EAS392

East Asian Travel Literature

Fall 2006

Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:15-5:35, Arts & Sciences 14

IMPORTANT UPDATE—SEE NOVEMBER 27^TH AND 29^TH BELOW

Instructors: Professor James M. Hargett Humanities 254C Tel.: 442-4233 (voice mail) Fax: 442-4118 Office hours: MW 9:15-10:00 AM and by appointment E-mail: Jim_Harget@yahoo.com

Professor Susanna Fessler Humanities 210 Tel: 442-4119 (voice mail) Fax: 442-4118 Office hours: MW 11:30-12:30 and by appointment E-mail: fessler@albany.edu

Course Description:

This course will examine the traditions of travel writing in China and Japan. We will read selections from both countries that cover a range from the 5^th century to the 18^th century. The first half of the semester will focus on China, and the second half on Japan, but there will be interweaving. All readings will be in English; no knowledge of Chinese or Japanese is required. Class meetings will follow a seminar format.

Required Textbooks:

· Reserve materials on ERES (Electronic Reserves).

Prerequisites:

Any one of the following, or permission of the instructor: A Eas 104, A Eaj 210; A Eac 210, or A Eac 211.

Grading: Your final grade in this course will be determined by (1) the quality and consistency of your active attendance and performance in class; (2) the quality and consistency of your preparation for class as determined by unannounced quizzes on the content of the reading; (3) your performance on a mid-term and a final exam and (4) your final grade on the research paper. Grades are calculated as follows:

Participation & Attendance	10%
Quizzes	10%
Mid-term Exam	25%
Final Exam	25%
Research Paper	30%

• Attendance will be taken regularly; students are expected to attend class unless extenuating circumstances prevent it. Students are also expected to be active participants in this class, and to come to class prepared. Attendance is calculated by assigning a value of 1 to each day a student attends (or has an excused absence) and a value of 0 to each day a student is absent. There are no allowed absences before a penalty is applied. At the end of the semester, the student’s sum is divided by the number of days that class met. It is the student’s responsibility to ask about missed work after an absence.

· Quizzes are five-question, multiple choice quizzes based on the reading for that day. Quizzes are given in the first 10 minutes of class. If you arrive later than 10 minutes after the start of class, you forfeit you opportunity to take the quiz. There are no make-up quizzes.

· The examinations comprise a combination of matching, short answer and essay answer questions.

· The research paper is approximately a 2500 word essay, based on both the material read for class and also the student’s individual research of scholarly materials.

There will be no extra-credit assignments and no curving of grades. The grading scale is as follows: 93-100%=A; 90-92%=A-; 87-89%=B+; 83-86%=B; 80-82%=B-; 77-79%=C+; 73-76%=C; 70-72%=C-; 67-69%=D+; 63-66%=D; 60-62%=D-; 0-59%=E. The instructors consider a grade of "Incomplete" to be for emergencies (death in the family, extreme illness, etc.), not for students who fail to plan ahead.

This course is A-E graded. Undergraduate regulations prohibit taking an upper-level course as an S/U graded course.

Academic Integrity: The discovery of any cheating (including plagiarism, dual submission, or shared work of any kind) on an assignment will result in (1) immediate expulsion from the course with a failing grade; and (2) a report to appropriate SUNY officials. Appeals may be made through appropriate channels.

			Topic	Reading
Sept.	6	W	Course Introduction	None
	11	M	Government officials and travel writing; internal (that is, inside China) itineraries; the emergence of “travel records” (yu-chi/youji); methods of transmission; Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism and how they relate to travel literature in China; travel literature written in exile; major developments in travel writing during the Sung/Song dynasty (960-1279)	Inscribed Landscapes (IL), pp. 1-56 (“Introduction: The Rise of Chinese Travel Writing”)
	13	W	Buddhism, mountain retreats, the role of landscape in meditation.	IL, 67-71 (Hermitage Mountain)
	18	M	Three Gorges; river travel; writing about scenic sights	Read: IL, 77-90 (Li Tao-yuan/Li Daoyuan)
	20	W	Buddhist monks making pilgrimages from China to India	IL, 97-102 (Hsuan-tsang/Xuanzang)
	25	M	The “daytrip essay”; the Lai-nan lu/Lainanlu, China’s first travel diary	IL, 115-119 (Yuan Chieh/Yuan Jie); 127-131 (Li Ao)
	27	W	“Eight Pieces from Yung Prefecture” and the birth of the “lyric travel account”	IL, 139-149 (Liu Tsung-yuan/Liu Zongyuan)
Oct.	2	M	NO CLASS (Yom Kippur)
	4	W	The genre of travel literature in Japan	Fessler, “A Brief History of Japanese Travel Writing” (ERES)
	9	M	Ki no Tsurayuki and the Heian precedent	Tosa Diary (ERES)
	11	W	Travel literature during the Sung/Song dynasty; Su Shi’s exile to Hainan Island	IL, 183-194 (Su Shih/Su Shi); also read: Hargett, “Clearing the Apertures and Getting in Tune: The Hainan Exile of Su Shi (1037-1101).” (On ERES)
	16	M	The Priest Saigyō: Japan’s greatest traveling poet	“Saigyō’s Traveling Tale” (ERES)
	18	W	Imperial Travel in Japan	Account of the Journey of the ex-Emperor Takakura to Itsukushima; “Some Characteristics of medieval travelogues” (both on ERES)
	23	M	MIDTERM EXAMINATION	None
	25	W	China’s first, extended travel diary: “Journey Into Shu,” by Lu Yu/Lu You	IL, 205-212 (Lu Yu/Lu You)
	30	M	An example of a famous “Buddhist” mountain in China: Eyebrows Mountain (Omei shan/Emeishan) in Sichuan	IL, 213-218 (Fan Ch’eng-ta/Fan Chengda)
Nov.	1	W	Key topics for lecture and classroom discussion: “visions” and “religious experiences” on “Buddhist mountains”	Hargett, “The Immortal Sage Appears” (more on Fan Chengda and Eyebrows Mountain)(ERES)
	6	M	Buddhist pilgrimages	Diary of Priest Shinshō (ERES)
	8	W	An anonymous journal from the end of a quiet life	An Account of a Journey to the East (ERES)
	13	M	A Nun’s last appeal for poetry and prestige	The Diary of the Waning Moon (ERES)
	15	W	The priests Sōkyū and Gyōe	Souvenir for the Capital (ERES) & Account of a Journey to the Zenko-ji Temple (ERES); First draft of papers due
	20	M	Sōgi and his legacy	Record of a Journey to Shirakawa (ERES) & Pilgrimage to Daizaifu (ERES)
	22	W	NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)	None
	27	M	Japan’s most prolific travel writer: Matsuo Bashō	Narrow Road to the Deep North (ERES)
	29	W	China’s most prolific travel writer: Hsu Hung-tsu/Xu Hongzu	IL, 317-334 (Hsu Hung-tsu/Xu Hongzu)
Dec.	4	M	A later nun’s voice; What happens to travel writing in the modern era	Record of an Autumn Wind (ERES)
	6	W	Lecture, slide presentation, and discussion: “Mountains, Rivers, and Travel in Traditional Chinese Painting.”	Final draft of papers due
	11	M	Japanese Travelers in the West	None

Final Examination is scheduled for Wednesday, December 20, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

(See University schedule on next page)

FALL 2006 FINAL EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

FALL 2006 Final Examinations begin on Thursday, December 14^th and end on Thursday, December 21^st.  Eight Week Two (8W2) and semester course examination day and time assignments may be found in the charts below.  Examinations are scheduled in the same room the class meets in except for departmental examinations and special assignments requested by the instructor of the class, (assignments to be announced in class). Classes meeting four or five days a week must use examination schedule for MWF class meetings.  Classes meeting Monday and Wednesday only or Wednesday and Friday only use the examination schedule for MWF meetings, unless otherwise designated. Final Examinations for courses meeting "off campus" should be held during the last class meeting.
DEPARTMENTAL EXAMINATIONS (Examination days, times and rooms to be announced in November)
	Thur, Dec 14	8:00am-10:00am	Fri, Dec  15	1:00pm-3:00pm	Tue, Dec 19	8:00am-10:00am
	Thur, Dec 14	1:00pm-3:00pm	Mon, Dec 18	8:00am-10:00am	Tue, Dec 19	1:00pm-3:00pm
	Fri, Dec 15	8:00am-10:00am	Mon, Dec 18	1:00pm-3:00pm

Morning Classes			Afternoon Classes
If your	Beginning at	Your Exam	If your	Beginning at	Your exam
class	one of these	Time and	class	one of these	Time and
meets	hours	Date is	meets	hours	Date is
MWF	8:15am	Thursday, Dec 21 8:00am-10:00am	MWF	12:35pm	Tuesday, Dec 19 10:30am-12:30pm
TTH	8:45am	Wednesday, Dec 20 10:30am-12:30pm	TTH	1:15pm	Thursday, Dec 21 10:30am-12:30pm
MWF	9:20am	Monday,  Dec 18 10:30am-12:30pm	MWF	1:40pm	Wednesday, Dec 20 8:00am-10:00am
TTH	10:15am	Monday, Dec 18 3:30pm-5:30pm	TTH	2:45pm	Thursday, Dec 14 10:30am-12:30pm
MWF	10:25am	Friday, Dec 15 10:30am-12:30pm	MW	2:45pm	Wednesday, Dec 20 1:00pm-3:00pm
TTH	11:45am	Friday, Dec 15 3:30pm-5:30pm	TTH	4:15pm	Tuesday, Dec 19 3:30pm-5:30pm
MWF	11:30am	Thursday, Dec 21 1:00pm-3:00pm	MW	4:15pm	Wednesday, Dec 20 3:30pm-5:30pm