History, Anthropology, Religions

Week 1: introduction to the course; introduction to the concept of sinology and the related terminology; the reception of the concept of Sinology in China, the Western approach, and Said's Orientalism; introduction to writing tools; birth of writing and relationship between writing and spiritual affairs; evolution of writing tools towards more political/administrative needs. Week 2: development of writing as administrative/political annotation; extension of knowledge outside the aristocracy; the birth of private collections; book burning; destruction caused by Qin and Han political events; bibliographic classification by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin; lexicographic, historiographical, and various texts other than the classics; development of texts with the introduction of Buddhism; patronage during the Sui dynasty. Week 3: introduction to palaeography and related terminology; various writing styles of the Chinese language; what we mean by Chinese, China, and chronological subdivision of the Chinese language; graphical variants; inscriptions on tortoise shell and bones; findings and different types of characters; structure of characters. Week 4: types of characters and inscriptions and styles of inscriptions on bones; bronze inscriptions, styles and contents (vases/vessels and containers); inscriptions on other materials, such as clay; types of bronze inscriptions from the late Shang to the Han; inscriptions on stone; the role of inscriptions on cliffs; steles and drums; Confucian classics on stone. Week 5: Confucian classics on stone and various versions; Buddhist and Taoist inscriptions on stone and differences with Confucian classics; reproduction techniques and rubbing; inscriptions on jade; inscriptions on bamboo and wood; preparation of inscriptions in bamboo; inscriptions on silk, history of silk, and silk writings from the Chu state; terminology related to different writing tools. Week 6: paper and proto-paper; paper production techniques; from scrolls to other types of binding; fibres used for paper; video on different types of binding; video on rice paper and manufacturing of Sekishu-Banshi; writing instruments: brush, inkstone, and ink; first attestation and evolution of each. Week 7: writing instruments (book knife); theories on the connection between symbols of Neolithic cultures and writing on oracle bones and turtle shells; presentation of the relevant debate and hypotheses; Shang lexicon and types of character; ideograms, logograms; examples of pictograms; simple characters and compound characters; different types of semantic compounds; semantic-phonetic compounds and position of phonetic elements; first lexicographic works: Erya and Shuowen jiezi; connection with the rectification of names; radicals and six principles of writing in the Shuowen jiezi. Week 8: evolution of lexicographic works, such as Zihui and Peiwen Yunfu; character classification by radicals, rhymes, and semantic categories; duruo and fanqie methods; Qieyun and Guangyun; Kangxi zidian; 'Phags-pa script; baihua, wenyan, and guanhua; language reform at the end of the 19th century; romanisation systems before pinyin; pinyin; alternative characters; alphabetic writing in China; punctuation and related differences; eight principles of the character yong 永 (eternity) (yong zi bafa); the importance of the materiality of the book; terminology of the parts of the book. Week 9: video and explanation on woodblock and movable type printing in China; preparation of woodblocks for printing; standardization of book formats; evolution of literary genres and printing; types of binding and advantages/disadvantages of each; printing and the printing revolution in Europe, China, and Japan; comparison between woodblock printing and movable type printing and their suitability to different forms of writing; evolution of merchants/literati and their role in printing; the case of the Sibao book trade. Week 10: characteristics and comparison between the evolution of printing and publishing in Europe and China; collection and cataloguing of books in China; first bibliographic works and development of the fields of banbenxue, muluxue, and jiaokanxue; pioneering Chinese works on the history of books and printing; the influence of linguistic peculiarities on the evolution of printing; coexistence of manuscripts and printed texts in China and Europe; the role of administrations in the promotion and censorship of printing and differences between China and Europe; Darnton communication circuit and Eurocentric positions. Week 11: Darnton's communication circuit and Eurocentric positions; analysis of elements of the circuit; proposed changes to the circuit and potential future applications to the history of books in China; overview of the history and press in China; re-evaluation of the printing revolution in light of non-Eurocentric positions.

Knowledge of Chinese is not mandatory for this course; previous knowledge of palaeography and book history in Europe can be helpful.

Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin, Written on bamboo and silk, Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 2004 (1st ed.), pp.1-206; Carla Casetti Brach (ed.), Gli itinerari della carta. Dall’oriente all’occidente: produzione e conservazione, Roma, Gangemi, 2010: 13-58; Magda Abbiati, La scrittura cinese nei secoli. Dal pennello alla tastiera, Roma, Carocci, 2012; Cynthia J. Brokaw, “On the History of the Book in China”, in Cynthia Brokaw and Kai-wing Chow, Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China, Berkeley, LA, London, University of California Press, 2005, pp. 3-54; Joseph McDermott, “The Ascendance of the Imprint in China”, ibidem: 55-104; Robert E. Hegel, Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1998: pp. 1-17, 72-152, 164-251; Robert Darnton, "What is the History of Books?", Daedalus, 111, no. 3, pp. 65-83; Robert Darnton, "What is the History of Books?" Revisited, Modern Intellectual History, 4, no. 3, pp. 495-508.

In person.

The evaluation consists of an oral exam on topics covered during the course. Evaluation criteria are completeness of knowledge, use of suitable language to explain studied topics, and ability to create connections between covered themes. Top marks will be awarded to students who are able to provide a full description of various studied themes, who develop an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the studied materials, and who can use appropriate terminology. Average marks will be awarded to students who learn by heart information and material discussed during the course and who explain them using not completely appropriate terminology. For attending students, the evaluation criteria will also take into account the active participation and critical contribution demonstrated.

The teaching methodology consists of lectures and seminar activities, in which active participation by students is required. Seminar activities include reading and commentary of texts, guided readings, and discussion of critical essays.

Week 1: introduction to the course; introduction to the concept of sinology and the related terminology; the reception of the concept of Sinology in China, the Western approach, and Said's Orientalism; introduction to writing tools; birth of writing and relationship between writing and spiritual affairs; evolution of writing tools towards more political/administrative needs. Week 2: development of writing as administrative/political annotation; extension of knowledge outside the aristocracy; the birth of private collections; book burning; destruction caused by Qin and Han political events; bibliographic classification by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin; lexicographic, historiographical, and various texts other than the classics; development of texts with the introduction of Buddhism; patronage during the Sui dynasty. Week 3: introduction to palaeography and related terminology; various writing styles of the Chinese language; what we mean by Chinese, China, and chronological subdivision of the Chinese language; graphical variants; inscriptions on tortoise shell and bones; findings and different types of characters; structure of characters. Week 4: types of characters and inscriptions and styles of inscriptions on bones; bronze inscriptions, styles and contents (vases/vessels and containers); inscriptions on other materials, such as clay; types of bronze inscriptions from the late Shang to the Han; inscriptions on stone; the role of inscriptions on cliffs; steles and drums; Confucian classics on stone. Week 5: Confucian classics on stone and various versions; Buddhist and Taoist inscriptions on stone and differences with Confucian classics; reproduction techniques and rubbing; inscriptions on jade; inscriptions on bamboo and wood; preparation of inscriptions in bamboo; inscriptions on silk, history of silk, and silk writings from the Chu state; terminology related to different writing tools. Week 6: paper and proto-paper; paper production techniques; from scrolls to other types of binding; fibres used for paper; video on different types of binding; video on rice paper and manufacturing of Sekishu-Banshi; writing instruments: brush, inkstone, and ink; first attestation and evolution of each. Week 7: writing instruments (book knife); theories on the connection between symbols of Neolithic cultures and writing on oracle bones and turtle shells; presentation of the relevant debate and hypotheses; Shang lexicon and types of character; ideograms, logograms; examples of pictograms; simple characters and compound characters; different types of semantic compounds; semantic-phonetic compounds and position of phonetic elements; first lexicographic works: Erya and Shuowen jiezi; connection with the rectification of names; radicals and six principles of writing in the Shuowen jiezi. Week 8: evolution of lexicographic works, such as Zihui and Peiwen Yunfu; character classification by radicals, rhymes, and semantic categories; duruo and fanqie methods; Qieyun and Guangyun; Kangxi zidian; 'Phags-pa script; baihua, wenyan, and guanhua; language reform at the end of the 19th century; romanisation systems before pinyin; pinyin; alternative characters; alphabetic writing in China; punctuation and related differences; eight principles of the character yong 永 (eternity) (yong zi bafa); the importance of the materiality of the book; terminology of the parts of the book. Week 9: video and explanation on woodblock and movable type printing in China; preparation of woodblocks for printing; standardization of book formats; evolution of literary genres and printing; types of binding and advantages/disadvantages of each; printing and the printing revolution in Europe, China, and Japan; comparison between woodblock printing and movable type printing and their suitability to different forms of writing; evolution of merchants/literati and their role in printing; the case of the Sibao book trade. Week 10: characteristics and comparison between the evolution of printing and publishing in Europe and China; collection and cataloguing of books in China; first bibliographic works and development of the fields of banbenxue, muluxue, and jiaokanxue; pioneering Chinese works on the history of books and printing; the influence of linguistic peculiarities on the evolution of printing; coexistence of manuscripts and printed texts in China and Europe; the role of administrations in the promotion and censorship of printing and differences between China and Europe; Darnton communication circuit and Eurocentric positions. Week 11: Darnton's communication circuit and Eurocentric positions; analysis of elements of the circuit; proposed changes to the circuit and potential future applications to the history of books in China; overview of the history and press in China; re-evaluation of the printing revolution in light of non-Eurocentric positions.

Knowledge of Chinese is not mandatory for this course; previous knowledge of palaeography and book history in Europe can be helpful.

Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin, Written on bamboo and silk, Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 2004 (1st ed.), pp.1-206; Carla Casetti Brach (ed.), Gli itinerari della carta. Dall’oriente all’occidente: produzione e conservazione, Roma, Gangemi, 2010: 13-58; Magda Abbiati, La scrittura cinese nei secoli. Dal pennello alla tastiera, Roma, Carocci, 2012; Cynthia J. Brokaw, “On the History of the Book in China”, in Cynthia Brokaw and Kai-wing Chow, Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China, Berkeley, LA, London, University of California Press, 2005, pp. 3-54; Joseph McDermott, “The Ascendance of the Imprint in China”, ibidem: 55-104; Robert E. Hegel, Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1998: pp. 1-17, 72-152, 164-251; Robert Darnton, "What is the History of Books?", Daedalus, 111, no. 3, pp. 65-83; Robert Darnton, "What is the History of Books?" Revisited, Modern Intellectual History, 4, no. 3, pp. 495-508.

In person.

The evaluation consists of an oral exam on topics covered during the course. Evaluation criteria are completeness of knowledge, use of suitable language to explain studied topics, and ability to create connections between covered themes. Top marks will be awarded to students who are able to provide a full description of various studied themes, who develop an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the studied materials, and who can use appropriate terminology. Average marks will be awarded to students who learn by heart information and material discussed during the course and who explain them using not completely appropriate terminology. For attending students, the evaluation criteria will also take into account the active participation and critical contribution demonstrated.

The teaching methodology consists of lectures and seminar activities, in which active participation by students is required. Seminar activities include reading and commentary of texts, guided readings, and discussion of critical essays.