Chinese tutoring is conducted at the Language Center, usually with two to three people as a group, with the goal of improving oral communication skills. You will speak in Chinese throughout the coaching process. We sometimes have lantern riddles to help you understand the meaning of Chinese characters. Sometimes we watch Chinese cross-talks related to topics and do role play and simulation exercises.
Chinese 150
The seminar in Asian Humanities is based on a shared reading and discussion of major works of literature, religion, and philosophy from a number of Asian traditions. These texts have been selected because they have been recognized as classics within Asia, setting the terms of an ongoing cultural conversation, and also because they speak to human concerns not necessarily limited to particular cultural or historical contexts. We will read representative works such as those by Confucius, Zhuangzi, Murasaki Shikibu, Sei Shônagon, Kenkô , Chikamatsu Monzaemon , Cao Xueqin, the Diamond and Platform Sutras, Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita. As a participant in this seminar you will be encouraged to join in this conversation, to confront these works directly, to read these classic texts so as to be able to reflect meaningfully about them in their own terms and in terms of your own traditions. Because the works selected stretch across two and a half millennia and include translations from Indian, Chinese, and Japanese, the course aims less to transmit a comprehensive body of historical knowledge than to allow participants an initial but direct engagement with some of the more significant literary, intellectual, and religious texts of Asia.
Chinese 208
This course seeks to introduce the most exciting developments in Chinese-language theatre from the early modern period to contemporary times in China as well as the diaspora, centering on avant-garde performances. We will examine the interwoven relationship between state, politics, identity and performance, and in particular investigate how despite the state’s efforts to define artistic creativity the theatre has always defied the status quo and enacted its resistance performance. We will engage in close readings of critical texts that introduce the debates surrounding these tensions, and read dramatic texts in English translation as well as view them through DVDs. Class size: 20
Chinese 211
The past is seen through today’s concerns and perspective. In view of this dialogue between pre-modern and modern culture, this course eschews a chronological coverage of Chinese literature and culture that proceeds from one dynasty or time period to the next. Instead, it will focus on touchstone texts from pre-modern literary Chinese traditions, and then attend to how this cultural legacy is drawn upon, appropriated, and re-invented in contemporary cinema. Canonical texts include poetry, historical writings, and fictional narratives. We will focus on films made by some of the most influential directors including Wong Kar-wai, Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke, and Lu Chuan. In every unit, we examine contemporary films alongside classical texts, guided by critical inquiries that look at how reading practices structure interpretation, how myths are framed, and how personal and cultural memory works. For example, we begin with Sima Qian’s (2nd c. BCE) seminal historical narratives and biographies on the founding of the first Chinese empires, and then turn to two contemporary films—Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002) and Lu Chuan’s King’s Feast (2012)—to consider how they transform the earlier materials, retell the imperial past, and work as commentaries on the present-day Chinese state. Conducted in English. Class size: 20
Chinese 201-202
This two-semester course is for students who have taken one and a half years of basic Chinese and want to expand their reading and speaking capacity. The course uses audio and video materials, and emphasizes communicative activities and language games. In addition to the central language textbook, readings are selected from newspapers, journals, and fictional works.
Chinese 230
Conducted in English, this course is a general introduction to modern Chinese fiction from the 1910s to the present. China in the 20th century witnessed a history of unprecedented upheavals and radical transformations and its literature in this period was often a battleground for political, cultural, and aesthetic debates. We will read English translations of representative works by major writers from three periods (1918-1949; 1949-1976; since 1976) such as Lu Xun, Ding Ling, Ba Jin, Shen Congwen, Lao She, Mao Dun, and Chang Eileen from the May Fourth Movement and the intellectual radicalization of the first half of the 20th century, and Mo Yan, Yu Hua, Can Xue, and Han Shaogong out of the Cultural Revolution and the liberalization of the post-Mao era. In addition, we will study works by authors from Taiwan and Hong Kong such as Pai Hsien-yung, Wang Wen-hsing, Li Ang, Li Yung-p’ing, Chu T’ien-wen, Xi Xi, and Shi Shu-ching. We will consider issues of language and genre, nationalism and literary tradition, colonialism, women’s emancipation movement, the influence of Western literary modes such as realism and modernism on the inception of literary modernity in China, and the current state of critical approaches to the study of modern Chinese literature.
Chinese 215
The class reads The Story of the Stone (aka Dream of the Red Chamber), which one-fifth of the world considers to be the best novel ever written, and discusses it both as literature and as cultural artifact.
Chinese 301-302
These courses are for students who have taken the equivalent of five semesters of basic Chinese at Bard or elsewhere. The goal is to expand students’ reading and speaking capacity and enrich their cultural experiences. Texts may include newspapers, journals, and fiction.
Chinese 303
The class reads tales written in classical Chinese as well as their renderings in modern Chinese. Texts are selected from well-known classical works such as Zhuang Zi, Lie Zi, and Huainan Zi, written in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties. Stories written in later periods, including "Liaozhai Zhiyi," are also studied. This advanced language course is conducted in Chinese. Open to students who have had two years or more of Chinese language. Texts may include newspapers, journals, and fiction.
Chinese 304
An advanced language course that involves close reading of short stories by major writers of 20th-century China, including Lu Xun, Eileen Chang, Shen Congwen, Ding Ling, Bai Xianyong, and others. While focusing primarily on textual analysis, the class also seeks to understand the concept of modernity in the context of Chinese literary and cultural traditions, addressing issues such as social commitment, artistic style, and historical background. Conducted in Chinese.
Chinese 305
This course is for students who have studied Chinese for at least three years. It examines various aspects of contemporary popular culture in China. Genres include print culture, cinema, television, pop music, visual arts, fashion, advertising, and cyberculture. Frequent quizzes, oral presentations, essays, and projects. Conducted in Chinese. Class size: 12
Chinese 308
This course provides a foundation in the grammar, diction and style of Classical Chinese (also called Literary Chinese), which is the operative language for more than two millennia of China's literary traditions. The earliest materials we cover will be seminal texts from the Warring States period (ca. 5th century BCE). This course also doubles as a gateway into core genres, as we will work directly with original texts of historical narrative, philosophy, and poetry. Upon completion of the course, students will not only acquire a conversancy with pre-modern writings but will also better understand the literary elements that are part of modern written Chinese. While vocabulary lists will be furnished for the readings, we will also polish our skills in working independently with dictionaries, including electronic resources. To enroll, students are expected to have at least two years of Chinese or Japanese language instruction. Class size: 15
Chinese 315
This course introduces the East Asian art of calligraphyshufa in Chinese and shodo in Japanese. Long regarded as the highest form of art in East Asia, calligraphy lends itself to painting and poetry. Together they form the so-called three perfections in the literati tradition. We will study the aesthetic principles that connect the three aesthetic forms. Considerable time will be devoted to discussing the philosophical traditions of Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Confucianism. The emphasis of this course, however, is on learning the techniques of writing with the brush and developing individual styles of each student. One term paper and daily calligraphy projects.
Chinese 403, 404
An exploration—through screenings, lectures, and discussions—of such topics as the origins of traditional Chinese cinema; nationalism and revolution; social realism; the search for roots in the post-Mao era; nativist film and literature; the Fifth Generation and experimental fiction; Hong Kong popular culture in the commercial age; feminism and sexuality; and representations of exile, diaspora, and the new immigrants.