Classical Chinese III — Daoist Texts

Course 3: Classical Chinese III — Daoist Texts

Description:

This advanced course focuses on Daoist texts, especially the Daodejing, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. Students will explore Daoist language, metaphor, and cosmology, with attention to philosophical depth and stylistic ambiguity.

Objectives:

  • Read and interpret full passages from major Daoist works
  • Understand poetic and paradoxical language
  • Discuss metaphysics, spontaneity, and nature through the lens of original texts
  • Compose interpretive commentary in English with textual support

Units:

  1. Stylistics of Daoist Writing
    • Brevity, ambiguity, and layered meanings
    • Poetic vs. philosophical prose
  2. Daodejing Analysis
    • Key chapters: cosmology, governance, non-action (無為)
    • Lexical study of 道, 德, 無, 有, 自然
  3. Zhuangzi Selections
    • Dream of the butterfly, skill stories, relativism
    • Literary features: humor, allegory, paradox
  4. Liezi and Later Daoist Works
    • Early science, inner cultivation, and transcendence
  5. Final Translation Project
    • Annotated translation of an extended Daoist passage

Assessment:

  • Weekly annotated readings
  • Midterm essay on a central concept (e.g., 無為, 自然)
  • Final project: Translation and interpretive commentary