Topics in Places and Spaces
MEDI 430 topic: Writing, Friendship and Life in the Medieval Chinese Capital
How did medieval Chinese literati live, write, and connect with others? Why did the imperial capital matter so much to them—and to poetry itself? This course explores the lives of scholar-officials and aspiring writers in medieval China: their examination dreams, careers, friendships, military service, exile, and most of all—their writing.
We will ask: Did they live solely by their pens? Or did they hold jobs to support their creative life? Could a poet become a soldier? Why would a man of letters take up arms? What role did cities like the capital play in shaping literary communities and creative exchange?
This course is about life and literature—poetry composed in the capital, friendships that sparked verse, political shifts that reshaped destinies, and the cultural world that turned poetry into both survival and art.
Instructor: Dr. TC Lin