ART and RELIGION in CHINA
Prof. Paola Demattè
email: pdematte@risd.edu
phone: 454 6267
Office hrs: Carr House 207, Tu. 10-11, 2-4 pm or by appointment.
This course will introduce students to the study of the arts of China through the lens of native and imported religious and philosophical traditions, exploring both elite and folk approaches to representation and belief. After an introduction to the anthropological study of religion, we will cover four main periods: the pre-historic (Paleolithic - Neolithic), the early dynastic (ca. 2000 - 221 BCE), the imperial (221 BCE - 1911), and the modern-contemporary (post 1911). The religious and philosophical topics to be examined include: early ancestral and agrarian cults, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism (in its many varieties), Christianity, and Communist personality cult.
Requirements
:
1 - Timely class attendance, participation, and leadership 30%
2 - Weekly page of issues on readings to be discussed in class with class leaders (selected weekly) to be emailed by everybody in the class to the instructor (pdematte@risd.edu) at least 1 hour prior to class meeting (by 12:00 noon) 15%
3 - Weekly presentations by selected student (one presentation required of all students) 15%
4 - Quizzes 20%
5 - Bibliographic research assignment 5%
6 - 5-page paper 15%
Assignment
Bibliographic research on a topic of your interest (select a topic and discuss it with the instructor; list bibliography; browse the material; briefly evaluate the sources; be prepared to read them for your paper; 1-3 pages max.).
Exams and Paper
-Four in-class quizzes
- One bibliographic research (1-2 typed pages)
- One paper based on bibliographic research with small visual project, 5-10 typed pages max + images, grad students 10-15 pages) (due last day of class).
Grading
Class attendance and participation 20%
Quizzes: 4, 15% each, total 60%
Bibliographic assignment and Paper 20%
Required Readings:
- SOMMER D. Chinese Religion. An anthology of sources. Oxford University Press 1995
- SULLIVAN M. The Arts of China. 4th edition, University of California Press 1999/2000
- select articles TBA
N.B. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT READINGS ARE WEEKLY
REQUIREMENTS, AND THAT EACH WEEK YOU MUST ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THEIR DISCUSSION
WITH YOUR SET OF ISSUES.
TOPICS
SEPT. 10, 2002
1. Introduction: Theories of Religion.
Animism, shamanism, ancestor cults
SEPT. 17, 2002
2. The pre-historic religion and art: Neolithic cultures
Yangshao, Hongshan, Liangzhu, Dawenkou cultures
Readings: TBA; SULLIVAN pp. 1-12
SEPT. 24, 2002
3. Ancestor Worship and Shang Elite Arts
Shang Di, oracle bone inscriptions, Anyang ritual center
Readings: TBA; SOMMER pp. 1-12; SULLIVAN pp. 13-32
OCT. 1, 2002 (QUIZ).
4. Western Zhou Religion and Feudalism
Ritual vessels, bronze inscriptions
Readings: TBA; SOMMER pp. 13-39; SULLIVAN pp. 33-42
OCT. 8, 2002
5. Philosophy and Religion in the Arts of the Eastern Zhou
Confucianism (Ruism), Taoism, Mohism, Yin-Yang 5 phases, Chu "shamanism"
Readings: SOMMER pp. 41-98; SULLIVAN pp. 43-59
OCT. 15, 2002
6. Immortality and the Early Empire: the Qin &
Han dynasties
Legalism, new forms of Confucianism (Dong Zhongshu) and Taoism
Readings: SOMMER pp. 99-116; SULLIVAN pp. 60-91
OCT. 22, 2002 (QUIZ).
7. Early Buddhist & Taoist Art: the Northern
& Southern Dynasties
Introduction of Buddhism, development of Taoist Church
Readings: SOMMER pp. 117-151; SULLIVAN pp. 92-121
OCT. 29, 2002
8. Later Buddhist Art: Sui & Tang Dynasties
Apogee of Buddhism in China, Manicheaism, Nestorianism
Readings: SOMMER pp. 153-180; SULLIVAN pp. 122-151
NOV. 5, 2002
9. Neo-Confucian Painting: Song & Yuan Dynasty.
Neo-Confucianism (Zhu Xi), Later Taoism
Readings: SOMMER pp. 181-223; SULLIVAN pp. 152-213
NOV. 12, 2002 (QUIZ)
10. The Ming Dynasty (BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE).
Imperial Cult
Readings: SOMMER pp. 225-246; SULLIVAN pp. 214-244
NOV. 19, 2002
11. The Qing Dynasty (+ Museum visit 2).
Later Buddhism (Lamaism), introduction of Christianity
Readings: SOMMER pp. 247-278; SULLIVAN pp. 245-273
THANKSGIVING
DEC. 3, 2002
12. Modern & Contemporary Periods (Final Quiz)
Conclusions, Communism and the Cult of Mao, Popular Religion
Readings: SOMMER pp. 279-342; SULLIVAN pp. 274-299