ASIA
ASIA 510B (012) - Monastic Biography in East Asian Buddhism [3.0 credits] Instructor: Dr. Jinhua Chen
Not offered in 2011-2012
Course description
As a general introduction to medieval East Asian (mainly Chinese and Japanese) monastic bio/hagiographical literature, this seminar (for graduate students and advanced under-graduates) will begin with a general discussion of its nature, structure and basic features, which is supplemented by a comparison of East Asian monastic biographies with Chinese secular (official) biographies on the one hand and Western (mainly Christian) biographies on the other. After a brief survey of biographies of nuns, a peculiar portion of East Asian monastic biographical literature, we will formally investigate the functions monastic biographies played in medieval East Asian Buddhism, focusing on the following aspects: (i) the writing of monastic biographies and the formation of sectarian consciousness, (ii) monastic biographies as a vehicle of sectarian ideologies, (iii) monastic biographies as a polemical instrument. In the course of this investigation, we will touch on the historical and textual value of monastic biographical literature, especially its significance for deciphering sectarian agenda. Some general methods of interpreting monastic biographies will also be introduced (in particular, we will stress the necessity and effectiveness of reading monastic biographies in close comparison with their corresponding autobiographies).
ASIA 524B (024) - Japanese for Specialists of China and Korea [3.0 credits] Instructor: Dr. Stefania Burk
Not offered in 2011-2012
This course could be taken for 3 credits only counted towards a degree.
Course outline
Reading seminar in Japanese scholarly materials written in academic Japanese dealing with China and/or Korea for graduate students who have a reading knowledge of Chinese and/or Korean and whose studies require the incorporation of Japanese scholarship. Graduate students can satisfy their Japanese language requirement with this class with the successful completion of a final project.