SURVEY OF CHINESE LITERATURE

Geography  Livable with hard work

Confucius  Philosopher, not writer  Compiler of “Five Chinese Classics”  Disciples wrote down The Analects  Thoughts on marriage, music, death, etc.  Morality fixed in nature, not divine God  Morality & Government are one.

Five Chinese Classical Text  The Book of Changes  Text for divination  The Book of History  Records, history, announcements from rulers  Book of Songs  300 poems  Book of Rites  Centers on rules of everyday life  Spring and Autumn annals  Commentaries of events up to fifth century BCE

The Book of Changes  No epic survives  Earliest work: Book of Changes  Interprets the universe  Cryptic symbols predict future  Order derived from balance between: Four seasons Five elements Five powers of creation  Diagrams symbolize cosmic unity

Poetry  Realist and Allegorical  Many authors; compiled by Confucius  From Yellow River area (China proper)  Sung  Folk, imaginative  One author (Qu Yuan)  From Yangtze River (South) Book of SongsThe Song of Chu

Zhou Literature  The Book of Songs  305 poems  From 10 th Century to 600 BCE  Three sections: Feng – Folk Songs (106 of 305) Inspired DuFu Ya – Court poems (105 of 305) Inspired LiBo Song – Odes (40)  Read “We Have in Hand”  Hymns used in dynastic rituals Addressing deified sprits of King Wen

Zhou Literature  “Fishhawk”  First poem in the Classic of Poetry  Shows absence of jealousy, perfect harmony is royal household

Qin Literature  Not much  Legalist state  Dissemination of laws  Uniform Chinese language Unreadable today  Bamboo book binding

Han Literature  China’s classical age  “Children of Han”  Restored Confucianism  Silk scrolls replaced bamboo strips  Advantages? Easier to transport Learning became “mobile” Reading became a rule Stories written instead of retold

Han Poetry  Written  Hymns and ritual songs  No heroic epics  Personal & intimate  Humanism & common sense  A lot of female poets

Han Prose  History  Detailed record of rulers  Sima Qian Shi JI (Records of the Grand Historian Historical romance Ban Zhao Lessons for Women Female historian

“The Peach Blossom Spring” T’ao Ch’ien (365 – 427)  Utopia :  An imagined perfect place or state of things  Describe your Utopia

“The Peach Blossom Spring  What’s so desirable about this place?  Why can’t anyone find it again?  How does the Peach Blossom Spring compare to the utopia imagined by you?  To Utopians by Western philosophers?

Tang Literature Non-Fiction:  Treatises:  A formal written work that deals with a subject systematically and extensively. History Religion Economics Architecture Botany and zoology  Essays  Encyclopedias Fiction:  Drama  Lyric poetry  Opera  A drama set to music and making use of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment  Novel  An extended fictional prose narrative Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Tang Poetry  “Golden Age of Chinese Poetry”  Characteristics:  Monosyllabic language Many words rhymed  Restrained and sophisticated  Occasional Poems  Written and used in a particular social exchange  Parting Poems

Two Greatest Poets Li Bo ( )  Member of court, removed for poor behavior  Arrested for treason, pardoned, died shortly after  Part of “counter-culture”  Poet of fantasy  “The Old Airs V”  Poems of the common man:  "Drinking Alone by Moonlight"  "Summer Day in the Mountains"  Rising Drunk on a Spring Day, Telling My Intent" Du Fu ( )  “Greatest Chinese Poet?”  Immense variety  Classical tradition  Reflect history of the time  Occasional poems more stylized than we've seen "Boating on the reservoir West of the City"  Wrote historical poems about the An-Lu shan rebellion He was behind enemy lines "The View in Spring"

Tang and Song Literature  Lyrics  Follow specific rhyme and meter.  Include: Party songs Songs of romance Blurred lines of reality and fiction Classical prose  Non-fiction: Essay, letters, accounts.  Fiction not “legitimate” until late

Yuan & Ming Literature  Preserved past  Dictionaries  encyclopedias  36 volume anthology of Chinese classics  Novels flourished  The Dream of the Red Chamber  Da-du (Beijing) cosmopolitan  Vernacular Songs flourished Counter-culture  Drama  Opera  Variety Plays