Intellectual Change in Early China: Warring States and Han

Instructor: Prof. John Lagerwey

Skills you'll gain

  •   Ancient History
  •   Culture
  •   Economics
  •   Social Sciences
  •   Research
  •   Psychology
  •   Governance
  •   Liberal Arts
  •   World History
  •   Political Sciences
  • There are 6 modules in this course

    The first two courses will cover the periods of the Warring States (481-256 BCE) and the Period of Division (220-589 CE), with a brief excursion into the Han (206 BCE-220 CE). The Warring States laid the social and cultural foundations for the emergence of the imperial mode of rationality; the Period of Division saw the Buddhist “conquest” of China and the emergence of a rationality defined by the opposition of the Three Teachings to shamanism, that is, of a clear contrast between elite and popular culture. The third and fourth courses will focus on the emergence of modern China in the Song-Yuan (960-1368) and of today’s China 1850 to the present. We will see how the modern attack on religion, redefined as "superstition", led not only to religious reform movements but also to a society in which science and the nation became the primary value systems promoted by the state. The courses are listed below: A Critical Cultural History of China - Early China I: Intellectual Change in the Warring States and Han (481 BCE-220 CE) A Critical Cultural History of China - Early China II: Religious Transformation in the Period of Division (220-589 CE) A Critical Cultural History of China - Modern China I: Religion and Thought in the Song, Jin, and Yuan (960-1368) A Critical Cultural History of China - Modern China II: Structuring Values (1850-2015)

    MODULE 01: Attack on Shamanism

    MODULE 02: The Emergence of Self-Cultivation Practice

    MODULE 03: The Philosophical Preparation of Political Unity

    MODULE 04: Han Religion

    MODULE 05: Changing Theories of Illness

    Explore more from History

    ©2025  ementorhub.com. All rights reserved