Programme

This module elaborates on the value of academic resources available for pre-Qin China, with special emphasis on excavated texts, including oracle-bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, as well as bamboo and silk manuscripts. This module adopts the format of special topics, helping students understand the varied forms of pre-Qin academic resources and the network of Chinese academic development, while also guiding them in learning the research methods of excavated texts, so as to lay their foundation for doing research, which is beneficial for broadening their academic horizon.

This module explains the essential concepts concerning textual scholarship and sources, including definition, form, classification, and transmission. It builds on the traditional philological study, teaching the relevant areas of knowledge including bibliography, edition, collation, authentication, and the collection of scattered writings. The module introduces both excavated texts and the different editions available overseas, letting students sort out the trend of development concerning the study of textual scholarship and sources. Through study of special topics, students would be able to understand the research methods in the area and apply them to the study and collation of ancient texts, so as to lay the foundation for advanced study.   

This module introduces the origins and features of certain rhymed prose, its style, prosody, and topics, as well as its research materials and methods. Through selective reading of the ancient classics, students can assess the major ideas of the works, the contents and style, writing skills, and artistic features, while also examining the later interpretations, commentaries, and effects of the works, so that their research ability of ancient rhymed prose would be heightened and their literary horizon would be broadened. The selected topics might be changed based on class arrangement, such as being changed to poems and lyrics, rhapsodies, and plays.

This module studies selected works of classical Chinese fiction, letting students consolidate and elaborate  the trends of development, the different ideas and thoughts, and the artistic features of classical Chinese fiction. Through class discussions and exercises, students would assess and analyze the fiction from different perspectives, such as the psychology of creation and narratology, so as to inspect the social environment, business development, business ethics, and cultural landscapes therein.

This module addresses the language environment of Hong Kong, dissecting the special features of modern Chinese grammar in comparison to Cantonese and English, inspecting the formation of Western-style and Hong Kong-style writing of Chinese, while also examining the differentiation between grammatical errors and rhetoric, so as to raise the students’ ability in appreciating Chinese language.

This module sorts out the development trend, the literary thoughts, and the genre of the modern and contemporary Chinese literature. It adopts the form of special topics to guide students in appraising the value of arts and literary history concerning the major texts, authors, and schools of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, while also discriminating and applying the related forefront information and theory in the study.