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Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novel that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the invention of movable typeprinting by Bi Sheng (990-1051) during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China like never before. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (18811936) would be considered the founder of modern baihua literature in China.

Classical texts
China has a wealth of classical literature, dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (256-770 BCE) and including the Classics, whose compilation is attributed to Confucius. Among the most important classics in Chinese literature is the I Ching, the Book of Changes , a manual of divination based on eight trigrams attributed to the mythical emperor Fu Xi. The I Ching is still used by adherents of folk religion. The Classic of Poetry is made up of 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs; 74 minor festal songs, traditionally sung at court festivities; 31 major festal songs, sung at more solemn court ceremonies; and 40 hymns and eulogies, sung at sacrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house. The Classic of History is a collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It contains the best examples of early Chinese prose. The Record of Rites, a restoration of the original Classic of Rites, lost in the 3rd century BC, describes ancient rites and court ceremonies. The Spring and Autumn Annals is a historical record of the principality of Lu, Confucius' native state, from 722 to 479 B.C.. It is a log of concise entries probably compiled by Confucius himself. The Analects of Confucius (is a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples. There were also important Daoist classics that were written in later periods, such as the Huainanzi written by Liu An in the 2nd century BC, during the Han Dynasty. The Huainanzi was also one of the earliest Chinese texts to cover topics of Chinese geography and topography. In the realm of martial classics, the Art of War by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC marks the first milestone in the tradition of Chinese military treatises written in following ages, such as the WujingZongyao 1044 AD) and the Huolongjing written before 1375 when Liu Ji died, preface in 1412 AD). Furthermore, the Art of War is perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective international diplomacy. The other two works, the WujingZongyao and Huolongjing, are invaluable written works for the understanding of the gradual development of early Chinese gunpowder warfare.

Chinese folklore
Chinese folklore includes songs, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural, or stories explaining natural phenomena and distinctive landmarks. [1]

Folktales
The main influences on Chinese folk tales have been Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Some folk tales may have arrived from India or West Asia along with Buddhism; others have no known western counterparts, but are widespread throughout East Asia.[2] Chinese folk tales include a vast variety of forms such as myths, legends, fables, etc, and a number of folktale books such Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio now remain popular. Well-known Chinese folk tales include:

The story of Qi Xi, also known as the Story of the Magpie Bridge or the Story of Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, which tells how the stars Altair and Vega came to their places in the sky. the story of HuaMulan, the female warrior who disguised herself as a man. the story of Chang'e, the goddess of the moon. the story of the Magic Paintbrush. the story of the woman who sought her husband at the Great Wall.

The Magic Pear Tree


(byP'u Sung-ling, 17th century Record of Things Strange in a Makeshift Studio, transl. by Moss Roberts)

A farmer came from the country to sell his pears in the market. they were juicy and fragrant, and his sales were booming, when a Taoist priest wearing tattered scarves and coarse cotton clothes appeared at the wagon and begged for some fruit. The farmer shooed him away, but he refused to leave. The farmer's voice rose until he was screaming and cursing.

"Your wagon holds hundreds of pears," said the priest, "and I ask for only one. that's no great loss, sir; why get so angry?" The crowd tried to persuade the farmer to part with a bruised pear and be rid of the man, but the farmer indignantly refused. At last a market guard saw that the uproar was getting out of hand and put up a few coins for a piece of fruit to throw to the priest. Hands clasped above his head, the priest thanked the guard. Then he turned to the crowd and said, "We who have left the world find man's greed hard to understand. Let me offer some choice pears to all you good customers." "Now that you have your pear," someone said, "why don't you eat it yourself?" "All I needed was a seed for planting," replied the priest. And holding the fruit in both hands, he gobbled it up. Then he took the little shovel that he carried on his back and dug several inches into the ground. He placed the seed in the hole and covered it with earth. The priest called for hot water, and a bystander with a taste for mischief fetched some from a nearby shop. The priest poured the water over the seed he had planted. Every eye was now on him. Behold! a tiny shoot appeared. Steadily it increased in size until it became a full-grown tree, with twigs and leaves in unruly profusion. In a flash it burst into bloom and then into fruit. Masses of large, luscious pears filled its branches. The priest turned to the tree, plucked the pears, and began presenting them to the onlookers. In a short while the fruit was gone. Then with his shovel the priest started to chop the tree. "Teng!Teng!" the blows rang out in the air until finally the tree fell. Taking the upper part of the tree onto his shoulders, the priest departed with a relaxed gait and untroubled air. During all this the farmer had been part of the crowd, gaping with outstretched neck and forgetting his business. But when the priest departed the farmer noticed that his wagon was empty. And then the suspicion came to him that it was his own pears that had been presented to the crowd. Looking more carefully, he saw that a handle had been chopped off the wagon. In vexation, he searched until he found it lying discarded at the foot of a wall. And now he realized that the pear tree he had seen cut down was the handle of his wagon. Of the priest there was no sign at all, but the marketplace was in an uproar of laughter.

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