Chinese and Japanese Literature and Philosophy

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

This curriculum group consists of John Keveanos, Anna Sarnoff and myself, although others are welcome to join us, and comments and suggestions (even criticisms) are always welcome. We all teach English, hence the literature angle. But since literature includes philosophy and other works of nonfiction in addition to the usual poetry, plays and fictional prose narratives, the scope of this curriculum is potentially very comprehensive. In our discussion last Sunday, we tried to narrow it somewhat.

Because of its centrality in early Asian art and culture, and its continuing influence in contemporary society, the ancient wisdom literature of China and Japan, we felt, should be studied first. This would include works by Confucius (Analects) and Laozi, along with Zen parables. The major Chinese poets, Du Fu and Li Bai, will be studied, along with Japanese Haiku masters such as Basho (The Narrow Road of Oku), and placed in the context of the natural phenomena of China and Japan--mountains, valleys, forests, rivers--which we hope to observe in abundance on our trip. In addition, we will observe gardens in China and Japan that reflect the aesthetic perception of nature apparent in the traditional poetry. Prose narratives will include Japanese classics by Murasaki (Tale of Genji) and Shonagon (Pillow Book), as well as contemporary Chinese fiction (Red Scarf Girl) and nonfiction (Mao's Red Book). Because we will be going to Hiroshima, we will include also Black Rain and John Hersey's Hiroshima. Drama will be represented by the classic No plays of Motokiyo (The Deserted Crone). We want to expand these works of literature with references to actual places in China and Japan and images drawn from classic paintings and sculpture as well as more contemporary visuals such as our own photographs taken on the trip.

Leigh Clark
Monroe HS

[Anonymous]

A photograph in the Calendar section of the LA Times for Saturday, April 28, 2008, illustrates nicely one of the contentions of our study group: that ancient Chinese wisdom literature continues to inform and inspire contemporary cultural expression. The article which the photograph accompanies actually focuses on a protest by Chinese-Americans against CNN and the xenophobic, anti-Chinese comments made by one of its talking heads, Jack Cafferty (see my post on the article in the "Asians in America" thread). But the photograph on page eight might be considered more philosophical. It depicts smiling eighteen-year-old Joy Kuo as she assumes a perfect full-lotus position beneath a larger-than-life-sized statue of the eminent Daoist philosopher Laozi on the UC Irvine campus. (I was on the Irvine campus many times throughout the 1990s to check out and return library books and never saw this statue, which seems hard to overlook; it must be either a new adornment or in a especially obscure part of the campus.) Joy Kuo and Laozi represent the interaction of ancient wisdom and modern creativity in a way our group hopes to see more of as we explore this topic soon in China itself.

Leigh Clark
Monroe HS[Edit by="lclark on May 28, 6:00:24 PM"][/Edit]

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