CHIN 329 - The Strange and the Supernatural in Medieval China

This course examines how people in medieval China (roughly the fourth through tenth centuries) understood and interpreted strange phenomena, uncanny encounters, and the supernatural. Through close reading of literary, historical, and religious accounts of ghosts, spirits, anomalous beings, and extraordinary events, students explore how these works were used to make sense of the world, articulate moral values, and negotiate the boundaries between human and non-human realms. The course pays particular attention to cultural fears and aspirations, ideas of self and “other,” and the interactions among Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist worldviews. Students registering under the CHIN designation will complete an additional hour of guided reading in the original Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 329
Notes: Conducted in English. Students meet in extra sessions with readings and discussions in the original language.
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a non-English language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a non-English language, or works of the visual or performing arts).