Religions in China

CHIN31111 Religions in China 20 Semester 1 Undergraduate Level 6 Gregory Scott Unit coordinator 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Last part of a Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 <span class="TextRun SCXW149909574 BCX8 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif", "Microsoft Sans Serif_EmbeddedFont", "Microsoft Sans Serif_MSFontService", sans-serif;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:none !important;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:18.3458px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB">This course unit explores religion in China from the earliest evidence in the Bronze Age to the present day. Presently one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, the religious culture and history of China are exceptionally rich and diverse, with virtually no area of human life going unrelated to religious matters. In this course unit we seek to better understand the historical religious traditions of China, not to make judgements on matters of religious belief or religious truth. Our sources include a variety of historical studies, translated religious texts, anthropological and ethnographic accounts, and sacred images. Students do not need to be able to read Chinese for this unit, but if they can, they have the option of consulting primary sources in the language. Students will not only learn the essential features and histories of the major religious traditions in China, but also important aspects of how they influenced Chinese history, and how they continue to influence its development today.<span class="EOP SCXW149909574 BCX8" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif", "Microsoft Sans Serif_EmbeddedFont", "Microsoft Sans Serif_MSFontService", sans-serif;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:18.3458px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-ccp-props="{"335572071":4,"335572072":1,"335572073":4278190080,"335572075":4,"335572076":6,"335572077":4278190080,"335572079":4,"335572080":1,"335572081":4278190080,"335572083":4,"335572084":4,"335572085":4278190080,"469789798":"single","469789802":"single","469789806":"single","469789810":"single"}">  <span class="TextRun SCXW149909574 BCX8 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif", "Microsoft Sans Serif_EmbeddedFont", "Microsoft Sans Serif_MSFontService", sans-serif;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:none !important;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:18.3458px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB">This course unit explores religion in China from the earliest evidence in the Bronze Age to the present day. Presently one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, the religious culture and history of China are exceptionally rich and diverse, with virtually no area of human life going unrelated to religious matters. In this course unit we seek to better understand the historical religious traditions of China, not to make judgements on matters of religious belief or religious truth. Our sources include a variety of historical studies, translated religious texts, anthropological and ethnographic accounts, and sacred images. Students do not need to be able to read Chinese for this unit, but if they can, they have the option of consulting primary sources in the language. Students will not only learn the essential features and histories of the major religious traditions in China, but also important aspects of how they influenced Chinese history, and how they continue to influence its development today.<span class="EOP SCXW149909574 BCX8" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;font-family:"Microsoft Sans Serif", "Microsoft Sans Serif_EmbeddedFont", "Microsoft Sans Serif_MSFontService", sans-serif;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:18.3458px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-ccp-props="{"335572071":4,"335572072":1,"335572073":4278190080,"335572075":4,"335572076":6,"335572077":4278190080,"335572079":4,"335572080":1,"335572081":4278190080,"335572083":4,"335572084":4,"335572085":4278190080,"469789798":"single","469789802":"single","469789806":"single","469789810":"single"}">  The unit aims to: <ul><li>Provide students with a sound understanding of the crucial role played by religion in Chinese culture and history, and how it has shaped Chinese civilisation.</li><li>Foster greater awareness of the scope and diversity of primary source materials relating to religion in China, and of the cultural contexts in which they were produced.</li><li>Provide students with the option to engage with primary Chinese-language source material in conjunction with English-language secondary sources.</li><li>Train students how to critically assess religious traditions while not impinging on the freedom of belief of others.</li><li>Improve students’ ability to express complex ideas in oral and written form.</li></ul>  Students should be able to:  <ul><li>Show familiarity with key religious ideas, figures, and institutions in China, and be able to identify how these elements developed over time</li><li>Illustrate how an understanding of and appreciation for religion deepens our understanding of Chinese culture and history</li></ul>  <ul><li>Read, discuss, and critically analyse primary and secondary academic materials relating to religion in China</li><li>Apply independent critical thinking skills when making use of historical sources</li><li>Make connections between different ideas, figures, and institutions, and between religion and the larger context of Chinese culture and history</li></ul>  <ul><li>Think independently, critically, and analytically about complex topics</li><li>Express ideas clearly in speech and writing</li><li>Read effectively (both primary and secondary texts)</li></ul>  <ul><li>Manage time effectively, self-motivate, and work to deadlines</li><li>Communicate a coherent and critical argument of depth and complexity in written form</li><li>Assess the relevance and importance of the ideas of others</li><li>Show awareness of and responsiveness to the nature and extent of intercultural diversity</li></ul>  Analytical skills Students taking this unit will be able to analyse and evaluate both existing literature on the material studied and the primary materials themselves. Above all, committed students will emerge from this course unit with an advanced capacity to think critically, i.e. knowledgeably, rigorously, confidently and independently. Innovation/creativity n this unit students are encouraged to respond imaginatively and independently to the questions and ideas raised by existing literature on the topic and the materials studied. Project management Students taking this unit will be able to work towards deadlines, work independently and to manage their time effectively. Research Students on this unit will be required to digest, summarise, and present quite large amounts of information. They are encouraged to enrich their responses and arguments with a wide range of further reading. Written communication Students on this unit will develop their ability to communicate a coherent and critical argument of depth and complexity in written form, and to write in a way that is lucid, precise and compelling. Syllabus:Teaching weeks are organised by groups of key themes in religion:Week 1 History and RepertoiresWeek 2 Writing and PromulgationWeek 3 Space, Territory, and RelicsWeek 4 Home, Family, and GenderWeek 5 Conflict and TransgressionWeek 6 Reading Week, Midterm ExamWeek 7 Transformation and LiberationWeek 8 Image and PerformanceWeek 9 Minorities and OutsidersWeek 10 Salvation and DisasterWeek 11 Rationality and ModernityWeek 12 Review and Exam Preparation One two-hour lecture and one one-hour seminar per week, 33 total contact hours200 notional study hours   1 Written exam 60% 3 Report 40% Y David A. Palmer and Vincent Goossaert, The Religious Question in Modern China (University of Chicago Press, 2011)Chün-fang Yü, The Renewal of Buddhism in China, Fortieth Anniversary Edition (Columbia University Press, 2020)Lai Guolong, Excavating the Afterlife: the Archaeology of Early Chinese Religion (University of Washington Press, 2015)Alimtohte Shiho, Islam in China and the Islamic World A History of Chinese Scholarship (Gorgias Press, 2024)  Fan Ruiping, ed., The Renaissance of Confucianism in Contemporary China (Springer Netherlands, 2011)Cao Feng, Daoism in Early China: Huang-Lao Thought in Light of Excavated Texts (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)George Kam Wah Mak, Protestant Bible Translation and Mandarin as the National Language of China (Brill, 2017)  Lectures 22 Seminars 11 0 167