The 'Finger Pointing to the Moon' is used as an analogy for the Buddhist sutras pointing to the dharma, imperfect vehicles for the transmission of truth. In a smilar way, translation is an imperfect vehicle for the transmission of literature, pointing to the original text and a new reading ofit. There is a 300-year tradition of this imperfect transmission between Chinese and English.

Through a series of case studies, this course will explore the process of recreating in english some of the masterpieces of Chiense poetry and prose, drama and fiction. These case studies will include the work of the following major translators: the early Jesuits, Robert Morrsion, James Legge, Herbert Giles, Arthur Waley, Ezra Pound, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, Lin Yutang, David Hawkes.