Chinese Literature
1, General summary
— — General summary
2, Book of Poems
Summary
Chinese literature is characterized by a long tradition of realism. The “Book of Poems”, compiled two thousand and five hundred years ago, was the earliest realistic literature of China.
The “Book of Poems” was an anthology of the poems and songs appearing between the early Zhou Dynasty (the eleventh century B.C.) and the middle of the Spring-Autumn Period (the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.); collected around the sixth century B.C. Altogether the anthology contained three hundred and five poems. In the light of the rhythms , the anthology was divided into three sections : the Feng section (the section of ballads) , the “Ya” section (the section of festival songs) , and the “Song” section (the section of praises). The “Feng” poems were the native ballads of the various . states . The “Ya” . poems were music pieces in the territory of the Zhou Kings . The “Song” poems were eulogies to ghosts and deities and to meritorious deeds , often sung along with dances . This book has rich contents and knowledge , and aesthetic values in various aspects .
— — Book of Poems-Voice of the time
— — Book of Poems-Preeminent artistic accomplishments
3, The Prose in the Pre-Qin Period
The Prose in the Pre-Qin Period included historic prose at records and prose of essays by master scholars , the former emphasizing narration , and the latter emphasizing exposition .
— — The Prose in the Pre-Qin Period-Historical prose
— — Varied styles of pre-Qin prose
4, Poetry of the South and “Fu” in the Han Dynasty
— — Poerty of the South and “Fu” in the Han Dynasty-Poetry of the Chu
— — Han “Fu”
5, Radiant Poetry in the Tang Dynasty
As mentioned before, China was the land of poetry. The poetry in the Tang Dynasty was the culmination of the Chinese lyric literature. In the “Complete Anthology of Tang Poems” compiled in the Qing Dynasty, there are about 50,000 poems written by more than 2,300 poets. This period saw many famous poets producing poems of almost all different styles. There were many poetic schools boasting of divergent styles, shaping up a marvelous, splendid era in the land of poetry, when “all the flowers blossomed”.
— — Radiant Poetry in the Tang Dynasty-The fresh lyrics of the four young poets
— — Borderland poems and pastoral poems
— — “Celestial poet” and “Saint poet”
— — The most prolific poet
6, Splendid Song Poems
— — Splendid Song Poems-Song Ci
— — Poet of the era –Su Shi
— — Xin Qiji—“Embracing the world and the history”
— — Li Qingzhao—Outstanding female writer of Song poems
7, Novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
In a strict sense , the Chinese novels (particular the long ones ) arose rather late. Initially there were myths and legends . Then in the Wei-Jin Southern-Northern Dynasties period there were tales of the supernatural . Then in the Tang Dynasty there were tales of the marvelous . Only in the Song Dynasty did earliest novels in the colloquial language started to appear in China . In the Ming and Qin Dynasties , when the feudal economy was well developed and rudimentary capitalist production started , and when the townspeople class came into being , did the novels flourish and form a mighty current in literature . The novels were a lively and free literary form . The language of the novels was simple and easy to understand , well appreciated by the populace .
— — Novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties-“Three wonderful novels”
— — Masterpieces of bourgeois literature—“Three Remarks” and “Two strikes”
— — The “Mystery Tales Told in a Chat Room” and the “Unofficial History of Scholars”
— — “Dream of the Red Chamber” , culmination of Chinese novels
