Introduction to Classical Chinese I

Overview

Course description

This course is an introduction to Classical Chinese, the language of traditional Chinese culture, which includes philosophy, literature, and the arts. This course is designed to increase students’ ability to understand and appreciate historical and literary classics written in Classical Chinese. In this course, grammatical comparisons will be drawn between Classical and Modern Chinese languages, and students will be introduced to basic Classical Chinese grammar, syntax, and rhetoric expressions by examining some early works produced from ca. 1000 BC to 100 BC. This course is taught entirely in Chinese (Mandarin).

Course content

Brief introduction of Modern Chinese grammar and grammatical terms
Brief introduction of major grammatical and stylistic features of Classical Chinese language
General comparison between Modern Chinese and Classical Chinese languages
General comparison between Confucianism and Taoism
Reading and analysis of selected classical works such as The Book of Songs, The Analects, Mencius, and Dao de Jing.

Learning activities

Methods of instruction may include, but are not limited to: lectures, small group work, class discussions and presentations, screening of audio or video materials.

Means of assessment

Evaluation will be based on this general outline:

Attendance and participation	15%
Three written projects (in Chinese) during the semester	30%
One presentation (in Chinese) during the semester	15%
One final research paper (in Chinese) during the semester	20%
One final written exam (in Chinese)	20%
Total:	100%

No single evaluation will be worth more than 20%.

Learning outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate their knowledge of major grammatical and stylistic features of Classical Chinese language
Identify and articulate their understanding of the main differences between Classical and Modern Chinese languages
Gain an appreciation for the beauty and the wisdom of Classical Chinese works
Demonstrate their understanding of key features of Confucianism and Taoism

Textbook materials

The instructor may choose the most current edition of an introductory classical Chinese textbook such as:

Tian, Ying. Introduction to Classical Chinese. Beijing Language and Culture University Press.

Requisites

Prerequisites

MODL 2292 or equivalent or assessment (students should be able to speak Mandarin or one of the Chinese dialects fluently, and be able to read and write in Chinese at intermediate or advanced level).

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

January 2019 (Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution	Transfer details for MODL 3393
Alexander College (ALEX)	ALEX HUMN 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU)	AU LANG 2XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO)	CAMO HUM 2XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR)	No credit
Coquitlam College (COQU)	COQU CHIN 2XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU)	KPU MAND 3XXX (3)
Langara College (LANG)	LANG CHIN 3331 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU)	SFU CHIN 4XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU)	TRU CHIN 3XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU)	TWU CHIN 311 (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC)	UNBC INTS 151 (3)