Analysis of Chinese assimilation of Buddhism from India

Some issues you may want to consider: What forms of Buddhism proved to be the most popular in China? How did Chinese thinkers argue for or against Buddhism in China? What were some of the major challenges China faced in trying to assimilate Buddhism? How did Buddhist traditions in China change over the time periods we have studied?

Sources:
Poceski, Mario. 2009. Introducing Chinese Religions. London: Routledge. Page 1-117
Keown, Damien. 2013. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Page 112-162
Handout (This one doesn’t need citation)

Always cite your sources, with specific page numbers in the case of printed material, whether you summarize or directly quote them. When you cite a source, make sure you reflect the author’s views accurately. I urge caution on consulting internet sources (apart from electronic versions of high-quality academic journals and scholarly books), but if you do, you must cite them by website or webpage title and URL. For the printed sources, any standard bibliographic style is OK, but don’t use long footnotes.

I will be looking for clear writing, logical organization, freedom from spelling and grammatical errors, specific knowledge of the readings and lectures, and effective synthesis of the course material. The papers should have a clearly articulated thesis, reflect the course material accurately, and demonstrate your own insight into the issues addressed. More than just showing how your argument will proceed (“I will do X, then
Y, then Z”), a good “thesis statement” tells the reader what you will argue (“I will argue that/This paper will show that…”).

In a short paper like this, the thesis statement should generally appear in the first or second paragraph. I will also be looking for a clear, well-considered introduction and central argument or question, a logical flow to the supporting paragraphs with effective transitions between them, and a satisfying conclusion. Do not use long quotes in your papers; your own analysis of the material is the most important part.