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INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS

General Education: Culture and Belief 33
Harvard University
Spring 2014


Professor: James Robson, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Office: 2 Divinity #227 Time: Tu.&Thur. 10-11:30
Phone: 617-495-8363 Place: Boylston Hall - 110
email: jrobson@fas.harvard.edu (Fong Auditorium)
Office Hours: Thur. 1:30-2:30
Head TF: Graham Chamness & by appt.
TFs
TBA

Course Description:
This course is designed as an introduction to the study of East Asian religions. It aims to cover the development and history
of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Shinto, and various form of popular religion in a cross-cultural setting. The course will
begin in India, and move north and east to China, Tibet (briefly), and Japan, at the same time we will move (in a meandering
way) from ancient times down to the present day. The overarching emphasis throughout the course will be on the
hermeneutic difficulties attendant upon the study of religion in general, and East Asian religious traditions in particular. Prior
to the influence of western conceptions of religion, for example, there was no term in any East Asian language for religion.
If we take that fact seriously, then how are we to approach those cultures and interpret the phenomena that look like what we
would call religion? How, in other words, have Western conceptions of the nature and character of religion conditioned the
ways we think about East Asian religions? In addition to brooding over those interpretive questions, I hope students will
become intrigued by some of the fascinating ways that the religious traditions we are studying moved across cultures (India
to China, Tibet and Japan) and developed over time. We will raise questions about how East Asian religions might best be
studied. Should the focus be on elite doctrinal texts or on the less systematized practices of the masses? Since this course is
not intended to be a comprehensive or systematic survey, it is designed around major conceptual themes, such as ritual,
image veneration, sacred geography, meditation, death, ancestor worship, and the relationship between different religious
traditions in East Asia. How did Buddhism interact with local cults in East Asia? What are Daoist perceptions of nature and


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the human body? How has religion been revived in recent years in China and how has the Chinese state responded? What is
the relationship between Buddhism and abortion in contemporary Japan? How are we to make sense of the fact that Aum
Shinriky!, a new Japanese Buddhist sect, unleashed nerve gas in a Tokyo subway? How is it that Indian Hindu deities, make
appearances in modern Japan? How has religion served as a resource in the modern world for helping to instill particular
values in society, but at the same time provided the foundation for nationalistic movements in East Asia?

This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for either Culture and Belief or Societies
of the World, but not both. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts
C. This course satisfies the specific goals of the Culture and Belief category in the new general education program by
developing an understanding and appreciation for traditions of culture and belief and through its engagement with primary
religious texts and visual images. The material covered in this course is aimed at honing the students abilities to critically
analyze those topics by situating them within larger cultural, social, and cross-cultural contexts.

There are no prerequisites for the course.

Summary of Course Requirements:
Full attendance, completion of reading assignments, and active participation in lectures and discussions is expected.
You will be required to take one In-class exam on Feb. 25
th
[20%]; and submit one take-home Mid-term
paper/exam due April 10
th
in class [25%]; and one Final paper (7-10 pages, the paper topics may be chosen from
those suggested by the Professor, though students are encouraged to propose their own topics in consultation with
the Professor) [35%] due May 8th. Your section grade will make up 20% of your final grade.

In-class Exam: 20%
Take-home Mid-term Paper/Exam: 25%
Final Paper: 35%
Section Grade: 20%

Section grades are based on attendance, participation in discussion, and the submission (using the website tool) of
either a question that you would have liked to ask, but did not have the opportunity, or a comment on the most
interesting thing (or unclear point) made during the lecture.

Academic Honesty
Please familiarize yourself with rules regarding plagiarism. Anyone who attempts to take credit for work that is not
his or her own will receive a failing grade and suspected cases of plagiarism also have to be reported to the
Administrative Board of Harvard College. If you have any question about what counts as plagiarism or how to
properly attribute sources, speak with the instructor.

AEO Statement:
Any student needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to present their letter from the
Accessible Education Office (AEO) and speak with the professor by the end of the second week of the term. Failure
to do so may result in the Course Head's inability to respond in a timely manner. All discussions will remain
confidential, although AEO may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation.


Required Texts

Rupert Gethin. The Foundations of Buddhism (Oxford University Press) [Listed below as FOB]

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching (Penguin Classics Version)

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed. Asian Religions in Practice: An Introduction. (Princeton Univ. Press, 1999). [Listed below as ARP]



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Burton Watson, trans., Chuang-tzu: Basic Writings. (Columbia Univ. Press).

Theodore de Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition Vol1: From
Earliest Times to 1600 (Columbia University Press, 2001). [Listed below as SJT]

Articles
The articles for this course (marked with a in the list below) are available as pdfs on the course website.


INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS
[Tentative class schedule, subject to revisions if necessary]


Unit One: Indian Background and the Development of Buddhism

Class 1 Jan. 28 Course Introduction: Asia? East Asia? Religion?

Class 2 Jan. 30 The Indus Valley and the Ancient Indo-Aryans
Readings: The Aryans and Early Indian Culture
Religions of India in Practice in Asian Religions in Practice [ARP], pp. 8-16.
Recommended: Romila Thapar, Which of Us are Aryans?
[At some point take a look at www.harappa.com]

Class 3 Feb. 4 Vedic Ritual and the Upanishadic Universe
Readings: Religions of India in Practice [in ARP, pp. 16-22].The Ultimate
Reality in the Upanishads

Class 4 Feb. 6 Buddhism as a Religion
Readings: Buddhism in Practice [in ARP], pp. 56-87.

Class 5 Feb. 11 The Buddhist Universe
Readings: The Buddhist Cosmos [in FOB, Chapter 5]

Class 6 Feb. 13 The Buddha and His Teachings
Readings: The Buddha [in FOB, Chapter 1], The Word of the Buddha, and
Four Truths [in FOB, Chapters 2 and 3]
S"maaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Homeless Life.

Class 7 Feb. 18 Buddhist Meditation
Readings: Mah"-Satipatth"na-Sutta
The Buddhist Path: The Way of Calm and Insight [in FOB, Chapter 7]

Class 8 Feb. 20 Mah!y!na Buddhism: A New Soteriology
Readings: The Mahayana: The Great Vehicle [in FOB, Chapter 9]
Heart S!tra (The S#tra), Gomez, Introduction to the Shorter Sutra and
The Shorter Sukh"vat$vy#ha Sutra.

Class 9 Feb. 25 In-class exam on Buddhist history and teachings

Unit Two: East Asian Religious Thoughts and Practices


Class 10 Feb. 27 The Chinese Religious Landscape: Spirits, Ancestors and Demons
Readings: Teiser, Religions of China in Practice [in ARP], pp. 88-89.


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Keightley, Preamble, Harper, Spellbinding

Class 11 March 4 Confucianisms
Readings: Teiser, Religions of China in Practice in ARP, pp. 89-92.
Analects (Selections: pp. 59-62, 63-66, 72-75, 86-91, 112-114 (to verse #11),
140 (verses #5-#9).); Mencius (Selections: Cited by Book and verse #: Book
1A.1, 1A.3, 1A.7, Book 2A.2, 2A.4, 2A.6, 2A.7, Book 4B.28, Book 6A.1,
6A.8.)

Class 12 March 6 Daoist Roots I: Laozi
Readings: Teiser, Religions of China in Practice [in ARP], pp. 92-97.
Laozi-Tao Te Ching, Robinet, Taoism, Chapter 1, pp. 25-30 (see Robinet Part 1
pdf).

Class 13 March 11 Daoist Roots II: Zhuangzi
Readings: Zhuangzi (p. 23-139), Robinet, Taoism, Chapter 1, pp. 30-35 (see
Robinet Part 1 pdf).

Class 14 March 13 Defining Daoism as a Religion
Readings: Robinet, Taoism: Growth of a Religion, Introduction: Definitions
and Controlling Concepts, pp. 1-23 ((see Robinet Part 1 pdf).
Seidel, Taoism: The Unofficial High Religion of China.

March 17-21 Spring Recess No Class

Class 15 March 25 Daoist Practice: Alchemy/Inner Alchemy, the Sacred Body, and the Sacred
Landscape
Readings:: Robinet, Taoism: Growth of a Religion, Chapter 8, pp. 212-256
((see Robinet Part 2 pdf). Levi, The Daoists Coat of Arms, Doub,
Mountains in Early Taoism

Class 16 March 27 Chinese Buddhism: From India to China to Korea
Readings: Teiser, Religions of China in Practice [in ARP], pp. 97-105.
Zrcher, Beyond the Gate: Buddhism in China, Vietnam and Korea, Arthur
Wright, Studies in Chinese Buddhism

Class 17 April 1 Taking Care of the Dead
Readings: How a Monk Freed His Mother From Hell Teiser, Buddhism
and the Family

Class 18 April 3 Chan Buddhism: Becoming a Buddha
Readings: Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch [p. 125-183]

Class 19 April 8 Chinese Popular Religion and Contemporary Chinese Religion
Readings: Teiser, Religions of China in Practice in ARP, pp. 105-122.
Dean, Local Communal Religion in South-east China, Chen, Healing Sects
and Anti-Cult Campaigns

Class 20 April 10 Tibetan Religions
Readings: Lopez, Religions of Tibet in Practice [in ARP, pp. 123-153].

Class 21 April 15 Japanese Religions: Shinto
Readings: Tanabe, Religions of Japan in Practice [in ARP, pp. 154-175].
The Earliest Japanese Chronicles pp. 13-16 [in SJT], Early Shinto pp. 17-
38 [in SJT].


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Recommended: Kuroda Toshio, Shinto in the History of Japanese Religion

Class 22 April 17 Japanese Religions: Early Buddhism
Readings: The Lotus S!tra and The Vimalak"rti S!tra pp. 55-62 [in SJT],
Nara Buddhism pp. 100-121 [in SJT], K#kai and Esoteric Buddhism pp.
153-170 [in SJT], The Spread of Esoteric Buddhism pp. 184-189 [in SJT].

Class 23 April 22 Japanese Religions: Later Buddhism
Readings: Amida, the Pure Land and the Response of the Old Buddhism to
the New pp. 211-237 [in SJT], Zen Buddhism pp. 306-328 and pp. 332-335.
[in SJT]

Class 24 April 24 Sanctifying Ones Life and Sanctifying Japan: Sacred Practice, Sacred
Objects, Sacred Mountains
Readings: Reader, Cleaning Floors and Sweeping the Mind: Cleaning as a
Ritual Process Kretchmer, Mortuary Rites for Inanimate Objects: The Case
of the Hari Kuyo, Grapard, Flying Mountains and Walkers of Emptiness:
Toward a Definition of Sacred Space in Japanese Religions
Recommended: John Stevens, ''The Path of the Spiritual Athlete

Class 25 April 29 The Spirits of Modernity: New Religions and the Violence of Modernity
Readings: Hardacre, Kurozumiky and the New Religions of Japan, pp. 37-73.
Bardwell Smith, Buddhism and Abortion in Contemporary Japan: Mizuko
Kuy and the Confrontation with Death, Hardacre, Shinto and the State Since
1945, Pye, Aum Shinriky!: Can Religious Studies Cope?