Credits 3.00
Spring 02

* DISTRIBUTION COURSE: GROUP I

Course description: Over the past two millennia or so, the Yijing (I Ching; Classic of Changes) has been, with the notable exception of the Bible, the most widely read and extensively commented upon book in all of world literature. Having emerged in China about three thousand years ago as an occult prognostication text, the Yijing eventually attained the status of a "classic" in 136 B.C.E. Over the next several hundred years its influence gradually spread to other areas within the Chinese cultural orbit in East Asia--notably Japan, Korea, Annam (Vietnam) and Tibet. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Jesuit missionaries brought knowledge of the classic to the West; and today there are dozens of different translations of the Changes in various European languages. How do we account for these developments--particularly the transcultural spread and enduring influence of the Yijing? In what respects can the Yijing be compared to other "classic" philosophical and religious works as a document of truly "global" significance?

Enrollment limited to 15. Open only to Freshmen.

001 TBA - W 02:00PM - 05:00PM
Smith, Richard J. Enr: 8 Max: 15

Syllabus

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