Course Syllabus

Course Information

Course title

Introduction to the Arts of China, Japan, Korea

Semester

104-1

Designated for

Asian Art Program

Instructor

CHUN-YI JOYCE TSAI

Curriculum Number

LibEdu1063

Curriculum Identity Number

H01E06300

Class

Credits

Full/Half
Yr.

Half

Required/
Elective

Elective

Time

Thursday 6,7,8(13:20~16:20)

Remarks

The upper limit of the number of students: 40.

Ceiba Web Server

http://ceiba.ntu.edu.tw/1041cjk2

Course introduction video

Table of Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning

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Course Syllabus

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Course Description

East Asian art is one of the most vibrant and rapidly developing areas of the global art market today. Through a series of lectures, weekly discussions, and museum visits, this course introduces the distinctive yet intimately related pre-modern aesthetic traditions of China, Japan, and Korea through representative objects and recurring themes to help students develop the skills of looking, thinking, and writing about the visual arts of East Asia. Organized roughly in a chronological manner, the course will be divided into ten segments, each focusing on a major type of material, format, genre, or theme of the visual arts in East Asia. No prior knowledge of East Asian art, culture, and languages is required, although such knowledge would be useful.

Each week, students will attend a two-hour background lecture given by the instructor or occasional guest speakers, and a one-hour discussion section on critical issues pertaining to the works of art introduced in the lecture led by a TA.

IMPORTANT: There will be two guided tours outside of regular class hours (Friday evening or Saturday afternoon, TBA) to the National Palace Museum (NPM)—the world-class museum of Chinese art located in Taipei City. Traditionally the highlights of the class, these trips give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in class to the examination of actual works and displays of art. In addition to the guided museum trips above, students need to make 1-2 additional trips on their own to the NPM to complete their paper assignment. Attendance to these guided tours are mandatory. Students are responsible for their own transportation and admission fees (NTD 150/person with valid student ID; free 4:30-6:30pm on weekdays and 4:30pm-9:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays) for all trips to the museum.

Course Objective

1. To offer a sampling of the diverse forms of visual arts in East Asia;
2. To introduce the socio-historical context within which these representative works were created and received;
3. To give students a basic understanding of the technical properties of the works;
4. To introduce some of the key English-language research that has been done in the field;
5. To introduce some of the important art historical issues raised by the works of art featured;
6. To give students the basic vocabulary, knowledge, and skills for looking at, thinking about, and writing about East Asian art.

Course Requirement

See Evaluation and Grading.

Student Workload (expected study time outside of class per week)

Office Hours

Designated reading

A. 教科書Textbooks

Each week, selections from the following textbooks will be assigned to provide background for the lectures. These textbooks will be on reserve in the NTU Main Library.

• Thorp, Robert L. and Richard Ellis Vinograd. Chinese Art and Culture. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; New York: H.N. Abrams, 2001.
• Mason, Penelope E. History of Japanese Art, New York: Abrams, 1993.
• Portal, Jane. Korea: Art and Archaeology. London: British Museum Press, 2000.

For the above textbooks, students are encouraged to obtain their personal copy through online booksellers or scan related sections early on. There will be up to 80 students registered for this class this semester so expect competition for the limited numbers of copies on campus.

B. 文章選讀 Weekly Readings

Week 1: INTRODUCTION

Pick one of the following readings below to respond to in class:
Macaulay, David. Motel of the Mysteries. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.
Shapton, Leanne. Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris…NY: Sarah Crichton Books, 2009.
Hatch, Michael. “Responses to 'Fresh Ink: Ten Takes on Chinese Tradition' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” Orientations 42.3 (April 2011).

Week 2: NEOLITHIC POTTERY

Thorp & Vinograd: ch1: Prehistoric Roots: Late Neolithic Cultures
(focus on Village Societies 27-34, Yangshao Cultures 38-42, Longshan Culture 44-46)
Mason: ch1: Birth of Japan: pp. 13-22 (up to Yayoi)
Portal: ch1: Prehistoric Period: pp. 23-29 (up to Bronze Age)
Riotto, Maurizio. “Jar-Burials in Korea and Their Possible Social Implications,” Korea Journal 35.3 (1995): 40-53. [E-journal]

Week 3: BRONZE VESSELS

Thorp & Vinograd: ch2: The Early Bronze Age: Shang and Western Zhou
(focus on Shang royal cult 59-62, Craft Production for the Elite 64-81, Piece-Mold Casting 67, Sanxingdui 86-87)
Mason, 22-29 (Yayoi Period)
Portal, 29–37 (Bronze Age).
Whitfield, Roderick ed., The Problem of Meaning in Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1992. (Focus on Sarah Allen’s “Art and Meaning” pp. 9-33; and Robert W. Bagley’s “Meaning and Explanation,” pp.34-55)

Week 4: RULING CLASS TOMBS

Thorp & Vinograd: ch4: The First Empires: Qin and Han
(focus on Tomb of the First Emperor 139-142, Soul & Afterlife 144-147)
Mason: ch1: Kofun Period (focus on Haniwa 29-34).
Portal: ch2: Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla (focus on Silla 58–65)
Kesner, Ladislav. “Likeness of no one: (re)presenting the First Emperor’s army,” The Art Bulletin 77.1 (1995): 115-32. [Jstor]
Wu, Hung. “Rethinking Mawangdui,” Early China 17 (1992): 1-24. [instructor’s e-copy]
Lee, Soyoung, and Denise P. Leidy. Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013. (focus on essays related to the golden crowns)

Week 5: BUDDHIST SCULPTURE & SITES

Thorp & Vinograd: ch5: Period of Division (focus on 160, Northern Wei patrons & Court patronage at Luoyang 163-169)
Mason, 58-60 (Buddhism’s introduction to Japan), 62-65 (Hōryūji), 70-74 (Tori Busshi), 77-81 (Hakuhō sculpture)
Portal, 65–76 (Buddhist sculpture in the Three Kingdoms, Korea and Japan during the Three Kingdoms, Unified Silla).
Wong, Dorothy. “Ethnicity and Identity: Northern Nomads as Buddhist Art Patrons during the Period of Northern and Southern Dynasties” in Don Wyatt and Nicola di Cosmo (eds.) Political Frontiers, Ethnic Boundaries, and Human Geographies in Chinese History. London: Routledge/Curzon Press, 2003. pp.80-118.
Harrell, Mark. “Sokkuram: Buddhist Monument and Political Statement in Korea,” World Archaeology 27.2 (1995): 318-335. [Jstor]

Week 6: LATER CERAMICS

Thorp & Vinograd: ch7: Technologies and Cultures of the Song (focus on ceramic production & style and taste 233-239)
Mason 231-233 (Chanoyu), 247-251 (Momoyama Ceramics)
Portal: ch3: Koryo Period: focus on ceramics 100-106.
Rousmaniere, Nicole C. “Tea Ceremony Utensils and Ceramics,” in Hickman, Money L. Japan’s Golden Age: Momoyama. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996: 203-206. [instructor’s copy]
Jae-yeol Kim, “Goryeo Celadon,” in Goryeo Dynasty: Korea’ s Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392, ed. Kumja Paik Kim (San Francisco: The Asian Art Museum, 2003), pp. 232-240.
Robert D. Mowry, “Koryo Celadons,” Orientations (May 1986), pp. 24-39.

Week 7: GARDENS

Murck, Alfreda, and Wen Fong. A Chinese Garden Court: The Astor Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 4–20, 26–41. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985. [Jstor]
Mason, 211-212 (Zen Buddhism), 215-217 (Zen Garden)
Clunas, Craig. Fruitful Sites: Gardens in Ming Dynasty China. Durham: Duke University Press, 1996.
Keane, Marc. Japanese Garden Design. Rutland, VT and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1996.
Kuitert, Wybe. Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 2002.

Week 8: MUSEUM TRIP (I)—NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM

NOTE: This class will take place at the museum outside of regular class hours that week.
Exact time and date to be announced.
Review websites for the following exhibitions:
“Chinese Bronzes Through the Ages” (permanent)
“A History of Chinese Ceramics” (permanent)
“Jade from the Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties” (ongoing)

Week 9: CALLIGRAPHY

Thorp & Vinograd, ch5: 174-176, ch6: 215-218.
Mason, 109-112 (Heian Literature and Calligraphy)
Harrist, Robert E. “A Letter from Wang Hsi-Chih and the Culture of Chinese Calligraphy.” In The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection, ed. Robert E. Harrist and Wen C. Fong, 241–57. Princeton, NJ: Art Museum, Princeton University, 1999.
Shen Fu, Glenn D. Lowry, and Ann Yonemura. From concept to context: approaches to Asian and Islamic calligraphy. Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery, 1986. (focus on entries on Japanese calligraphy)

Week 10: LANDSCAPE PAINTING

Thorp & Vinograd, ch7: Constructing Landscapes, 242-251.
Murck, Alfreda. Poetry and painting in Song China: the subtle art of dissent. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. (focus on chapters on Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers)
Kim, Hongnam. “An Kyon and the Eight Views Tradition: An Assessment of Two Landscapes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” in Arts of Korea, Judith G. Smith (ed.), New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. pp.366-402.
Bambling, Michele. “The Kongô-ji Screens: Illuminating the Tradition of Yamato-e ‘Sun and Moon’ Screens.” Orientations 27 (8) (Sept. 1996): 70-82.
Yi, Song-mi. "The Screen of the Five Peaks of the Choson Dynasty." Oriental Art 42:4 (Winter 1996): 13-24.
Hwi-joon Ahn, “An Kyon and A Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land,” Oriental Art 26.1 (1980): 59-71.

Week 11: FIGURE PAINTING

Wu, Hung. “Night Revels of Han Xizai,” in The double screen: medium and representation in Chinese painting. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. pp.57-68.
Shane McCausland. “The Admonitions Scroll: Ideals of Etiquette, Art & Empire from Early China.” Orientations 32.6 (2001): 22-29. Explore the scroll online: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/t/admonitions_scroll.aspx
Soper, Alexander C. “The Illustrative Methods of the Tokugawa Genji Pictures,” The Art Bulletin vol. 37, no.1 (1955): 1-16. [Jstor]
LaFleur, William R. “Hungry Ghosts and Hungry People: Somaticity and Rationality in Medieval Japan.” In Fragments for a History of the Human Body, Part One, edited by Michel Feher, 270-303. New York: Zone Books, 1989.

Week 12: PRINTS AND FOLK ART

Thorp & Vinograd, ch7: Measuring Everyday Life, 227-232.
Mason, 280-292.
Portal, 132, 143–55.
Delbanco, Dawn Ho. "The Romance of the Western Chamber: Min Qiji's album in Cologne," Orientations 14.6 (June 1983): 12-23.
Screech, Timon. “The Meaning of Western Perspective in Edo Popular Culture,” Archives of Asian Art 47 (1994): 58-69.
Chung, Saehyang P. “Sin Yunbok’s Women on Tano Day and the Iconography of Common Women Washing Clothes by a Stream.” Oriental Art 47.5 (2001): 55-70.
Saehyang P. Chung, “Kim Hongdo’s ‘Village School’: Conjectures on Some Possible Artistic Antecedents,” Orientations (September 1996).

Week 13: WESTERN INFLUENCE
To be announced.

Week 14: MUSEUM TRIP (II)—NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM

NOTE: This class will take place at the museum that same Friday or Saturday.
Exact time and date to be announced.
Review websites for the following exhibitions:
“Ming and Qing Prints in the National Palace Museum” (until 2016/1/16)
“Selections from the History of Chinese Painting” (ongoing)
“Selections from the History of Chinese Calligraphy” (ongoing)

Week 15: MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART

Selections from Andrews, Julia. A Century in Crisis: Tradition and Modernity in the Art of Twentieth Century China, with Kuiyi Shen, exhibition catalogue, New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1998.
Kikuchi, Yuko. Japanese Modernisation and Mingei Theory: Cultural Nationalism and Oriental Orientalism (London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004), pp. 123-140.
Bruce Cumings, “The Legacy of Japanese Colonialism in Korea,” in The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945, ed. Ramon H. Myers and Mark R. Peattie (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 478-496.

Week 16: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (I)

Week 17: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (II)

Week 18: FINAL EXAM

References

For new-comers to art history, the following books offer useful introductions to
to how to analyze and interpret of works of art. They will come in handy for the
the paper assignment.

• Joshua C. Taylor, Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts (
(Chicago,1981)
• Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art (Boston, 1981)

Grading

No.	Item	%	Explanations for the conditions
1.	Attendance and Class Participation	20%	Attendance and active participation in class is expected of every student in this course. Students are required to have completed assigned readings before class, and make their questions and opinions heard in class. In the case of illness, family emergency, or other legitimate incidents, students can be excused from class when a formal notice and necessary documentation (eg. doctor’s note), is submitted to the instructor within a week of the incidence. Four unexcused absences starting from Week 4 will result in a “zero” in your attendance and class participation grades.
2.	1 Museum Talk and 1 Catalogue Entry	20%	Students will (1) prepare a 3-5 min gallery talk on an object from one of the permanent collections to be visited at the NPM during one of the two museum trips; (2) submit a 1-2 page catalogue entry on the object to be compiled into a class pamphlet. The grade will depend upon how well the student describes visual properties of the object, grounds it within the historical context under which the object was created and received, relates it to lectures and assigned readings, and pays attention to how it relates to other works in the gallery.
3.	1 Group Presentation	30%	For the group presentation, students should form 3-4 person teams to present a 20-minute oral report on an approved topic. Groups must meet with the instructor three weeks before the actual PowerPoint presentation, post approved presentation outlines and discussion questions on the course website one week before the scheduled presentation, powerpoint slides (scripted, illustrated, and properly cited), and a brief description of each group member’s contribution in the assignment within one week after the oral presentation.
4.	1 Final Exam	30%	The exam will consist of image identifications, object comparisons, and short essay questions. The exam will cover class material, including museum trips, up to that point. The essay questions will ask students to reflect upon important themes and art forms that recur throughout the entire semester. You will fail the exam for cheating.

Progress

Week	Date	Topic
Week 1	09/17	INTRODUCTION
Week 2	09/24	NEOLITHIC POTTERY—ARCHAEOLOGY & THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION China: Pottery from Yangshao and Longshan Cultures Japan and Korea: Jōmon Flame-Pots and Korean Burial Urns
Week 3	10/01	BRONZE VESSELS—THE DEVELOPMENT OF CASTING TECHNOLOGY China: Bronze Objects from Anyang and Sanxingdui Japan and Korea: Dōtaku Bells and Bronze Mirrors
Week 4	10/08	RULING CLASS TOMBS—FURNISHING THE AFTERLIFE China: The First Emperor’s Terra Cotta Soldiers and Mawangdui Silk Banners Japan and Korea: Haniwa Figurines and Silla’s Golden Crowns **Group (I): Pick museum object; catalogue entry and gallery talk guidelines distributed.
Week 5	10/15	BUDDHIST SCULPTURE & SITES—RELIGION & POLITICS China: Cave-Temples at Yungang and Longmen Japan and Korea: Hōryūji Temple and Sŏkkuram Grotto
Week 6	10/22	LATER CERAMICS—DIVERSE TECHNIQUES & AESTHETICS China: Song Dynasty Ru Ware and Yuan Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelains Japan and Korea: Tea Wares and Celadons **Group (I): Submit catalogue entry.
Week 7	10/29	GARDENS—COMMERCIAL, MEDITATIVE & RECREATIONAL SPACES China: Master of the Fishing Nets Garden and Other Gardens of Suzhou Japan and Korea: Ryōanji Dry Landscape and Biwon Secret Garden **Submit final presentation member list; start thinking about possible topics.
Week 8	11/07(Sat) 18:30-21:30	MUSEUM TRIP (I)—NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM No class on 11/05 (Th). Meet at the museum on 11/07 (Sat) 18:30, TBC. We will visit the following exhibits: Chinese Bronzes Through the Ages (permanent) A History of Chinese Ceramics (permanent) Buddhist Art (ongoing) Group (I) gallery talk.
Week 9	11/12	CALLIGRAPHY—THE ART OF WRITING China: Stele-Carving and Letter-Writing Traditions Japan: Heian and Zen Calligraphy
Week 10	11/19	LANDSCAPE PAINTING—NATURE REAL & IMAGINED China: Masterpieces from the Northern & Southern Song Dynasties Japan and Korea: Sun-Moon Screens and Paintings of Eight Views of the Xiao-Xiang Rivers Last chance to get group presentation topics approved. Group (II): pick museum object.
Week 11	11/26	FIGURE PAINTING—ILLUSTRATED NARRATIVES China: Night Revels of Han Xizai and Demon Queller Scrolls Japan: Tale of Genji and Animals Frolicking Scrolls
Week 12	12/03	PRINTS & IMAGES OF & FOR THE MASSES China and Japan: Illustrated Novels and Ukiyo-e Prints Korea: Images of Peasants, Workers, and Daily Life **Group (II): submit catalogue entry.
Week 13	12/10	WESTERN INFLUENCE China: Guiseppe Castiglione Japan and Korea: Namban Screens and True-View Paintings
Week 14	12/19 (Sat) 18:30-21:30	MUSEUM TRIP (II)—NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM No class on 12/17 (Th). Meet at the museum on 12/19 (Sat) 18:30, TBC. We will visit the following exhibits: Ming and Qing Prints in the National Palace Museum (until 2016/1/16) Selections from the History of Chinese Painting (ongoing) Selections from the History of Chinese Calligraphy (ongoing) Group (II): gallery talk. **Students post approved group presentation outlines, background readings, and questions for discussion online.
Week 15	12/24	MODERN ART China: National Painting Movement Japan and Korea: Mingei Movement **Final exam essay questions posted.
Week 16	12/31	STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (I)
Week 17	2016/01/07	STUDENT PRESENTATIONS (II)
Week 18	01/14	FINAL EXAM **Written component of group presentations due at the beginning of class.