Eastern Classics Seminar Reading List

Fall Semester

Week 1
Valmiki: Ramayana (Buck edition, entire)
Ramayana*
Week 2
Ramayana*
Ramayana*
Week 3
Rig Veda*
Rig Veda*
Week 4
Katha Upanishad
Shvetashvatara Upanishad; Isha Upanishad
Week 5
Kautilaya: Arthashastra*
Institutes of Manu*
Week 6
Kalidasa: The Birth of the War God
Kalidasa: Shakuntala
Week 7
Charvaka*
Patanjali: Yoga Sutra
Week 8
Vaisheshika Sutra
Ishvarakrishna: Sankhya Karikas
Week 9
Jayadeva Gitagovinda
Mahabharata*
Week 10
Mahabharata*
Mahabharata*
Week 11
Mahabharata*
Mahabharata; Bhagavad Gita
Week 12
Mahabharata; Bhagavad Gita
Confucious: Analects
Week 13
Analects
Analects
Week 14
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
Week 15
Chuang Tzu: Inner Chapters
Inner Chapters
Week 16
Inner Chapters
Chinese Lyric Poetry
Break for Winter Vacation

Spring Semester

Week 1
Ssu-Ma Ch'ien: Records of the Historian
Records of the Historian
Week 2
Mencius*
Mencius*
Week 3
Ashvaghosha Acts of the Buddha
Dhamapada
Week 4
Mahaparinibanna Sutta
Journey to the West (Monkey)
Week 5
Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Week 6
Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Week 7
Journey to the West
Vimalakirti Sutra
Week 8
Diamond Sutra; Heart Sutra
Bodhidharma*
Break for Spring Vacation

Week 9
Lady Murasaki: Tale of Genji
Tale of Genji
Week 10
Tale of Genji
Tale of Genji
Week 11
Nagarjuna: Vigrahavyavartani
Vigrahavyavartani
Week 12
Badarayana: Vedanta Sutras, with Shankara's Commentary
Vedanta Sutras
Week 13
Ta-Hsueh: The Great Learning; Chung Yun: Doctrine of the Mean
Wang Yang-Ming (Instructions for Practical Living)
Week 14
Liu-Tsu T'an Ching: Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
Dogen: Shobo-Genzo (Sermons)
Week 15
Miyamoto Musashi: A Book of Five Rings
Basho: The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Week 16
Selected Plays from the No Theater
Selected Plays from the No Theater