• Links for Buddhism
• Links for the Silk Routes, Central Asia, etc.
• Paper Format Guide
• Syllabus:

The topic of the senior seminar this year will be the social, economic, and cultural aspects of Buddhism throughout Asia. As one of the major connective links among the varied cultures of North, South, Southeast, and East Asia for over two millenia, Buddhism has reflected and influenced cultural change on a wide variety of levels. The seminar will focus on Buddhism's role in intra-Asian trade via the "Silk Road," urbanization, the construction of identity (personal, national, and transnational), conceptions of power (numinous, political, and economic), and conceptions of order (cosmic, spiritual, and temporal). Specific topics will include relations between the monastic and lay domains of the Buddhist community (sangha), pilgrimage, commerce, the sponsorship of Buddhist art, and the ways in which religious and secular phenomena can be mutually conditioned. In April we will be visited by Prof. Ning Qiang, from Connecticut College, who is an expert on the Buddhist art of the Silk Road.

Reading

• Richard H. Robinson, Willard L. Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction, 5th ed.
• Burton Watson, trans., The Lotus Sutra
• Frances Wood, The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia

• John S. Strong, The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations
• Xinru Liu, Ancient India and Ancient China: Trade and Religious Exchanges, AD 1-600
• Ning Qiang, Art, Religion, and Politics in Medieval China: The Dunhuang Cave of the Zhai Family
• Andre Gunder Frank, The Centrality of Central Asia

Requirements and grading:

1. Participation (25% of course grade). The success of a seminar depends on the active participation of all members. Attendance at all meetings is required, unless you have a legitimate excuse and inform me about it beforehand. You are expected to have read the assigned material beforehand and to participate regularly in seminar discussion.

2. Two short papers (20% each), 5-8 pages plus bibliography; one on an issue concerning Buddhism in a particular country or area of Asia (due anytime before Spring Break) and the second on a historical figure associated with the Silk Road (see last page).

3. Oral report on the topic of the second paper (10%). The paper will be due the Friday after the oral presentation.

4. Term paper (25%), 12-15 pages plus bibliography, on any topic covered in the seminar. If you wish, you may revise and substantially expand one of your earlier papers; in this case, please turn in both the original (with my comments) and the new paper.

The world's oldest dated printed book (868 C.E.):
copy of the Diamond Sutra found at Dunhuang, China,
the eastern terminus of the Silk Road.

Seminar Schedule

<< Spring Break >>

Historical Figures Associated with the Silk Road

• Zhang Qian: A Chinese general of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) who, between 138 and 115 BCE, "opened" the Silk Road (for the Chinese) by negotiating treaties with Central Asian peoples.
  
  
• Kanishka: King of the Kushan Empire in the 2nd century CE (in present-day NW India-Pakistan-Afghanistan), a key figure in the spread of Buddhism out of India.
  
  
• Kumarajiva (344-413 CE): The greatest translator of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit to Chinese; born in Kucha (on northern trade route around Taklamakan Desert) to a local princess who married an Indian man; studied in India and Kashgar; worked as a translator in Chang'an (capital of Northern Qin Dynasty).
  
  
• Faxian: A Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who traveled overland to India and returned by sea (399- 413 CE) and wrote an account of it.
  
  
• Xuanzang: The most famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, who traveled overland to India and back between 629 and 645 CE and wrote an account of it, which became the basis for the popular Chinese novel Journey to the West (an abridged translation, by Arthur Waley, is called Monkey).
  
  
• Empress Wu Zetian: China's only official Empress, ruled 690-705, a devout Buddhist who sponsored the building of several monumental sculptures, at least one of which is believed to be modeled after her.
  
  
• Ennin: A Japanese Buddhist pilgrim who traveled to China in the 9th century, witnessed the 842-845 suppression of Buddhism, and wrote an account of his travels.
  
  
• William of Rubruck (Ruysbroeck): Franciscan missionary from Flanders who traveled overland to Karakorum, the Mongol capital, during the 1250s; documented Nestorian Christianity in China.
  
  
• Marco Polo: The most famous Silk Road traveler, a Venetian who (claimed to have) spent from 1271 to 1295 in China.
  
  
• John of Montecorvino: Franciscan missionary who spent the years 1291-1328 in India and China.
  
  
• Ibn Batuta: A Moroccan who visited Muslim communities all over Asia in the 14th century.
  
  
• Genghis (Chinggis) Khan: Founder of the Mongol Empire in the early 13th century.
  
  
• Kublai (Qubilai) Khan: Grandson of Chinggis Khan, extended the Mongol Empire to its greatest extent; supposedly hosted and employed Marco Polo.
  
  
• Timur (aka Tamerlane): Founder of an Islamic Central Asian Empire in the 14th century; married into Genghis Khan's family.
  
  
• Aurel Stein (1862-1943): Hungarian-born British explorer of Central Asia; in 1907 and 1914 brought back thousands of manuscripts and paintings from the Dunhuang Library Cave to the British Library in London.
  
  
• Paul Pelliot (1878-1945): French Sinologist who visited Dunhuang in 1908 and brought back about 10,000 scrolls to Paris (now in the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Musée Guimet).

Edit date: 7/25/07