Fall 2013

Thursdays 1:30-3:10

THE ART OF MEMORY IN CHINA AND THE WEST

This course is a comparative exploration of conceptions and practices of memory among thinkers in
pre-modern China and Europe, from antiquity through the middle ages. Addressing both the psychology
of memory and the place of memory in cultural life, it considers such issues as: images for describing and
explaining memory; techniques for cultivating memory; the relationship between memory and time;
memory and spatial organization; and the uses of memory and its ethical implications. Reading through
parallels as well as divergences in the conception of memory in east and west, this course invites
reflection on how thinking about memory is bound up with thinking about the self and about the sources
of subjective identity. Sources will be read in English translation.
Every week we will engage in reading and analysis of primary texts and visual materials for the topic
under investigation, as well as relevant secondary readings. We will be working with English translations
of all texts but students familiar with the source languages are welcome to read the texts in the original.
Instructor
Curie Virg
Visvirag@ceu.hu

Office: Zrinyi 14 306

Tel: 327-2189

E-mail policy
I will try to respond to e-mails within 24 hours. E-mails arriving over the weekend will be answered by
the following Monday.
E-Learning
We have a course website on which I will post handouts and readings, and announcements. The
website will also be used for our on-going discussion forum and for the posting of short assignments.
Learning outcomes
1. An understanding of the distinct ways in which Chinese and Western thinkers understood memory,
and how the cultural practices and techniques of memory diverged.
2. An understanding of the historical and conceptual foundations behind diverging approaches to
memory.
3. Development of critical reading and writing skills.
4. Practice in translating past methods into ones own practice of learning
Course requirements and assessment
1. Participation (25%):
2. Short reflection papers (10%)
3. On-line journal entries (25%)
4. Presentation (10%)
5. Final project (30%)

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1. Participation: Attendance, preparation, and active participation in class discussions. Students may
miss one class without penalty. Further (unavoidable) absences are to be cleared with instructor and
made up with written work.
2. Short reflection papers : Two reflection papers (500-600 words), due on weeks of your choice, on the
corresponding readings for your chosen weeks. Papers should be based on a close reading and analysis
of the texts, should articulate a clear argument, and be posted on the course website by 8 pm
Wednesday evening before the texts are discussed in class. A list will be circulated in the 2nd week of
class (Sep 26) for indicating your topics/deadlines.
3. On-line journal entry: 500-600-word write-up of topics, readings and issues covered in class, your
reflections on them, and questions inspired by them (possibly leading to a future research topic for your
final project). Postings are due by 8 pm Friday evening after class.
4. Presentation: 15-20 minute in-class presentation of final project.
5. Final project: please choose one of the following options:
Research paper: 3000-3500 paper on primary sources of your choice
Practical project: Memorize a significant piece of text (of your choice) and design your own original
mnemonic model, based on those we have studied, that helps you to remember the text. This should
be accompanied by a short paper of 1000 words explaining your choice of influences and rationale for
your method.
Grading criteria
Successful papers will contain the following elements:
1. Clear presentation
2. Thoughtful use and analysis of relevant source material
3. Persuasive argumentation
4. Strong supporting evidence
5. Compelling, interesting argument
6. Coherent and methodical organization
7. Correct grammar and syntax
The evaluation of oral presentations will also consider effective use of visual media and engagement of
audience.

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

Week Date
1

Sept 19

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Topic

Readings

Telling the history of memory

1. M. Carruthers, The Book of Memory, Intro. and ch. 1.

2. Frances Yates, The Art of Memory, ch. 1.
3. S. Owen, Reproduction in the Shijing (Classic of
Poetry). Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 61.2 (Dec 2001):
287-315).

EARLY PHILOSOPHICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS

2

Sep 26

Ancient accounts of memory in

Plato and Aristotle

1. Platos Meno, in R. Allen, The Dialogues of Plato, Vol. 1:

151-186.
2. Passages from Platos Phaedrus, in T. Griffith trans.,
Symposium and Phaedrus: 120-139.
3. Aristotle, De Memoria et Reminiscentia, in Richard
Sorabji trans., Aristotle on Memory: 47-60.
Background:
Frances Yates, The Art of Memory, ch. 2.

Oct 3

Latin and late antique accounts:

1. Pseudo-Cicero, Ad Herennium. H. Caplan trans.: 205-225.
The Ad Herennium and Augustines 2. Augustine, Book X of Confessions , trans. F.J. Sheed:
Confessions
189-211.
3. Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory, chs. 2-3.

Oct 10

Visions of self-cultivation and mind 1. Selections from Confucius, Analects, in De Bary and
in early China
Bloom eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, Vol. 1: 41-63.
2. Selections from Xunzi in Sources of Chinese Tradition:
170-183.
3. Selections from Guanzi, in W. Allyn Rickett trans.
Guanzi. Political, Economic, and Philosophical Essays from
Early China: 39-55, 58-64.
4. Mark Lewis, Construction of Space in Early China, Ch. 1 .

Oct 17

The aesthetics of spontaneity

and embodiment

1. The Great Preface to the Book of Odes, and selections

from the Record of Music (Yueji), trans. S. Owen,
Anthology of Chinese Literature: 64-71.
2. Jean-Francois Billeter, The Chinese Art of Writing, Ch. 4.
3. Wen Fong, Chinese Calligraphy: Theory and History,
R. Harrist, Jr. & W. Fong eds., The Embodied Image: 28- 86.

MEMORY, WRITING AND LEARNING IN MEDIEVAL CULTURE

6

Oct 23

Writing as interior journey in

medieval Chinese poetics

1. Lu Ji, Poetic Exposition on Literature (Wen Fu), trans.

S. Owen, Anthology: 335-343.
2. Liu Xie, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons
(Wenxin Diaolong/Wen-hsin Tiao-lung), trans. V. Shih:
XXVI. Spiritual Thought or Imagination
XXVII. Style and Nature
XXX. On Choice of Style
XXXI. Emotion and Literary Expression
XLVI. The Physical World

Oct 31

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Visualizing the whole: diagrams,

charts and buildings

1. Hugh of St. Victor, A Little Book About

Constructing Noahs Ark, In Carruthers and

Ziolkowski, The Medieval Craft of Memory: 41-70.

2. John of Metz. The Tower of Wisdom, in Carruthers and
Ziolkowski: 215-225.
3. Anonymous, A Method for Recollecting the Gospels, in
Carruthers and Zolkowski: 255-293.
4. M. Carruthers, The Poet as Masterbuilder.
Composition and Locational Memory in the Middle Ages.
New Literary History 24.4: 881-904.
Background:
Carruthers, Book of Memory, Ch. 4
8

Nov 7

Emotion, sensation and

the remembering self

1. Boncompagno da Signa, On Memory, in Carruthers

and Zolkowski: 83-117.
2. Albertus Magnus, Commentary on Aristotle, in
Carruthers and Zolkowski: 118-152.
3. Eric Jager, The Book of the Heart: Reading and Writing
the Medieval Subject. Speculum 71.1 (1996): 1-26.

Nov 14

Meditation and visualization

in Buddhism

1. Selections from Schools of Buddhist Doctrine, in De

Bary and Bloom, Sources of Chinese Tradition: 444-476.
2. R. Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism, chs. 5 and 6.
3. R. Gethin, The Matikas: Memorization, Mindfulness,
and the List. In Janet Gyatso, ed., In the Mirror of
Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in
Indian and Tibetan Buddhism: 149-172.

10

Nov 21

Empire of text: Memorization

1 . http://www.camcc.org/reading-group/qianziwen#text
in the age of cultural reproduction
- download 2 pdfs of the Qianziwen: Chinese and
English
2. C. Nugent, Manifest in words, written on Paper. Producing
and circulating poetry in Tang Dynasty China, ch. 2.
2. Marta Hanson, Hand Mnemonics in Classical Chinese
Medicine: Texts, Earliest Images, and Arts of Memory.
Asia Major, Series 3, 21.1 (2008): 325-57.

11

Nov 28

The new learning of the Song

dynasty: the ethics of memory
and forgetting

Dec 5

Presentations on final projects

12

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1. Excerpts from Zhu Xi, in Daniel K. Gardner, Learning to be

a Sage. Selections from the Conversations of Master Chu,
Arranged Topically: 96-115, 128-162
2. A. Fuller, Pursuing the Complete Bamboo in the Breast:
Reflections on a Classical Chinese Image for Immediacy.
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 53.1:5-23.