Over at Neo-Confucianism.com, which is the companion website for Justin Tiwald and my book Neo-Confucianism: A Philosophical Introduction, I have posted some reflections on how I taught the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) in the context of my recent course on Neo-Confucianism. We even performed a divination! Take a look, and comments/questions either there or here are most welcome.
I’ve been postponing convincing my history department to adopt an ‘intellectual history’ course, because students will love it. Those syllabi at the website are really useful and a give me less of an excuse for postponing the task of prepping such a course.
You’re right that students will love it … and check out my latest post, on Reacting to the Past. Lots of fun.
Thanks for sharing this Steve. These are a great set of resources. I was thinking of trying something similar this Fall with the Yijing. I like the idea of letting students practice divining before giving much in way of philosophical-historical contextualization. I think this could allow for a more existential engagement with the issues that the text (and commentarial traditions) can bring up for them—not even to mention the comparative potentials the Yi has to unsettle the more substance-oriented traditions of metaphysical thinking.
Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence as to just how many courses are offered across the US that might actually include enough Neo-Confucianism to warrant assigning a textbook or introductory readers? Just curious?