Readings in Chinese Literature: Literary Theory in Tang and Song

This course focuses on theories of literature, literary production, and reading from the early Tang through the Southern Song. Primary sources include prefaces to literary collections, letters and essays on literature, debates over wen and the Classics, and poetry on writing and reading. Key writers l include Du Fu, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, the Cheng brothers, Zhu Xi, Lu You, and Liu Kezhuang. We consider changes in underlying definitions of literature amid significant social, political, and aesthetic shifts from Tang to Song. Secondary scholarship includes works in Chinese, Japanese, and English.