HIGHLIGHTS OF CHINESE LITERATURE PART A-DINTRODUCTION TO CHINESE LITChinese literatureextends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic courtarchivesto the maturevernacular fictionnovels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespreadwoodblock printingduring theTang Dynasty(618907) and the invention ofmovable typeprintingbyBi Sheng(9901051) during theSong Dynasty(9601279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. In more modern times, the authorLu Xun(18811936) is considered the founder ofbaihualiterature in China.PRE CLASSICAL PERIOD

Formation of the earliest layer of 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 sixzhu, as presented in the "Da zhu" chapter of theRites of Zhou) was made by Liu Shipei.There is a wealth of early Chinese literature dating from theHundred Schools of Thoughtthat occurred during theEastern Zhou Dynasty(770-256 BC). The most important of these include the Classics ofConfucianism, ofDaoism, ofMohism, ofLegalism, as well as works of military science andChinese 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 works in particular have been of key importance to Chinese culture and history, as a set of works known as theFour Books and Five Classicswere, in the 12th century AD, chosen as the basis for theImperial examinationfor any government post. These nine books therefore became the center of the educational system. They have been grouped into two categories: theFive Classics, allegedly commented and edited byConfucius, and theFour Books. TheFive Classics

Four Books[edit]TheFour Books(Chinese:;pinyin:Ssh) areChinese classic textsillustrating the core value and belief systems inConfucianism. They were selected byZhu Xiin theSong dynastyto serve as general introduction to Confucian thought, and they were, in theMingandQingdynasties, made the core of the official curriculum for thecivil service examinations.[2]They are:Title (English)Title (Chinese)Brief Description

Great LearningOriginally one chapter in theBook of Rites. It consists of a short main text attributed toConfuciusand nine commentary chapters byZeng Zi, one of Confucius's disciples. Its importance is illustrated by Zeng Zi's foreword that this is the gateway of learning.It is significant because it expresses many themes of Chinese philosophy and political thinking, and has therefore been extremely influential both in classical and modern Chinese thought. Government, self cultivation and investigation of things are linked.

Doctrine of the MeanAnother chapter inBook of Rites, attributed toConfucius' grandsonZisi. The purpose of this small, 33-chapter book is to demonstrate the usefulness of a golden way to gain perfect virtue. It focuses on theWay() that is prescribed by a heavenly mandate not only to the ruler but to everyone. To follow these heavenly instructions by learning and teaching will automatically result in a Confucian virtue. Because Heaven has laid down what is the way to perfect virtue, it is not that difficult to follow the steps of the holy rulers of old if one only knows what is the right way.

AnalectsA compilation of speeches byConfuciusand his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. Since Confucius's time, theAnalectshas heavily influenced the philosophy and moral values ofChinaand later otherEast Asiancountries as well. TheImperial examinations, started in theJin dynastyand eventually abolished with the founding of theRepublic of China, emphasized Confucian studies and expected candidates to quote and apply the words of Confucius in their essays.

MenciusA collection of conversations of the scholarMenciuswith kings of his time. In contrast to the sayings ofConfucius, which are short and self-contained, theMenciusconsists of long dialogues with extensive prose.

Five Classics[edit]TheFive Classics(simplified Chinese:;traditional Chinese:;pinyin:W Jng) are five pre-QinChinese books that form part of the traditional Confucian canon. Several of the texts were already prominent by theWarring States period.Mencius, the leading Confucian scholar of the time, regarded theSpring and Autumn Annalsas being equally important as the semi-legendary chronicles of earlier periods. During theWestern Han dynasty, which adopted Confucianism as its official ideology, these texts became part of the state-sponsored curriculum. It was during this period that the texts first began to be considered together as a set collection, and to be called collectively the "Five Classics".[3]The Five Classics are:

Title (English)Title (Chinese)Brief Description

Classic of PoetryA collection of 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs, 105 festal songs sung at court ceremonies, and 40 hymns and eulogies sung at sacrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house.

Book of DocumentsA collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It is possibly the oldest Chinese narrative, and may date from the 6th century BC. It includes examples of early Chinese prose.

Book of RitesDescribes ancient rites, social forms and court ceremonies. The version studied today is a re-worked version compiled by scholars in the third century BC rather than the original text, which is said to have been edited by Confucius himself.

I Ching(Book of Changes)/The book contains adivinationsystem comparable to Westerngeomancyor the West AfricanIfsystem. InWesterncultures and modern East Asia, it is still widely used for this purpose.

Spring and Autumn AnnalsA historical record of theState of Lu, Confucius's native state, 722481 BC.

TheClassic of Music() is sometimes considered as the sixth classic but was lost in theBurning of the Books.Up to the Western Han, authors would typically list the Classics in the order Poems-Documents-Rituals-Changes-Spring&Autumn. However from the Eastern Han the default order instead became Changes-Documents-Poems-Rituals-Spring&Autumn.

Other important philosophical works include the MohistMozi, which taught "inclusive love" as both an ethical and social principle, andHanfeizi, one of the central Legalist texts.ImportantDaoistclassics include theDao De Jing, theZhuangzi, and theClassic of the Perfect Emptiness. Later authors combined Daoism with Confucianism and Legalism, such asLiu An(2nd century BC), whoseHuainanzi(The Philosophers of Huai-nan) also added to the fields ofgeographyandtopography.Among the classics of military science,The Art of WarbySun Tzu(6th century BC) was perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective internationaldiplomacy. It was also the first in a tradition of Chinese military treatises, such as theWujing Zongyao(Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques, 1044 AD) and theHuolongjing(Fire Dragon Manual, 14th century AD).

Main article:Chinese historiographyThe Chinese kept consistent and accurate court records after the year 841 BC, with the beginning of theGonghe Regencyof theWestern Zhou Dynasty. The earliest knownnarrative historyof China was theZuo Zhuan, which was compiled no later than 389 BC, and attributed to the blind 5th century BC historianZuo Qiuming. TheBook of Documentsis 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 theGuodian Chu Slipsunearthed in aHubeitomb in 1993. TheBook of Documentsincludedearly information on geographyin theYu Gongchapter.[3]TheBamboo Annalsfound in 281 AD in the tomb of the King of Wei, who was interred in 296 BC, provide another example; however, unlike theZuo Zhuan, the authenticity of the early date of theBamboo Annalsis in doubt. Another early text was the political strategy book of theZhan Guo Ce, compiled between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, withpartial amounts of the textfound amongst the 2nd century BC tomb site atMawangdui. The oldest extantdictionaryin China is theErya, dated to the 3rd century BC, anonymously written but with later commentary by the historianGuo Pu(276324). Other early dictionaries include theFangyanbyYang Xiong(53 BC 18 AD) and theShuowen JiezibyXu Shen(58147 AD). One of the largest was theKangxi Dictionarycompiled by 1716 under the auspices of theKangxi Emperor(r. 16611722); 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 theShiji, orRecords of the Grand Historianwritten byHan Dynastycourt historianSima Qian(145 BC-90 BC). This groundbreaking text laid the foundation for Chinese historiography and the many official Chinese historical texts compiled for each dynasty thereafter. Sima Qian is often compared to the GreekHerodotusin scope and method, because he covered Chinese history from the mythicalXia Dynastyuntil the contemporary reign ofEmperor Wu of Hanwhile 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 worksofBan GuandBan Zhaoin the 1st and 2nd centuries, and evenSima Guang's 11th-century compilation of theZizhi Tongjian, presented toEmperor Shenzong of Songin 1084 AD. The overall scope of the historiographical tradition in China is termed theTwenty-Four Histories, created for each successive Chinese dynasty up until theMing Dynasty(13681644); China's last dynasty, theQing Dynasty(16441911), is not included.Large encyclopedias were also produced in China through the ages. TheYiwen Leijuencyclopedia was completed byOuyang Xunin 624 during theTang Dynasty, with aid from scholarsLinghu DefenandChen Shuda. During theSong Dynasty, the compilation of theFour Great Books of Song(10th century 11th century), begun byLi Fangand completed byCefu Yuangui, represented a massive undertaking of written material covering a wide range of different subjects. This included theExtensive Records of the Taiping Era(978), theImperial Readings of the Taiping Era(983), theFinest Blossoms in the Garden of Literature(986), and thePrime Tortoise of the Record Bureau(1013). Although these Song Dynasty Chinese encyclopedias featured millions of writtenChinese characterseach, their aggregate size paled in comparison to the laterYongle 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 printedGujin Tushu Jicheng(1726), which featured over 100 million written Chinese characters in over 800,000 pages, printed in 60 different copies usingcopper-metal Chinesemovable typeprinting. Other great encyclopedic writers include the polymath scientistShen Kuo(10311095) and hisDream Pool Essays, the agronomist and inventorWang Zhen(fl.12901333) and hisNongshu, and the minor scholar-officialSong Yingxing(15871666) and hisTiangong Kaiwu.