ABSTRACT

Zhang Longxi, an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese and comparative literature, is your guide to the three-millennia-long history of Chinese literature from the remote antiquity of oracle bones to contemporary works.

Professor Zhang charts the development of the major literary forms in Chinese, including poetry, prose, song lyrics, and plays, and introduces the most famous poets and writers and their representative texts. Taking a period-based approach through the major dynasties, he places these forms, texts, and authors within their historical contexts and tells the fascinating story of Chinese literature with copious examples in English translation. He writes in a clear and accessible style and assumes no prior knowledge of Chinese history or Chinese literature.

This book is an ideal introduction for students and the general readers who want to get a broad but thorough overview of Chinese literature in all its richness and diversity.

chapter 2|18 pages

The Book of Poetry and the Songs of Chu

chapter 3|16 pages

The First Great Empire

The Han Dynasty

chapter 4|21 pages

Another Wave of Intellectual Excitement

The Wei-Jin Period

chapter 5|23 pages

The Rise of Wen or Literature

The Southern and the Northern Dynasties

chapter 6|21 pages

The Splendor of Poetry

From the Early to the High Tang Period

chapter 7|27 pages

The Twin Stars of Tang Poetry

Li Bo and Du Fu

chapter 8|24 pages

Different Orientations in Mid-Tang Poetry

chapter 10|17 pages

Towards the Height of a Refined Culture

The Northern Song Dynasty

chapter 11|23 pages

From Ouyang Xiu to Su Shi

The Splendor of Northern Song Literature

chapter 13|19 pages

From Lu You to Xin Qiji

Poetry and Ci Lyric in the Southern Song

chapter 15|23 pages

Literature of the Yuan Dynasty

chapter 16|18 pages

Poetry of the Ming Dynasty

chapter 17|18 pages

Mid- and Late Ming Literature

Songs, Fiction, Drama, and Essays

chapter 18|22 pages

Poetry and Prose of the Qing

From Early to the Middle Period

chapter 19|21 pages

Drama, Fiction, and Late Qing Literature

chapter 20|26 pages

Modern Chinese Literature