Dragon and Lotus: Chinese Visual and Material Culture This course, focusing the visual and material culture of China from the prehistoric to the medieval period, is to interrogate the dynamics between art, politics, and rituals. Each week we will examine selected masterpieces in decorated pottery, engraved jade, cast bronze, stone sculpture, woven textile, gold and silver. We will investigate the production, circulation, transmission, and reception of the artworks to reconstruct the social life of things against its historical background. Lastly, we will highlight three of the most prominent motifs in Chinese art—animals, flowers, and human forms—as case studies to illustrate how similar patterns were interpreted via different mediums, used in different contexts, and articulated different social relations throughout the Chinese history.
Monks and Merchants: East Asian Art after 1100 introduces students to the visual and material culture of China, Korea, and Japan from the medieval period to the present. Among the topics discussed in class are: art and imperial patronage, art and cultural identity, transmission of Buddhist art, garden and urban designs, etc. Special attention will be given to the transcultural exchange among China, Korea, and Japan and the encounter between the East and the West.
