Fate, Filial Piety, and Passion in Chinese Civilization

In this course, for which no prior study of China is needed, we will look at the place of the ideas of “ming” (fate), “xiao” (filial piety) and “qing”(passion) in Chinese culture as they are expressed in literature and film. We will study fortune telling, including divination using the 1000 BCE “Book of Changes,” read traditional and modern versions of the story of the filial woman warrior Mulan, and discuss the grand, death-defying passion in the Ming dynasty opera “The Peony Pavilion.” Our contemporary texts will include the film “Farewell My Concubine,” the novel “To Live,” and the documentary film “Our Time Machine,” about a son’s love for his aging father. Written work will be both critical and creative. 3 hrs. sem.