Afro Asian Literature, Cheat Sheet of Literature

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Module in

LIT 204:

Survey of Afro-Asian Literature

Module in

LIT 204:

Survey of Afro-Asian Literature

Francis C. Castor, Ed.D.

Lesson 1:

Definition, Characteristics, Importance, and Genre of Asian Literature

Let‟s Activate!

In three-five sentences, share your idea why we need to deal with Afro-Asian Literature. Do you think is it necessary to learn such literature?

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Let‟s Explore!

Afro-Asian Literature A term for writing written by people from mixed African-Arab ethnicity, or African-Asian ethnicity. It mirrors not only the customs and traditions of African and Asian countries but also their philosophy of life which on the whole are deeply and predominantly contemplative and hauntingly sweet. It is the reflection of the storm an d stress of developing nations seeking a place under the sun which every student must understand so he may know how this literature affects the history and culture of a nation. It refers to the literary output of the various countries and cultures in Africa and Asia. This includes their oral traditions and from the first to the contemporary written and/or published prose and poetry. Add to that the splendor of African literature and you get enriching Afro-Asian Literature.

Characteristics of Afro-Asian Literature

African literature is as diverse as the continent itself, but several characteristics and themes prevail throughout much of the written works emerging from Africa. There is often great emphasis on the history, culture and customs of a group of people when telling their stories. Afro-asian‟s literary works were handed by mouth from generation to generation to entertain and remind the people about their past, heroic deeds of their people, ancestry and culture. Afro-Asian literature is a sign of new and modern times. It also teaches people and allows them to learn about different experiences and culture from all over the world. (https://www.slideshare.net/sophiamarieverdeflor/afroasian-literature-87124077)

Importance of Afro-Asian Literature

The importance comes from the fact that Afro-Asian Literature is a sign of new and modern times. The other importance is that the writing is able to teach people and allow them to learn about different experiences and cultures from all over the world. Instead of just watching documentaries and reading articles, people are now easily able to read first-hand accounts about the things that happen in these countries, and what interesting historical accounts have been made in the past. In most histories, oral histories marked the beginning of teaching history to read and write, history became recorded in prose, play and textbooks.

Genres of Afro-Asian Literature

1. Poems/Songs – tells about the history and culture of the Afro-Asian people were written and performed, and then passed down. Today, Afro-Asian still express their creativity, and honour their culture, by crafting beautiful poems, suchas haikus, ballads, or sonnets. Freedom poems with structures or meters are also prevalent – theses have afree spirited, stream of consciousness feeling.
2. Plays – playwrights use dialogue and monologue to reinforce ideas, emotions and themes.

B. Able to read first-hand accounts about the things that happen in these countries. C. Provides a method of learning about society, culture and sports. D. A sign of new and modern times. ___ 2. This genre is used to expose truth, to describe objects, places and people, to draw a reader deeper into a story. A. Prose B. Songs C. Poems D. Playwright ___ 3. A term for writing written by people from mixed African-Arab ethnicity, or African-Asian ethnicity. A. Literary B. Literature C. Afro-Asian literature D. Cultural study ___ 4. A term used to describe written and sometimes spoken material. A. Literature B. Literary C. Fiction D. Drama ___ 5. Which of the following is true about the characteristics of Afro- Asian literature? A. Afro-asian‟s literary works were handed by mouth from generation to generation to entertain and remind the people about their past, heroic deeds of their people, ancestry and culture. B. Afro-Asian literature helps us discover the unknown facts about culture, attitude, and individual differences. C. Afro-Asian literature guides every individual to become a productive citizen in the community where they belong. D. Afro-Asian literature helps individual to appreciate art and language of other people.

Activity 2. Read the question carefully and answer by explaining in 3-10 sentences

with depth and substance. (10 pts)

Rubric for grading:

Point Description

9 - 10 Answer is sufficient and well-organized and claims are clear and well- supported with explanation and examples.

7 - 8 Answer is fairly sufficient and organized and claims are well-detailed with some areas requiring further development. 5 - 6 Answer is fairly adequate in most areas with some lapses in a number of aspects. 3 - 4 Answer is wanting of substance and organization, with significant errors. 1 - 2 Answer shows very meager understanding of the topic and there are significant problems throughout.

Explain how literature establishes global peace.

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References

 https://www.slideshare.net/sophiamarieverdeflor/afroasian-literature- 87124077  https://www.coursehero.com/file/p8gtbn/Importance-of-Afro-Asian- Literature-The-importance-comes-from-the-fact-that/

Time Frame: Week 1: March

this module was prepared for you. Ready to find the correct answers to the test

items above? Let‟s begin!

Let‟s Explore!

CHINA

I. Historical Background. Chinese literature reflects the political and social history of China and the impact of powerful religions that came from within and outside the country. Its tradition goes back thousand of years and has often been inspired by philosophical questions about the meaning of life, how to live ethically in society, and how to live in spiritual harmony with the natural order of the universe.

a. Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.) During this time, the people practiced a religion based on the belief that nature was inhabited by many powerful gods and spirits. Among the significant advances of this period were bronzed working, decimal system, a twelve month calendar and a system of writing consisting of 3, characters.

b. Chou Dynasty (1100 B.C.-221 B.C.) This was the longest of all the dynaties and throughout the most of this period China suffered from severe political disunity and upheaval. This era was also known as the Hundred Schools period because of the many competing philosophers and teachers who emerged the most influential among them being Lao Tzu, the proponent of Taoism, and Confucius, the founder of Confucianism. Lao Tzu stress freedom, simplicity and the mystical contemplation of nature whereas Confucius emphasize a code of social conduct and stressed the importance of discipline, morality and knowledge.

The Book of Songs, (Shih Ching) first compiled in the 6th^ century B.C., is the oldest collection of Chinese poetry and is considered a model of poetic expression and moral insight. The poems inclde court songs that entertained the aristocracy, story songs that recounted Chou dynasty legends, hymns that were sung in the

temples accompanied by dance and brief folk songs and ballads. Although these poems were originally meant to be sung their melodies have long been lost.

O Oriole, Yellow Bird O oriole, yellow bird, / Do not settle on the corn Do not peck at my millet. / The people of this land Are not minded to nurture me. / I must go back, go home To my own land and kin. https://www.slideshare.net/nheru/afroasian-literature-9-of- http://blackandwhitethought.blogspot.com/2011/

Parable of the Ancient Philosophers This parable illustrates the Taoist belief and the humanism of the Chinese thought. In them can be seen the relativity of all the things as they pass through man‟s judgement, the virtues of flexibility, and the drawbacks of material progress.

The Missing Axe by Lieh Tzu

A man whose axe was missing suspected his neighbor‟s son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man found his axe while he was digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor‟s son, the boy walked, looked and spoke like any other child.

c. Ch‟in Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) This period saw the unification of China and stenghtening of central government. Roads connecting all parts of the empire were built and the existing walls on the northern borders were connected to form the Great Wall of China.

d. Han Dynasty (207 B.C. – A.D. 220) This period was one of the most glorious eras of Chinese History and was marked by the introduction of Buddhism from India.

e. T‟ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-960). Fine arts and literature flourished during this era which is viewed as the Golden Age of Chinese civilization. Among the

h. Traditional Chinese Government. The imperial rule lasted in China for over 2000 years leading to a pyramid-shaped hierachy in the government. The emperor, known as the son of Heaven, was a hereditary ruler and beneath him were bureaucratic officials. An official government carreer was considered prestigious and the selection was by means of government examinations. The civil service examinations tested on the major Chinese works of philosophy and poetry requiring the compposition of verse. Most government officials were wll-versed in literature and philosophy and many famous Chinese poets also served in the government.

2. Philosophy and Religion. Chinese literature and all of Chinese culture has been profoundly influenced by three great schools of thought: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Unlike Western religions, chinese religions are based on the perception of life as a process of continual change in which opposing forces, such as heaven and earth r light and dark, balance one another. These opposites are symbolized by the Yin and Yang. Yin , the passive and feminine force, conterbalances yang, the active and masculine force, each contains a „seed‟ of the other, as represented in the traditional yin-yang symbol.

a.) Confucianism provides the Chinese with both a moral order and an order of the universe. It is not a religion but it makes individuals aware of their place in the world and the behavior appropriate to it. It also provides a political and social philosophy.

Confucious was China‟s most famous teacher, philosopher and political theorist, whose ideas have influenced all civilizations of East Asia. Acording to tradition, Confucius came frm an impoverished family of the lower nobility. He became a minor government bureaucrat but was never give a position of high office. He criticized government policies and spent the greater part of his life educating a group of disciples. Confucius was not a religious leader in the ordinary sense, for his teaching was essentially a social ethic. Confucian politics is hierarchical but not absolute and the political system is described by analogy with the family. There are five key Confucian relationships: emperor and subject, father and son, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, friend and friend.

Confucian ethics is humanist. The following are Confucian tenets: a.) jen or human heartedness are qualities or forms of behavior that set men above the rest of the life on earth. It is unique goodness of man which animals cannot aspire to. Also known as ren , it is the measure of individual character and such, is the goal of self- cultivation. The ideal individual results from acting according to li, b) li refers to ritual, custom, propriety, and manner. Li is thought to be the means by which life should be regulated. A person of li is a good person and a state ordered by li is a harmonious and peaceful state. Li or de as a vitue is best understood as a sacred power inherent in the very presence of the sage. The sage was the inspiration for proper conduct and the model of behavior.

From The Analects (II.I)

The master said, “He who exercises government by means of his virtue maybe

compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards

it.”

The Book of Changes (I Ching) is one of the five Classics of Confucian philosophy and has been primarily used for divination. This book is based on the concept of change-the one constant of the universe. Although change is never-endig, it too proceeds according to certain universal and observable patterns.

b.) Taoism, was expounded by Lao Tzu during Chou Dynasty. Taoist beliefs and influences are an important part of Classical Chinese culture. “The Tao” or “The Way” means the natural course that the world follows. To follow the tao of to “go with the flow” is both wisdom and happiness. For the Taoist, unhappiness comes from parting from the tao or from trying to flout it.

The Taoist political ideas are very passive: the good king does nothing, and by this everything is done naturally. This idea presents an interesting foil to Confucian theories of state, although the Taoist never represented any political threat to the Confucianists. Whereas Confucianism stressed conformity and reason in solving human problems, taoism stressed the individual and the need for human beings to conform to nature rather than to society. Lao Tzu Known as the “old philospher”, he is credited as the founder of Taism and an elder contemporary of Confucius who once consulted with him. He was more

a. shih was the dominant Chinese poetic form from the 2nd^ through the 12th century characterized by: i) an even number of lines; ii) the same number of words in each line, in most cases five or seven; iii) the occurrence of rhymes at the end of the even-numbered lines. Shih poems often involve the use of parallelism, or couplets that are similar in structure or meaning. b. sao was inspired by li sao or „encountering sorrow‟, a poem of lamentation and protest authored by China‟s first known great poet, Cho Yuan (332- 295 B.C.). It was an unussually long poem consisting two parts: i) an autobiogrphical account that is Confucian in overtones, and ii) a narration of an imagery journey undertaken by the persona. The sao enables the poets to display their creativity of describing China‟s flora and fauna, both real and imaginary. It is also filled with melancholia for unreward virtue. c. fu was a poem partially expository and partly descriptive involving a single thought or sentiment usually epressed in a reflective manner. Language ranges from the simple to the rhetorical. d. lu-shih or „regulation poetry‟ was developed during the Tang dynasty but has remained popular even in the present times. It is an octave consisting of five or seven syllabic verses with a definite rhyming scheme with all even lines rhyming together and the presence of the caesura in every line. The first four lines of this poem is the ching (scene) while the remaining four lines describe the ch‟ing (emotion). Thus, emotion evolves from the setting or atmosphere and the two becomes fused resulting in a highly focussed reflection of the persna‟s loneliness but with determination to struggle. e. chueh-chu or truncated poetry is a shorter version of the lu-shih and was also popular during the Tang dynasty. It contains onlty four lines but within its twenty or twenty-eight syllables or characters were vivid pictures of natural beauty. f. tzu was identified with the Sung dynasty. It is not governed by a fixed number of verses nor a fixed number of characters per verse. The tzu lyrics were sung t the tunes of popular melodies.

Let‟s Try!

Answer the given questions below.

1. Give your ideas about “The Book of Songs” (Shih Ching). What is it all about?

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2. What are the basic teachings of Confucianism?

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Activity 2.

Make a scrapbook contaning Historical background of Chinese Literature and

the Major Chinese writers with their backgrounds and contribution.

You can use any materials available within your grasp as long as it is clear

and easy to understand.

Let‟s Read Further!

Suggested Readings:  https://www.abirus.ru/user/files/Ebooks/dan_yao_jinhui_deng_feng_ wang_huiyun_tang_chinese_literature.pdf

References

 http://blackandwhitethought.blogspot.com/2011/  https://www.slideshare.net/nheru/afroasian-literature-9-of-

Time Frame: Week 1: March

Lesson 3:

Chinese Convention of Chinese Theater, and Major Chinese Writers

Let‟s Activate!

Activity 1. True or False. Write TRUE if the statement is true and FALSE if

otherwise.

________1. The sheng is the prerogative of the leading actor, usually a male character, a scholar, a statemen, a warrior patriot and the like. .________2. The chau is the clown or jester who is not necessarily a fool and may also do serious or evil character. ________3 The tau plays all the women‟s roles. At least six principal characters are played by the female impersonator who has taken over the roles after women were banned from the Chinese stage as they were looked down upon as courtesen. ________4. Chinese drama conveys an ethical lesson in the guise of an art in order to impress a moral truth or a Confucian tenet. ________5. Unlike Greek plays classical Chinese plays follow unities of time, pace and action.

If you got 4-5 correct answers, Wow! Somehow you already have an idea on

what the topic is all about. If you got 3 and below, well don‟t worry! That‟s why this

module was prepared for you. Ready to find the correct answers to the test items

above? Let‟s begin!