Chinese literature

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The history of 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 to
entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing
during the Tang Dynasty (618907) and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng
(9901051) during the Song Dynasty (9601279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout
China. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (18811936) 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
o 5.1 Some notable contributors
o 5.2 Classical fiction and drama
6 Modern literature
o 6.1 Late Qing (18951911)
 o 6.2 Republican Era (191249)
o 6.3 Maoist Era (194976)
o 6.4 Opening and Reform (19781989)
o 6.5 Post-Tiananmen (1989-Present)
o 6.6 Online Literature
o 6.7 Book market
o 6.8 Chinese Literature 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
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 six zhu , as presented in the "Da zhu" chapter of the Rites of
Zhou) was made by Liu Shipei.[2]

Classical texts
Main articles: Chinese classics and List of Chinese language poets

There is a wealth of early Chinese literature dating from the Hundred Schools of Thought that
occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770256 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 works in particular have been of key importance to 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 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:

1. the I Ching, or Book of Changes, a divination manual;[note 1]

2. the Classic of Poetry, a collection of poems, folk songs, festival and ceremonial songs,
hymns and eulogies;
3. the Classic of Rites or Record of Rites;
 4. 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;
5. the Spring and Autumn Annals, a historical record of Confucius' native state, Lu, from
722 to 479 BC.

The Four Books are:

1. the Analects of Confucius, a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded
by his disciples;
2. the Mencius, a collection of political dialogues;
3. the Doctrine of the Mean, a book that teaches the path to Confucian virtue; and
4. 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 and Legalism, such as Liu An
(2nd century BC), whose 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 by 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 (Collection of the Most
Important Military Techniques, 1044 AD) and the Huolongjing (Fire Dragon Manual, 14th
century AD).

Historical texts, dictionaries and encyclopedias

Main article: Chinese historiography
Further information: Category:Chinese encyclopedias and Chinese dictionary

Sima Qian laid the ground for professional 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 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 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 unearthed in a Hubei tomb in 1993. The
Book of Documents included early information on geography in the 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 is
the Erya, dated to the 3rd century BC, anonymously written but with later commentary by the
historian Guo Pu (276324). Other early dictionaries include the Fangyan by Yang Xiong (53
BC 18 AD) and the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen (58147 AD). One of the largest was the
Kangxi Dictionary compiled by 1716 under the auspices of the Kangxi 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 the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian written by Han
Dynasty court historian Sima 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 Greek Herodotus in scope and
method, because he covered Chinese history from the mythical Xia Dynasty until the
contemporary reign of 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 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 is termed the
Twenty-Four Histories, created for each successive Chinese dynasty up until the Ming Dynasty
(13681644); China's last dynasty, the Qing Dynasty (16441911), is not included.

Large encyclopedias were also produced in China through the ages. The Yiwen Leiju
encyclopedia was completed by 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 Chinese
encyclopedias featured millions of written Chinese characters each, their aggregate size paled in
comparison to the later 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 (1726), which featured over 100 million
written 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 (10311095) and his Dream Pool Essays, the agronomist and inventor Wang
Zhen (fl. 12901333) and his Nongshu, and the minor scholar-official Song Yingxing (1587
1666) and his Tiangong Kaiwu.

Classical poetry
Main article: Classical Chinese poetry

Bai Juyi (772846), a famous Tang Dynasty poet and statesman.

The rich tradition of Chinese poetry began with two influential collections. In northern China,
the 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 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 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 is ascribed to 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 and the 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 (221 BC 206 BC) and followed by the centuries-long 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 (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 Qian (365-
427) also known as 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 (618907) 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 (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 (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 (689-740), Bai
Juyi (772-846), Li He (790-816), 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 (9601279), 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 (10071072), Su Shi (10371101), and Wang Anshi (10211086).
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 (12791368) distinctive qu opera culture and spawned the
sanqu form of individual poems based on it.[27]

Classical Chinese poetry composition became a conventional skill of the well-educated

throughout the Ming (13681644) and Qing (16441911) dynasties. Over a million poems have
been preserved, including those by women, such as Dong Xiaowan and Liu Rushi, and by many
other diverse voices.[28] Painter-poets, such as Shen Zhou (14271509), Tang Yin (14701524),
Wen Zhengming (14701559), and Yun Shouping (16331690), 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
Early Chinese prose was deeply influenced by the great philosophical writings of the Hundred
Schools of Thought (770-221 BC). The works of Mo Zi (), Mencius () and Zhuang Zi (
) 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 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 were published. This neoclassical style dominated prose writing for the next 800
years. It was exemplified in the work of Han Yu (768824), a master essayist and strong
advocate of a return to Confucian orthodoxy; Han Yu was later listed as one of the "Eight Great
Prose Masters of the Tang and Song."

The Song Dynasty saw the rise in popularity of "travel record literature" (youji wenxue). Travel
literature combined both diary and narrative prose formats, it was practiced by such seasoned
travelers as Fan Chengda (11261193) and Xu Xiake (15871641) 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 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 ().

Some notable contributors

Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song ()

o Han Yu
o Liu Zongyuan
o Ouyang Xiu
o Su Zhe
o Su Shi
o Su Xun ()
o Wang Anshi
o Zeng Gong
Two great scientific authors from the Song period:
o Shen Kuo (10311095)
o Su Song (10201101)
Ming Dynasty
o Song Lian (13101381)
o Liu Bowen (13111375)
o Jiao Yu
o Gui Youguang (15061571)
o Yuan Hongdao (15681610)
o Xu Xiake (15861641)
o Gao Qi
o Zhang Dai
o Tu Long
o Wen Zhenheng
Qing Dynasty
o Li Yu (16101680)
o Yao Nai (17311815)
o Yuan Mei (17161798)
o Gong Zizhen (17921841)
o Wei Yuan (17941857)

Classical fiction and drama

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 in 646;
Variety Dishes from Youyang, the best known collection of 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 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 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 and early 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:

o Dream of the Red Chamber, by Cao Xueqin
o Water Margin (also translated as Outlaws of the Marsh), by Shi Naian
o Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong
o Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng'en
Other classic long and short fiction:
o Cases of Judge Bao (Baogong An) (1594)
o Illustrious Words to Instruct the World (Yushi Mingyan), or Stories
Old and New (1620) by Feng Menglong
o Stories to Caution the World ( Stories to Caution the World) by Feng
Menglong.
o Slapping the Table in Amazement ( Chuke Paian Jingji) by Ling
Mengchu
o A Supplement to the Journey to the West (; X Yu B) (c. 1640) by Dong
Yue
o Haoqiu zhuan (The pleasing history or The Fortunate Union) (c. 1683)
o Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (), by Pu Songling
o Jin Ping Mei (, The Plum in the Golden Vase), by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng
()
o Flowers in the Mirror (, Jing huayuan) by Li Ruzhen
o Fengshen Bang (, The Investiture of the Gods)
o Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan ( or The Story of a Marital
Fate to Awaken the World)
 o The Scholars ( Ru Lin Wai Shi), by Wu Jingzi ()
o Dijing Jingwulue ( or Survey of Scenery and Monuments in the
Imperial Capital), by Liu Tong
o Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms by Feng Menglong, edited by Cai
Yuanfang ()
o The Carnal Prayer Mat (Chinese: ; pinyin: ruptun) an erotic novel by
Li Yu () 1657.
o Six Records of a Floating Life ( F Shng Li J) by Shen Fu. Early
19th century.
o Ern Yingxiong Zhuan (The Story of Hero Boys and Hero Girls) by Wen Kang
first published 1878.
o The Travels of Lao Can (Lao Can Youji ) by Liu E 1903
Drama:
o The Story of the Western Wing (, Xxingj), by Wang Shifu ()
o The Injustice to Dou E (, Dou E Yuan), by Guan Hanqing
o The Jade Hairpin (Yuzanji ), by Gao Lian ()
o Hui Lan Ji (), by Li Xingdao () became the basis for The
Caucasian Chalk Circle
o The Peony Pavilion (Mudan Ting ), by Tang Xianzu
o The Peach Blossom Fan (Taohua Shan ) by Kong Shangren ()
o The Palace of Eternal Life (), by Hong Sheng ()
o The Orphan of Zhao (), a 13th-century play by Ji Junxiang (),
was the first Chinese play to have been translated into a European language.[34]

Modern literature
Late Qing (18951911)

Scholars now tend to agree that modern Chinese literature did not erupt suddenly in the New
Culture Movement (191723). Instead, they trace its origins back at least to the late Qing period
(18951911). 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[by whom?] were the
translations of Yan Fu () (18641921) and Lin Shu () (18521924). 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 () (18661910), Li Boyuan
() (18671906), Liu E () (18571909), and Zeng Pu () (18721935).

The late Qing also saw a "revolution in poetry" (), 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 (), Chen Sanli (), Zheng
Xiaoxu (), and Shen Zengzhi () 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" (), a hybrid of
Chinese operatic drama with Western-style spoken drama. Peking opera and "reformed Peking
opera" were also popular at the time.

Republican Era (191249)

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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 (191723), the vernacular language largely
displaced the classical in all areas of literature and writing. Literary reformers Hu Shih (1891
1962) and Chen Duxiu (18801942) declared the classical language "dead" and promoted the
vibrant vernacular in its stead. Hu Shi once said, "A dead language can never produce a living
literature." [35] In terms of literary practice, Lu Xun (18811936) is usually said to be the first
major stylist in the new vernacular prose that 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 (), Dai
Wangshu, Li Jinfa (), Wen Yiduo , and Ge Xiao (). 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 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 (18921978), a poet,
historian, essayist, and critic; Mao Dun (18961981), the first of the novelists to emerge from the
League of Left-Wing Writers and one whose work reflected the revolutionary struggle and
disillusionment of the late 1920s; satirist and novelist Lao She (18991966); and Ba Jin (1904
2005), a novelist whose work was influenced by Ivan Turgenev and other Russian writers. In the
1930s 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 (196676) were either purged or forced to submit
to public humiliation.

The League of Left-Wing Writers founded in 1930 included 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" () a group of writers based in Shanghai who were
influenced, to varying degrees, by Western and Japanese modernismwrote 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 (), and Shi Zhecun.[by
whom?]
Other writers, including Shen Congwen and Fei Ming (), 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 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 gave a series of lectures called "Talks at the Yan'an Forum on
Art and Literature" that clearly made literature subservient to politics via the 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 (194976)

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 and other figures
from the New Culture period, especially Hu Feng, a protege of 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 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 initially encouraged writers to speak out against problems in the new society.
Having learned the lessons of the anti-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 (195759), 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 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 ) by Liu Qing , The
Song of Youth (Qing Chun Zhi Ge ) by Yang Mo, Tracks in the Snowy Forest (Lin Hai
Xue Yuan ) by Qu Bo, Keep the Red Flag Flying (Hong Qi Pu ) by Liang Bin
, The Red Sun (Hong Ri ) by Wu Qiang , and Red Crag by Luo Guangbin
and Yang Yiyan ().

During the 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 ().[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 (19781989)

The arrest of Jiang Qing and the other members of the 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" () 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
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
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 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 (), Zhang Xinxin (), and Zong Pu () and
dramatists such as Gao Xingjian () experimented with modernist language and narrative
modes. Another group of writerscollectively said to constitute the Roots () movement
including Han Shaogong (), Mo Yan, Ah Cheng (), and Jia Pingwa () 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 (), Ge
Fei (), Su Tong () experimented in a more avant-garde () 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)

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 (), the so-
called "hooligan" () 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
, continue to take seriously the role of literature in exposing social problems; his novel Dreams
of Ding Village () deals with the plight of HIV-AIDS victims. As in the May Fourth
Movement, women writers came to the fore. Many of them, such as Chen Ran (), Wei Hui (
), Wang Anyi (), and Hong Ying (), 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 (), Chi Li (), Fang Fang (), He Dun (),
and Zhu Wen ()

According to Martin Woesler trends in contemporary Chinese literature include: 'cult literature'
with Guo Jingming (), Cry me a sad river, vagabond literature with Xu
Zechen (), Running Through Beijing,[41] Liu Zhenyun (),
The pickpockets, underground literature Mian Mian (), Panda Sex, 'longing
for something' literature, divided in historicizing literature with Yu Dan ,
Confucius in your heart, Yi Zhongtian () and in Tibetan literature with Alai, literature of
the mega cities, women's literature with Bi Shumin (), Womens boxing,
The female psychologist, master narratives by narrators like Mo Yan with Life
and Death are Wearing me out.[42] Oblique social criticism is also a popular form, for example
Han Han's () novel 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 Family of Joy (2013), which was written in Sichuanese and won the
Chinese Media Group New Talent Award in 2013.

Chinese language literature also flourishes in the diasporain South East Asia, the United
States, and Europe. 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 but continuing to write primarily in
Chinese, Gao Xingjian became the first Chinese writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 2000. In 2012, 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

In the new millennium, online literature in China plays a much more important role than in the
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

Inside Chongwen Book City, a large bookstore in Wuhan.

China buys many foreign book rights; nearly 16 million copies of the sixth book of the Harry
Potter series were sold in Chinese translation. As China Book Review reported, the rights to
9,328 foreign titles including many children's books went to China in 2007. China was
nominated as a Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Bookfair in 2009.[48][49]

The book market in 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 () screens all

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 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 Baby, Anchee Min's controversial memoir Red Azalea,
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]

Chinese Literature in Translation

Translated literature has long played an important role in modern China. Some writers, such as
Lu Xun, Yu Dafu, 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

Wang Tao () (18281897)
Yan Fu () (18531924)
Liu E () (18571909)
Liang Qichao () (18731929)
Wang Guowei () (18771927)
Hu Shi () (18911962)
Su Manshu () (18941918)
Lu Xun () (18811936)
Liang Shiqiu () (19031987)
Xu Dishan () (18931941)
Ye Shengtao () (18941988)
Lin Yutang () (18951976)
Mao Dun () (18961981)
Xu Zhimo () (18961936)
 Yu Dafu () (18961945)
Guo Moruo () (18921978)
Lao She () (18971966)
Zhu Ziqing () (18981948)
Tian Han () (18981968)
Feng Zikai () (18981975)
Wen Yiduo () (18991946)
Bing Xin () (19001999)
Ba Jin () (19042005)
Shen Congwen () (19021988)
Cao Yu () (19051996)
Qian Zhongshu () (19101988)
He Qifang () (19121977)
Lin Haiyin () (19182001)
Eileen Chang () (19201995)
Wang Zengqi () (19201997)
Qu Bo (novelist) () (19222002)
Jin Yong () (1924-) (Pen name of Louis Cha Leung-yung)
Cong Weixi () (1933)
Zhang Xianliang () (19362014)
Chiung Yao () (1938)
Sanmao (author) () (1943-1991)
Wang Xiaobo () (19521997)
Gao Xingjian () (1940-)
Yang Mu () (1940)
Chen Zhongshi () (1942)
Bei Dao () (1949)
Shi Tiesheng () (1951-2010)
Jia Pingwa () (1952)
Can Xue () (1953-)
Ma Jian () (1953)
 Mo Yan () (1955)
Tie Ning () (1957)
Jidi Majia () (1961-)
Zhang Zao () (1962-2010)
Su Tong () (1963)
Qiu Miaojin () (1969-1995)

Others
Chinese writers writing in English:

Ha Jin () (1956)
Chiang Yee (19031977)
Amy Tan() (1952)
Zhao Si Fang (1972)

Chinese writers writing in French:

Chen Jitong () (18521907)

Franois Cheng () (1929)
Dai Sijie () (1954)
Shan Sa () (1972)

Chinese writer writing in Indonesian:

Kho Ping Hoo (19261994)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Literature of China.

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
1.

1. Attributed to the mythical emperor Fu Xi and based on eight trigrams, the I Ching is still
used by adherents of Chinese folk religion.

References
1.

Chen Zhi, The Shaping of the Book of Songs, 2007.

Needham, Volume 3, 500501.
Ebrey (2006), 272.
Cai 2008, p. 13 et seq., Chapter 1
Lin and Owen 1986, pp. 342343 regarding xing; Cai 2008, p. 8, 43 on bixing, and p. 113
on the development and expansion of bixing after its 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. 346347
Lin and Owen 1986, p. 136
Watson 1971, pp. 6970
Lin and Owen 1986, p. 125
Cai 2008, pp. 121129
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 criticism by Li Bai at Lin and Owen 1986, p. 164
Watson 1971, pp. 169172
Cheng 1982, p. 37, and pp. 5657 on the non-linear dynamic this creates
 Watson 1971, pp. 141153 generally; Cheng 1982, p. 65 and Cai 2008, p. 226 regarding
gutishi and jintishi
Lin and Owen 1986, pp. 316317, p. 325 regarding jueju; Watson 1971, pp. 172173 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. 153169 generally; Lin and Owen 1986, p. 375 et seq., particularly
regarding use of the seven-character line
Liu 1962, pp. 137141
Lin and Owen 1986, p. 375
Watson 1984, p. 353 on Dunhuang Caves discovery; Cai 2008, pp. 248249
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. 89
The novel 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 Wikipedia 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 , Xiaofeng (12 March 2008). "" [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); Peng Wenbo, Zhao Xiaofang,
Blogs and Book Publication in New Media Era, Publishing Journal, 2007 15
04, 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)
"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 Baby"". Archived from the
original on 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
"Naughty CHINA". Amazon.Com. Retrieved 2008-09-05.

55. "The Chinese Novel Finds New Life Online", Aventurina King, Wired, August 17,
2007

References and further reading

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: Yan, Ming,
and Ch'ing Dynasties (12791911). 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, Franois (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.
Lvy, Andr (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
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 EBook in Color! Free Download
MCLC Resource CenterLiterature 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 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 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