Chengjuan Sun

In the first semester, all the basic grammar of Modern Standard Chinese (Putonghua) and another 300 Chinese characters are introduced. There are extensive oral and written assignments. In the second semester, basic grammar is reviewed through in-class oral work and the elements of Modern Written Chinese grammar are introduced. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course are automatically added to CHNS 214Y for the spring semester. Prerequisite: CHNS 111Y-112Y or equivalent. Offered every fall.

In the first semester, all the basic grammar of Modern Standard Chinese (Putonghua) and another 300 Chinese characters are introduced. There are extensive oral and written assignments. In the second semester, basic grammar is reviewed through in-class oral work and the elements of Modern Written Chinese grammar are introduced. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: CHNS 213Y or equivalent. Offered every spring.

This course serves as an introduction to Chinese literary traditions from the first millennium B.C. to 1911. Readings include the most beloved literary texts that unify Chinese civilization through its long history, selected from early poetry and history, Confucian and Daoist classics, tales of the strange, Tang Dynasty poetry, short stories and drama written in vernacular language, and novels from the late imperial period. The discussion-based seminar explores how Chinese literature, seen as a means of achieving immortality along with virtue, confirms social values or challenges them, and how it articulates the place of the individual in a thoroughly Confucian and patriarchal society. No background in Chinese language or culture required. This course is taught in English translation. No prerequisite. Generally offered every other year.

This course examines roles, images and writings of women in ancient and modern China. The integration of gender relations into cosmological and sociopolitical patterns set the tone for the representation of women in Chinese literature, theater, film and religious texts, but the notion that women were oppressed and silenced throughout imperial China is overly simplistic and needs to be re-examined. Our discussion focuses on three main themes: the gap between Confucian ideals of womanhood and the complex realities of female social roles, the construction of a feminine voice by both female writers and men writing as women, and the issue of female agency and its various manifestations within and without the domestic realm. This course is taught in English translation. No prerequisite. Generally offered every other year.

With a selection of short stories and fiction by prominent writers whose careers span the 20th century, this course examines Chinese modern literature that can be seen in part as the result of a constant negotiation between the social use of literature and the autonomy of literature as an art form. Emerging in the contexts of nation-building, anti-imperialism and westernization, what does literary modernity mean for a third-world literature with its literary discourse so closely linked with national discourse? We trace the evolution from literary revolution to revolutionary literature before 1949 and examine various manifestations of resistance to the master narrative of communism before and after the Mao era. Primary texts concern a wide range of themes such as national identity, historical memory, visions of rural life and primitive communities, modernity and female subjectivity, family and romance. This course is taught in English translation. No prerequisite. Offered every other year.

This seminar explores how the image of modern China has been constructed through a variety of cinematic and literary representations. Background readings and documentaries provide basic historical narrative. Class discussions focus on how cultural, social and political changes find expression in film and fiction and, more important, how China has come to be imagined and represented as primitive, exotic, oppressive, revolutionary, modern and, most recently, postmodern and economically appealing. Some of the key issues include gender, youth, family, ethnicity, modernity, visuality, violence, identity and cultural stereotyping. The course aims to acquaint students with major works of 20th-century Chinese filmmaking and to promote students' critical understanding of Chinese literature, culture and society. This course is taught in English translation, but advanced Chinese language students also have the opportunity to watch movies in Chinese and write short essays in Chinese. No prerequisite. Generally offered every other year.

This course is for students who wish to develop and refine their ability to understand, speak, read and write Modern Standard Chinese. Extensive reading deals with aspects of Chinese culture and society. Reading assignments serve as points of departure for discussion and composition. Video materials also are used for this purpose. This course is recommended for students wishing to specialize in any field related to China. The course may be repeated for credit for a maximum of 1.5 units when taught with different reading assignments and supplementary material. Prerequisite: CHNS 213Y-214Y or equivalent. Offered every year.