The history of
Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the
earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature vernacular
fiction novels that arose during the
Ming Dynasty
.svg/500px-Ming_Empire_cca_1580_(en).svg.png)
Ming Dynasty to entertain the
masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock
printing during the
Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty (618–907) and the invention of
movable type printing by
Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song Dynasty
(960–1279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. In
more modern times, the author
Lu Xun

Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered the
founder of baihua literature in China.
Contents
1 Pre-classical period
2 Classical texts
3 Historical texts, dictionaries and encyclopedias
4 Classical poetry
5 Classical prose
5.1 Some notable contributors
5.2 Classical fiction and drama
6 Modern literature
6.1 Late Qing (1895–1911)
6.2 Republican Era (1912–49)
6.3 Maoist Era (1949–76)
6.4 Opening and reform (1978–1989)
6.5 Post-Tiananmen (1989–present)
6.6 Online literature
6.7 Book market
6.8 In translation
7 Selected modern Chinese writers
8 Others
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 References and further reading
13 External links
Pre-classical period[edit]
Formation of the earliest layer of
Chinese literature

Chinese literature was influenced
by oral traditions of different social and professional provenance:
cult and lay musical practices (Shijing),[1] divination (Yi jing),
astronomy, exorcism. An attempt at tracing the genealogy of Chinese
literature to religious spells and incantations (the six zhu 六祝,
as presented in the "Da zhu" chapter of the Rites of Zhou) was made by
Liu Shipei.[2]
Classical texts[edit]
Main articles:
Chinese classics and List of
Chinese language

Chinese language poets
There is a wealth of early
Chinese literature

Chinese literature dating from the Hundred
Schools of Thought that occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
(770–256 BC). The most important of these include the Classics of
Confucianism, of Daoism, of Mohism, of Legalism, as well as works of
military science and Chinese history. Note that, except for the books
of poems and songs, most of this literature is philosophical and
didactic; there is little in the way of fiction. However, these texts
maintained their significance through both their ideas and their prose
style.
The
Confucian

Confucian works in particular have been of key importance to
Chinese culture

Chinese culture and history, as a set of works known as the Four Books
and
Five Classics were, in the 12th century AD, chosen as the basis
for the
Imperial examination

Imperial examination for any government post. These nine books
therefore became the center of the educational system. They have been
grouped into two categories: the Five Classics, allegedly commented
and edited by Confucius, and the Four Books. The
Five Classics are:
the I Ching, or Book of Changes, a divination manual;[note 1]
the Classic of Poetry, a collection of poems, folk songs, festival and
ceremonial songs, hymns and eulogies;
the
Classic of Rites

Classic of Rites or Record of Rites;
the Classic of History, an early Chinese prose collection of documents
and speeches allegedly written by rulers and officials of the early
Zhou period and earlier;
the Spring and Autumn Annals, a historical record of Confucius' native
state, Lu, from 722 to 479 BC.
The
Four Books are:
the Analects of Confucius, a book of pithy sayings attributed to
Confucius

Confucius and recorded by his disciples;
the Mencius, a collection of political dialogues;
the Doctrine of the Mean, a book that teaches the path to Confucian
virtue; and
the Great Learning, a book about education, self-cultivation and the
Dao.
Other important[according to whom?] philosophical works include the
Mohist Mozi, which taught "inclusive love" as both an ethical and
social principle, and Hanfeizi, one of the central Legalist texts.
Important Daoist classics include the Dao De Jing, the Zhuangzi, and
the Classic of the Perfect Emptiness. Later authors combined Daoism
with
Confucianism

Confucianism and Legalism, such as
Liu An (2nd century BC), whose
Huainanzi

Huainanzi (The Philosophers of Huai-nan) also added to the fields of
geography and topography.
Among the classics of military science,
The Art of War

The Art of War by
Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (6th
century BC) was perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective
international diplomacy. It was also the first in a tradition of
Chinese military treatises, such as the
Wujing Zongyao

Wujing Zongyao (Collection of
the Most Important Military Techniques, 1044 AD) and the Huolongjing
(Fire Dragon Manual, 14th century AD).
Historical texts, dictionaries and encyclopedias[edit]
Main article: Chinese historiography
Further information: Category:
Chinese encyclopedias

Chinese encyclopedias and Chinese
dictionary
Sima Qian
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Sima Qian laid the ground for professional
Chinese historiography

Chinese historiography more
than 2,000 years ago.
The Chinese kept consistent and accurate court records after the year
841 BC, with the beginning of the
Gonghe Regency of the Western Zhou
Dynasty. The earliest known narrative history of
China

China was the Zuo
Zhuan, which was compiled no later than 389 BC, and attributed to the
blind 5th century BC historian Zuo Qiuming. The
Book of Documents

Book of Documents is
thought to have been compiled as far back as the 6th century BC, and
was certainly compiled by the 4th century BC, the latest date for the
writing of the
Guodian Chu Slips

Guodian Chu Slips unearthed in a
Hubei
.svg/550px-Hubei_in_China_(_all_claims_hatched).svg.png)
Hubei tomb in 1993.
The
Book of Documents

Book of Documents included early information on geography in the
Yu Gong

Yu Gong chapter.[3] The
Bamboo Annals found in 281 AD in the tomb of
the King of Wei, who was interred in 296 BC, provide another example;
however, unlike the Zuo Zhuan, the authenticity of the early date of
the
Bamboo Annals is in doubt. Another early text was the political
strategy book of the Zhan Guo Ce, compiled between the 3rd and 1st
centuries BC, with partial amounts of the text found amongst the 2nd
century BC tomb site at Mawangdui. The oldest extant dictionary in
China

China is the Erya, dated to the 3rd century BC, anonymously written
but with later commentary by the historian
Guo Pu

Guo Pu (276–324). Other
early dictionaries include the
Fangyan

Fangyan by Yang Xiong (53 BC –
18 AD) and the
Shuowen Jiezi

Shuowen Jiezi by
Xu Shen

Xu Shen (58–147 AD). One of the
largest was the Kangxi
Dictionary

Dictionary compiled by 1716 under the auspices
of the
Kangxi Emperor

Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722); it provides definitions for
over 47,000 characters.
Although court records and other independent records existed
beforehand, the definitive work in early Chinese historical writing
was the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian written by Han
Dynasty court historian
Sima Qian
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Sima Qian (145 BC-90 BC). This groundbreaking
text laid the foundation for
Chinese historiography

Chinese historiography and the many
official Chinese historical texts compiled for each dynasty
thereafter.
Sima Qian
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Sima Qian is often compared to the Greek
Herodotus

Herodotus in
scope and method, because he covered Chinese history from the mythical
Xia Dynasty

Xia Dynasty until the contemporary reign of
Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han while
retaining an objective and non-biased standpoint. This was often
difficult for the official dynastic historians, who used historical
works to justify the reign of the current dynasty. He influenced the
written works of many Chinese historians, including the works of Ban
Gu and
Ban Zhao
.jpg/440px-Famous_Women,_1799_(L).jpg)
Ban Zhao in the 1st and 2nd centuries, and even Sima Guang's
11th-century compilation of the Zizhi Tongjian, presented to Emperor
Shenzong of Song in 1084 AD. The overall scope of the
historiographical tradition in
China

China is termed the Twenty-Four
Histories, created for each successive Chinese dynasty up until the
Ming Dynasty
.svg/500px-Ming_Empire_cca_1580_(en).svg.png)
Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); China's last dynasty, the Qing Dynasty
(1644–1911), is not included.
Large encyclopedias were also produced in
China

China through the ages. The
Yiwen Leiju encyclopedia was completed by
Ouyang Xun

Ouyang Xun in 624 during the
Tang Dynasty, with aid from scholars
Linghu Defen and Chen Shuda.
During the Song Dynasty, the compilation of the Four Great Books of
Song (10th century – 11th century), begun by Li Fang and
completed by Cefu Yuangui, represented a massive undertaking of
written material covering a wide range of different subjects. This
included the Extensive Records of the Taiping Era (978), the Imperial
Readings of the Taiping Era (983), the Finest Blossoms in the Garden
of Literature (986), and the Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau
(1013). Although these
Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty
Chinese encyclopedias

Chinese encyclopedias featured
millions of written
Chinese characters

Chinese characters each, their aggregate size
paled in comparison to the later
Yongle Encyclopedia

Yongle Encyclopedia (1408) of the
Ming Dynasty, which contained a total of 50 million Chinese
characters.[4] Even this size was trumped by later Qing Dynasty
encyclopedias, such as the printed
Gujin Tushu Jicheng

Gujin Tushu Jicheng (1726), which
featured over 100 million written
Chinese characters

Chinese characters in over 800,000
pages, printed in 60 different copies using copper-metal Chinese
movable type printing. Other great encyclopedic writers include the
polymath scientist
Shen Kuo

Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and his Dream Pool Essays,
the agronomist and inventor Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333) and his
Nongshu, and the minor scholar-official
Song Yingxing

Song Yingxing (1587–1666)
and his Tiangong Kaiwu.
Classical poetry[edit]
Main article:
Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese poetry
Bai Juyi

Bai Juyi (772–846), a famous
Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty poet and statesman.
The rich tradition of
Chinese poetry

Chinese poetry began with two influential
collections. In northern China, the
Shijing

Shijing or Classic of Poetry
(approx. 10th–7th century BC) comprises over 300 poems in a variety
of styles ranging from those with a strong suggestion of folk music to
ceremonial hymns.[5] The word shi has the basic meaning of poem or
poetry, as well as its use in criticism to describe one of China's
lyrical poetic genres.
Confucius

Confucius is traditionally credited with
editing the Shijing. Its stately verses are usually composed of
couplets with lines of four characters each (or four syllables, as
Chinese characters

Chinese characters are monosyllabic), and a formal structure of end
rhymes. Many of these early poems establish the later tradition of
starting with a description of nature that leads into emotionally
expressive statements, known as bi, xing, or sometime bixing.[6]
Associated with what was then considered to be southern China, the
Chuci

Chuci is ascribed to
Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) and his follower Song
Yu (fl. 3rd century BC) and is distinguished by its more emotionally
intense affect, often full of despair and descriptions of the
fantastic.[7] In some of its sections, the Chu Ci uses a six-character
per line meter, dividing these lines into couplets separated in the
middle by a strong caesura, producing a driving and dramatic rhythm.
Both the
Shijing

Shijing and the
Chuci

Chuci have remained influential throughout
Chinese history.
During the greater part of China's first great period of unification,
begun with the short-lived
Qin Dynasty

Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC) and
followed by the centuries-long
Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the
shi form of poetry underwent little innovation. But a distinctively
descriptive and erudite fu form (not the same fu character as that
used for the bureau of music) developed that has been called
"rhyme-prose," a uniquely Han offshoot of Chinese poetry's
tradition.[8] Equally noteworthy is
Music Bureau poetry (yuefu),
collected and presumably refined popular lyrics from folk music. The
end of the Han witnesses a resurgence of the shi poetry, with the
anonymous 19 Old Poems. This collection reflects the emergence of a
distinctive five-character line that later became shi poetry's most
common line length.[9] From the Jian'an reign period (196 – 220 AD)
onward, the five-character line became a focus for innovations in
style and theme.[10] The Cao family,[11] rulers of the Wei Dynasty
(220 – 265 AD) during the post-Han Three Kingdoms period,
distinguished themselves as poets by writing poems filled with
sympathy for the day-to-day struggles of soldiery and the common
people. Taoist philosophy became a different, common theme for other
poets, and a genre emphasizing true feeling emerged led by Ruan Ji
(210–263).[12] The landscape genre of Chinese nature poetry emerged
under the brush of
Xie Lingyun
.jpg/600px-Pagoda_on_Lake_(2514).jpg)
Xie Lingyun (385–433), as he innovated
distinctively descriptive and complementary couplets composed of
five-character lines.[13] A farmland genre was born in obscurity by
Tao

Tao Qian (365–427) also known as
Tao

Tao Yuanming as he labored in his
fields and then wrote extolling the influence of wine.[14] Toward the
close of this period in which many later-developed themes were first
experimented with, the Xiao family[15] of the Southern Liang Dynasty
(502–557) engaged in highly refined and often denigrated[16]
court-style poetry lushly describing sensual delights as well as the
description of objects.
Reunified China's
Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty (618–907) high culture set a high
point for many things, including poetry. Various schools of Buddhism
(a religion from India) flourished as represented by the Chan (or Zen)
beliefs of Wang Wei (701–761).[17] His quatrains (jueju) describing
natural scenes are world-famous examples of excellence, each couplet
conventionally containing about two distinct images or thoughts per
line.[18] Tang poetry's big star is
Li Bai

Li Bai (701–762) also pronounced
and written as Li Bo, who worked in all major styles, both the more
free old style verse (gutishi) as well as the tonally regulated new
style verse (jintishi).[19] Regardless of genre, Tang poets notably
strove to perfect a style in which poetic subjects are exposed and
evident, often without directly referring to the emotional thrust at
hand.[20] The poet
Du Fu

Du Fu (712–770) excelled at regulated verse and
use of the seven-character line, writing denser poems with more
allusions as he aged, experiencing hardship and writing about it.[21]
A parade of great Tang poets also includes
Chen Zi'ang (661–702),
Wang Zhihuan (688–742),
Meng Haoran

Meng Haoran (689–740), Bai Juyi
(772–846),
Li He

Li He (790–816),
Du Mu

Du Mu (803–852), Wen Tingyun
(812–870), (listed chronologically) and
Li Shangyin (813–858),
whose poetry delights in allusions that often remain obscure,[22] and
whose emphasis on the seven-character line also contributed to the
emerging posthumous fame of Du Fu,[23] now ranked alongside Li Bai.
The distinctively different ci poetry form began its development
during the Tang as Central Asian and other musical influences flowed
through its cosmopolitan society.[24]
China's
Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty (960–1279), another reunification era after a
brief period of disunity, initiated a fresh high culture. Several of
its greatest poets were capable government officials as well including
Ouyang Xiu

Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072),
Su Shi

Su Shi (1037–1101), and Wang Anshi
(1021–1086). The ci form flourished as a few hundred songs became
standard templates for poems with distinctive and variously set
meters.[25] The free and expressive style of Song high culture has
been contrasted with majestic Tang poems by centuries of subsequent
critics who engage in fierce arguments over which dynasty had the best
poetry.[26] Additional musical influences contributed to the Yuan
Dynasty's (1279–1368) distinctive qu opera culture and spawned the
sanqu form of individual poems based on it.[27]
Classical
Chinese poetry

Chinese poetry composition became a conventional skill of
the well-educated throughout the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing
(1644–1911) dynasties. Over a million poems have been preserved,
including those by women, such as
Dong Xiaowan

Dong Xiaowan and Liu Rushi, and by
many other diverse voices.[28] Painter-poets, such as Shen Zhou
(1427–1509),
Tang Yin

Tang Yin (1470–1524),
Wen Zhengming

Wen Zhengming (1470–1559),
and
Yun Shouping

Yun Shouping (1633–1690), created worthy conspicuous poems as
they combined art, poetry and calligraphy with brush on paper.[29]
Poetry composition competitions were socially common, as depicted in
novels, for example over dessert after a nice dinner.[30] The Song
versus Tang debate continues through the centuries.[31] While China's
later imperial period does not seem to have broken new ground for
innovative approaches to poetry, picking through its vast body of
preserved works remains a scholarly challenge, so new treasures may
yet be restored from obscurity.[32]
Classical prose[edit]
Early Chinese prose was deeply influenced by the great philosophical
writings of the
Hundred Schools of Thought

Hundred Schools of Thought (770–221 BC). The works
of
Mo Zi

Mo Zi (墨子),
Mencius
.jpg/440px-Half_Portraits_of_the_Great_Sage_and_Virtuous_Men_of_Old_-_Meng_Ke_(孟軻).jpg)
Mencius (孟子) and Zhuang Zi (莊子) contain
well-reasoned, carefully developed discourses that reveal much
stronger organization and style than their predecessors. Mo Zi's
polemic prose was built on solid and effective methodological
reasoning.
Mencius
.jpg/440px-Half_Portraits_of_the_Great_Sage_and_Virtuous_Men_of_Old_-_Meng_Ke_(孟軻).jpg)
Mencius contributed elegant diction and, like Zhuang Zi,
relied on comparisons, anecdotes, and allegories. By the 3rd century
BC, these writers had developed a simple, concise and economical prose
style that served as a model of literary form for over 2,000 years.
They were written in Classical Chinese, the language spoken during the
Spring and Autumn period.
Wen Chang, a Chinese deity of literature.
During the Tang period, the ornate, artificial style of prose
developed in previous periods was replaced by a simple, direct, and
forceful prose based on examples from the Hundred Schools (see above)
and from the Han period, the period in which the great historical
works of
Sima Tan and
Sima Qian
.jpg/440px-Sima_Qian_(painted_portrait).jpg)
Sima Qian were published. This neoclassical
style dominated prose writing for the next 800 years. It was
exemplified in the work of
Han Yu

Han Yu 韓愈 (768–824), a master
essayist and strong advocate of a return to
Confucian

Confucian orthodoxy; Han
Yu was later listed as one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the
Tang and Song."
The
Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty saw the rise in popularity of "travel record
literature" (youji wenxue).
Travel literature

Travel literature combined both diary and
narrative prose formats, it was practiced by such seasoned travelers
as
Fan Chengda (1126–1193) and
Xu Xiake

Xu Xiake (1587–1641) and can be
seen in the example of Su Shi's Record of Stone Bell Mountain.
After the 14th century, vernacular fiction became popular, at least
outside of court circles.
Vernacular

Vernacular fiction covered a broader range
of subject matter and was longer and more loosely structured than
literary fiction. One of the masterpieces of Chinese vernacular
fiction is the 18th-century domestic novel Dream of the Red Chamber
(紅樓夢).
Some notable contributors[edit]
Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song (唐宋八大家)
Han Yu
Liu Zongyuan
Ouyang Xiu
Su Zhe
Su Shi
Su Xun (蘇洵)
Wang Anshi
Zeng Gong
Two great scientific authors from the Song period:
Shen Kuo

Shen Kuo (1031–1095)
Su Song

Su Song (1020–1101)
Ming Dynasty
Song Lian

Song Lian (1310–1381)
Liu Bowen

Liu Bowen (1311–1375)
Jiao Yu
Gui Youguang (1506–1571)
Yuan Hongdao

Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610)
Xu Xiake

Xu Xiake (1586–1641)
Gao Qi
Zhang Dai
Tu Long
Wen Zhenheng
Qing Dynasty
Li Yu (1610–1680)
Yao Nai

Yao Nai (1731–1815)
Yuan Mei (1716–1798)
Gong Zizhen (1792–1841)
Wei Yuan

Wei Yuan (1794–1857)
Classical fiction and drama[edit]
Chinese fiction was rooted in the official histories and such less
formal works as A New Account of the Tales of the World and
Investigations of the Supernatural (4th and 5th century); Finest
Flowers from the World of Letters (a 10th-century compilation of works
from earlier centuries); Great Tang Record of the Western Regions
completed by the pilgrim to India,
Xuanzang

Xuanzang in 646; Variety Dishes
from Youyang, the best known collection of
Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese Chuanqi
(Marvelous Tales) from the Tang dynasty; and the Taiping Guangji,
which preserved the corpus of these Tang dynasty tales. There was a
range of less formal works either oral or using oral conventions, such
as the bianwen (Buddhist tale), pinghua (plain tale), and huaben
(novella), which formed background to the novel as early as the Song
Dynasty. The novel as an extended prose narrative which realistically
creates a believable world of its own evolved in
China

China and in Europe
from the 14th–18th centuries, though a little earlier in China.
Chinese audiences were more interested in history and Chinese authors
generally did not present their works as fictional. Readers
appreciated relative optimism, moral humanism, relative emphasis on
group behavior, and welfare of the society.
With the rise of monetary economy and urbanization beginning in the
Song Dynasty, there was a growing professionalization of entertainment
fostered by the spread of printing, the rise of literacy and
education. In both
China

China and Europe, the novel gradually became more
autobiographical and serious in exploration of social, moral, and
philosophical problems. Chinese fiction of the late
Ming dynasty
.svg/500px-Ming_Empire_cca_1580_(en).svg.png)
Ming dynasty and
early
Qing dynasty
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_Qing_Dynasty_(1862-1889).svg.png)
Qing dynasty was varied, self-conscious, and experimental. In
China, however, there was no counterpart to the 19th-century European
explosion of revolution and romanticism.[33] The novels of the Ming
and early Qing dynasties, represented a pinnacle of classical Chinese
fiction.
The highlights include:
The Four Great Classical Novels:
Dream of the Red Chamber, by Cao Xueqin
Water Margin
.svg/220px-Shuihuzhuan_(Chinese_characters).svg.png)
Water Margin (also translated as Outlaws of the Marsh), by Shi Naian
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong
Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng'en
Other classic long and short fiction:
Cases of Judge Bao

Cases of Judge Bao 包公案 (Baogong An) (1594)
Illustrious Words to Instruct the World 喻世明言 (Yushi Mingyan),
or Stories Old and New (1620) by Feng Menglong
Stories to Caution the World (警世通言 Stories to Caution the
World) by Feng Menglong.
Slapping the Table in Amazement (初刻拍案 Chuke Paian Jingji) by
Ling Mengchu
A Supplement to the
Journey to the West

Journey to the West (西遊補; Xī Yóu Bǔ) (c.
1640) by Dong Yue
Haoqiu zhuan

Haoqiu zhuan (The pleasing history or The Fortunate Union) (c. 1683)
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (聊齋志異), by Pu Songling
Jin Ping Mei

Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅, The Plum in the Golden Vase), by Lanling
Xiaoxiao Sheng (兰陵笑笑生)
Flowers in the Mirror (镜花缘, Jing huayuan) by Li Ruzhen
Fengshen Bang

Fengshen Bang (封神榜, The Investiture of the Gods)
Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan (醒世姻緣傳,醒世姻缘传 or The Story
of a Marital Fate to Awaken the World)
The Scholars (儒林外史 Ru Lin Wai Shi), by
Wu Jingzi

Wu Jingzi (吳敬梓)
Dijing Jingwulue (帝京景物略 or Survey of Scenery and Monuments
in the Imperial Capital), by Liu Tong
Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms by Feng Menglong, edited by
Cai Yuanfang (蔡元放)
The Carnal Prayer Mat

The Carnal Prayer Mat (Chinese: 肉蒲團; pinyin: ròupútuán) an
erotic novel by Li Yu (李渔) 1657.
Six Records of a Floating Life (浮生六記 Fú Shēng Liù Jì) by
Shen Fu. Early 19th century.
Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan (The Story of Hero Boys and Hero Girls) by Wen
Kang first published 1878.
The Travels of Lao Can (Lao Can Youji 老残游记) by
Liu E

Liu E 1903
Drama:
The Story of the Western Wing

The Story of the Western Wing (西廂記, Xīxiāngjì), by Wang Shifu
(王实甫)
The Injustice to Dou E

The Injustice to Dou E (竇娥冤, Dou E Yuan), by Guan Hanqing
The Jade Hairpin (Yuzanji 玉簪記), by Gao Lian (高濂)
Hui Lan Ji (灰闌記), by
Li Xingdao (李行道) became the basis for
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The Peony Pavilion

The Peony Pavilion (Mudan Ting 牡丹亭), by Tang Xianzu
The Peach Blossom Fan

The Peach Blossom Fan (Taohua Shan 桃花扇) by Kong Shangren
(孔尚任)
The Palace of Eternal Life (長生殿), by Hong Sheng (洪昇)
The Orphan of Zhao

The Orphan of Zhao (趙氏孤兒), a 13th-century play by Ji Junxiang
(紀君祥), was the first Chinese play to have been translated into a
European language.[34]
Modern literature[edit]
Late Qing (1895–1911)[edit]
Scholars now tend to agree that modern
Chinese literature

Chinese literature did not
erupt suddenly in the
New Culture Movement

New Culture Movement (1917–23). Instead, they
trace its origins back at least to the late Qing period (1895–1911).
The late Qing was a period of intellectual ferment sparked by a sense
of national crisis. Intellectuals began to seek solutions to China's
problems outside of its own tradition. They translated works of
Western expository writing and literature, which enthralled readers
with new ideas and opened up windows onto new exotic cultures. Most
outstanding were the translations of
Yan Fu

Yan Fu (严复) (1864–1921) and
Lin Shu

Lin Shu (林纾) (1852–1924). In this climate, a boom in the writing
of fiction occurred, especially after the 1905 abolition of the civil
service examination when literati struggled to fill new social and
cultural roles for themselves. Stylistically, this fiction shows signs
of both the Chinese novelistic tradition and Western narrative modes.
In subject matter, it is strikingly concerned with the contemporary:
social problems, historical upheaval, changing ethical values, etc. In
this sense, late Qing fiction is modern. Important novelists of the
period include
Wu Woyao (吴沃尧) (1866–1910), Li Boyuan
(李伯元) (1867–1906),
Liu E

Liu E (刘鹗) (1857–1909), and Zeng Pu
(曾朴) (1872–1935).
The late Qing also saw a "revolution in poetry" (诗界革命), which
promoted experimentation with new forms and the incorporation of new
registers of language. However, the poetry scene was still dominated
by the adherents to the Tongguang School (named after the Tongzhi and
Guangxu reigns of the Qing), whose leaders—Chen Yan (陈衍), Chen
Sanli (陈三立),
Zheng Xiaoxu (郑孝胥), and Shen Zengzhi
(沈曾植)—promoted a Song style in the manner of Huang Tingjian.
These poets would become the objects of scorn by New Culturalists like
Hu Shi, who saw their work as overly allusive, artificial, and
divorced from contemporary reality.
In drama, the late Qing saw the emergence of the new "civilized drama"
(文明戏), a hybrid of Chinese operatic drama with Western-style
spoken drama.
Peking opera

Peking opera and "reformed Peking opera" were also
popular at the time.
Republican Era (1912–49)[edit]
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The literary scene in the first few years before the collapse of the
Qing in 1911 was dominated by popular love stories, some written in
the classical language and some in the vernacular. This entertainment
fiction would later be labeled "Mandarin Ducks and Butterfly" fiction
by New Culturalists, who despised its lack of social engagement.
Throughout much of the Republican era, Butterfly fiction would reach
many more readers than its "progressive" counterpart.
In the course of the
New Culture Movement

New Culture Movement (1917–23), the vernacular
language largely displaced the classical in all areas of literature
and writing. Literary reformers
Hu Shih

Hu Shih (1891–1962) and Chen Duxiu
(1880–1942) declared the classical language "dead" and promoted the
vibrant vernacular in its stead.
Hu Shi

Hu Shi once said, "A dead language
can never produce a living literature." [35] In terms of literary
practice,
Lu Xun

Lu Xun (1881–1936) is usually said to be the first major
stylist in the new vernacular prose that
Hu Shi

Hu Shi and
Chen Duxiu were
promoting.
Though often said to be less successful than their counterparts in
fiction writing, poets also experimented with the vernacular in new
poetic forms, such as free verse and the sonnet. Given that there was
no tradition of writing poetry in the vernacular, these experiments
were more radical than those in fiction writing and also less easily
accepted by the reading public. Modern poetry flourished especially in
the 1930s, in the hands of poets like Zhu Xiang (朱湘), Dai Wangshu,
Li Jinfa (李金发),
Wen Yiduo

Wen Yiduo , and Ge Xiao (葛萧). Other poets,
even those among the May Fourth radicals (e.g., Yu Dafu), continued to
write poetry in classical styles.
May Fourth radicalism, combined with changes in the education system,
made possible the emergence of a large group of women writers. While
there had been women writers in the late imperial period and the late
Qing, they had been few in number. These writers generally tackled
domestic issues, such as relations between the sexes, family, and
friendship, but they were revolutionary in giving direct expression to
female subjectivity. Ding Ling's story Miss Sophia's
Diary

Diary exposes the
thoughts and feelings of its female diarist in all their complexity.
The 1920s and 1930s saw the emergence of spoken drama. Most
outstanding among playwrights of the day are Ouyang Yuqian, Hong Shen,
Tian Han, and Cao Yu.[36] More popular than this Western-style drama,
however, was Peking opera, raised to new artistic heights by the likes
of Mei Lanfang.
In the late 1920s and 1930s, literary journals and societies espousing
various artistic theories proliferated. Among the major writers of the
period were
Guo Moruo

Guo Moruo (1892–1978), a poet, historian, essayist, and
critic;
Mao Dun

Mao Dun (1896–1981), the first of the novelists to emerge
from the
League of Left-Wing Writers

League of Left-Wing Writers and one whose work reflected the
revolutionary struggle and disillusionment of the late 1920s; satirist
and novelist
Lao She

Lao She (1899–1966); and
Ba Jin

Ba Jin (1904–2005), a
novelist whose work was influenced by
Ivan Turgenev

Ivan Turgenev and other Russian
writers. In the 1930s
Ba Jin

Ba Jin produced a trilogy that depicted the
struggle of modern youth against the ageold dominance of the Confucian
family system. Comparison often is made between Jia (Family), one of
the novels in the trilogy, and Dream of the Red Chamber. Many of these
writers became important as administrators of artistic and literary
policy after 1949. Most of those authors who were still alive during
the
Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution (1966–76) were either purged or forced to
submit to public humiliation.
The
League of Left-Wing Writers

League of Left-Wing Writers founded in 1930 included
Lu Xun

Lu Xun among
its leadership. By 1932 it had adopted the Soviet doctrine of
socialist realism; that is, the insistence that art must concentrate
on contemporary events in a realistic way, exposing the ills of
nonsocialist society and promoting a glorious future under
communism.[37]
Other styles of literature were at odds with the highly-political
literature being promoted by the League. The "New Sensationists"
(新感觉派)—a group of writers based in
Shanghai

Shanghai who were
influenced, to varying degrees, by Western and Japanese
modernism—wrote fiction that was more concerned with the unconscious
and with aesthetics than with politics or social problems. Most
important among these writers were Mu Shiying, Liu Na'ou (刘呐鸥),
and Shi Zhecun.[by whom?] Other writers, including
Shen Congwen

Shen Congwen and
Fei Ming (废名), balked at the utilitarian role for literature by
writing lyrical, almost nostalgic, depictions of the countryside. Lin
Yutang, who had studied at Harvard and Leipzig, introduced the concept
of youmo (humor), which he used in trenchant criticism of China's
political and cultural situation before leaving for the United States.
The
Communist Party of China

Communist Party of China had established a base after the Long
March in Yan'an. The literary ideals of the League were being
simplified and enforced on writers and "cultural workers". In 1942,
Mao Zedong
.jpg/440px-Mao_Zedong_1963_(cropped).jpg)
Mao Zedong gave a series of lectures called "Talks at the
Yan'an

Yan'an Forum
on Art and Literature" that clearly made literature subservient to
politics via the
Yan'an

Yan'an Rectification Movement. This document would
become the national guideline for culture after the establishment of
the People's Republic of China.
Maoist Era (1949–76)[edit]
After coming to power in 1949, the Communists gradually nationalized
the publishing industry, centralized the book distribution system, and
brought writers under institutional control through the Writers Union.
A system of strict censorship was implemented, with Mao's "Yan'an
Talks" as the guiding force. Periodic literary campaigns targeted
figures such as
Hu Shi

Hu Shi and other figures from the New Culture period,
especially Hu Feng, a protege of
Lu Xun

Lu Xun who, along with his wife Mei
Zhi, did not toe the Party line on literature.[38] Socialist realism
became the uniform style, and many Soviet works were translated. The
ability to satirize and expose the evils in contemporary society that
had made writers useful to the
Communist Party of China

Communist Party of China before its
accession to power was no longer welcomed. Party cultural leaders such
as Zhou Yang used Mao's call to have literature "serve the people" to
mount attacks on "petty bourgeois idealism" and "humanitarianism".
This conflict came to a head in the Hundred Flowers Campaign
(1956–57).
Mao Zedong
.jpg/440px-Mao_Zedong_1963_(cropped).jpg)
Mao Zedong initially encouraged writers to speak out
against problems in the new society. Having learned the lessons of the
anti-
Hu Feng

Hu Feng campaign, they were reluctant, but then a flurry of
newspaper articles, films, and literary works drew attention to such
problems as bureaucratism and authoritarianism within the ranks of the
party. Shocked at the level of discontent, Mao's Anti-Rightist
Movement put large numbers of intellectuals through so-called "thought
reform" or sent them to labor camps. At the time of the Great Leap
Forward (1957–59), the government increased its insistence on the
use of socialist realism and combined with it so-called revolutionary
realism and revolutionary romanticism.
Despite the literary control and strictures to limit subjects to
contemporary
China

China and the glories of the revolution, writers produced
widely read novels of energy and commitment. Examples of this new
socialist literature include The Builder (Chuangye Shi 创业史) by
Liu Qing 柳青, The Song of Youth (Qing Chun Zhi Ge 青春之歌) by
Yang Mo, Tracks in the Snowy Forest (Lin Hai Xue Yuan 林海雪原) by
Qu Bo, Keep the Red Flag Flying (Hong Qi Pu 红旗谱) by Liang Bin
梁斌, The Red Sun (Hong Ri 红日) by Wu Qiang 吴强, and Red Crag
by Luo Guangbin 罗广斌 and Yang Yiyan (杨益言).
During the
Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Mao's wife, Jiang Qing
led the campaign against "feudal" and "bourgeois" culture. The only
stage productions allowed were her "Eight Model Operas," which
combined traditional and western forms, while great fanfare was given
to politically orthodox films and heroic novels, such as those by Hao
Ran (浩然).[39] The period has long been regarded as a cultural
wasteland, but some now suggest that the leading works have an energy
which is still of interest.[40]
Opening and reform (1978–1989)[edit]
The arrest of
Jiang Qing

Jiang Qing and the other members of the
Gang of Four
.svg/300px-National_Emblem_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China_(2).svg.png)
Gang of Four in
1976, and especially the reforms initiated at the Third Plenum of the
Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee in December 1978,
led writers to take up their pens again. Much of the literature in
what would be called the "new era" (新时期) discussed the serious
abuses of power that had taken place at both the national and the
local levels during the Cultural Revolution. The writers decried the
waste of time and talent during that decade and bemoaned abuses that
had held
China

China back. This literature, often called "scar literature",
or "the literature of the wounded", discussed the experiences of
sent-down youth with great though not complete frankness and conveyed
disquieting views of the party and the political system. Intensely
patriotic, these authors wrote cynically of the political leadership
that gave rise to the extreme chaos and disorder of the Cultural
Revolution. Many of these themes and attitudes were also found in
Fifth Generation films of directors trained after 1978, many of which
were based on published novels and short stories. Some of this fiction
and cinema extended the blame to the entire generation of leaders and
to the political system itself. The political authorities were faced
with a serious problem: how could they encourage writers to criticize
and discredit the abuses of the
Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution without allowing
that criticism to go beyond what they considered tolerable limits?
During this period, the number of literary magazines rose sharply, and
many from before the
Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution were revived. Poetry also
changed in its form and content. Four "misty poets", Bei Dao, Gu
Cheng,
Duo Duo and Yang Lian expressed themselves in deliberately
obscure verse which reflected subjective realism rather than the
realism of the sort promoted during the Cultural Revolution. There was
a special interest in foreign works. Recent foreign literature was
translated, often without carefully considering its interest for the
Chinese reader. Literary magazines specializing in translations of
foreign short stories became very popular, especially among the young.
Some leaders in the government, literary and art circles feared change
was happening too fast. The first reaction came in 1980 with calls to
combat "bourgeois liberalism," a campaign that was repeated in 1981.
These two difficult periods were followed by the Anti-Spiritual
Pollution Campaign in late 1983.
At the same time, writers remained freer to write in unconventional
styles and to treat sensitive subject matter. A spirit of literary
experimentation flourished in the second half of the 1980s. Fiction
writers such as Wang Meng (王蒙), Zhang Xinxin (张辛欣), and Zong
Pu (宗璞) and dramatists such as
Gao Xingjian
.jpg/440px-Gao_Xingjian_(2012,_cropped).jpg)
Gao Xingjian (高行健)
experimented with modernist language and narrative modes. Another
group of writers—collectively said to constitute the Roots (寻根)
movement—including
Han Shaogong

Han Shaogong (韩少功), Mo Yan, Ah Cheng
(阿城), and
Jia Pingwa (贾平凹) sought to reconnect literature
and culture to Chinese traditions, from which a century of
modernization and cultural and political iconoclasm had severed them.
Other writers (e.g.,
Yu Hua

Yu Hua (余华), Ge Fei (格非), Su Tong
(苏童) experimented in a more avant-garde (先锋) mode of writing
that was daring in form and language and showed a complete loss of
faith in ideals of any sort.[by whom?]
Post-Tiananmen (1989–present)[edit]
In the wake of the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 and with the
intensification of market reforms, literature and culture turned
increasingly commercial and escapist.
Wang Shuo (王朔), the
so-called "hooligan" (痞子) writer, is the most obvious
manifestation of this commercial shift, though his fiction is not
without serious intent.[by whom?] Some writers, such as Yan Lianke
阎连科, continue to take seriously the role of literature in
exposing social problems; his novel Dreams of Ding Village (丁庄梦)
deals with the plight of HIV-
AIDS

AIDS victims. As in the May Fourth
Movement, women writers came to the fore. Many of them, such as Chen
Ran (陈然),
Wei Hui

Wei Hui (卫慧),
Wang Anyi (王安忆), and Hong Ying
(虹影), explore female subjectivity in a radically changing society.
Neo-realism is another important current in post-Tiananmen fiction,
for instance in the writings of Liu Heng (刘恒),
Chi Li (池莉),
Fang Fang (方方), He Dun (何顿), and Zhu Wen (朱文)
According to
Martin Woesler trends in contemporary Chinese literature
include: 'cult literature' with
Guo Jingming (郭敬明),
悲伤逆流成河 Cry me a sad river, vagabond literature with Xu
Zechen (徐则臣), 跑步穿过中关村 Running Through Beijing,[41]
Liu Zhenyun (刘震云), 我叫刘跃 The pickpockets, underground
literature
Mian Mian (棉棉), 声名狼籍 Panda Sex, 'longing for
something' literature, divided in historicizing literature with Yu Dan
于丹, 《论语》心得
Confucius

Confucius in your heart, Yi Zhongtian
(易中天) and in Tibetan literature with Alai, literature of the
mega cities, women's literature with Bi Shumin (毕淑敏), 女儿拳
Women’s boxing, 女心理师 The female psychologist, master
narratives by narrators like
Mo Yan

Mo Yan 莫言 with 生死疲勞 Life and
Death are Wearing me out.[42] Oblique social criticism is also a
popular form, for example Han Han's (韩寒) novel 他的国 His land
(2009), which was written in a surreal style opposed to the uncritical
mainstream, but ranked 1st in 2009 Chinese bestseller list.[43]
Another example is Yan Ge's novel 我们家 Family of Joy (2013),
which was written in Sichuanese and won the Chinese Media Group New
Talent Award in 2013.
Chinese language

Chinese language literature also flourishes in the diaspora—in South
East Asia, the United States, and Europe.
China

China is the largest
publisher of books, magazines and newspapers in the world.[citation
needed] In book publishing alone, some 128,800 new titles of books
were published in 2005, according to the General Administration of
Press and Publication. There are more than 600 literary journals
across the country. Living in
France

France but continuing to write primarily
in Chinese,
Gao Xingjian
.jpg/440px-Gao_Xingjian_(2012,_cropped).jpg)
Gao Xingjian became the first Chinese writer to receive
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000. In 2012,
Mo Yan

Mo Yan also received
the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2015, children's author Cao Wenxuan
was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the first Chinese
author to win the top international children's book prize (although
several Chinese authors had previously been nominated).[44]
Online literature[edit]
In the new millennium, online literature in
China

China plays a much more
important role than in the
United States

United States and the rest of the
world.[45] Most books are available online, where the most popular
novels find millions of readers. They cost an average of 2 CNY, or
roughly a tenth of the average price of a printed book.[46][47]
Shanda Literature Ltd. is an online publishing company that claims to
publish 8,000 Chinese literary works daily.
Book market[edit]
Inside Chongwen Book City, a large bookstore in Wuhan.
China

China buys many foreign book rights; nearly 16 million copies of the
sixth book of the
Harry Potter

Harry Potter series were sold in Chinese
translation. As
China

China Book Review reported, the rights to 9,328
foreign titles – including many children's books – went
to
China

China in 2007.
China

China was nominated as a Guest of Honour at the
Frankfurt Bookfair

Frankfurt Bookfair in 2009.[48][49]
The book market in
China

China traditionally orders books during book fairs,
because the country lacks a national book ordering system. In 2006,
6.8 million titles were sold, not including an unknown number of
banned titles, bootleg copies and underground publishing factories.
Seven percent of all publishers are located in Shanghai. Because the
industry lacks a national distribution system, many titles from
publishers in the provinces can only be found there.
The central publishing houses belonging to ministries or (other)
government institutions have their main seat at Beijing (40 percent of
all publishers). Most regional publishing houses are situated in the
capitals of the provinces. Universities also have associated presses.
Private publishing is tolerated. 220,000 books were published in 2005.
Among 579 publishers—almost five times more than thirty years
ago—225 are supervised by ministries, commissions or the army; 348
are controlled by agencies; and six are even more independent. On the
other hand, 100,000 private bookstores bring in the half of the income
of the book industry.[50]
China's state-run General Administration of Press and Publication
(新闻出版总署) screens all
Chinese literature

Chinese literature intended to be
sold on the open market. The GAPP has the legal authority to screen,
censor, and ban any print, electronic, or Internet publication in
China. Because all publishers in
China

China are required to be licensed by
the GAPP, that agency also has the power to deny people the right to
publish, and completely shut down any publisher who fails to follow
its dictates.[51] As a result, the ratio of official to unlicensed
books is said to be 2:3.[52] According to a report in ZonaEuropa,
there are more than 4,000 underground publishing factories around
China.[51] The Chinese government continues to hold public book
burnings[53] on unapproved yet popular "spiritual pollution"
literature, though critics claim this spotlight on individual titles
only helps fuel booksales.[54] Many new-generation Chinese authors who
were the recipients of such government attention have been
re-published in English and success in the western literary markets,
namely Wei Hui's
Shanghai

Shanghai Baby, Anchee Min's controversial memoir Red
Azalea,
Time Magazine

Time Magazine banned-book covergirl Chun Sue's Beijing Doll,
and Mian Mian's Candy. Online bestseller
Ghost Blows Out the Light had
to be rewritten to remove references to the supernatural before it
could be released in print.[55]
In translation[edit]
Translated literature has long played an important role in modern
China. Some writers, such as Lu Xun, Yu Dafu,
Ba Jin

Ba Jin and others were
literary translators themselves, and many present day writers in
China, such as the Nobel laureate Mo Yan, listed translated works as
sources of enlightenment and inspiration.
In 2005, the Chinese government started a sponsoring program for
translations of government-approved Chinese works, which has already
resulted in more than 200 books being translated from Chinese into
other languages.
Selected modern Chinese writers[edit]
Wang
Tao

Tao (王韜) (1828–1897)
Yan Fu

Yan Fu (嚴復) (1853–1924)
Liu E

Liu E (劉鶚) (1857–1909)
Liang Qichao

Liang Qichao (梁啟超) (1873–1929)
Wang Guowei

Wang Guowei (王國維) (1877–1927)
Hu Shi

Hu Shi (胡適) (1891–1962)
Su Manshu (蘇曼殊) (1894–1918)
Lu Xun

Lu Xun (魯迅) (1881–1936)
Liang Shiqiu

Liang Shiqiu (梁實秋) (1903–1987)
Xu Dishan (許地山) (1893–1941)
Ye Shengtao

Ye Shengtao (葉聖陶) (1894–1988)
Lin Yutang

Lin Yutang (林語堂) (1895–1976)
Mao Dun

Mao Dun (茅盾) (1896–1981)
Xu Zhimo

Xu Zhimo (徐志摩) (1896–1936)
Yu Dafu

Yu Dafu (郁達夫) (1896–1945)
Guo Moruo

Guo Moruo (郭沫若) (1892–1978)
Lao She

Lao She (老舍) (1897–1966)
Zhu Ziqing (朱自清) (1898–1948)
Tian Han

Tian Han (田漢) (1898–1968)
Feng Zikai

Feng Zikai (豐子愷) (1898–1975)
Wen Yiduo

Wen Yiduo (聞一多) (1899–1946)
Bing Xin

Bing Xin (冰心) (1900–1999)
Ba Jin

Ba Jin (巴金) (1904–2005)
Shen Congwen

Shen Congwen (沈從文) (1902–1988)
Cao Yu (曹禺) (1910–1996)
Qian Zhongshu

Qian Zhongshu (錢鍾書) (1910–1988)
He Qifang (何其芳) (1912–1977)
Lin Haiyin (林海音) (1918–2001)
Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang (張愛玲) (1920–1995)
Wang Zengqi

Wang Zengqi (汪曾祺) (1920–1997)
Qu Bo (novelist)

Qu Bo (novelist) (曲波) (1922–2002)
Jin Yong

Jin Yong (金庸) (1924–) (Pen name of Louis Cha Leung-yung)
Cong Weixi (從維熙) (1933—)
Zhang Xianliang (張賢亮) (1936—2014)
Chiung Yao (琼瑶) (1938—)
Sanmao (author)

Sanmao (author) (三毛) (1943–1991)
Wang Xiaobo (王小波) (1952–1997)
Gao Xingjian
.jpg/440px-Gao_Xingjian_(2012,_cropped).jpg)
Gao Xingjian (高行健) (1940–)
Yang Mu (楊牧) (1940–)
Chen Zhongshi (陳忠實) (1942—2016)
Bei Dao

Bei Dao (北島) (1949—)
Shi Tiesheng (史铁生) (1951–2010)
Jia Pingwa (贾平凹) (1952—)
Can Xue (残雪) (1953–)
Ma Jian (馬建) (1953—)
Mo Yan

Mo Yan (莫言) (1955—)
Tie Ning

Tie Ning (鐵凝) (1957—)
Jidi Majia

Jidi Majia (吉狄马加) (1961–)
Zhang Zao (张枣) (1962–2010)
Su Tong (蘇童) (1963—)
Qiu Miaojin

Qiu Miaojin (邱妙津) (1969–1995)
Others[edit]
Chinese writers writing in English:
Ha Jin

Ha Jin (哈金) (1956—)
Chiang Yee (1903–1977)
Amy Tan(谭恩美) (1952–)
Zhao Si Fang (1972–)
Chinese writers writing in French:
Chen Jitong

Chen Jitong (陳季同) (1852–1907)
François Cheng (程抱一) (1929—)
Dai Sijie

Dai Sijie (戴思杰) (1954—)
Shan Sa

Shan Sa (山飒) (1972—)
Chinese writer writing in Indonesian:
Kho Ping Hoo (1926–1994)
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Literature of China.
Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese poetry
Censorship in the People's Republic of China
Chinese dictionary
Chinese encyclopedias
Chinese classic texts
List of Chinese authors
List of Hong Kong poets
Huainanzi
Chinese language
Chinese mythology
Chinese culture
List of poems in Chinese or by Chinese poets
Literature of Hong Kong
Tea Classics
Dream Pool Essays
Society and culture of the Han Dynasty
Chen prophecy
Women in Chinese Literature
Notes[edit]
^ Attributed to the mythical emperor
Fu Xi

Fu Xi and based on eight
trigrams, the
I Ching

I Ching is still used by adherents of Chinese folk
religion.
References[edit]
^ Chen Zhi, The Shaping of the Book of Songs, 2007.
^ 刘师培,《文学出于巫祝之官说》
^ Needham, Volume 3, 500–501.
^ Ebrey (2006), 272.
^ Cai 2008, p. 13 et seq., Chapter 1
^ Lin and Owen 1986, pp. 342–343 regarding xing; Cai 2008, p. 8, 43
on bixing, and p. 113 on the development and expansion of bixing after
its
Shijing

Shijing beginnings
^ Cai 2008, p. 36 et seq., Chapter 2
^ Cai 2008, p. 59 et seq., Chapter 3
^ Cai 2008, p. 103 et seq., Chapter 5
^ Lin and Owen 1986, pp. 346–347
^ Lin and Owen 1986, p. 136
^ Watson 1971, pp. 69–70
^ Lin and Owen 1986, p. 125
^ Cai 2008, pp. 121–129
^ Lin and Owen 1986, p. 158
^ Contemporary criticism by Watson 1971, "stilted," "effete," "trying"
at p. 105, "weakness," "banality," "badness of style," "triviality,"
"repetitiousness," "beyond recovery" at p. 107, "ridiculous" at p.
108;
Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty criticism by
Li Bai

Li Bai at Lin and Owen 1986, p. 164
^ Watson 1971, pp. 169–172
^ Cheng 1982, p. 37, and pp. 56–57 on the non-linear dynamic this
creates
^ Watson 1971, pp. 141–153 generally; Cheng 1982, p. 65 and Cai
2008, p. 226 regarding gutishi and jintishi
^ Lin and Owen 1986, pp. 316–317, p. 325 regarding jueju; Watson
1971, pp. 172–173 on plainness in Wang Wei; more generally, taking
from the above reference to bi and xing, the objectivity of depicting
nature has a conventional carryover to depicting emotion, for example
by explicitly depicting the poet's own shed tears as if from a
detached point of view
^ Watson 1971, pp. 153–169 generally; Lin and Owen 1986, p. 375 et
seq., particularly regarding use of the seven-character line
^ Liu 1962, pp. 137–141
^ Lin and Owen 1986, p. 375
^ Watson 1984, p. 353 on Dunhuang Caves discovery; Cai 2008, pp.
248–249
^ Cai 2008, p. 245 et seq., Chapters 12–14
^ Chaves 1986, p. 7 on Ming advocates of Tang superiority; Cai 2008,
p. 308, "it has long been fashionable, ever since the Song itself, for
poets and critics to think of the poetry of the Song as stylistically
distinct from that of the Tang, and to debate its merits relative to
the earlier work."
^ Cai 2008, p. 329 et seq., Chapter 16
^ Cai 2008, p. 354 et seq., Chapter 17; Cai 2008, p. 376 fn. 2 notes
effort to compile complete collection of Ming poetry began in 1990
^ Chaves 1986, pp. 8–9
^ The novel
Dream of the Red Chamber

Dream of the Red Chamber has many examples of competitive
poetic composition but most apt is the drinking game after dinner at
Feng Ziying's in Chapter 28, which includes each guest composing a
line apiece about a girl's sorrow, worry, joy, and delight;
transposing the real to the fantastic, Chapter 64 of Journey to the
West includes an otherworldly competition between the pilgrim monk and
four immortal tree spirits
^ Attesting to the debate's survival a previous version of this page
contained the assertion (to which a editor asked "by
whom?"): "Subsequent writers of classical poetry lived under the
shadow of their Tang predecessors, and although there were many poets
in subsequent dynasties, none reached the level of this period."
^ Chaves 1986, p. 6, "The sheer quantity of Ming poetry, the quality
of so much of it, and its stylistic richness and diversity all cry out
for serious attention."
^ Paul Ropp, “The Distinctive Art of Chinese Fiction,” in Paul S.
Ropp, ed., The Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese
Civilization. (Berkeley; Oxford:: University of California Press,
1990). pp. 309–334.
^ Liu, Wu-Chi (1953). "The Original Orphan of China". Comparative
Literature. 5 (3): 193. JSTOR 1768912.
^ deBary (2000), p. 362.
^ Chen 2014, p. 5.
^ Leo Oufan Lee, "Literary Trends: The Road to Revolution
1927–1949," Ch 9 in Fairbank, John King; Feuerwerker, Albert;
Twitchett, Denis Crispin (1986). The Cambridge history of China.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-24338-4. link to excerpt
^ Zhang 张, Xiaofeng 晓风 (12 March 2008).
"张晓风:我的父亲母亲" [Zhang Xiaofeng: My father and
mother]. Sina (in Chinese). Retrieved 3 May 2017.
^ Paul Clark. The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History. (Cambridge
University Press, 2008; ISBN 9780521875158).
^ Barbara Mittler. A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural
Revolution Culture. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center,
Harvard East Asian Monographs, 2012).
^ Translated by Eric Abrahamsen, published by Two Lines Press, 2013.
http://twolinespress.com/?project=running-through-beijing-by-xu-zechen
^ Martin Woesler, Chinese contemporary literature – authors, works,
trends – A snap-shot 2007/2008, Munich 2008, 267 pp.
^ Martin Woesler, Chinese cultic literature 2008/2009 – authors,
works, trends, Munich 2009, 127 pp.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved
2016-11-22.
^ [1]
^ Isabel Xiang, “Chinese Popular Author Eyes Profits Online”, in:
APPREB (December 2008); 彭文波 Peng Wenbo, 赵晓芳 Zhao Xiaofang,
“新媒体时代的博客传播与图书出版研究 Blogs and Book
Publication in New Media Era”, 《出版科学》 Publishing
Journal, 2007年 第15卷 第04期, 期刊
ISSN 1009-5853(2007)04-0068-04, 2007, issue 4, page 68-70, 84;
2007–04
^ Michel Hockx, in: Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, 2010;
Martin Woesler, in: European Journal of Sinology (2010) 88–97
^ [2]
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-14. Retrieved
2010-04-18.
^ Zeitung zur Buchmesse,FAZ 19.10.2008, S. 22 (PDF; 12,15 MB)
^ a b "General Administration of Press and Publication". CECC.
Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
^ "The Underground Publishing Industry in China". ZoneEuropa.
Retrieved 2008-09-05.
^ Sheng, John. "Afterthoughts on the Banning of "
Shanghai

Shanghai Baby"".
Archived from the original on 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
^ "Naughty CHINA". Amazon.Com. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
^ "The Chinese
Novel

Novel Finds New Life Online", Aventurina King, Wired,
August 17, 2007
References and further reading[edit]
These are general works. For those on specific topics, please see the
particular article.
Cai, Zong-qi, ed. (2008). How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided
Anthology. New York: Columbia University Press.
ISBN 0-231-13941-1
Chaves, Jonathan, ed. (1986). The Columbia Book of Later Chinese
Poetry: Yüan, Ming, and Ch'ing Dynasties (1279–1911). New York:
Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-06149-8
Chen, Xiaomei (2014). The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama.
Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-16502-0.
Cheng, François (1982). Chinese Poetic Writing. Trans. Donald A.
Riggs and Jerome P. Seaton. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press.
ISBN 0-253-20284-1
Cui, Jie and Zong-qi Cai (2012). How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook.
New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-15658-8
deBary, Wm. Theodore (2000). Sources of Chinese Tradition: From 1600
through the Twentieth Century Vol II. New York: Columbia University
Press. ISBN 0231-11271-8.
Idema Wilt L., and Lloyd Haft, eds (1997). A Guide to Chinese
Literature. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of
Michigan, Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies.
ISBN 0892640995. Bibliographical and background essays.
Knight, Sabina (2012). Chinese Literature : A Very Short
Introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, Very Short
Introductions Series. ISBN 9780195392067.
Lévy, André (2000). Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Translated by William H.
Nienhauser. xi, 168p. ISBN 0253336562.
Lin, Shuen-fu and Stephen Owen (1986). The Vitality of the Lyric
Voice. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 0-691-03134-7
Liu, James J.Y. (1962). The Art of Chinese Poetry. Chicago: Univ. of
Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-48687-7
Mair, Victor H. (2001). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature.
New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231109849.
Mair, Victor H.(1994).The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese
Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, Translation from the
Asian Classics, 1994. ISBN 023107428X.
Mair, Victor H., Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt and Paul Rakita Goldin,
eds. Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture. (Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press, 2005). ISBN 0824827856.
Nienhauser, William H., Jr. (1986 and 1998). The Indiana Companion to
Traditional Chinese Literature. 2v. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press. ISBN 0-253-32983-3, 0-253-33456-X.
Nienhauser, William H., ed. (1986). The Indiana Companion to
Traditional Chinese Literature. Indiana University Press.
Kang-i Sun Chang, Stephen Owen, eds. (2010), The Cambridge History of
Chinese Literature, 2 vol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-11677-0
Watson, Burton (1971). Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poetry from the Second
to the Twelfth Century. New York: Columbia University Press.
ISBN 0-231-03464-4
Watson, Burton, ed. (1984). The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From
Early Times to the Thirteenth Century. New York: Columbia University
Press. ISBN 0-231-05683-4
External links[edit]
Paper Republic – Chinese Literature in Translation – useful
site, and produces annual list of translations into English (2015,
2014, 2013, 2012)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms EBook in Color! – Free Download
MCLC Resource Center—Literature – bibliography of scholarly
studies and translations of modern Chinese literature
Modern Chinese Literature and Culture – scholarly journal
Chinese Text Sampler – Annotated collection of classical and
modern Chinese literary texts
Chinese Text Project – Early classical texts with English and
modern Chinese translations
http://www.china-on-site.com/comicindex.php – manhua retellings
of old Chinese legends
WuxiaWorld – English translations of Wuxia genre novels
Renditions – English translations of modern and classical
Chinese literature
China

China the Beautiful – Chinese Art and Literature – Early
classical texts
Chinese Text Sampler: Readings in Chinese Literature, History, and
Popular Culture – Annotated Collection of Digitized Chinese
Texts for Students of Chinese Language and Culture
China

China Banned Books Essential Reading List – on Amazon.Com
The Columbia University Press web page accompanying Cai 2008 has PDF
and MP3 files for more than 75 poems and CUP's web page accompanying
Cui 2012 includes MP3 files of modern Chinese translations for dozens
of these
Amazon.com,best books on china
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