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Intellectual Change in Early China: Warring States and Han

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Course Summary

This course explores the intellectual changes that took place in early China during the Warring States and Han periods. Students will analyze texts and art to understand the development of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.

Key Learning Points

Gain an understanding of the intellectual changes that occurred in early China
Explore the development of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
Analyze texts and art to gain a deeper understanding of early Chinese thought

Learning Outcomes

Analyzing and interpreting texts and art related to early Chinese thought
Understanding the development of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
Applying knowledge of early Chinese thought to contemporary issues

Prerequisites or good to have knowledge before taking this course

Basic understanding of Chinese history
Familiarity with Chinese language is helpful but not required

Course Difficulty Level

Intermediate

Course Format

Online
Self-paced

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Edward Slingerland
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Description

This sequence of four courses will propose a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Chinese cultural history conceived of as a succession of modes of rationality (philosophical, bureaucratic, and economic). The focus will be on the moments of paradigm shift from one mode of rationality to another. For each of these moments, cultural facts and artifacts—thought, literature, ritual—will be examined in relationship to changing social, political, and economic systems.

The first two courses will cover the periods of the Warring States (481-256 BCE) and the Period of Division (220-589 CE), with a brief excursion into the Han (206 BCE-220 CE). The Warring States laid the social and cultural foundations for the emergence of the imperial mode of rationality; the Period of Division saw the Buddhist “conquest” of China and the emergence of a rationality defined by the opposition of the Three Teachings to shamanism, that is, of a clear contrast between elite and popular culture. The third and fourth courses will focus on the emergence of modern China in the Song-Yuan (960-1368) and of today’s China 1850 to the present. We will see how the modern attack on religion, redefined as "superstition", led not only to religious reform movements but also to a society in which science and the nation became the primary value systems promoted by the state. The courses are listed below: A Critical Cultural History of China - Early China I: Intellectual Change in the Warring States and Han (481 BCE-220 CE) A Critical Cultural History of China - Early China II: Religious Transformation in the Period of Division (220-589 CE) A Critical Cultural History of China - Modern China I: Religion and Thought in the Song, Jin, and Yuan (960-1368) A Critical Cultural History of China - Modern China II: Structuring Values (1850-2015)

Outline

MODULE 00: A Critical Cultural History of China - Introduction
M00.1 Definitions
M00.2 Paradigm Shift
M00.3 A Four-Part Course
Course Overview
Course Editorial Conventions
Suggested Textbooks
M00.1 Definitions
M00.2 Paradigm Shift
M00.3 A Four-Part Course

MODULE 01: Attack on Shamanism
M01.1.1 Background 1
M01.1.2 Background 2
M01.2.1 Functions of the wu
M01.2.2 The Early Chinese Pantheon
M01.2.3 Arguments Against Shamans: The Role of Intellectuals
M01.2.4 The Parallel Attack on Diviners
Readings for M01.1.2
Readings for M01.2.2
Readings for M01.2.3
Readings for M01.2.4
M01.1.1 Background 1
M01.1.2 Background 2
M01.2.1 Functions of the wu
M01.2.2 The Early Chinese Pantheon
M01.2.3 Arguments Against Shamans: The Role of Intellectuals
M01.2.4 The Parallel Attack on Diviners

MODULE 02: The Emergence of Self-Cultivation Practice
M02.1Confucian Self-Cultivation
M02.2 Ethics and Cosmology
M02.3.1 The Dao
M02.3.2 The heart
M02.3.3 Qi, or vital energy, and the Real Person
M02.1Confucian Self-Cultivation
M02.2 Ethics and Cosmology
M02.3.1 The Dao
M02.3.2 The heart
M02.3.3 Qi, or vital energy, and the Real Person

MODULE 03: The Philosophical Preparation of Political Unity
M03.1.1 The Zhou Sacrifice to Heaven
M03.1.2 The Dao
M03.1.3 Transcendence
M03.2 The Center
M03.3 Confucianism: Ritual and History
M03.4 Early Chinese Dualities
Readings for Module 3
M03.1.1 The Zhou Sacrifice to Heaven
M03.1.2 The Dao
M03.1.3 Transcendence
M03.2 The Center
M03.3 Confucianism: Ritual and History
M03.4 Early Chinese Dualities

MODULE 04: Han Religion
M04.1 Local and Dynastic Religion in the Han
M04.2 Literati, Orthodoxy, and the First Canon
M04.3 State Religion in the Han
Readings for M04.1
Readings for M04.2
M04.1 Local and Dynastic Religion in the Han
M04.2 Literati, Orthodoxy, and the First Canon
M04.3 State Religion in the Han

MODULE 05: Changing Theories of Illness
M05.1 Cosmology and Psychology in the New Medicine
M05.2 The Return of the Repressed
M05.3 Ancestors, Moralization, and the Spiritual Bureaucracy
M05.4 A New Synthesis
M05.5 The Answer: Exorcism
Readings for Module 5
M05.5
M05.1 Cosmology and Psychology in the New Medicine
M05.2 The Return of the Repressed
M05.3 Ancestors, Moralization, and the Spiritual Bureaucracy
M05.4 A New Synthesis
M05.5 The Answer: Exorcism

Summary of User Reviews

Discover the intellectual changes in early China with the Warring States and Han periods through this course. Many users enjoyed the in-depth analysis and engaging lectures.