By EMILY SANDERSO
Chinese 345 this semester does not require students speak Chinese fluently. It’s a one-time, hands-on humanities class in conjunction with the “Imperial Tombs of China” exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.
“Chinese 345 is normally devoted to surveying traditional Chinese culture and art, including painting, calligraphy, architecture, ceramics, jades, etc., and the religious and philosophical symbolism that inspired such creations,” said David Honey, instructor of the class, in a press release. “While covering the same general historical and cultural guidelines, this new class will be able to examine the objects at first hand and to discuss them at leisure.”
The international traveling exhibit, which began at BYU Nov. 1, will leave on March 16, but the class will continue, he said.
“The exhibit starts in the fifth century B.C. and ends in modern times,” Honey said.
The class will study pottery from Neolithic times and trace the signs of Chinese culture even at that early time, he said.
Honey is an associate professor of Chinese and head of the Chinese Section at BYU and will lead the Study Abroad program in Nanjing in the People’s Republic of China for his third year this spring. He also served his mission in Beijing, he said.
“The purpose of the class is how the Chinese exhibit shows how the Chinese people prepare for the afterlife,” he said.
The class has two sections, both of which are in the evenings. Both are from 6 to 8:40 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Each class can accommodate about 50 students, he said.
The class is open to night students as well as members of the public for a fee. Honey said that anyone is welcome to call him for information about the class, at ext. 8-3443.
Honey said Chinese scholars gave him a tour of the exhibit when they came to see it. Some of them were the actual excavators of the artifacts and were able to tell him more about them.
