Chinoiserie Interest Group

I.W.

2022-04-25

this was a reading group for china-related topics, which ran off and on in 2021–22. it's petered out to where it's just me doing the reading i like on my own, so there's not much use left for this page. like most human projects, it was typically less than smoothly organized, and accumulated a lot of hastily-written and soon-outdated documentation cruft. the group chat linked below is still active, though i can't promise i'll update this page just because it stops being so.

Readings

Current

philosophy: Tiantai Zhiyi, Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: T’ien-t’ai Chih-i’s Mo-ho Chih-kuan, vol. 11

post-imperial nonfiction: Chuăng, vol. 2, “Frontiers”

literature/poetry: Ge Fei, Peach Blossom Paradise

historical nonfiction: Ling Zhang, The River, the Plain, and the State: An Environmental Drama in Song Dynasty China, 1048–1128

Upcoming

historical nonfiction: William T. Rowe, China's Last Empire: The Great Qing

Schedule

Week 20 [2022-02-07 Mon]–[2022-02-13 Sun]

Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: up to "2. Rejecting the Five Impediments in Practice" (stop on p. 673)

Chuăng, vol. 2: “Red Dust” ch. 2 (stop at p. 183)

Peach Blossom Paradise: pt. 3 ch. 3–pt. 3 ch. 11 (stop at p. 301)

The River, the Plain, and the State: ch. 7–8, epilogue (finish book)

Week 21 [2022-02-14 Mon]–[2022-02-20 Sun]

Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: to end of "Extended Annotations" (finish vol. 1)

Chuăng, vol. 2: “Red Dust” ch. 3 (stop at p. 219)

Peach Blossom Paradise: pt. 3 ch. 12–end (finish book)

China's Last Empire: introduction, ch. 1–2 (stop at p. 63)

Week 22 [2022-02-21 Mon]–[2022-02-27 Sun]

TODO select philosophy

Chuăng, vol. 2: “Red Dust” ch. 4 (stop at p. 283)

TODO select literature/poetry

China's Last Empire: ch. 3–5 (stop at p. 149)

Week 24 [2022-02-28 Mon]–[2022-03-06 Sun]

Chuăng, vol. 2: “A State Adequate to the Task” (stop at p. 361)

China's Last Empire: ch. 6–8 (stop at p. 231)

Week 25 [2022-03-07 Mon]–[2022-03-13 Sun]

Chuăng, vol. 2: “Picking Quarrels” (stop at p. 425)

China's Last Empire: ch. 9–10, conclusion (finish book)

Week 26 [2022-03-14 Mon]–[2022-03-20 Sun]

Chuăng, vol. 2: “The Awakening of Lin Xiaocao,” “Spirit Breaking” (stop at p. 525)

Week 27 [2022-03-21 Mon]–[2022-03-27 Sun]

Chuăng, vol. 2: “Eternal Enemies” (finish book)

Future

movie: Farewell My Concubine (1993), Sunday 8pm EST

movie: Legend of the Mountain (1979), Sunday 8pm EST

movie: Send Me to the Clouds (2019), Sunday 8pm EST

movie: Big Fish & Begonia (2016), Sunday 8pm EST

Introduction

Q: How do you get into the chatrooms?

  • have Signal and click the invite link

Q: Why study this stuff?

  • it's cool / i have a disease

Planning for future stuff

philo

i’ve written up an outline of works i’m familiar with or want to look into, which will hopefully help in picking books in the future.

historical

post-imperial/contemporary

there are a few rough categories for contemporary type stuff

  1. a general history of the post-imperial period — we should only need one of these, right?
  2. economic/political books — i’m thinking we would mostly alternate between this and category 3. it’s a dichotomy of convenience so don’t get on my ass about how i’m reifying the hard vs soft or something lol
  3. books on cultural topics, ethnographies etc.

again, some possible options follow. i’m perfectly aware that i’ll die before we get to everything. i don’t care

general history

  • Spence, The Search for Modern China (actually starts at end of Ming but continues to like, end of 20th century or smth)

economic/political

  • Chuăng. this has two volumes out; i’ve read the first one and we’re gonna start with that. the main feature is a history of the communist movement and capitalist transition, accompanied by pieces on current workers struggles
  • Greenhalgh and Winckler, Governing China’s Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Politics
  • Min, The Belt Road and Beyond: State-Mobilized Globalization in China: 1998–2018
  • Isabella M. Weber, How China Escaped Shock Therapy (james mentioned this but it isn’t necessarily high priority)
  • Huang, Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics — zoe recommended this a few years back but it was too dense to corral people through reading. dunno whether she still stands by it tho
  • chuang resources page has a lot of recs. one of the ones on women workers might be good

cultural

  • Chiang, After Eunuchs: Science, Medicine, and the Transformation of Sex in Modern China
  • Judith Farquhar, Appetites: Food and Sex in Post-Socialist China — dunno if this is good but it was on the chuang resources list
  • Zheng Tiantian, Red Lights: The Lives of Sex Workers in Postsocialist China — also from chuang resources page https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/red-lights
  • something by Liao Yiwu? i read The Corpse Walker in zoe’s reading group a few years back and it was quite good
  • might be cool to find some kinda queer ethnography. if it seems like i’m filling this with sexgender stuff it’s because i’m unabashedly zog globohomo etc. but you can rec other topics if you want. from cursory googling i see a few: [but urban focus of research feels like a blind spot]
  • Zheng Tiantian, Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China (ethnography from 2015)
  • Engebretsen, Queer Women in Urban China (ethnography from 2020)
  • particularly need stuff on ethnicity, minority groups i guess

  1. religion

    • have read the first chapter of: Adam Yuet Chau, Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China — ethnography of reform era revival of a rural temple https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=6854
    • Gareth Fisher, From Comrades to Bodhisattvas: Moral Dimensions of Lay Buddhist Practice in Contemporary China — ethnography of the court of a buddhist temple in Beijing
    • David J. Mozina, Knotting the Banner: Ritual and Relationship in Daoist Practice — ethnographic but has historical info too i think

literature/poetry

options for later lit/poetry picks

  • Chen Ran, A Private Life (https://cup.columbia.edu/book/a-private-life/9780231131964) — have read a little of this and greatly enjoyed the style. think there is lesbian stuff in there. done!
  • we have to come back to the remaining volumes of The Journey to the West, but taking breaks between them to read other things seems sensible to me.
  • Ge Fei, Peach Blossom Paradise (Meir has talked about this)
  • Zong-qi Cai, How to Read Chinese Poetry (https://cup.columbia.edu/book/how-to-read-chinese-poetry/9780231139410) — this has a companion book, How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook, which is oriented towards learning to read poems in the original. i’ve got all the audio files for both.

movies/tv

  • please give more suggestions for chinese movies or tv to watch! otherwise we’re going to run out quick; i don’t have a pre-existing list.
  • i have heard mentioned the cdrama adaptation of Hikaru no Go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_no_Go#Live-action_drama
  • download https://syncplay.pl/ because you’ll need it to watch at the same times as others. to get in the room, use server address: “syncplay.pl:8995”; username: your name, obviously; default room: “Heavan”
  • you may think it would be better if we used some other tool or streaming website to watch together. it’s not.
  • there won’t be voice chat during movies unless people unexpectedly clamor for it, but you can type in chat.

Archive

Past readings

philosophy: Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation (trans. Hall and Ames)2 (suggested by Lydia)

philosophy: Mou Zongsan, Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy: A Brief Outline of Chinese Philosophy and the Issues It Entails3 (i picked)

literature/poetry: The Journey to the West, vol. 1 (trans. Anthony C. Yu)4 (i suggested)

philosophy: Brook Ziporyn, Ironies of Oneness and Difference: Coherence in Chinese Thought; Prolegomena to the Study of Li 理5 (i picked)

literature/poetry: Chen Ran, A Private Life

philosophy: The Canonical Book of the Buddha’s Lengthy Discourses, vol. 1, first 2 sūtras6 shelved

philosophy: Brook Ziporyn, Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism7

historical nonfiction: Frederick Mote, Imperial China 900–18008 (endorsed by Alice, Meir)

literature/poetry: The Lotus Sūtra9

post-imperial nonfiction: Chuăng, vol. 1, “Dead Generations”10

literature/poetry: The Journey to the West, vol. 2 (trans. Anthony C. Yu)11

historical nonfiction: Gideon Shelach-Lavi, The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty12

post-imperial nonfiction: Howard Chiang, After Eunuchs: Science, Medicine, and the Transformation of Sex in Modern China

Past schedule

Week 1 [2021-07-19 Mon]–[2021-07-25 Sun]

  1. DONE Dao De Jing (full book)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 1–5 (stop at p. 119)

  3. DONE The Journey to the West, vol. 1: prefaces and introduction (stop at p. 99)

  4. DONE movie: Dragon Inn (1967), Sunday 8pm EST (suggested by James)

Week 2 [2021-07-26 Mon]–[2021-08-01 Sun]

  1. DONE Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy: prefaces, introduction and lectures 1–6 (stop at p. 126 in pdf)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 6–9 (stop at p. 222)

  3. DONE The Journey to the West, vol. 1: ch. 1–7 (stop at p. 201)

  4. DONE movie: A Touch of Sin (2013), Sunday 8pm EST (suggested by Owen)

Week 3 [2021-08-02 Mon]–[2021-08-08 Sun]

  1. DONE Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy: lectures 7–12 (stop at p. 289 in pdf)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 10–13 (stop at p. 323)

  3. DONE The Journey to the West, vol. 1: ch. 8–13 (stop at p. 306)

  4. DONE movie: Kaili Blues (2015), Sunday 8pm EST (suggested by Liz)

Week 4 [2021-08-09 Mon]–[2021-08-15 Sun]

  1. DONE Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy: lectures 13–19 (finish book)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 14–16 (stop at p. 403)

  3. DONE The Journey to the West, vol. 1: ch. 14–20 (stop at p. 407)

  4. DONE movie: Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Sunday 8pm EST (can’t remember who suggested)

Week 5 [2021-08-16 Mon]–[2021-08-22 Sun]

  1. DONE Ironies of Oneness and Difference: introduction, ch. 1–3 (stop at p. 139 in pdf)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 17–20 (stop at p. 517)

  3. DONE The Journey to the West, vol. 1: ch. 21–25 (finish book)

  4. DONE movie: So Long, My Son (2019), Sunday 8pm EST (Ivsin recommends)

Week 6 [2021-08-23 Mon]–[2021-08-29 Sun]

  1. DONE Ironies of Oneness and Difference: introduction, ch. 4–6, conclusion (finish book)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 21–23 (stop at p. 598)

  3. DONE A Private Life: ch. 1–11 (stop at p. 114 in pdf)

  4. DONE movie: An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), Sunday 8pm EST: first half (stop at ch. 6 in video, timestamp 1:54:58) (scanpaths suggested)

Week 7 [2021-08-30 Mon]–[2021-09-05 Sun]

  1. DONE The Canonical Book of the Buddha’s Lengthy Discourses, vol. 1: preface, first 2 sūtras (stop at p. 173)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 24–27 (stop at p. 723)

  3. DONE A Private Life: ch. 12–21 (finish book)

  4. DONE movie: An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), Sunday 8pm EST: second half (scanpaths suggested)

Week 8 [2021-09-06 Mon]–[2021-09-12 Sun]

  1. DONE Emptiness and Omnipresence: front matter, ch. 1–5 (stop at p. 86 in pdf)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 28–30 (stop at p. 813)

  3. DONE The Lotus Sūtra: front matter, ch. 1–5 (stop at p. 103)

  4. DONE movie: Red Sorghum (1988), Sunday 8pm EST

Week 9 [2021-09-13 Mon]–[2021-09-19 Sun]

  1. DONE Emptiness and Omnipresence: ch. 6–8 (stop at p. 178 in pdf)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 31–34 (stop at p. 912)

  3. DONE The Lotus Sūtra: ch. 6–14 (stop at p. 209)

  4. movie: none

Week 10 [2021-09-20 Mon]–[2021-09-26 Sun]

  1. DONE Emptiness and Omnipresence: ch. 9–11, epilogue (finish book)

  2. DONE Imperial China 900–1800: ch. 35–36 (finish book)

  3. DONE The Lotus Sūtra: ch. 15–28 (finish book)

"Week" 11 [2021-09-27 Mon]–[2021-12-12 Sun]: hiatus

Week 12 [2021-12-13 Mon]–[2021-12-19 Sun]

a second note: i apologize for the long break. i have been busy with grad school applications season and moving. i hope this has not shattered your faith in me utterly.

a first note: previously we were reading three books at a time, each ~100 pages/week, each drawn from one of the categories of philosophy, literature, and history. from here on (now that we have finished our first history book), we will be maintaining the ~300 pages/week total but using four categories, each ~75 pages: philosophy, literature/poetry, historical (roughly: before end of Qing), and post-imperial/contemporary nonfiction. my reasoning is that contemporary china deserves its own slot, and the ratio between “hard” and “soft” readings was out of whack. this is a lot of rationale for what is honestly a minor change, though.

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: introduction, translator’s introduction, conventions (stop at p. 71)

  2. Chuăng, vol. 1: editorial, “Sorghum and Steel” introduction and first two chapters (stop at p. 101)

  3. The Archaeology of Early China: introduction, ch. 1–3 (stop at p. 68)

  4. The Journey to the West, vol. 2: ch. 26–31 (stop at p. 88)

Week 13 [2021-12-20 Mon]–[2021-12-26 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: up to “3. Manifesting the Positive with Regard to Bodhicitta” (stop on p. 157)

  2. Chuăng, vol. 1: finish “Sorghum and Steel” (stop at p. 151)

  3. The Archaeology of Early China: ch. 4–6 (stop at p. 161)

  4. The Journey to the West, vol. 2: ch. 32–36 (stop at p. 162)

Week 14 [2021-12-27 Mon]–[2022-01-02 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: “3. Manifesting the Positive with Regard to Bodhicitta” (stop at p. 243)

  2. Chuăng, vol. 1: remaining sections (finish book)

  3. The Archaeology of Early China: ch. 7–8 (stop at p. 227)

  4. The Journey to the West, vol. 2: ch. 37–41 (stop at p. 237)

Week 15 [2022-01-03 Mon]–[2022-01-09 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: up to “4. Neither-Walking-nor-Sitting Samādhi” (stop on p. 321)

  2. After Eunuchs: introduction, ch. 1 (stop on p. 70)

  3. The Archaeology of Early China: ch. 9–10 (stop at p. 306)

  4. The Journey to the West, vol. 2: ch. 42–45 (stop at p. 300)

Week 16 [2022-01-10 Mon]–[2022-01-16 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: “4. Neither-Walking-nor-Sitting Samādhi” (stop on p. 387)

  2. After Eunuchs: ch. 2–3 (stop on p. 178)

  3. The Archaeology of Early China: ch. 11, conclusion (finish book)

  4. The Journey to the West, vol. 2: ch. 46–50 (finish book)

Week 17 [2022-01-17 Mon]–[2022-01-23 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: up to "III. Features of the Essence" (stop at p. 449)

  2. After Eunuchs: ch. 4 (stop at p. 236)

  3. Peach Blossom Paradise: pt. 1 ch. 1–9 (stop at p. 74)

  4. The River, the Plain, and the State: prologue, ch. 1–2 (stop at p. 83)

Week 18 [2022-01-24 Mon]–[2022-01-30 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: up to "6. Encompassing All Teachings" (stop on p. 529)

  2. After Eunuchs: ch. 5, conclusion (finish book)

  3. Peach Blossom Paradise: pt. 1 ch. 10–pt. 2 ch. 6 (stop at p. 144)

  4. The River, the Plain, and the State: ch. 3–4 (stop at p. 139)

  5. DONE movie: In the Mood for Love (2000)

Week 19 [2022-01-31 Mon]–[2022-02-06 Sun]

  1. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: up to "3. Clarification of Transgressing the Precepts" (stop on p. 602)

  2. Chuăng, vol. 2: editorial, “Red Dust” introduction, “Red Dust” ch. 1 (stop at p. 89)

  3. Peach Blossom Paradise: pt. 2 ch. 7–pt. 3 ch. 2 (stop at p. 227)

  4. The River, the Plain, and the State: ch. 5–6 (stop at p. 216)

  1. zhiyi6533?↩︎

  2. rogerames6538?↩︎

  3. mouzongsan6540?↩︎

  4. wuchengen6420?↩︎

  5. brookziporyn6494?↩︎

  6. shoheiichimura6613?↩︎

  7. brookziporyn6536?↩︎

  8. Frederickw.mote6491?↩︎

  9. tsugunarikubo6502?↩︎

  10. chuang5751?↩︎

  11. wuchengen6421?↩︎

  12. Gideonshelach-lavi6209?↩︎