Cultural Topics in Chinese Studies: The Pursuit of Happiness in Early Chinese Thoughts and Their Modern-day Applications

Course Number: 82-533

82-533 is taught in Chinese. For this course in English, see 82-230.

Do you claim to be a happy person? If so, why? If not, why not? How do we define “good life” and where can we get it? This course will inspect various responses to these questions in early Chinese thoughts and their modern-day applications from a global perspective. Chinese thoughts and philosophy are the intellectual foundations of Chinese culture throughout history. They represent the love and pursuit of wisdom in Chinese tradition. The course will explore some major schools of thought in early China such as Daoism/Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Legalism, and Mohism, and look at the manifestations of their wisdom in various aspects of contemporary Chinese society, including food, medicine, Fengshui, architecture, painting, calligraphy, and Taichi.

This course will be taught in both English and Chinese, with two weekly meetings conducted in Chinese and English respectively and asynchronized assignments and/or small group meetings. Students can opt to attend only the English meetings for 6 units (no prerequisite), only the Chinese meetings for 6 units, or both for 12 units (highly advanced or near-native Chinese proficiency required). To promote intercultural communications, the course welcomes participation of native Chinese speakers for cross-cultural peer learning.

VIEW the Schedule of Classes for more details

Units: VAR 6 or 12