Abstract

The syllabus of In Dialogue with Humanity (UGFH1000) covers ten-plus classics that can rightly be called “global core texts”—“global” for the range of cultural traditions concerned and “core” for the perennial human concerns surpassing geographical and temporal boundaries. To fully appreciate these texts so as to be able to think with them when facing contemporary issues as a global citizen, some knowledge of the historical and conceptual backgrounds and of the key concerns of each text is necessary.

Formerly, with the support of MMCDG 2016-17, three micro-modules (as “explainer videos”) were produced to enhance students’ reading of the Analects and the Heart Sutra. The finished products were warmly received by students, with some 1,000 viewings recorded during the soft launch. Having been introduced to other teachers of the course, the videos are expected to benefit more in future. These videos, however, were produced with a Cantonese voiceover only. Non-local students have complained of limited access to learning support and enrichment activities because they do not speak Cantonese. This project proposes to make the explainer videos accessible to them by producing a Putonghua version and an English version of each of the three videos.

Riding on the success of the above explainer videos, the core of this project is to create a new set of explainer videos on the Zhuangzi, a challenging text for international as well as local students yet important for the alternative tool of thinking it offers. In the book, Zhuangzi mocks and argues with an imaginary Confucius, whose historical counterpart lived before him and whose teachings had become highly influential. Zhuangzi’s philosophy of life markedly contrasts with that of Confucius, while his thoughts bear certain similarities with Buddhist teachings yet fundamentally different in the priority set between self and others. If well understood, the Zhuangzi can serve as a good philosophical transition between the Analects and the Heart Sutra, and together present three major approaches to personal life and society. Yet Zhuangzi’s out-of-the-box thinking, and his outlandish, eccentric style of writing render his ideas difficult to grasp, or easy to misread and oversimplify. A set of explainer videos on the Zhuangzi, giving the background and key concepts in visual and dramatic presentations, with voiceover in Cantonese, Putonghua, and English, respectively, and extended discussion questions, will help bridge the gap of culture, time and style.

Our aim of the course is to meet the demands of international students for more learning aids, but above all to introduce ancient Eastern thoughts to modern students local and non-local, so that the approaches to life in the three key classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are at ready disposal for our students as future global citizens. The production and use of the videos will be a step to further strengthen implementation of a curriculum that is by nature internationalized for the range of cultures it incorporates and the spirit of mutual learning and respect it promotes.