Cosmopolitan Tang: Aristocratic Culture in China
Discovery poetry, calligraphy, and literature during this period
Join Harvard University faculty in this online course to explore the reunification of China under the Tang focusing on culture—from poetry to calligraphy.
1-3 hours per week
What You'll Learn
By the Tang period, China was divided into northern and southern dynasties with different rulers and political systems. The north was conquered by relatively unsophisticated barbarians, but in the south, the aristocratic families established a refined appreciation of writing and literature.
In this course, the third in a large collection covering all of Chinese history, you’ll learn about the Cosmopolitan Tang and the reemergence of great aristocratic clans. You’ll discover how these clans formed a kind of state aristocracy that dominated Tang government and society.
This period — a product of the Medieval period, and of the development of Buddhism and Daoism — gave the world a model for modern statehood the great cosmopolitan empire that defined it is among the highest achievements in Medieval culture. Join us to discover those achievements through readings of classical Chinese poetry and a review of the ancient art of calligraphy.
The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world. By the end of the course, participants will learn:
- How the dynasties of north and south were reunified under the Sui and Tang.
- How to analyze China’s first multi-ethnic empire and its foreign relations.
- How to compose and analyze poetry and calligraphy.
- How to understand a romantic story as both history and literature.
Your Instructors
Peter K. Bol
Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
at Harvard University
Read full bio.
Ways to take this course
When you enroll in this course, you will have the option of pursuing a Verified Certificate or Auditing the Course.
A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.