FALL SEMESTER 2018 | TUE/THU 10:00-11:15 AM | Classroom: Sears 542 | Prof. Jonathan Tan | Office: 243G Tomlinson Hall | (216) 368-6446 | jonathan.tan@case.edu
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This course surveys the three principal religious traditions of China – the Confucian, Daoist, and Chinese Buddhist traditions, as well as introduces students to historic Chinese Christianity and Islam. Emerging during the Warring States period in China's history (403-221 B.C.E.), the Confucian and Daoist traditions provide many of the foundational assumptions about humanity and the world within the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures and worldviews of East Asia. As the world’s first global missionary religion, Buddhism travelled from India to China, joining the two great missionary religions of Christianity and Islam along the Silk Road as they journeyed across Central Asia to East Asia. Having crossed geographical borders and socio-cultural boundaries when they arrived in China, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam were transformed and enriched by their mutual encounters and engagements with the indigenous Confucian and Daoist traditions, giving rise to uniquely Chinese Buddhist, Christian and Islamic traditions. For example, the emergence of Pure Land Buddhism and Chan (Zen) Buddhism in China represent the fruits of Indian Buddhism's interreligious encounters with the Confucian and Daoist traditions.
子曰: 「學而不思則罔, 思而不學則殆。」
The Master says: "Learning without thinking is a waste of time, Thinking without learning is dangerous" (Lunyu 論語 2:15).
Required Books
The following books are required for this course. As they are not available at the campus bookstore, please order them through these Amazon links below or other online or brick-and-mortar sources. Do take advantage of the availability of cheap copies on Amazon - click on the "Other Sellers" tab or links to "used" copies):
Required Online Readings & Resources
- Taoism: A Question of Balance (from "The Long Search," Episode 11, BBC 1977): Part 1 and Part 2 Study Guide to "A Question of Balance"
- "Chinese Religions" (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- "Chinese Philosophy" (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- "Yin & Yang"
- Maps of China: Prehistoric & 6th Century BCE
- Oracle Bones 甲骨 and their Inscriptions
- China: Prehistoric & Historic Timelines
- Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China’s Great Flood and the Xia dynasty" (Science, 5 August 2016)
- Herbert Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred, chapters 1 & 2 (Harper, 1972)
- The Tao of Star Wars (Beliefnet)
- Zhuangzi 莊子 chapter 2 [Read: "Three in the Morning/Keeper and Monkeys" (2:6); "Beauty of Mao Qiang and Li Ji" (2:11), and "Zhuangzi's Dream (Butterfly)" (2:14)]
- Zhuangzi 莊子 chapter 3 [Read: "Coke Ding and Duke Wenhui" (3:2)]
- Zhuangzi 莊子 chapter 12 [Read: "immortality of the sage" (12:6) and "nature and reality of Dao" (12:8)]
- Zhuangzi 莊子 chapter 13 [Read: "Duke Huan and Wheelwright Bian (13:9b)]
- Zhuangzi 莊子 chapter 17 [Read: "Sacred or Living Tortoise?" (17:11)]
- Zhuangzi 莊子 chapter 18 [Read: "Zhuangzi's Wife" (18:2)]
- Buddha (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- "Buddha's Caves," by Holland Cotter (New York Times, 6 July 2008)
- Slideshow: The Caves of Dunhuang (New York Times, 6 July 2008)
- Chan Buddhism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Historic Christian site found in China: Nestorian Christian site dates back at least 1,200 years (UCA News, 17 January 2014)
- "Did Christianity Thrive in China? Digging for evidence in an ancient church" (U.S. News & World Report, 5 March 2001)
- "Ruins of an Old Christian Church on Lao-tzu's Turf" (New York Times, 24 February 2002)
- "Faith in Shangri-La: Catholicism Maintains a Hold in China's Tibetan Communities" (Washington Post, 4 December 2000)
- "Female Imams Blaze Trail Amid China's Muslims" (NPR All Things Considered, 21 July 2010
- Why does China have women-only mosques? (BBC News, 23 February 2016)
- "Prayers for a Mosque: Muslims in Chengdu Fight to Save Their Heritage" (Washington Post, 19 November 1998)
- Ian Johnson, "Shariah With Chinese Characteristics: A Scholar Looks at the Muslim Hui" (New York Times, 6 September 2016)
- "Reconstructing Taoism's Transformation in China" (New York Times, 8 August 2016)
- "3 Things Matter: Location, Location and Feng Shui" (New York Times, 27 January 1997)
- "The Feng Shui Kingdom" (New York Times, 25 April 2005)
- "Beijing Finds Common Cause With Chinese Buddhists" (NPR All Things Considered, 22 July 2010)
- “China’s Spiritual Awakening: Why a growing number of successful urban professionals are flocking to Buddhism” (Businessweek, 10 January 2008)
- "China's urbanites rediscover Buddhism" (Asia Times, 2 December 2010
- "The Rise of the Tao: China's Taoism Revival" (New York Times, 5 November 2010)
- "Mao, Meet Confucius: China's Religious Revolution" (Religious Dispatches, 19 January 2011)
- "Mammoth Sculpture of the Ancient Philosopher Confucius Shows Up on China's Tiananmen Square" (Art Daily, 14 January 2011)
- "Confucius Making a Comeback in Money-Driven Modern China" (Washington Post, 24 January 2007)
- “China’s Neo-Confucianism: An ancient text intended to produce obedient children is finding new favor with the Communist Party” (Foreign Policy, 7 January 2014)
- "China's thriving Confucian schools" (BBC News, 3 January 2008)
Fulltexts of Primary Sources
Class Outlines, Slides & Handouts
Video Clips & Documentaries
- Taoism: A Question of Balance (from "The Long Search," Episode 11, BBC 1977): Part 1 and Part 2 Study Guide to "A Question of Balance"
- "Footprint of the Buddha" ("The Long Search," Episode 2, BBC 1977)
- Chinese Buddhist Morning Ceremony 佛教早課
- Chinese Buddhist Evening Ceremony 佛教晚課大悲咒
- Jade Buddha Temple 玉佛禅寺 (Shanghai)
- Fo Guang Shan 佛光山 Monastery (Taiwan)
- Amitabha Song
- "The Land of the Disappearing Buddha" ("The Long Search," Episode 9 [BBC, 1977): Link #1 Link #2
- The Zen Mind
- Zazen (Sitting Meditation)
- A Day in the Life of a Zen Monk
- Tarawih (Ramadan Night) Prayers in Mandarin and Arabic at the Great Mosque of Beijing (Niujie Mosque 牛街禮拜寺)
- Funeral Ritual of Religious Daoism 道教 performed by the Celestial Masters 天師 (excerpt from "A Question of Balance" - The Long Search, episode 11, BBC 1977)
- Daoist Spirit Writing 扶箕 (excerpt from "A Question of Balance" - The Long Search, episode 11, BBC 1977)
Recommended Resources
- The Chinese Language
- Juha Janhunen, Tracing the Bear Myth in Northeast Asia", Acta Slavica Iaponica 20 (2003):1-24. Alternate Link.
- Confucius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Confucius (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- Confucianism (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- Mencius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Xunzi (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Laozi (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Daoism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Laozi (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- Daoism (New Catholic Encyclopedia)
- Zhuangzi (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- David Loy, "Wei-wu-wei: Non Dual Action", Philosophy East and West 35 no. 1 (1985): 73-87
- "The Suffering of Self", by David Loy
- "The Problem with Karma", by David Loy
- "The Three Poisons, Institutionalized", by David Loy
- Resources on Pure Land Buddhism
- Resources on Chan/Zen Buddhism
- David K. Jordan, Gods, Ghosts & Ancestors: Folk Religion in a Taiwanese Village, 3rd ed (San Diego CA: UCSD Department of Anthropology, 1999).
Revision 2.003. Originally created: 11 August 2016. Last updated: 10 August 2018.
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