, et. al., Sung Dynasty Uses of the I Ching, pp. 3-25

<< Spring Vacation >>

7 Feb 26		Neo-Confucianism: The Northern Song / Sung 宋 • Zhou Dunyi / Chou Tun-i 周 敦 頤 : Taoism and the Yijing / I Ching • Shao Yong / Shao Yung 邵 雍: Numerology and the Sage • Zhang Zai / Chang Tsai 張 載 : Ethics based on qi / ch'i 氣 • Wang Anshi / Wang An-shih 王安石and Ssu-ma Kuang / Sima Guang 司馬光: political reform and reaction
	Read:	Yao, pp. 98-138 de Bary and Bloom, Sources, pp. 587-666 (read intros, skim texts), 667-689 (read)
Zhou Dunyi

9 Mar 26 Zhu Xi		Neo-Confucianism: Southern Song 宋, Yuan 元, and Ming 明 • The Cheng-Zhu / Ch’eng-Chu School  程朱:       ◦ Cheng Hao / Ch’eng Hao  程顥 and Cheng Yi /        Ch’eng I 程頤:  metaphysics of li 理 and qi / ch’i 氣     ◦ Zhu Xi / Chu Hsi  朱熹:  architect of the Daoxue /         Tao-hsüeh 道學 synthesis • The Lu-Wang  陸王 School:     ◦ Lu Jiuyuan  陸九淵 and  Wang Yangming  王陽明
	Read:	de Bary and Bloom, Sources, pp. 689-714, 720-751, 800-814, 837-840, 714-719, 831-851; 851-873 (read intros, skim texts) Ivanhoe, chs. 4-5 The Cheng brothers

10 Apr 2		Summing Up the Religious Dimensions
	Read:	Yao, ch. 4 Robert C. Neville, "Foreword," and Rodney L. Taylor, "The Sage as Saint" (ch. 3), in Taylor, The Religious Dimensions of Confucianism [CR] Tu Wei-ming, "Neo-Confucian Religiosity and Human Relatedness," in Tu, Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation [CR] Linda Walton, "Southern Sung Academies as Sacred Places," in Ebrey and Gregory, Religion and Society in T’ang and Sung China [CR] Friday, April 4: Paper 3 due

11 Apr 9		Confucianism in Chinese Society
	Read:	Yao, ch. 5 Patricia Ebrey, "The Chinese Family and the Spread of Confucian Values," in Rozman, The East Asian Region [CR] Tu, Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity:    pp. 1-37 (de Bary, "Confucian Education in remodern East Asia")    pp. 228-243 (King, "State Confucianism and Its Transformations: The Restructuring of the State-Society Relation in Taiwan")

12 Apr 16		Confucianism in Japanese and Korean Society
	Read:	Tu, Confucian Traditions in East Asian Modernity:    pp. 113-131 (Watanabe, "‘They Are Almost the Same as the Ancient Three Dynasties’: The West as Seen through Confucian Eyes in Nineteenth-Century Japan")     pp. 132-154 (Yamashita, "Confucianism and the Japanese State, 1904-1945")    pp. 187-188, 202-227 (Kim, "The Reproduction of Confucian Culture in Contemporary Korea: An Anthropological Study")     pp. 343-349 (Tu, "Epilogue")

13 Apr 23		Confucianism and Human Rights
	Read:	de Bary and Tu, Confucianism and Human Rights: Introduction, chs. 1-4

14 Apr 30		Confucianism and Human Rights
	Read:	de Bary and Tu, Confucianism and Human Rights, chs. 5, 15, and both Epilogues  Final Paper due: Saturday, May 10, 4:30 p.m.