Fall 2006: Class time: 12:45-3:35 Tuesdays
Classroom: Cherry 203A

Course Description: Chinese history and society cannot be properly understood without close study of what ordinary people thought, felt, and believed. This course will explore how ordinary Chinese people experienced their lives over the last millennium. We will discuss the attitudes of a variety of non-elite people towards questions of self-conception, the spiritual world, and social justice by examining their values and material culture. This course will focus on family and kinship, folk religion, everyday forms of violence, and popular expressions through legends, folktales, songs, opera, movies, and literature. We will explore questions about cultural values, the roles of sex and gender in Chinese society, and the meaning of being Chinese. This course is inter-disciplinary: we will read the works of anthropologists, sociologists, historians, as well as scholars of religion and literature.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course you will have a better understanding of the way ordinary Chinese live, both in the past and today. You should be able to critically read and evaluate a wide range of historical, anthropological, religious, and literary sources dealing with the continuities, connections, and fissures in Chinese folk culture over the past thousand years.

Required Readings:
E.T.C. Werner, Myths and Legends of China
Robert van Gulik, The Emperor's Pearl: A Judge Dee Mystery
Bill Porter, Road to Heaven
These required readings will be supplemented reading assignments as indicated in the syllabus. Readings will be supplemented with PowerPoint, film, and audio presentations.

Format and Requirements: You are required to attend every class and to participate in discussions by preparing in advance the required reading assignments. Class requirements include weekly discussions of assigned readings, a website log, an annotated bibliography, and a research paper (including PowerPoint presentations on your research papers).

Grading: The course will be worth a total of 100 points as follows: Class attendance and participation, 30 points; website log, 10 points; annotated bibliography, 10 points; and research paper, 50 points.
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = below 60

CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1: Introduction
Components of popular culture. Definitions, problems, historical and geographical background. Unity and diversity in Chinese popular culture. Continuity and change in traditional and contemporary popular culture.
Week 2: Material Culture and Other Sources
Objects of daily life. Language and proverbs. Folk and village specialists.
Week 3: Food in Chinese Culture
Evolution of culinary habits. Regional variations. Tea and drink. Food and health. Food and Death Ritual.
Topic and Short Proposal for Research paper Due
Week 4: Chinese Myths and Legends
Reading: Selections from E.T.C. Werner, Myths and Legends of China
Week 5: Family and Kinship
The role of the family in Chinese society and culture. Women and Marriage. Interaction of individual and family. Defining the "family," "clan," and "lineage" in the Chinese cultural context.
First Website Log Due
Week 6: Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors
Family and religion. Ancestor "worship". Gods and Goddesses. Temple worship.
Week 7: Aspects of Folk Religion
Reading: Bill Porter, Road to Heaven
Week 8: Folk Beliefs, Rituals, and Practices
Geomancy. Divination. Fortunetelling. Almanacs. Shamanism. Talismans.
Week 9: Violence and Popular Culture
Culture of Violence. Religion and Violence.
Annotated Bibliography Due
Week 10: Popular Justice
Reading: Robert van Gulik, The Emperor's Pearl
Week 11: Festivals and Amusements
Yearly cycle of festivals. Games, sports, and festivals. Fairs and markets. Gambling and "vice".
Second Website Log Due
Week 12: Popular Forms of Entertainment
Writers, performers, and audiences. Religious influences. Vernacular literature. Storytelling and oral traditions. Folklore, drama, and opera.
Week 13: Sex, Gender, and Popular Culture
Connections between sex and culture. Heterosexual and homosexual relations. Changing popular notions of sex in Chinese culture. Influences of the West and modernization.
Week 14 What is Chineseness?
Chinese identity in the past and present. How Chinese see themselves. How others see Chinese. Contemporary issues of Chineseness and identity.
Research papers Due
Weeks 15: Student Presentations
Completed Website Log Due

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