This course will propose a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Chinese cultural history conceived of as a succession of modes of rationality (philosophical, bureaucratic, and economic processes of rationalization). The focus will be on the moments of paradigm shift from one mode of rationality to another. For each of these moments, cultural facts and artifacts¡Xthought, literature, ritual¡Xwill be examined in relationship to changing social, political, and economic systems. This semester will cover the periods of the Warring States (481-221 BCE) and the Six Dynasties (220-589 CE). The first laid the social and cultural foundations for the emergence of the imperial mode of rationality; the second saw the Buddhist ¡§conquest¡¨ of China and the emergence of a rationality defined by the opposition of the Three Teachings to shamanism, that is, of a clear contrast between elite and popular culture.