Introduction to Literary Chinese

This course is designed to introduce students to the vocabulary, structure and patterns of primary sources in East Asian religions composed in literary Chinese. Students will be introduced to the use of general and specialised dictionaries for the study of Buddhist and Taoist materials, as well as resources such as indices, concordances and electronic databases. Students will prepare the text for each class, and we will discuss grammatical and vocabulary issues as they arise. We will read a variety of texts (scripture, commentary, biography, inspirational etc.) including unpunctuated pre-modern editions. The choice of materials will be determined by student interests.