March 21 and 23
The “four treasures” of the scholar are paper, brush, ink and inkstone. You use the inkstone to rub the stick of solid (dried) ink with a drop of water, to make the black “Chinese” ink, and then with the brush you write on the paper, or make paintings. In Tuesday’s materials, you can get a closer look (or rather “listen”) at the process of creating the inkstones and how they were valued as an object of art. The interview invites you also to think about the question of the artisan, the maker of the object, and their relation to the consumer and connoisseur, but also the question of status (of artisans, of women) and much more. We will look at artisans more in detail in a couple of weeks.
Books were also treasured possessions of the scholars, so we’ll have a look at their production process on Thursday.
- Slides
- Readings and class details
- Assignments
- Extra Credit Tasks
- Where to Get Assistance?
Slides
Readings and class details
Tuesday
Meeting in Ettinger 212, 3.30PM
- Podcast: New Books in East Asian Studies, interview with Dorothy Ko, author of The Social Life of Inkstones. (appr. 1hr)
- Take notes while listening; don’t try to do something else at the same time: this is a conversation packed with information.
- If you want to know more, the book is in the library: Ko, Dorothy. The Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China. A Study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute Columbia University. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017. (ebook Trexler )
- How does thinking about the materiality of the scholar’s world change our perspective on Chinese history? What connections do we see with earlier topics, themes, or objects we discussed, in particular in connection with creating material culture? What happens when we start to focus on the people who made objects, rather than those who commissioned or used them?
Thursday
Meeting in Trexler Library B01, 3.30PM
- McDermott, Joseph Peter. A Social History of the Chinese Book : Books and Literati Culture in Late Imperial China. Understanding China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006. (ebook Trexler)
- chapter 1: “The Making of an Imprint in China, 1000–1800” pp. 9-42. (1hr read)
- Keep track of the process: who is all involved in creating a book? Can you picture/imagine the process? Can we figure out how much it costs?
- Smithrosser, Elizabeth. “Bookcare in Medieval China.” Medievalist.net.
- Once a book has been printed (or in many of the examples in this text: been handwritten), you need to take care of it against mold, and silverfish, and bookworms! (15 min. read, incl. videos)
Assignments
1. Reminder: Blog post (content week 8)
5 points, due Sun. March 19, 11:59PM
Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.
- Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
- Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
- TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on last week’s webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
- Add the words “Week 8 in the title.
- Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
- Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
- Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
- Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.
When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.
| Declaration |
|---|
| – I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings. |
| – I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post. |
| – I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose. |
| – I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image. |
| – I use the words Week 8 in the title, and added the post to category hst137 |
2. Feedback with Hypothes.is
3 points, due March 21, 11:59PM
Below you find links to three blog posts from your fellow students. If one of the websites is your own, or it is twice the same person’s, refresh the page, and you should get new sites. There may be a post from an earlier week: that means it came in after I created last week’s randomizer, but still before the built-in extension of the blog post assignment.
- Post 1:
- Post 2:
- Post 3:
Leave feedback, questions, thoughts, insights about the contents of the posts of your fellow students using Hypothes.is group HST137. You can ask for clarifications, point out similarities and differences with the material you covered, or with your interpretation. This should encourage you to nose around in the other materials you did not read originally, too.
Use tags in Hypothes.is: question: If you have a question (obvious); answered: if you gave an answer to a question; info: if you provide more information, looking up additional facts, drawing on knowledge from other classes; and other tags you can think of. This will help us to navigate more quickly to the questions that still need answering.
Use the “Architect’s Model” of giving feedback, and engage with concrete issues. Go beyond “Yeah, I agree,” “I like” or “I think the same”, and instead explain why you have that reaction, or if you disagree, you can try to persuade the original poster of your idea or interpretation.
Remember that Hypothes.is allows for hyperlinks, e.g. to materials that support your argument, or you can include pictures (memes! [yes, there she is again]), videos etc. that help the original poster to learn more.
When you’re done, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.
| Declaration |
|---|
| – I commented on three fellow students’ weekly blog post on Week 8 materials, using the Hypothes.is group HST137. |
| – I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths. |
| – I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed. |
3. Blog post (content week 9)
5 points, due Sun. March 26, 11:59PM
Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.
- Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
- Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
- TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
- Add the words “Week 9” in the title.
- Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
- Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
- Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
- Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.
When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.
| Declaration |
|---|
| – I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings. |
| – I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post. |
| – I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose. |
| – I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image. |
| – I use the words Week 9 in the title, and added the post to category hst137 |
Extra Credit assignments
EC9-1: Introduce an image
3 points, due Sunday March 26 11.59pm
All the details on this webpage, incl. a link to declaration quiz.
EC9-2: Follow that footnote!
3 points, due by Sunday March. 26, 11.59pm
Read the instructions on this separate webpage , incl. the link there to the declaration quiz.
Where to get assistance?
- Tea Room on Discord:
- open anytime for you
- I will be hosting Tue 2PM-3PM; Wed. 1PM-2PM, or at other times by appointment via Google Calendar (usually a 15-20min appointment is enough). You can also find me in my office during Tea Room times.
- Private room for confidential chat available on request.
- Discord Text Channel #hst137
- DLAs: Digital Learning Assistants: check the schedule!
- Writing Center: Sunday – Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 & 7 – 11 PM; Thursday 3:30 – 5:30 PM & 7 – 9 PM
- Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course
- Safety on/around campus: report an incident
