China has the largest population of any country and a long history of literature dating back over 3,000 years. Chinese literature exists in various genres and was influenced by other Asian cultures while also developing unique forms like classical poetry and plays. The Tang Dynasty in particular saw many renowned poets and works produced. Arthur Waley helped introduce Chinese and Japanese literature to Western audiences through his translations in the early 20th century.

1. Asian Literature

5. is the largest of all Asian
countries and has the
largest population of any
country in theworld.
China has 33 administrative units directly
under the central government; these consist
of 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4
municipalities (Chongqing, Beijing,
Shanghai, and Tianjin), and 2 special
administrative regions (Hong Kong and
Macau).

6. Language

8. GreatWallof China
Forbidden City
Shanghai
Guilinand Yangshuo

10. China Literature

11. Chinese literature is one of the major
literary heritages of the world, with
an uninterrupted history of more
than 3,000 years, dating back at least
to the 14th century BCE.
Its medium, the Chinese language, has
retained its unmistakable identity in its
spoken and written aspects in spite of
generally gradual changes in pronunciation,
the existence of regional and local dialects,
and several stages in the structural
representation of the written graphs, or
“Characters”.

12. Culturally speaking, China
has endured its attribute of
keeping the fundamental of
its identity very firm.
The Tang Dynasty is the finest era
of the Chinese literature because
the poets like Tu Fu, Li Po and
Wang Wei created landmark
works.

13. Arthur David Waley, original name Arthur David Schloss (August
19,1889 – June 27, 1966), was a noted English Orientalist and
Sinologist, and is still considered one of the world’s great Asian
schlolars. During the first half of the 20th century, his translations
introduced the best of Chinese and Japanese literature and poetry to
English-reading audiences. Waley was self-taught in both Chinese
and Japanese and achieved a remarkable degree of fluency and
erudition. His translations of Chinese and Japanese literary classics
into English had a profound effect on such modern poets as W.B.
YeatsandEzra Pound.

15. It is early in the third century and the once-glorious Han Dynasty is in its twilight. Those who
would cast themselves as China’s next rulers have brought the empire to the brink of war.
Court eunuchs scheme, rulers fall, and great heroes are born in epic combat. The people of
China, longing for peace, wonder what will become of their lives as war rages across the land.
The dynasty seems to have lost its “Mandate of Heaven”—what now?
This is the backdrop for the literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the four
great pillars of Chinese literature (Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Dream of
the Red Chamber are the others). Its fourteenth century author, Luo Guanzhong, draws upon
history and folklore to create a colorful tale that showcases the era’s political and social affairs.

17. Wegrasp our battle-sears: wedon our breast-plates
of hide.
Theaxles of our chariots touch: our short words
meet.
Standards obscure the sun: the foe roll up like
clouds.
Arrows fall thick: the warriors press forward.
Theymenaceour ranks:they breakour line.
Theleft-hand trace-horseis dead: the one on the
right is smitten.
Thefallen horses block ourwheels: they impede the
yoke-horses!”
Theygrasp theirjade drum-sticks: theybeat the
sounding drums.
Heaven decrees their fall: the dread Powers are
angry.
Thewarriors are all dead: they lie onthe moor-field.
Theyissued but shall not enter:they went but shall
not return.
The plainsareflatandwide:the wayhomeis long.
Their swordslie besidethem: theirblackbows,in their
hand.
Thoughtheirlimbs weretorn,their heartscouldnotbe
repressed.
Theyweremorethanbrave:theywereinspiredwiththe
spiritof“Wu.”
Steadfasttotheend, theycould notbedaunted.
Their bodieswerestricken,buttheir soulshavetaken
immortality---
Captainsamongthe ghosts,heroes amongthe dead.

19. Japanis anislandcountryin EastAsia.
Locatedin thePacificOcean,it lies offthe
easterncoastoftheAsian continentand
stretchesfromthe SeaofOkhotskin the
northtothe EastChinaSea andthe
PhilippineSeain thesouth
Thekanji that make up Japan's
name mean'sunorigin',and itisoften
calledthe"Land of theRisingSun".
Japan istheworld's4thlargestisland
countryand encompasses
about6,852islands.

20. Themost widely
spoken language in Japan is
Japanese, which is separatedinto
numerous dialects with Tokyo
dialect considered
standard Japanese. Inaddition to the Japanese
language,
Ryukyuanlanguages are spoken
in Okinawa and parts of
Kagoshima in the Ryukyu Islands

22. Mount Fuji
The Island Shrine of
Itsukushima
Fushimi Inari-taisha
Shrine
Imperial Tokyo

24. JapanLiterature

25. Japanese literature ranksas one of the
major literaturesof the world, comparable
inage, richness, and volume to English
literature, thoughits courseof development
has been quite dissimilar. Thesurviving
works comprise a literarytradition
extending from the 7th centuryCEto the
present.
The firstwritingofliteraturein Japanese
wasmotivatedbyinfluencefromChina.
Butin thelateryearsJapanesetradition
createdits distinctiveliterarylandmark.
One ofthe renownedpoeticformsis
haiku.

26. Haikuis a short
descriptive poem with
17 syllables with a
structure of 5-7-5
There is also a defined syllable
structure in Japan named Tanka
which has31 syllables in a
structure of 5-7-5-7-7.

27. One of the famous writer of Haikus are Matsuo Basho. He made about 1000
poems in his lifetime with the journey around Japan. He was born in Iga Province
(currently Mie Prefecture) as the second son of six brothers and sisters. His
childhood name was Kinsaku. His father was a farmer who had been treated for
samurai, and hedied when Bashowas 12 years old.Basho changedthe name from
Kinsaku to Munefusa as an adult and started to serve at Todo Clan as a cook at the
age of eighteen. Traditionally, the clan esteemed highly on literary and poetry art.
He also learned haikai poetry from his master. When he was twenty, his two
poems were chosen for the public anthology for the first time. After his master’s
death, Basho more deepened the pursuit of Haikai poetry and became a
representative young poet in the province. He went up to Edo (today’s Tokyo) that
wasthe centerof the cultureinJapan.

28. The Narrow Road to the Deep North

29. Themonths anddays arethe travellersof eternity.Theyears thatcome andgo arealso voyagers. Those whofloat
awaytheirlives on ships or who grow old leading horses areforever journeying, andtheirhomes arewherever
theirtravels takethem. Manyof themen of old died on theroad, andI too for years pasthavebeen stirredby the
sightof a solitary cloud drifting withthe windto ceaseless thoughtsof roaming.
LastyearI spent wanderingalongthe seacoast.In autumnI returnedto my cottageon theriver and sweptaway
thecobwebs. Graduallythe yeardrew to itsclose. When spring came andtherewasmist in theair,I thoughtof
crossing theBarrierof Shirakawainto Oku. I seemed to bepossessed by thespiritsof wanderlust,andthey allbut
deprived me of my senses. Theguardianspirits of theroad beckoned, andI could not settledown to work.
I patchedmy torntrousersandchangedthe cord on my bamboo hat.To strengthenmy legs for thejourney I had
moxa burned on my shins.By thenI could thinkof nothingbutthe moon at Matsushima.When I sold my cottage
andmoved to Sampū’s villa, to stayuntilI startedon my journey, I hungthispoem on a post in my hut:
kusa no to mo
sumikawaruyo zo
hinano ie
Even a thatchedhut
May changewitha new owner
Intoa doll’s house.

31. is a region inEast Asia.Since 1948it has
been divided between two distinct sovereign
states, North Korea and South Korea. Korea
consists of the Korean Peninsula, JejuIsland,
and several minorislands nearthe peninsula.
Koreais borderedbyRussiato the
northeast,Chinatothenorthwest,and
neighboursJapantothe eastvia theKorea
StraitandtheSeaof Japan(EastSea).

32. Korean is the official language ofboth
North andSouth Korea, and (along with
Mandarin)of Yanbian Korean
Autonomous Prefecture in the Manchuria
area ofChina.Worldwide, there areup to
80 million speakers ofthe Korean
language.
South Korea has around 50 million
speakerswhileNorthKorea around 25
million.Other largegroupsof Korean
speakersthrough Koreandiasporaare
found inChina,the United States, Japan,
formerSovietUnion and elsewhere.

34. Myeongdong
NamsanTower
Lotte World
Bukchon Hanok Village

36. Korea Literature

37. Although Korea has had its ownlanguage for several thousand years, it has
had a writing system only since the mid-15th century, when Hangul was
invented. As a result, early literary activity was in Chinese characters.
Korean scholars werewriting poetry in the traditional mannerofClassical
Chinese at least by the 4th century CE.
There arefour major traditional poetic forms: hyangga (“native songs”);
pyolgok “special songs” orchangga “ long poems”; sijo “currentmelodies”
and kasa “verses”. Otherpoetic forms that flourished briefly include the
kyonggi style in the 14th and 15th centuries and the akchang “word for
songs” in the 15th century.

38. Hyangga

41. It is the seventh-largest countryby area,
the second-most populous country,and the
most populous democracy inthe world.
Bounded bythe IndianOcean on thesouth,
the ArabianSea onthe southwest, and
the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares
land borders with Pakistan to the west
China, Nepal, andBhutan to thenorth;
and Bangladesh and Myanmarto the east. In
the Indian Ocean, India is inthe vicinityof Sri
Lanka and the Maldives; its Andamanand
Nicobar Islands sharea maritimeborder
with Thailand and Indonesia.

45. IndiaLiterature

46. The earliest Indian literature took the form of the canonical
Hindu sacred writings, known asthe Veda, which were written in
Sanskrit. Tothe Veda were added prose commentaries such as
the Brahmansand the Upanishads. The production of Sanskrit
literature extended from about 1500 BCE to about 1000 CE and
reached its height of development in the 1st to 7th centuries CE. In
addition to sacred and philosophical writings, such genres as
erotic and devotional lyrics, court poetry, plays, and narrative
folktales emerged.

47. Rabindranath TagoreFRAS (/rəˈbɪndrənɑːttæˈɡɔːr/(About this
soundlisten); born Robindronath Thakur, 7 May 1861 –7 August 1941),
and also known by his sobriquets Gurudev, Kabiguru, and Biswakabi, was
a polymath, poet, musician, and artist from the Indian subcontinent. He
reshapedBengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with
Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of
the "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse" of Gitanjali, he
becamein 1913 the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature. Tagore'spoetic songs wereviewed as spiritual and mercurial;
however, his "elegant prose andmagical poetry" remain largely unknown
outside Bengal. Heis sometimes referred to as "the Bardof Benigal’’

48. A Magazine of Verse