POLITICAL SCIENCE 113C/213C

                                CHINESE AND JAPANESE POLITICAL THOUGHT (II)

                                                                          V. 1.0

                                                 University of California, San Diego

                                                                Section ID 562766

                                                                Dr. G. A. Hoston

                                                                     Spring 2006

 

Class Meetings:  Tu Th 12:30 – 1:50 p.m.                     Office: 376 Social Science Building

Classroom:  Center Hall 212                            Tel:      858-449-0455/858-534-3548

Office Hours:  Th 2:00 -3:30 p.m. and              E-mail: ghoston@ucsd.edu

by appointment[1]                                              Web: www.germaineahoston.com

Course Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Poli113C

 

This course is the second part of a two-part series that offers an intensive examination of major strands

 of Chinese and Japanese political thought from antiquity to the mid-twentieth century. However, it is not

required that students enrolled in POLI 113C have already taken 113B, as the course will begin with a overview

of the ancient schools of thought covered in 113B and build thereon during the remainder of the quarter.

Our primary focus will be on Neo-Confucianism  and Whenever possible, we will compare and contrast views

of Chinese and Japanese thinkers with perspectives of ancient and modern Western thinkers.  Special emphasis

will be placed on how Chinese and Japanese thinkers responded to changing conditions within and outside their

own societies.

 

The course will be conducted in a combination lecture-seminar format.  This means that all students

are expected to have completed the assigned readings before attending the class sessions during which they

will be discussed. 

 

The significance of active and productive participation in class discussions by every student in the class

 is evidenced in the formula according to which grades will be assigned (see the final page of the syllabus). 
Since there is no edited, pre-selected English-language collection of specifically political philosophy in China or

Japan, we will need to glean the political implications of the various strands of thought that we study. Please

note that in these discussions, students are expected to demonstrate respect for all others in class--for their

views and for their questions—so that our discussions can be wide-ranging and productive. 

 

The significance of active and productive participation in class discussions by every student in the class
 is reflected in the formula according to which final grades will be assigned (see page 5 of this syllabus).  
To facilitate discussions and to offer an opportunity to discuss course material outside the classroom, an
on-line discussion group has been established.  On the first day of class, you will be asked to send an
e-mail to POLI113C-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, to subscribe to the group.  You are encouraged to
participate actively in the on-line group, because the group site will be used by the instructor and students
to organize review sessions and study groups, exchange ideas on and suggestions about the short writing
assignment and final paper topic, and generally to facilitate the learning process.  Students who are shy or
have less facility participating actively in the classroom context may find in the online forum an alternative
opportunity to be active and/or exercise leadership in class discussion.

            A short written assignment (6-7pp.) will be due on May 9th at 12:30 p.m. (in the classroom), and a
final paper will be due on Monday, June 13, at 11:30-2:30 p.m. in the classroom designated by the registrar.
 In both instances, the paper topics will be distributed in advance and available online at our class website
 (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/POLI113C) as well.  

Students are not expected to have a background in Chinese or Japanese history, although such
knowledge would be helpful.  Students are expected to have some elementary familiarity with political
 thought and social science in general.

 

The following books are available for purchase at Groundwork Bookstore and will also be available
 on reserve at the Undergraduate Library:

 

-Wing-tsit Chan, trans. and comp., A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

-Wm. Theodore de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vols. 1 & 2

-W. E. Soothill, The Lotus of the Wonderful Law, or The Lotus Gospel or

translation by Burton Watson, available in bookstore

 

In addition to the above, there will be small reader with readings for the latter part of the
 course. Graduate students will be expected to do additional, secondary readings from a list to be
 provided by the instructor. 

 

 

SCHEDULE OF DISCUSSION TOPICS AND READINGS:

 

WEEK 1: WEEK OF APR 4                  Course Introduction: What is Political Philosophy? Course
 description, review of syllabus, review of major schools of
 ancient Chinese and Japanese political thought, including Buddhism.

 

Readings:                    For students who were not enrolled in PS113B:

Review Chan, Source Book,  chaps. 1-5
All students must review or read Soothill or Watson,
 Lotus Gospel/Lotus Sutra over the first three weeks

of the course.

First Assignment:       Send email message to: poli113c-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

 

WEEK 2: WEEK OF APR 11    Review of Major Schools of Chinese Thought and              

                                                            The Evolution of Buddhism in China and Japan

Readings:                    Review Chan, Source Book, chaps. 7-8, 12

                                    de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. I, chaps. 7   
                                                                        (“Kűkai and Esoteric Buddhism”), and 8: (“The
                                                                        Spread of Esoteric Buddhism”)

                                    Chan, Source Book, chaps. 21-22

 

WEEK 3: WEEK OF APRIL 18 Esoteric Trends in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism

Readings:                    Review Chan, Source Book, chap. 19

                                    de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol I, chap. 11                                                                            

(“New Views of History”)

Chan, Source Book, chaps. 23-24

 

WEEK 4: WEEK OF APRIL 25 Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in China and Japan (I)

Readings:                    Chan, Source Book, chaps 26-28

de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. 1, chaps. 12
(“The Way of the Warrior”) and 13 (“Nichiren: The

Way of the Lotus”)

 

WEEK 5: WEEK OF MAY 2                 Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in China and Japan (II)

Readings:                    Chan, Source Book, 31-32

de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. I, chaps. 16
                                                            (“Neo-Confucian Orthodoxy”) and 17  (“The O
                                                            Youmei {Wang Wang-ming} School in Japan”).         

 

WEEK 6: WEEK OF MAY 9                 Short written assignment due in Center 212 at 12:30 p.m.

 

WEEK 7: WEEK OF MAY 16               Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in China

and Japan (III)

Readings:                    Chan, Source Book, chaps. 33-35

de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. I, chap. 18                                                                           

(“The Rediscovery of Confucianism”)

 

 

WEEK 8: WEEK OF MAY 23               The Search for Authenticity: Japanese Nativism and

Chinese Reformism and Conservatism in the late 19th                                                                   

Century

Readings:                    de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. II, chaps. 22                                                                                    

(“The Shinto Revival”), 23 (“Reformers of the Late                                                                            

Tokugawa Period”), 24 (“The Debate over     

Seclusion and Restoration”), and 25 (“The Meiji Era”)

Hoston, “Conceptualizing Bourgeois Revolution”* (Reader)

Hoston, “The State, Modernity, and the Fate of Liberalism
in Prewar Japan” (Reader)

Chan, Source Book, chaps. 36-40

 

WEEK 9: WEEK OF MAY 30               “Modernization” vs Westernization

Readings:                    de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. II, chaps. 26

(“The High Tide of Prewar Liberalism”),
 27 (“The Rise of Revolutionary Nationalism”), 28 (“The
            Japanese Social Movement”), and 29 (“The Japanese
Tradition in the Modern World”)

Lu Xun, "Diary of a Madman” (Reader)

Chan, Source Book, chaps. 41-42

Mao, On New Democracy* (Reader)

Hoston, State, Identity, and the National Question, chap. 8 (Reader)

 

WEEK 10: WEEK OF JUNE 6              Contemporary Thought and the Future of East Asia

Readings:                    Hoston, Marxism and the Crisis of Development, chap. 9 (Reader)

Hoston, State, Identity, and the National Question, chaps. 9 and 10  (Reader)

 

 

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:

 

All students are expected to attend every class meeting prepared to participate actively
 and constructively in class discussions.[2]  The class participation component of the course grade
 will be based on such participation in all sessions and in the online discussion group. The formula
that will determine the final grade is as follows:

 

Class attendance and participation:                             30%

Short written assignment:                                          30%

Final paper:                                                                 40%

 

 


[1]Office hours offer an opportunity for students to discuss issues concerning the course and other matters with respect to their career plans with the professor.  Many times such discussions outside the classroom can be the most valuable for the student.  Professor Hoston is also available to meet with students on other occasions, such as over a snack or light meal. Please contact her at her e-mail address above any time to arrange alternative meeting times.

[2]The exception to this rule is in case of illness.  If you are ill, please do not come to class and expose others to your illness.  When you have recovered, simply bring a doctor's note to verify your illness.  If you anticipate missing class for some other reason, please notify the instructor in advance.