Lectures: TTh 1:30-2:55pm, 212 Houghton House
Office Hours: M 2:00-3:00pm, T 3:00-4:00pm, or by appointment, 106A Houghton House

The relationship between text and image assumes primary significance in the arts of Asia. Of especial import is the use of visual narrative, or the art of storytelling. This course traces the role of narrative in the arts of India, Central Asia, China and Japan, from the sculptural friezes at the Sanchi stupa to the murals at the Dunhuang caves to the handscrolls and picture scrolls produced by scholars and court artists. The course is designed as a series of case studies, through which we will examine both the special visual formats developed in Asia to facilitate the telling of tales as well as the specific religious, political and cultural contexts in which narrative is deployed. The course is cross-listed with Asian Studies, Women's Studies and Media and Society.

Required texts:
*Aryasura, Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Arya Sura's Jatakamala, trans. Peter Khoroche (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1989).
* Wu Hung, The Wu Liang Shrine: The Ideology of Early Chinese Pictorial Art (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989).
* Wu Hung, The Double Screen: Medium and Representation in Chinese Painting (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
* Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, trans. Royall Tyler (New York: Penguin Books, 2001).
* Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 4th ed. (Boston: St. Martin's Press, 2004).

Coursepack: Available on reserve at the Library. It includes:
* Julia K. Murray, "What Is 'Chinese Narrative Illustration'?" Art Bulletin 80, no. 4 (December 1998): 602-15.
* Robert Treat Paine and Alexander Soper, "The Yamato-e Tradition of Narrative Scrolls," Chap. 8 of The Art and Architecture of Japan, 3rd ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), 133-57.
* Vidya Dehejia, "On Modes of Visual Narration in Early Buddhist Art," Art Bulletin 72, no. 3 (September 1990), 373-392.
* Akiyama Terukazu, "Continuity and Discontinuity in the Pictorial Composition of Handscroll Painting," trans. Juliann Wolfgram, Acta Asiatica 56 (1989): 24-45.
* Asvaghosha, "The Buddha-Karita," trans. E. B. Cowell, in The World of Literature, ed. Louise Westling et al. (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1999), 265-288.
* Dieter Schlingloff, Narrative Wall Paintings, Vol. 1 of Guide to the Ajanta Paintings (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1999), 4b-5a, 6b-7a, 39b-40a, 48b-50a.
* Duan Wenjie, "Illustrations of Stories," Dunhuang Art: Through the Eyes of Duan Wenjie (South Asia Books, 1995), 99-113.
* Karen L. Brock, "The Making and Remaking of Miraculous Origins of Mt. Shigi," Archives of Asian Art 45 (1992): 42-71.
* W. G. Archer, The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry (New York: Grove Press, 1960), 26-113.
* Martin J. Powers, "Pictorial Art and Its Public in Early Imperial China," Art History 7, no. 2 (June 1984): 136-63.
* Burton Watson, ed. and trans., The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early Times to the Thirteenth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), 93-95, 116-121, 123-124, 142-143.
* Hsio-yen Shih, "Poetry Illustration and the Works of Ku K'ai-chih," in The Translation of Art: Essays on Chinese Painting and Poetry, ed. James C. Y. Watt (Hong Kong: Centre for Translation Projects, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1976), 6-29.
* K. P. K. Whitaker, "Tsaur Jyr's 'Luohshern fuh,'" Asia Major, n.s. 4, no. 1 (1954): 36-56.
* Elizabeth Brotherton, "Beyond the Written Word: Li Gonglin's Illustrations to Tao Yuanming's Returning Home," Artibus Asiae 59, no. 3/4 (2000): 225-63.
* Hans H. Frankel, "Cai Yan and the Poems Attributed to Her," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) 5, no. 1/2 (July 1983): 133-156.
* Irene S. Leung, "Image and Text in the Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute," Chapter 3 of "The Frontier Imaginary in the Song Dynasty (960-1279): Revisiting Cai Yan's Barbarian Captivity and Return" (Ph.D. diss., The University of Michigan, 2001), 98-130.
* Dore J. Levy, "Character Types and Character Roles," Chapter 3 of Chinese Narrative Poetry: The Late Han through T'ang Dynasties (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1988), 80-103.
* Earl Miner, "Some Thematic and Structural Features of the Genji monogatari," Monumenta Nipponica 24, no. 1/2 (1969): 1-19.
* Aileen Gatten, "The Order of The Early Chapters in The Genji monogatari," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 41, no. 1 (June 1981): 5-46.
* Notes by Marg, "The treatment of space in Indian painting; Paintings of the Hamza Namah; Paintings of the Akbar Namah," Marg 29, no. 4 (September 1976): 31-56.
* Pramod Chandra and Daniel J. Ehnbom, The Cleveland Tuti-nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting (Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art; Chicago: The David and Alfred Smart Gallery, The University of Chicago, 1976), 31-52, 69-85.

Week 1. Jan. 18-20. Introduction to theories of narrative.
Readings: Murray 1998; Paine and Soper 1985.

Week 2. Jan. 25-27. Asian modes of organizing visual narratives.
Readings: Dehejia 1990; Akiyama 1989.
This week: LIBRARY ORIENTATION. Meet at the Reference Desk of the Library at 1:30pm, Jan. 27.

Week 3. Feb. 1-3. Life of the historic Buddha.
Readings: Asvaghosa; Schlingloff 1999, 4b-5a, 39b-40a.
This week: QUIZ.

Week 4. Feb. 8-10. Jataka tales.
Readings: Aryasura xi-xix, 5-9, 58-73, 178-192; Schlingloff 1999, 6b-7a, 48b-50a; Duan 1995.

Week 5. Feb. 15-17. Japanese Buddhist tales and Miraculous Origins of the Mt. Shigi Temple.
Readings: Brock 1992; re-read Akiyama 1989, 29-34, 26-39.
This week: RESEARCH PAPER TOPIC due.

Week 6. Feb. 22-24. Tales of Krishna.
Readings: Archer 1960.
This week: QUIZ.

Week 7. Mar. 1-3. Confucian narratives at the Wu Family shrines.
Readings: Wu 1989, 167-186, 252-327; Powers 1984.

Week 8. Mar. 8-10. Goddess of the Luo River and its political interpretations.
Readings: Watson 93-95, 116-121; Shih 1976; Whitaker 1954.
This week: FIRST CREATIVE PROJECT due.

[March 11-20, SPRING BREAK]

Week 9. Mar. 22-24. Night Revels of Han Xizai from 960 to 2000.
Readings: Wu 1996, chapter 1; handouts.
This week: QUIZ.

Week 10. Mar. 29-31. Tao Yuanming and Chinese politics.
Readings: Watson 123-124, 142-143; Brotherton 2000.
This week: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR RESEARCH PAPER due.

Week 11. Apr. 5-7. Chinese women and Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute.
Readings: Frankel 1983; Leung 2001; Levy 1988.
This week: QUIZ.

Week 12. Apr. 12-14. The Tale of Genji and the Heian court.
Readings: Murasaki, "Introduction"; Miner 1969; Gatten 1981; re-read Akiyama 1989, 27-29, 34-36.

Week 13. Apr. 19-21. The Tale of Genji, cont.
Readings: Murasaki, chapters 15, 36, 38, 40.

Week 14. Apr. 26-28. Akbar's manuscripts.
Readings: Notes by Marg 1976; Chandra and Ehnbom 1976.
This week: QUIZ.

Week 15. May 3. Presentation of SECOND CREATIVE PROJECT.

Finals Week. May 8. Research paper due.

Course Requirements

1. Class Participation (15%). This includes regular and punctual attendance (see attendance policy) and participating in discussions in class or on the Blackboard discussion board. I grade participation on a daily basis, as follows: A for speaking up in class or on the discussion board (even to ask a question or to answer one of my questions incorrectly), B for showing up to class but not speaking, C for not paying attention or coming in late, 0 for not coming to class at all.

2. Quizzes (15%). Quizzes are marked on the calendar and cannot be made up.

3. Response papers (20%), TBA. Throughout the semester you will write several one-page papers responding to some of the readings. More details to follow.

4. Creative project(s) (10% and 15%), due Thursday, March 10 and Monday, May 3. These will be group projects meant to help you better understand the choices made by a team of artists in representing a story visually. More details to follow.

5. Research paper (25%), due Sunday, May 8, 6:00pm. This is to be a longer research paper (roughly 10-15 pages) on the uses of narrative in Asian art. More details to follow.

Office Hours
I am happy to meet with you outside of class during my office hours, Mondays 2:00-3:00pm and Tuesdays 3:00-4:00pm, or at another time that is convenient for you, in 106A Houghton House. The best way to reach me to set up an appointment is by e-mail.

Attendance Policy
I consider attendance at lectures to be mandatory. Asian art history is a challenging subject; don't make it impossible by skipping class! That said, if you have a reasonable excuse for missing a class, I expect you to notify me as soon as possible--preferably in advance--and to turn in a one-page essay on the topics covered on the day of your absence, within a week. Not doing so will directly impact your participation grade. If you are absent three times or more, you should be prepared for me to notify the Deans about your performance. I will be taking attendance regularly.

Format for Written Work
One of the things you will learn in an art history class is the importance of presentation. This applies to your written work as well:

1. Type all work in a 12-point font.
2. Double-space.
3. Leave one-inch margins on all sides.
4. Number your pages.
5. Staple your work.
6. Put your name on every page, and the due date on the first page.
7. Please check that your spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct--these are crucial to effective communication of your ideas. I will lower your grade if you have excessive errors. A Pocket Style Manual has helpful chapters titled "Clarity," "Grammar," "Punctuation," and "Mechanics." Read them.
8. If you cite another source, you may use either parenthetical references or footnotes. (See A Note about Plagiarism below.) Make sure that you follow one of the documentation styles explained in A Pocket Style Manual (MLA, APA or Chicago-Style).
9. Include pictures with captions if appropriate (and please attach them to a clean sheet of paper--do not give me loose postcards, illustrations torn from magazines, or copies of the books you found the pictures in. Black-and-white photocopies are okay).

A Note about Cheating and Plagiarism
I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. Not only does it destroy the trust that I have in you to do your best, it is unfair to the other students, and obviously you will not learn anything if you resort to cheating. If I find that you have cheated on a test or on a written assignment, you will receive a zero for the assignment and I will contact the Deans and/or the Committee on Standards about your case.

Now, just in case you are not clear about what plagiarism is: plagiarism is the use of someone else's words or ideas without giving that person credit. In application, this means that in your writing assignments, you need to cite your sources. When quoting directly from a text--say, five words or more in succession--you need to put those words in quotation marks and include a parenthetical reference or footnote citing the source. When rewriting a passage from a text in your own words, you don't need the quotation marks but you do still need the parenthetical reference or footnote. If you don't understand exactly what constitutes plagiarism, or how to use parenthetical references or footnotes, please ask me. I would prefer to explain what it is and how to avoid it before it happens rather than after.

Grading
All quizzes, creative projects and the research paper will receive a letter grade. I mark down one-third of a grade (for example, from A to A-) for each day that a paper or project is late. Make-up written assignments, which count as part of your participation grade, will not receive a letter grade but a check or check-minus. If you are unsatisfied with a grade, please prepare a written statement explaining what grade you think you should have received and why, and submit it to me along with the assignment for review.

Assignments are due during the class period on the due date. You may bring your assignments to class or send them to me via e-mail before class (not during, and not after!). I mark down one-third of a grade (for example, from A to A-) for every day that a paper is late. If you think you will need an extension, you should talk to me as early as possible. If you have trouble printing out your paper, you should use the e-mail option instead.

A Note about the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
I encourage you to use the academic resources available to you through CTL, which may facilitate your successful academic development. If you seek to enhance your study skills, writing skills, and if you feel you might benefit from tutoring, contact the CTL. Also, if you are a student with an identified disability and would like to receive accommodations, please contact me with the notification from the CTL at the beginning of the semester, so that I can best accommodate your needs (students with disabilities must register at CTL). Please contact the Center at 781-3351 (at 678 South Main, next to Merritt Hall) to make an appointment or stop by to meet with CTL staff.

Websites
There are two websites for this course: one at my homepage, http://people.hws.edu/blanchard/Art306/; and one at Blackboard. This syllabus, paper and project assignments and links to online resources for Asian art can be found at both. The Blackboard site also has a course calendar, daily handouts, an online gradebook and an image library.