Page 59 - SYU Prospectus

General Education

GEA 107 Yin Yang Wu Xing and Creativity in Contemporary Life
1 Term; 3 Credits
The concept of “Yin Yang Wu Xing” ( 陰陽五行 ) is a crucial element of traditional Chi-
nese culture. It reflects the philosophy of ancient Chinese thinking and world view, which
deeply influenced the Chinese culture and society in every aspect.
The objective of this course is to introduce and equip students with fundamental con-
cepts of “Yin Yang” and “Wu Xing” (Five elements) through lectures and activities that
integrate theoretical knowledge with practical examples from traditional Chinese art, Go,
architecture, calendar, medicine, and costume design. The course aims to enhance students’
understanding in different aspects of traditional Chinese culture, as well as identifying and
applying the “Yin Yang Wu Xing” thinking in contemporary life.

GEA 108 The Way of GO
1 Term; 3 Credits
For more than 2,000 years, GO ( 圍棋 ) has been considered one of the four essential
liberal arts in China and has a special role in the cultural life of the traditional Chinese society.
During the last few decades, it takes the centre stage of some international research projects
and presents a grand challenge for scientists developing the state of the art technology in the
field of artificial intelligence. By the end of this course, students will be familiar with the
theoretical reflections on GO as a game, a liberal art, a means to express our thoughts, as well
as a hot topic for AI research. They will also be encouraged to reflect on the interplay between
human brains and AI, tradition and innovation.

GEA 109 The Temporal-Spatial Theme of Feng Shui and Chinese Culture
1 Term; 3 Credits
Feng Shui is an important component of Chinese culture which has a great influence in
the choice of residential and burial sites in traditional and modern Chinese societies. Feng
Shui can mainly be divided into two dimensions: residential Feng Shui and burial Feng Shui.
The former is concerned with the environment of houses of living people and the latter focuses
on the environment of burial sites. Yet the philosophical principles behind them are basically
the same, for they have similar ideas of temporal-spatial concepts of traditional Chinese
culture. The content of this course is divided into three parts. The first part will explain the
relationship between Feng Shui and traditional Chinese culture. In the second part, the
guiding principles and the philosophy of residential Feng Shui and burial Feng Shui will be
introduced. Lastly, the temporal-spatial concepts of Feng Shui in traditional Chinese culture
will be analysed.

GEA 201 Chinese Medicine: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course introduces the philosophical concepts and efficacy of Chinese medicine. It
aims to develop students’ understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine which includes food

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