Western Zhou Group Projects

Links at the bottom of this page will lead you to your specific assignment.

As you're all aware, we're going to be studying the Western Zhou era (1045-771) through group projects, focused on the corpus of translated inscriptions from ritual bronzes that constitute your reading on Inscriptional Records of the Western Zhou. 

This is how the project will run.  On Thursday, November 2, I'll present very brief overview of the traditional portrait of the Western Zhou, as reflected in the Shi-ji; the shi-ji text is translated in your reading for that day, The History of the Western Zhou.  The course webpage for Thursday will show you how we read bronze inscriptions through one example, and we'll look at others in class.  We'll also look at an example of a translated inscription to illustrate how information can be extracted from the inscriptions through careful reading.  I'll use about half an hour of class time altogether.

For the remaining 45 minutes, you will all meet together in the groups you've been assigned to, to talk together about your initial impressions of the inscriptions assigned to you, as they bear on the questions each group will be trying to answer.  Each five-person group will be responsible for surveying the full range of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions in the reading, with each group member responsible for about one quarter of the range - each group will also have a graduate student member who will be responsible for tying together all four periods.  There should be some time after each group presentation for genera discussion.  In addition, two other graduate classmates are assigned to rotate between Groups A & B, or Groups C & D.  Each of these students will be responsible for commenting at the end of one of the class sessions on the information presented that day.

Before Thursday's class, you should have made an initial survey of the inscriptions for which you will be responsible.  In the group meetings, there will be time to search inscriptions together, as a group, for material that will allow each group to present a "story" of how the inscription record reflects its particular topic -- the history of Western Zhou warfare, ritual, law, and so forth.

The week of November 6, groups will present oral reports to the class.  Each five-person group will have about 35 minutes, two groups each on Tuesday and Thursday.  The format will be that each group member will summarize his or her findings in turn, and then the classmate responsible for the overview of issues will sum up.  All these reports will be very short, so you'll need to prepare carefully and keep control of time -- some of you may want to write out your 5-minute summary, but that's not required.   In the past, to get their acts together, groups have communicated by e-mail over the weekend.

Written Component:  Each of you will write up and submit a summary of about two pages (double-spaced) of your findings.  The summary should be the basis of you class presentation, but when you speak in class, you may want to work from a different "script," or speak more informally from notes.  Paper copy of the summary should be handed in on the day you make your presentation.

This is a graded assignment, and the chief basis of the class participation grade for this course (though I do take note of those who ask questions and offer comments regularly).  It's a great opportunity for those of you who have been quiet in class to strengthen your grade by being active participants in your group meeting and giving a clear, concise presentation of what you find in the inscriptions -- hit the headlines, and illustrate each with your best evidence (which may at times not be 100% definite).  I assign grades to individuals, but if a group's performance is very strong, I strengthen the grade of each member.

What you find is up to you -- scholarship on these inscriptions is not well developed, in English or in Chinese.  There's lots to find, either through positive information or through surprising silences, and although there are some clear points everyone will notice and agree on, close reading and reflection can yield new and unexpected answers.  There are also plenty of places where evidence is puzzling or ambiguous.  I'll be circulating among groups Friday to answer questions, but there are many questions I simply can't answer.  (Please be very clear on one point -- these are translations, and therefore, you can't place tremendous emphasis on specific word choices, and, of course, you can't assume, without some added evidence, that two people or places with the same Chinese name are identical.  You may, however, treat the translations as accurate, although I'd like you to be aware that they are not reliable in a scholarly sense -- all these translations were prepared just for use in this course.)

On separate pages, I have listed the group TOPIC AREAS, with examples of the questions each topic area might imply. and GROUP ASSIGNMENTS, where you find which group you're assigned to, and which specific group of inscriptions you'll be responsible for.