Chinese Literature Brief Introduction To many Westerners, Chinese literature remains a hidden seam in the rich strata of Chinese

culture. As a matter of fact, it is a treasure of a very considerable number of brilliant and profound works as each dynasty, in the long history of China, has passed down its legacy of magnificent events and works. For 3500 years, they have woven a variety of genres and forms encompassing poetry, essays, fiction and drama; each in its own way reflecting the social climate of its day through the high spirit of art. Chinese literature has its own values and tastes, its own reigning cultural tradition and its own critical system of theory. Chronologically, it can be divided into four main periods: classical literature, modern literature, contemporary literature and the present-age literature. CLASSICAL LITERATURE Classical literature refers to the earliest period and covers works from three thousand years ago to the late Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), and is a virtually unbroken strand enduring dynastic changes. Written in an ancient form of language that is very different from present day Chinese, it needs to be carefully studied to be understood. Since it was nearly always developed under the reign of centralized and unified government, it is imbued with the thoughts of a culture that embraced slavery and a feudal society. It was steeped in an enclosed environment that hardly had any real links with religion or least of all the literature of foreign cultures. Chinese Drama Chinese Essay Chinese Fiction Ancient Poetry The Classic of Odes, Chu Ci, Han Yuefu Tang Poetry & Poets Song Ci & Yuan Qu CHINESE DRAMA Tsa-Chu Drama Zaju (Tsa-Chu Drama) in the Yuan Dynasty belongs to Yuan Qu and as its main branch it was welcomed by both the court and the people. It underwent two stages in the early Yuan and the mid and late Yuan. In the early stage, dramatists suffered from the misfortunes of the time and created works to embody the reality of social darkness. Guan Hanqing, the most highly reputed dramatist, wrote The Injustice to Dou'e as his masterpiece. In this work, Dou'e is a widower living with his

mother-in-law. When the scoundrel compelled her to marry him, she resisted him. Wrongly accused, she was sentenced to death. Prior to her execution, she pronounced three curses. The first was of blood spraying onto a white flag, the second was for snow in summer and the third for a severe drought lasting for three years. Each of her curses was realized. There were other contemporary playwrights like Bai Renfu who wrote Rain on the Wu Tong Tree to praise the love between Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang Guifei. Autumn in the Han Palace by Ma Zhiyuan is another telling the story of Wang Zhaojun. At the second stage, dramatists turned their concentration to feelings of love and the fairy and ghost stories as the conditions under the reigning government were rather disappointing. Romance of the Western Chamber by Wang Shifu is typical. The lyrical and fluent verses cause readers to sympathize with the lovers and to dislike their obstructer. Drama in the Ming and Qing Dynasty reached another peak after the Zaju (Tsa-chu Drama) of the Yuan Dynasty. Dramatic theory and works as well as performance skills were all greatly admired. The famous Beijing Opera was created during this time. The dramatic works include 'Ten Tragedies' and 'Ten Comedies'. The Peony Pavilion is the typical one among these. Other Forms In ancient China, as well as the above four forms of literature, there were also others such as historical records, critical works, idioms, allegories, ballads and many legends that had been handed down from generation to generation. CHINESE ESSAY Hundred schools of thought rose during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time the dominion of a slave society began to wane and the newly arising landed classes struggled for their own benefit. Political views varied and representatives of each sect respectively advocated the points of their position. In this time when the poetic form could not fulfill its mission to convey active thoughts, essays of different schools arose to prominence and the result became known as 'Bai Jia Zheng Ming' - 'A hundred schools of thought'. Despite their philosophical value, these essays were also of a high literary quality and had a profound influence on later literary output. Representative of these was a set of books entitled 'Four Books and Five Classics'. This was used as the basis of education during the long history of ancient China. The Four Books in question include Da Xue(The Great Learning), Lun Yu (The Analects of Confucius), Zhong Yong (The Doctrine of the Mean), and Meng Zi (The Words of Mencius); and Five Classics were the Yi Jing (The Book of Changes), Shi Jing(The Book of Songs or The Classic of Odes), Li Ji (The Book of Rites), Shu Jing (The Book of History), and Chun Qiu (The Spring and Autumn Annals). From the point of view of development, the hundred schools of essays went through three periods: that of quotation style, of dialogue style and finally of monograph style. As for content, the rational thoughts expressed largely dwelt upon society and life, both in manner and form. So far as language was concerned, they mostly paid attention to the pursuit of the aesthetic sense with figurative speech and allegory. The Analects of Confucius and Lao Zi are terse and

philosophical, Mengzi and Zhuangzi are vivid and smart, and Xun Zi and Han Feizi are argumentative and logical. Many of verses have become mottos and proverbs still in use today and many of them like Confucius and Lao Zi became the masters of Confucianism and Taoism. During the Tang and Song Dynasties there was a plentiful and wonderful output of essays. It was in the Tang Dynasty that essays sparkled. Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in the Mid and Late Tang period called for the revival of the Ancient Prose Movement. Writers of the Song Dynasty maintained the spirit of the movement and indicted fine works as models for later generations. Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan together with another six prose writers were named as 'The Eight Masters of Essays' of the Tang and Song Dynasty. CHINESE FICTION Fiction in classical literature originated in the Tang Dynasty and lasted until the Song Dynasty, 'Hua Ben' as the draft or records of actors became popular. This was the rudiment of fiction and the use of the vernacular catered for ordinary people. In the Yuan Dynasty, novels had chapters and greater attention was attached to the detail depicted. At the peak of the development of fiction, Four Famous Classical Chinese Literatures were born in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). Legends in the Tang Dynasty underwent a change from the previous form where only snatches of conversation were recorded and they began to be structured. The authors of legends delved into life and told stories with wit and beauty, as well those about pixies and fairies, paving the way for works that came after. Hua Ben in the Song Dynasty is actually a fashionable kind of monologue for actors to tell stories to the lower-classes who would have been unable to read for themselves. The portrayal of figures and plots were thus illuminating and vivid. This formed the interim period of classical fiction. Fiction in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties continued and reached an artistic zenith during this period in ancient China. Many excellent works appeared in various forms, collating practically all of the former skills and arts. Among them, there are historical novels like San Guo Yan Yi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), and Shui Hu Zhuan (The Water Margin), fairy fictions like Xi You Ji (The Pilgrim to the West) and Liao Zhai Zhi Yi (Strange Stories from a Scholar's Studio), satiric stories like The Travels of Lao Tsan by Liu E, The Schoolars by Wu Jingzi, as well as the realistic novel Hong Lou Meng (A Dream of Red Mansions). The Romance of Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin, The Pilgrim to the West and A Dream of Red Mansions are known as 'The Four Famous Classical Chinese Literatures'.

The Four Famous Classical Chinese Literatures Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong tells of the military events that happened during 169 - 280 in the reign of Eastern Han Dynasty. The three states Wei, Shu and Wu, each occupied a territory until finally the State Wei unified the whole. In this work, three figures are prominently portrayed - Zhu Geliang, Guan Yu and Cao Cao. Zhu Geliang's wit has always been admired and his name now has become a byword for inexhaustible resourcefulness. Guan Yu was depicted as a loyal general and Cao Cao as a man of duplicity. The Water Margin by Shi Nai'an is a heroic legend spread over many generations. Historically, official books would regard the insurrection of farmers as rebellion. However this book revealed that it was the ruling class that was pernicious to society. The plot of the story was a tragedy in which the righteous heroes died through the machinations of government. Each of the characters was really detailed and vivid. The Pilgrim to the West by Wu Cheng'en attached a greater center of attention on the figures. It tells a story of the pilgrimage of the honorable Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang to ancient India, together with his three disciples. From the novel you can experience the bravery and wit of Sun Wukong, the piety of Xuanzang, the greed of Zhu Bajie, and the kindness of Sha Cen. In fact this story prevailed for a long time before it was finally written down in its entirety. When Wu Cheng'en wrote it, he combined shadow land and reality into an artistic world. A Dream of Red Mansions is the pinnacle of ancient Chinese literature. The authors, Cao Xueqin and Gao E artfully told the sorrowful love story of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, by weaving a tale of the wealthy and prosperous life as well as the degeneration of the Jias and other royal families. Reading the day to day detail expressed in the book, you will be dazzled by the minute detail of Chinese customs such as traditional attitudes of different statues, the art of Chinese snacks, ladies' jewelry, etc. By reading the philosophical events in the work, you will also attain an insight into the society of the day. This is truly a perfect composition of the realistic and romantic art form. Modern Literature Modern literature refers to the period from the Opium War in 1840 to the May Fourth Movement in 1919. As the decadent reign of the Qing failed to inspire the minds of people, the literary forms had remained unchanged; till the Opium War in 1840. Then they absorbed the impact of western thoughts as foreigners poured in China and established their colonies. Novels, poetry and other works began to appear with a theme of patriotism and a revelation of social ills. Modern Literature The Opium War brought to an end China's seclusion from the outside world and caused it to progress to a new period in its history. With a crisis of politics, economy and culture, Lin Zexu introduced a more open literary creation. Founded on the Hundred Days' Movement,

advocators called for a revolutionary style poetry and novel to prompt people to join in the political struggle. Another group of writers created novels to denounce the system that was the cause of so much dissatisfaction among the people. Contemporary Literature Contemporary literature spanned the period from 1919 to the foundation of modern in 1949 and took on a new vigor, despite the fact that Chinese was in the throws of checkered and complicated times. This period was distinctive as it brought into being a new and revised literary language, form, content and skills allowing it to evolve into an independent and open art available to the whole of society. It attached great attention to people's lives and a future with strong political tendencies. Influenced by the tide of the world literature, it provided wide and amiable communication between writers and readers. Contemporary Literature The contemporary period refers to the glorious thirty years from the May Fourth Movement in 1919 until the foundation of the Peoples' Republic of China in 1949. With the development of the New Culture Movement and the victorious October Revolution in Russia in 1917, new thoughts refreshed the literary field. They tried to approach the public with more oral and excellent works as well as the literary association. Lu Xun, the harbinger and master of modern literature, composed the Madman's Diary, which is the first work set completely in exoteric language and which sharply revealed the essence of society. The True Story of Ah Q is considered to his finest novel and built up the image of spiritual anesthesia in both Chinese and world literature. Lao She was skillful in utilizing the Peking dialect and Camel Xiangzi and the drama Tea House are his masterpieces which reflect the helplessness of the lower classes in the old China. Bing Xin, a literary woman, is known for her morbidezza style of writing, so called as she wrote as though painting a picture with the finest and most tender detail. From her works you can get an insight of mother love and innocence. Lin Yutang wrote many essays. After settling in America, he created the novel Moment in Peking, and won the nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Xu Zhimo, a much traveled lyric poet, expressed his feelings of longing for the days when he was at Cambridge University in his evocative poem Second Farewell to Cambridge. Breaking with many of the conventions of the poetic form he returned to them in his later works prior to his untimely death in an air accident in 1931. There are also numerous great works that are too many to be listed here but it is hope that these notes will give you an appreciation of the diversity and breadth but from the above, you may see how diversiform they are.

Present-Age Literature Present-age literature is that which has evolved since the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. During this time, there was a logjam as a consequence of the Cultural Revolution that lasted for nearly 10 years. That era is now long past and we now have a favorable turn on events and a great number of responsible writers deepen the literary forms and content. Nowadays literature prospers. As the Chinese nation is a racial mix of Han people together with 55 other ethnic groups, literature reflects this. The various ethnic groups have contributed greatly in this field. Present-Age Literature Modern China's political arena, thriving economy and culture provides more freedom and an open atmosphere in which present day literature takes on a greater brilliance. Poems, essays, fiction and drama in a broad spectrum of themes and in many forms are quite popular. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and the Internet, all give writers of literature much scope for their exertions. Consequently, for their encouragement, there are literary prizes such as the Lu Xun Prize, Mao Dun Prize, Spring Prize, Feng Mu Prize, and Lao She Prize and more besides.