REL 308 (Themes in Asian Traditions: Laozi 老子 and Its Legacies)

Dr. Jeff Richey, Instructor (x 3186) and Mr. Wendell Garnett, Teaching Assistant (985-9397)

Berea College, Spring 2005             MWF 10, Draper 205

COURSE DESCRIPTION

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

COURSE CALENDAR

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Each time this topical course is offered, it focuses on a close study of selected texts, practices, or experiences within one or more Asian religious traditions.

This section will focus on the early Chinese text known as the Laozi (Lao-tzu) 老子 or Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) 道德經 and its various interpretations within and without the Taoist tradition. Second only to the Bible in the number of times it has been translated and published around the world, the Laozi has been read, studied, chanted, and put into practice for more than two thousand years, and its popularity only continues to grow.

CREDIT: World Cultures or Asian Studies                                                              PREREQUISITE: 1 course in Asian Studies

Course Goals

• An intermediate appreciation of the Laozi in its early Chinese and Taoist contexts
• An advanced competence in speaking, listening, reading, and writing about primary texts

Course Materials

1. Mark Csikszentmihalyi and Philip J. Ivanhoe, eds., Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999) (RP)
2. Livia Kohn and Michael Lafargue, eds., Lao-Tzu and the Tao-Te-Ching (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998) (LZ)
3. Moss Roberts, trans., Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2004) (DDJ)
4. Readings available from Hutchins Library 2-hour closed reserve (R)                                                                                                BACK TO TOP

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• Participation in all class sessions. The instructor reserves the right to reduce the final grades of students who miss class. Excuses for absences may be sought, but may not necessarily be granted.

• Submission of 9 weekly e-mailed responses to assigned readings, due most Fridays beginning on February 11, and consisting of questions and concerns raised for you by each week’s assigned readings. The text of each e-mailed response should be no less than 250 words, and should be composed in clear standard English prose without any mechanical errors. These responses will be graded pass/fail, and cannot be made up at a later date.

• Presentation of 1 agenda about a scholarly article or book chapter related to the study of the Laozi, as assigned by the instructor, in order to acquire and share analytical tools for the interpretation of the text. The schedule for agenda presentations is available here.

• Delivery of 1 research presentation on work in progress toward fulfillment of research essay requirement (see below), to be given in class between April 25 and May 9. Further guidelines for this presentation are available here.

• Completion of 1 research essay (7-10 pages in length), on a topic related to the study of the Laozi chosen in consultation with the instructor, due on May 19. Further guidelines for this exercise are available here.

Course Assessment

Reading responses = 25% of course grade
Agenda presentation = 25% of course grade
Research presentation = 25% of course grade
Research essay = 25% of course grade                                                                                                 BACK TO TOP

Course Calendar

Week 1
2/4      Introduction to the course

Week 2       Origins and Orientations
2/7      Lecture on Moss Roberts, “Introduction" (DDJ 1-23) and Benjamin Schwartz, “The Thought of the Tao-te-ching” (LZ 189-210)
2/9      Translation workshop: Laozi 1
2/11      Agenda and discussion: A. C. Graham, “The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan” (LZ 23-40)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 3       Nature and Naturalness
2/14      Seminar on Laozi 12, 17 (DDJ 53-54, 66-67)
2/16      Seminar on Laozi 37, 43 (DDJ 103-105, 118-120)
2/18      Agenda and discussion: Liu Xiaogan, “An Inquiry into the Core Value of Laozi’s Philosophy” (RP 211-237)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 4       Sage and Society
2/21      Seminar on Laozi 2, 70 (DDJ 30-32, 171)
2/23      Seminar on Laozi 3, 80 (DDJ 33-35, 186-187)
2/25      Agenda and discussion: Bryan W. Van Norden, “Method in the Madness of the Laozi” (RP 187-210)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 5       Chaos and Cosmos
2/28      Seminar on Laozi 4, 42 (DDJ 36-37, 116-117)
3/2      Seminar on Laozi 39, 76 (DDJ 109-111, 180)
3/4      Agenda and discussion: N. J. Girardot, “‘Beginning and Return’ in the Tao Te Ching,” in Girardot, Myth and Meaning in Early Taoism
                (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1983), 47-76 (R)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 6       Virtue and Power
3/7      Seminar on Laozi 21, 38 (DDJ 74-75, 106-108)
3/9      Agenda and discussion: Philip J. Ivanhoe, “The Concept of de (“Virtue”) in the Laozi” (RP 239-257)
3/11      NO CLASS -- INSTRUCTOR AWAY
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 7       Spirit and Self
3/14      Seminar on Laozi 10, 13 (DDJ 48-50, 55-58)
3/16      Seminar on Laozi 28, 55 (DDJ 88-89, 141-142)
3/18      Agenda and discussion: Harold D. Roth, “The Laozi in the Context of Early Daoist Mystical Praxis” (RP 59-96)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

3/21-3/25      NO CLASS SESSIONS – SPRING BREAK

Week 8       The Laozi in Taoist Ritual
3/28      NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK
3/30      Excerpts from Taoism: A Question of Balance (in class/R Video 297.4 L848t)
4/1      Agenda and discussion: Livia Kohn, “The Tao-te-ching in Ritual” (LZ 143-161)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 9       Commentaries on the Laozi (I)
4/4      Seminar on “The Xiang'er Commentary,” in Bokenkamp, ed., Early Daoist Scriptures (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997),
                29-65 (skim 78-142) (R 299.514 B686e/E-book)
4/6      Seminar on “Excerpts from Wang Bi’s Commentary,” in Richard John Lynn, trans., The Classic of the Way and Virtue: A New Translation
                of the Tao-te ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 51-53, 135-137, 155-156
(R) 299.514 L298wxL 1999
4/8      Agenda and discussion: Livia Kohn, “The Lao-tzu Myth” (LZ 41-62)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 10       Commentaries on the Laozi (II)
4/11      Agenda and discussion: Alan K. L. Chan, “A Tale of Two Commentaries: Ho-shang-kung and Wang Pi on the Lao-tzu” (LZ 89-117)
4/13      Agenda and discussion: Isabelle Robinet, “Later Commentaries: Textual Polysemy and Syncretistic Interpretations” (LZ 119-142)
4/15      Agenda and discussion: Julia M. Hardy, “Influential Western Interpretations of the Tao-te-ching” (LZ 165-188)
      READING RESPONSE DUE!

Week 11       Research Preparation
4/18      NO CLASS – OPTIONAL CONSULTATION WITH INSTRUCTOR
4/20      NO CLASS – OPTIONAL CONSULTATION WITH INSTRUCTOR
4/22      NO CLASS – OPTIONAL CONSULTATION WITH INSTRUCTOR

Week 12       Research Presentations (I)
4/25      Research presentations (as assigned by instructor)
4/27      Research presentations (as assigned by instructor)
4/29      Research presentations (as assigned by instructor)

Week 13       Research Presentations (II)
5/2      Research presentations (as assigned by instructor)
5/4      Research presentations (as assigned by instructor)
5/6      Research presentations (as assigned by instructor), concluding discussion, and course evaluation

Week 14       Research Revision
5/9      NO CLASS – OPTIONAL CONSULTATION WITH INSTRUCTOR
5/11     NO CLASS – OPTIONAL CONSULTATION WITH INSTRUCTOR
5/19      RESEARCH ESSAY DUE AS E-MAILED ATTACHED DOCUMENT!                                                                                 BACK TO TOP