Syllabus
Instructor: Nikita Kuzmin (kuzmin@sas.upenn.edu)
The Tangut language is an extinct rGyalrongic language of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which was one of the key languages of the Tangut Western Xia Empire (1038-1227). The middle period (10-13 centuries) in East Asia was characterized by the rose of non-Sinitic powers like Khitan Liao, Tangut Xia, and Jurchen Jin, all of which attempting to challenge the well-established Sino-centric world order in which Classical Chinese was the lingua franca - language of diplomacy, culture and religion. All these three non-Sinitic regimes wished to gain cultural independence from the Song dynasty by creating their indigenous scripts, but the Tanguts were perhaps the most successful. They translated a significant amount of the Buddhist canon as well as several Confucian texts (Lunyu, Xiaojing, Mengzi) into the Tangut language.
Nikita Kuzmin is a PhD Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, working with various Tangut texts for his dissertation project. “Tangut Textual Culture” is a course, which will provide the students with core background knowledge of the Tangut language and will give insights into the enigmatic world of the Tangut textual culture.
The course consists of three units. In the first unit, the instructor will introduce background knowledge about the Tanguts, the remaining textual corpus, and main dictionaries and grammar books. In the second unit, the instructor will conduct a guided reading and translation of one the Tangut Buddhist scriptures (Guanyin sūtra). In the third unit, the students will lead the reading and translation of passages selected by the instructor. The passages are of various genres, including Buddhist, Confucian, and legal texts. This course will be useful for the student of Asian history and Sino-Tibetan linguistics. Knowledge in Classical Chinese and/or Classical Tibetan will be helpful, but not mandatory. All the materials will be distributed by the instructor in advance. Preparation is required for each class.
Annotation
The Tangut language is an extinct rGyalrongic language of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which was one of the key languages of the Tangut Western Xia Empire (1038-1227). The course consists of three units. In the first unit, the instructor will introduce background knowledge about the Tanguts, the remaining textual corpus, and main dictionaries and grammar books. In the second unit, the instructor will conduct a guided reading and translation of one the Tangut
Buddhist scriptures (Guanyin sūtra). In the third unit, the students will lead the reading and translation of passages selected by the instructor. The passages are of various genres, including Buddhist, Confucian, and legal texts. This course will be useful for the student of Asian history and Sino-Tibetan linguistics. Knowledge in Classical Chinese and/or Classical Tibetan will be helpful, but not mandatory. All the materials will be distributed by the instructor in advance. Preparation is required for each class.