Inspired by poetry, Stephen Field, the Lee Professor of Chinese and director of the East Asian Studies at Trinity (EAST) program at Trinity University, found a special love of nature in Chinese culture and has continued to climb many mountains. His students hear stories from ancient philosophers who, for example, dreamed of being a butterfly, and upon awaking, wondered if the butterfly was dreaming of him. To learn more, read on.
What do you like most about teaching Trinity students?
Many of the students I encounter in my classes are quintessentially Texan—friendly, respectful, and hardworking. Being a fourth-generation Texan myself, I returned to the state from my first academic position at the College of William & Mary because I wanted to share my knowledge with students who share my roots. I especially appreciate the diligence and discipline my students bring to the classroom, although that may be due not to their Texas upbringing but to the reputation Chinese language has for being difficult. In other words, enrollments are somewhat self-selective—students who take Chinese language classes know they are in for an uphill trek and willingly make that choice. Of course, relatively speaking, Chinese is not difficult—it’s just time-consuming. Moreover, Trinity students are not afraid of spending long hours in the library.
How do you motivate your students?
I am fortunate that Chinese culture has the reputation of being inscrutable, because it is my task to make China capable of being scrutinized by my students. Since I am a scholar of classical Chinese civilization, I am steeped in the lore that Westerners find so mysterious and find it rather easy to dispel the myth that Americans cannot master Chinese. To answer the question, it is the study of China that motivates my students—I simply inspire them with the stories of ancient Chinese philosophers like Zhuang Zhou, who dreamed he was a butterfly and, upon awaking, wondered if the butterfly was dreaming of him.
How did you get involved in your field of study?
My interest in China was inspired by my reading of the Beat Generation poets, who in turn were inspired by Asian literature and philosophy. I was fortunate to have a high school English teacher who instilled a love of poetry in his students. It was he who first introduced me to the poet Gary Snyder, whose descriptions of the Pacific Northwest—painted in the style of the medieval Chinese landscape poets—inspired me to study the literature and philosophy of China. While my bachelor’s degree was in English literature, my Ph.D. was in comparative literature with a specialization in classical Chinese poetry. My dissertation was a study of the “field and garden” poets, a branch of nature poetry akin to pastoral in the West.
How many times have you been to China? Is there a place in China you still want to visit?
My first trip to China was upon graduation from college in 1974, when I traveled to Taiwan to continue my study of Chinese. My first trip to the Chinese mainland was in 1981, when I studied modern Chinese poetry at Sichuan University in Chengdu. Since receiving my doctorate in 1985, I have averaged a trip to China about every other year. China is such a large country, there are too many places to visit in a lifetime. One of my goals is to climb the five sacred mountains of China—and I still have two to go!
What is your favorite aspect of teaching? Least favorite? Why?
My favorite aspect of teaching is inspiring students to delve into the deep structure of foreign cultures—to crave to know how experiencing different modes of thinking is crucial to understanding one’s own culture. When I take students to Shanghai every summer to study Chinese government, they all return to the U.S. with a new appreciation of their own government—especially its shortcomings. There is very little I dislike about teaching. I guess my biggest complaint would concern the system of assessment we are all constrained to utilize—grades and GPAs commodify our profession.
Who inspires you and why?
My greatest inspiration is nature—the “great spontaneity,” as the Chinese call it. However, it is the figurative language of nature poetry, from the landscape poems of the Chinese farmer-poet, Tao Qian, to the lyrical ballads of Wordsworth, to the pastoral elegies of Wendell Berry, that taught me how to appreciate nature. To understand how poets perceive the world around them and then express their perceptions in verse is what got me started in this profession and will keep me inspired until my last breath.
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? Why?
Much of the scholarship in my field of ancient Chinese literature and philosophy is impacted by late 20th and early 21st century discoveries of so-called “bamboo and silk” manuscripts in royal tombs from Warring States China (475–221 BCE). Texts uncovered in recent decades are three or four centuries earlier than the extant texts that centuries of scholarship have been based upon, and the variant readings of the earlier texts have revolutionized our understanding of early Chinese thought. If I were a graduate student now, I would likely pursue a degree in archaeology or paleography. Obviously, I like old things. If I weren’t studying old writings and artifacts, I would probably study old rocks—so paleontology would be another possible profession.
What is your favorite sound? Your least favorite?
My favorite sound is the gurgle of a mountain brook. I also enjoy the croaking of frogs in the pond after a spring rain, and the droning of cicadas at the height of summer. I dislike any artificial noise that intrudes upon these sounds of nature, especially gunshots.
Where would you like to retire?
I purchased acreage in the Texas Hill Country as an investment while in graduate school in the 80s, not realizing that someday I would return to build my dream home there. It was on this very land, under a spreading Live Oak tree, that I penned the first chapters of my Ph.D. dissertation 35 years ago. I will indeed retire on Sage Hill with my wife, Gail, and our dogs, where I plan to raise bees and write about old things.
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