China: The Enduring Heritage will introduce students to the patterns of the
Chinese past and present, particularly to China's evolving Confucian
tradition and its transformation under the present Communist regime.  E232
includes three course units, each employing a different perspective as we
move chronologically through cultural history.  Ancient China is explored
through the religious and ethical ideas of China's elite class, which we
will read in translations of classics such as the Tao te ching of Lao Tzu
and the Analects of Confucius. We approach the medieval period by
considering the lives of non-elite classes and the way representatives of
the governing class interacted with them.  For this portion of the course,
we focus on fictional and other narrative materials.  The modern era, from
the Opium War of 1842 to the present, is analyzed through political
history, using fiction and documentary sources to explore the rise and
transformation of Chinese Communism and the question of its links to
China's Confucian past.

Written requirements include three short papers, a midterm and final, and
brief exercise of quizzes.  E232 is designed to prepare students for upper
level courses in Chinese history, religion, philosophy, politics, and
literature.  No prior background in Chinese studies is required.