Message from ablackwelder
I agree with Matt that one of the most interesting aspects of the lecture was Master Ye's explanation of the ubiquitous red stamps of ownership located on the works of art in the powerpoint. I was also amused by the (occasionally sub-par quality) poetry written in the blank spaces of the art; in many cases, these were contributions by the Emperor who wasn't satisfied in the red stamp alone to mark the work of art as his property.
The readings in this class were, as Rebecca and Sharon have pointed out, worthy of a second and third re-reading (though Matt and I never got to the "recitation" phase of appreciation 
) . Weeks later, I've come back to the piece by T'ao Ch'ien called "Written While Drunk":
The mountain air is fine at evening of the day
And flying birds return together homewards.
Within these things there is a hint of Truth,
But when I start to tell it, I cannot find the words.
Laugh at the title if you will, but this passage brought back memories of biking back home from school in the late afternoon on a summer evening in Shikoku. Rice fields on either side, beautiful mountains in the distance, the Seto-Inland sea at my back. These were the kind of thoughts going through my head. Coming back to the States after four years, the most common question was, of course, "So, how was Japan?" How many times did I try to explain moments like the one described above? Innumerable. And not once was I able to find the words to describe those hints of Truth.