This course of Chinese Culture and Contemporary China will explore the foundations of Chinese civilization and the dimensions of Chinese culture. It will pay particular attention to the relationship between Chinese culture and the present-day life of the Chinese people and to the different elements of the culture which are under the present social structures, belief systems, literature, arts, customs, etc. The course aims at providing students with a deeper knowledge of Chinese culture, thus enabling them to better understand China. The course will cover the following main areas of topics: (1) the foundations of Chinese civilization: its geography, language, and history; (2) the core concepts in Chinese philosophies and religions: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; (3), literature and arts, including Chinese calligraphy, painting, Tang poetry, and classical fiction; (4) society and life, including education, the role of women, Chinese food, and traditional holidays; (5) travel and landscapes, including well-known Chinese cities, mountains, ethnic regions and customs; (6) Chinese media, culture and sports, including TV and movies, fashion, Chinese gongfu and taiji. In addition, students will be expected to participate in a buddy program beyond curriculum if they have a chance to come to Nanjing. Ideally they will be paired up: an international student with a Nanjing University student to allow students to learn firsthand about Chinese customs, culture, and language. Students will be required to complete various projects and homework assignments as well, which will encourage them to use Nanjing University and the city of Nanjing as a laboratory to apply what they learn during their stay at Nanjing University.
JS
An easy to understand and insightful look into Chinese culture. It goes beyond the basics of what you would learn from living in the country.
YL
It was my first course on Coursera. Only 4 stars because it was very short and light. Thank you for creating the opportunity to learn. Yuliya.
LC
Fascinating! Truly incredible! So much interesting culture that is hidden behind cultural barriers. The instructors are fabulous!
W
A brief, interesting, and insightful course! Apt for anyone who is curious and looking for an introductory piece of knowledge about China.
SA
It was an excellent course!...I definitely recommend it to people who are genuinely interested in learning about culture!!:))))
JS
Very informative, and easy to keep up with. The professors do a wonderful job of explaining course and subject materials.
AT
A short but interesting course and a good introduction to Chinese Culture. The presentations were very good - lots of relevant visuals. I particularly enjoyed the section on music.
EM
This was a wonderful course. The format was simple, the course load was light, and I learned a lot about China and Chinese culture. Thank you!
IW
A good beginner overview of broad and complex elements of Chinese culture. I wish there was an expanded version that dove deeper into each of these categories.
JC
Fascinating topic, especially Chinese painting. The videos were enjoyable and instructive and the quizzes were tricky but not overly difficult. Glad I took the course. I learned a lot.
CB
A very enjoyable and informative introduction to Chinese culture. An overview but an encouragement to learn more about this amazing country and its people.
GI
This course is well-structured and enables the student to learn valuable information about the culture in China in a short time. I recommend it to everyone with no hesitation!
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A short but interesting course and a good introduction to Chinese Culture. The presentations were very good - lots of relevant visuals. I particularly enjoyed the section on music.
Fascinating topic, especially Chinese painting. The videos were enjoyable and instructive and the quizzes were tricky but not overly difficult. Glad I took the course. I learned a lot.
This course barely did more than scrape the surface of parts of the Chinese culture. It was very lacking in volume of information. The hosts and videos are good, but for some reason, they think that a video must not be longer than 5 minutes. I would not call this a COURSE, but an OVERVIEW. Videos should be 20 minutes minimum and about 3 of those per week with supplemental readings included. The discussions are pretty good, and it is a professionally made course. But just because it is an online course, does not mean it should include less than 10% of the university course.
I have learned more about the Chinese behavior and thinking, and how rich is the Chinese culture, now I appreciate it too much more than before. I am very thankful for all the teachers that opened the door to us to learn this specific culture and how to bring it to my professional and academic life.
Working for a Chinese company and studying international relations, this course was very special and important to build my knowledge about China and made me feel more interested to go deeper in all the lessons.
Congratualations for all the involved in the prepation of this course, it is perfect.
Course barely scratched the surface of the topic. Also, the script had many errors.
The course was very interesting and informative about chinese customs and culture. However I think the quizzes are a little off, some questions are a bit too confusing.
Good but very cursory overview. Spoken and written English in the course was at times broken and a bit confusing.
The topic of Chinese culture is without any doubt very interesting. And while the material have piqued my curiosity even more, the course it self do lack depth and flow. It is useful as a quick introductions though.
A good sketch of cultural topics but could go into more depth.
This course can help those who are learning Chinese language. As if one wants to understands the native speakers he needs to know about their culture and history.
thank you for this amazing course.
Lovely Course on Chinese Culture, Tradition, and Values. Well-presented and wonderfully put to appeal to the audience readers. Recommended to anyone who is interested in knowing Chinese culture.
One of the best courses I have ever attended. Teachers with good teaching skills, impeccable audiovisual material, good tests and approaches.
Course content was excellent, and very interesting. The presentation could be improved however; at times I found it hard to hear what was being said due to poor sound quality. Nevertheless the course has served as an excellent introduction to Chinese culture and would recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about it.
It's simply Beautiful. So informative and useful for the people who are eager to learn about China and It's culture. Hoping that it would be a free course and people like me would have full access to the course instead of a half of it.
Very nice course and introduction about Chinese culture, I see it as a good summary of the basic foundations about China, but of course, to understand more about China we need to have more interaction with the culture and language
This is a basic course that provides introductory information about traditional and modern Chinese culture. Overall, it is a good course for learners who want to be familiar with Chinese tradition and culture.
It was very interesting. English was not always great but I really enjoyed this course after all. I love learning new things about China that´s why I simply fell in love with everything I learned.
A good beginner overview of broad and complex elements of Chinese culture. I wish there was an expanded version that dove deeper into each of these categories.
Very useful as an introduction to chinese culture; some arguments could have been detailed more, but I have enjoyed the overall programme and the teachers.
Very interesting and a good introduction into Chinese Culture. There is no great emphasis to Contemporary China, but I would recommend it anyways.