Cultural Chinese: Readings in Art, Literature, and History

by Zu-yan Chen, Zu-yan Chen (Contribution by), Hong Zhang (Contribution by)

Overview

Cultural Chinese: Readings in Art, Literature, and History is an advanced language textbook with a new approach to cultural integration and immersion. In this unique book, culture becomes the very core of language learning, transitioning its role from context to text.

This textbook is ideal for courses in advanced Chinese and Chinese culture. Third- and fourth-year students and instructors will find themselves deeply immersed in the very fabric of Chinese culture that governs personal behavior and directs social dynamics.

FEATURES:

• Each of nine lessons features a distinctive topic of Chinese culture that serves as a portal to Chinese perceptions and perspectives.

• Main text of each lesson begins with a brief introduction and is further illustrated with two historical or mythological stories that inform Chinese values and attitudes.

• Additional mini-stories challenge students’ abilities of cultural interpretation.

• Includes a total of twenty-seven stories familiar to every educated Chinese person that will prepare students for meaningful communication and understanding.

• Each lesson includes more than ten sections of exercises intertwined with culture, including vocabulary and idioms, historical information, linguistic points, translation exercises, and online research required for debate, composition, and storytelling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589018822
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	04/13/2012
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.70(d)
Language:	Chinese
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Zu-yan Chen is a professor of Chinese language and literature and director of the Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University, SUNY. He is the author of Confucius’s Analects: An Advance Reader of Chinese Language and Culture and Li Bai and Du Fu: An Advanced Reader of Chinese Language and Literature.

Hong Zhang is a senior lecturer of Chinese at Binghamton University. She is coauthor of Chinese through Song.

Table of Contents

Preface

User's Guide

Lesson One
Calligraphy: “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” and “The Pagoda of Many Treasures”
Eighteen Vats of Water
Major Dynasties

Lesson Two
Chinese Painting: “Ink Plum Blossoms” and “Ink Bamboo”
The Poet and the Thief
Four Treasures of the Study

Lesson Three
Tang Poetry: “A Night Mooring at the Maple Bridge” and “An Occasional Poem upon Returning to My Hometown”
To Push or to Knock
The Tolling Bell at Hanshan Temple

Lesson Four
Chinese Instrumental Music: “The High Mountain and Flowing Water” and “Ambush from All Sides”
Butterflies among the Flowers
Erhu and suona

Lesson Five
Beijing Opera: “The White Snake” and “The Empty City Stratagem”
A Beijing Opera Master in America
Chinese Local Operas

Lesson Six
Idioms: "Awaiting the Hare under the Tree" and "Swordplay at the Rooster’s Crow"
Southbound Carriage, Northbound Tracks
Proverbs and Riddles

Lesson Seven
Holidays: "Chang’e Flying to the Moon" and "Reunion on the Magpie Bridge"
A Drowned Poet
Chinese New Year Traditions

Lesson Eight
Food and Drink: "Li Bai Gets Drunk" and "Wu Song Beats the Tiger"
Banquet at Hongmen
Gongbao Chicken

Lesson Nine
Etiquette: "Standing in the Snow at the Teacher’s Door" and "Thrice Visiting the Thatched House"
A General’s Apology
The Four Books and Five Classics

Appendix
English Translations of the Texts

Indexes
Vocabulary Index
Proper Names Index

What People are Saying About This

Jianmei Liu

This textbook is culturally sophisticated and deeply felt, ideally suited to those who seek to learn Chinese language through its cultural-historical context.

Editorial Reviews

This unique book is ideal for courses in advanced Chinese and Chinese culture. Third- and Fourth-year students and instructors will find themselves deeply immersed in the very fabric of Chinese culture that governs personal behavior and directs social dynamics.

Chinese Language Teachers Association Newsletter

This textbook is culturally sophisticated and deeply felt, ideally suited to those who seek to learn Chinese language through its cultural-historical context.

Jianmei Liu

"This unique book is ideal for courses in advanced Chinese and Chinese culture. Third- and Fourth-year students and instructors will find themselves deeply immersed in the very fabric of Chinese culture that governs personal behavior and directs social dynamics."—Chinese Language Teachers Association Newsletter

From the Publisher