Cultural Chinese: Readings in Art, Literature, and History - Paperback

by Zu-Yan Chen (Author), Zu-Yan Chen (Contribution by), Hong Zhang (Contribution by)

Cultural Chinese: Readings in Art, Literature, and History is an advanced language textbook with a new approach to cultural integration and immersion. In this unique book, culture becomes the very core of language learning, transitioning its role from context to text.

This textbook is ideal for courses in advanced Chinese and Chinese culture. Third- and fourth-year students and instructors will find themselves deeply immersed in the very fabric of Chinese culture that governs personal behavior and directs social dynamics.

FEATURES:

- Each of nine lessons features a distinctive topic of Chinese culture that serves as a portal to Chinese perceptions and perspectives.

- Main text of each lesson begins with a brief introduction and is further illustrated with two historical or mythological stories that inform Chinese values and attitudes.

- Additional mini-stories challenge students' abilities of cultural interpretation.

- Includes a total of twenty-seven stories familiar to every educated Chinese person that will prepare students for meaningful communication and understanding.

- Each lesson includes more than ten sections of exercises intertwined with culture, including vocabulary and idioms, historical information, linguistic points, translation exercises, and online research required for debate, composition, and storytelling.

Author Biography

Zu-yan Chen is a professor of Chinese language and literature and director of the Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University, SUNY. He is the author of Confucius's Analects: An Advance Reader of Chinese Language and Culture and Li Bai and Du Fu: An Advanced Reader of Chinese Language and Literature.

Hong Zhang is a senior lecturer of Chinese at Binghamton University. She is coauthor of Chinese through Song.