Unit CHINESE LITERATURE I
- Course
- Foreign languages and cultures
- Study-unit Code
- GP004919
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Ester Bianchi
- Teachers
-
- Ester Bianchi
- Hours
- 36 ore - Ester Bianchi
- CFU
- 9
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2026
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Letterature straniere
- Sector
- ASIA-01/F
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- The main purpose of the course is to provide students with a basic but comprehensive knowledge of Chinese philosophy, literature, society and culture from the origins to late imperial China.
- Reference texts
- ***1) Anne Cheng, Storia del Pensiero cinese, vol. 1: Dalle origini allo «studio del Mistero», Torino, Einaudi, 2000. Vol. 2: Dall'Introduzione del buddhismo alla formazione del pensiero moderno, Parte 4 e 5. 2) One of the following texts: - Andreini, A., Il Daodejing, Einaudi, 2018; - Bianchi, E., Faxian, Morlacchi, 2013; - Cadonna, A., Liezi. La scrittura reale del vuoto abissale e della potenza suprema, Einaudi, 2008; - Crisma, A., Neiye - Il Tao dell'Armonia Interiore, Garzanti, 2016; - Lippiello, T., Confucio. Dialoghi, Einaudi, 2003; - Scarpari, M., Il confucianesimo. I fondamenti e i testi, Einaudi, 2010; - Scarpari, M., Mencio e l'arte di governo, Marsilio, 2013. Other material will be furnished during the course. ***PROGRAM FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS: 1.a) STUDENTS OF PHILOSOPHY: Anne Cheng, History of Chinese Thought, vols. 1 and 2; 1.a) STUDENTS OF LITERATURE: Wilt Idema-Lloyd Haft, Chinese Literature, Venice, Cafoscarina, 2000 (entire volume: parts I-VI). 2) FOR BOTH LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY: One of the following texts, to be chosen: - Andreini, A., Il Daodejing, Einaudi, 2018; - - Bianchi, E., Faxian, Morlacchi, 2013; Cadonna, A., Liezi. La scrittura reale del vuoto abissale e della potenza suprema, Einaudi, 2008; - Crisma, A., Neiye - Il Tao dell'Armonia Interiore, Garzanti, 2016; - Lippiello, T., Confucio. Dialoghi, Einaudi, 2003; - Scarpari, M., Il confucianesimo. I fondamenti e i testi, Einaudi, 2010; - Scarpari, M., Mencio e l'arte di governo, Marsilio, 2013. ***TEXTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE (IN LIEU OF THE ABOVE LIST OF STUDIES): 1) C. GRAHAM: Disputers of the Tao: philosophical argument in Ancient China, La Salle, Ill.: Open Court, 1989. 2) English translation of the Analects, the Laozi, the Zhuangzi or the Hanfeizi. ***Students with disabilities or approved accommodations may require accessible formats for course materials. Please contact the Departmental Representative for assistance.
- Educational objectives
- - Knowledge of the Chinese classical and imperial philosophy and religions (in line with the general objective of the Course of Study in Philosophy); - Basic knowledge of the literature, history, culture, and society of China from the pre-imperial era to the beginnings of modernity (in line with the general objective of the Course of Study in Foreign Languages and Cultures). - Ability to employ the knowledge of the fundamentals of Chinese thought, society and culture in order to develop a multicultural and global approach, and to act as a cultural mediator.
- Prerequisites
- Chinese language (highly recommended but not compulsory).
- Teaching methods
- The course is organized as follows:
- standard classes on the main topics of the program;
- special lessons and conferences given by invited professors;
- further studies (students will further be presented with workshops and with documentaries and movies).
UNISTUDIUM e-learning platform will be broadly used both to share information and materials, and to communicate with students. - Other information
- The course is is targeted at BA students in Religions and Philosophy of China (modules 1-2, 36 ECTS), and at BA students in Chinese Literature I (modules 1-2-3, 54 ECTS).
- Learning verification modality
- ***Mid-Term Exam Oral exam (8 multiple choice questions and 8 open questions) on Pre-Han program. Final oral exam is conducted to assess students' conceptual understanding and provide them with the chance to demonstrate their deeper comprehension of subjects within the historical, sociocultural, philosophical, and religious contexts. ***In general terms, the exam focuses on the following aspects: *Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: Summary. *Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: Detail. *Autonomy of judgment, understood as the ability to produce autonomous judgments, arriving at coherent reflections on social, scientific or ethical issues; *Communication skills, conceived as the ability to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to other interlocutors; *Learning ability, understood as the necessary skill to advance in studies with a high degree of autonomy. ***In case a student intends to anticipate his/her exam in a year preceding the one it is scheduled in his/her curriculum, it is recommended to anticipate as well the attendance of the lessons and to schedule the exam in the first useful session after the lessons have been concluded. ***For student's accommodations, see http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa.
- Extended program
- MODULE 1 AND MODULE 2 (RELIGIONS AND PHILOSOPHY OF CHINA – PRE-IMPERIAL CHINESE LITERATURE). The first two modules of the course (intended for both students of Religions and Philosophy of China and students of Chinese Literature I) cover the study of Chinese thought, literature, culture, and society from the origins of Chinese civilization up to the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The course will introduce oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang period and ritual bronze inscriptions from the Western Zhou. Subsequently, the Thirteen Classics, the main canonical texts of the Confucian tradition, will be examined. A significant portion of the course will be devoted to the thought of the so-called Hundred Schools of Philosophers, with particular attention to Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism, as well as an introduction to cosmology. Finally, Han Confucianism and the School of Mystery during the Three Kingdoms period (3rd century CE) will be presented. The first two modules will conclude with an overview of Imperial Daoism, Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism. MODULE 3 (IMPERIAL CHINESE LITERATURE). The third module (intended only for students of Chinese Literature I) focuses on imperial Chinese literature. Specifically, the first part continues the study of the Han dynasty, with a focus on historiography, historical narrative, and poetry. Regarding the literature of the Three Kingdoms period and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (220–589), the course will address the emergence of narrative, the evolution of poetic genres, and the development of literary criticism. The course will then analyze the Tang (618–906) and Song (960–1279) dynasties, examining developments in prose literature and poetic genres. Next, it will address the development of literature during the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1260–1368), characterized by the emergence of theater. The course will then move to the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, focusing on the development of narrative literature and theater prior to the advent of modern literature.
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