chinese literature

1. China
Professor Ms. Sharon De Los Reyes
Submitted to:
Rodylyn V. Velasquez
Submitted by:
Afro-Asian Literature

2. • The Flag was officially adopted on Oct. 1 1949
• Red of the Chinese flag represent or symbolize the
communist rebolution, it also a tradition of the
people.
• The Larger Gold Star represents communism.
• Four smaller stars represents the social classes of
the people.

3. •The republic of china has an area of 9,600.000
sq. km and beijing is the capital city. Middle
in East Asia, bounded on the East by Pacific
Ocean. The climate in China is mainly
continental monsoon or a tropical wet climate
and their language is mandarin.
•The Administration of China has 23 provinces
5 Autonomous Region, 4 municipalities and 2
special administrative regions.

5. BEIJING
•The Capital of China
• Beijing, China’s massive capital, has history stretching back 3
millennia. Yet it’s known as much for its modern architecture as
its ancient sites such as the grand Forbidden City complex, the
imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Nearby, the
massive Tiananmen Square pedestrian plaza is the site of Mao
Zedong’s mausoleum and the National Museum of China,
displaying a vast collection of cultural relics.
• Weather: 1°C, Wind N at 18 km/h, 17% Humidity
• Local time: Saturday 12:04 PM
• Population: 11.51 million (2000) UNdata

6. GREAT WALL OF CHINA
• The Great Wall is the grandest stone defensive construction in
ancient China. Located in North China, it stems from
Shanhaiguan Pass in the east and stretches to Jia Yu Guan in the
west. With a total length of 6700 kilometers (over 10000 li), it is
also known as "A ten-thousand-li wall".
• The history of the Great Wall of China began when fortifications
built by various states during the Spring and Autumn (771–476
BC) and Warring States periods (475–221 BC) were connected by
the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, to protect his newly
founded Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) against incursions by nomads
from Inner Asia

7. Religions and Belief
• There is an Islam religion in china and its over 22 million.
• Catholicism 4 million
• protestant 10 million
• atheist( doesnt believe god)
• confucianism (ethical teaching, moral behavior) by Confucious
• Buddhism (a religion that encompasses a variety of tradition and
beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teaching attributed
to Buddha)
• Taoism path or the way, avoid human desires opposite of
confucianism.

8. Culture and Tradition
•Wedding:
• Red is the color of wedding in china, they believe
that its signifies Love, Joy and Prosperity.
• Before the wedding celebration the bride goes to
seclusion.
• the day of the wedding is carefully chosen to
astrological signs.

9. Education
the education in china has always been a highly
valued.
the great master confucious taught that it is pleasure
to learn something and to try it out atintervals.
similarly numerous students have been convinced
that reading books excels all others career.

10. Seven main Dialects
• MANDARIN
• CANTONESE
• HAKKA
• WU
• MIN
• XIANG
• GAN

11. The Special Events in
China

12. Celebrated on the first day of the year in LUNAR calendar,
usually between late in january or early Feb.

13. Lantern festival- celebrated on the 15th day of the first
lunar calendar
•Dragon Boat
festival- celebrated on the
5th of the 5th lunar calendar

14. Confucius
• Kong Qui was born in 550 B.C in the Lu State of
China.
• Died on 479 BC
• Official Imperial Philosophy
• Extremely Influencial during the Han, Tong and
Song Dynasty

15. Analects of Confucius
• is a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the
Chinese philosopher Confucius and his contemporaries,
traditionally believed to have been compiled and written
by Confucius' followers. It is believed to have been
written during the Warring States period (475 BC–221
BC), and it achieved its final form during the mid-Han
dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). By the early Han dynasty the
Analects was considered merely a "commentary" on the
Five Classics, but the status of the Analects grew to be one
of the central texts of Confucianism by the end of that
dynasty.

16. The Four Books are the:
1. Analects
2. Mencius
3. The higher education
4. The doctrine of the mean
The Five Scriptures are:
1. Book of Poetry (shih)
2. Book of history (shu)
3. Book of changes (yi)
4. Book of rites (li)
5. Book of spring and Annals ( ch`un-ch`iu)

17. Chinese Literature
•The Major Literacy Heritage of the
worlds with an interrupted history of
more then 30,000 years dating back at
least to the 14th Century.

18. Classical Literature
• (1644-1911) refers to the earliest period and covers
works from 3000 yrs. ago to the late QING
DYNASTY and is a virtually unbroken strands
enduring dynastic changes. Written in acient form
of language that is very different from present day
chinese, it needs to be carefully studied to be
understand.

19. Modern Literature
(Drama, Poetry, Essay) refers to the period of Opium
war(war bet. anglo chinese and british) in 1840
to the may fourth movement in 1919. People
absorbed the impact of western thoughts as
foriegner poured china and stablished their
colonies, novels ,poetry, and other works beun
to appearwithe time of patriotism and the
revelation of social literature.

20. modern Chinese writers
Wang Tao (王韜) (1828–1897)
Yan Fu (嚴復) (1853–1924)
Liu E (劉鶚) (1857–1909)
Liang Qichao (梁啟超) (1873–1929)
Wang Guowei (王國維) (1877–1927)
Hu Shi (胡適) (1891–1962)
Su Manshu (蘇曼殊) (1894–1918)
Lu Xun (魯迅) (1881–1936)

21. Contemporary Literature-
(1919-49)
• spanned period from 1919 to the foundation of modern in 1949
and took on a new vigor despite the fact that chinese wad in the
throws of checkered and complicated times.
• this period bought into being a new and revised literary language
form content and skills allowing it to involve into an independent
and open art available to the whole of society influenced by the
tide of the world literature provides ommunication between
writers and the readers.

22. Present Literature (1949 - Present)
• has evolved since the stablishment of the peoples
republic in 1949 during those times, there was a
logjam as a consequence of the cultural rebolution
that lasted for nearly 10 years that era is now long
past and we now have a favorable turn on events
and a great number of responsible writer deeper
the literary forms and contentnowadays literature.

23. The Nine Dynasty in
China

24. Shang Dynasty
• Shang Dynasty was established by King Tang in 1675 BC after
overthrowing the tyrannical rule of Jie, (Xia's last emperor)
• Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism — had not yet been
formed. Folk religion during the Shang dynasty was
polytheistic, meaning the people worshipped many gods.
• Oracle Bone Script. This is the earliest form of Chinese writing,
used from the Middle to Late Shang dynasty (approximately
1500 BCE to 1000 BCE). This script was etched onto turtle
shells and animals bones, which were then used for divination in
the royal Shang court, hence the name "oracle bones".

25. Zhou Dynasty
• Zhou Wu (emperor)
• Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (1076-221 BC) (pronounced Jo)
• Regional feudal states similar to Shang.
• Ruled as coordinators rather than as a central govt.
• military force determined strength of rulers.
• Conflict led to decline into the "Period of the Warring States" (403-221
B.C.).
• Religion Confucianism and Taoism.
• Zhou dynasty took over from Shang after defeating them in the Battle of
Muye in 1046 BC. They governed significant part of China till 771 BC
when their emperor was defeated and killed in battle. The first 275 years
of their reign is known as the Western Zhou period.

26. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
Literary Disaster and Legalism
• Warring States Period, of the surviving few big states in the land, the Qin Dynasty became the most
powerful. The Qin Dynasty had big armies and conquered the others. Once the Qin emperor had
control, he wanted to keep it, and they squelched any opposition to his authority. In the conquered
territories, there were teachers of many different doctrines and religions. A big philosophical and
religious school then was called Mohism. They were particularly attacked by the Qin Dynasty, and little
is known about it. An early form of Buddhism was also established in China at that time, but their
temples and literature were destroyed and even less is known about them. The emperor wanted to
reduce the One Hundred Schools of Thought to one that he approved. He ordered the destruction of
most books all over the empire. He even killed many Confucian philosophers and teachers. He allowed
books on scientific subjects like medicine or agriculture to survive. So the “Book Burning and Burial of
Scholars” was a literary disaster.
• On the other hand, the Qin Dynasty standardized the written Classical Language. It is said that a
minister of the Qin emperor named Li Si introduced a writing system that later developed into modern
Chinese writing. Standardization was meant to help control the society. The standardized writing
system also helped people all over the country to communicate more clearly.
• The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism (法家). This philosophy of
course justified the strong control of the emperor and maintained that everyone should obey him. It is
thought that Li Si taught that human nature was naturally selfish and that a strong emperor
government with strict laws was needed for social order. Li Si’s writings on politics and law and his
propagation of this school much influenced the political thinking in the Han Dynasty and later eras.
Legalism texts and the standardization of writing were the Qin Dynasty era’s literary contributions.

27. Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
Scientific and Historical Texts
• The Han Dynasty era lasted for 400 years. At the beginning of the era, Confucianism was revived.
Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism
philosophy of Li Si. The resulting ideology was the official ideology of the Han Dynasty and influenced
political thinking afterwards. The era’s major contributions were historical texts and scientific works.
• Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history concerning the overall history of China from before the
Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. The book’s prose was considered a model for writers in succeeding dynastic
eras. Another Important historical text concerned the Han Dynasty itself.
• one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. But printing wasn’t available for
wide publication of the information. During the Eastern Han Dynasty towards the end of the Han era,
the influence of the philosophy of the Confucian Classics that hindered scientific progress was waning.
So people were more free to pursue invention. Cai Lun (50–121) of the imperial court is said to be the
first person in the world to create writing paper, and this was important for written communication at
the end of the empire. Finery forges were used in steel making. Two or three mathematical texts
showing advanced mathematics for the times were written.
• The Han Empire disintegrated into warring kingdoms similar to what happened during the Warring States Period
before the Qin Dynasty. For several hundred years, dynasties and kingdoms rose and fell in various places, and the
next big and long-lasting dynastic empire is called the Tang Dynasty.

28. Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry
• The Tang Dynasty had a big empire that benefited from trade with the west along the Silk Road, battled with
the Tibetan Empire, and experienced the growing influence of organized Buddhist religions. This era’s main
contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. Dufu and Li Bai
are often thought of as China’s greatest poets.
• Li Bai (701–762) was one of the greatest romantic poets of ancient China. He wrote at least a thousand poems
on a variety of subjects from political matters to natural scenery.
• Du Fu (712-770 AD) also wrote more than a thousand poems. He is thought of as one of the greatest realist
poets of China. His poems reflect the hard realities of war, dying people living next to rich rulers, and
primitive rural life. He was an official in the Tang capital of Chang An, and he was captured when the capital
was attacked. He took refuge in Chengdu that is a city in Sichuan Province. It is thought that he lived in a
simple hut where he wrote many of his best realist poems. Perhaps more than 1,400 of his poems survive, and
his poetry is still read and appreciated by modern Chinese people.

29. Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry,
Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics
• It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty, Military technology greatly advanced.
• They traded little with the west due to the presence of warring Muslim states on the old trade
routes.
• There wasn’t territorial expansion, but the empire was continuously attacked by nomadic
tribes and countries around them.
• Their northern territory was invaded, and they were forced to move their capital to
southern.
• China. So the era is divided into two eras called the Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern
Song (1127-1279) eras.
• One of the era’s technological accomplishments was the invention of movable type about the
turn of 2nd millennia during the Northern Song period.
• Travel literature in which authors wrote about their trips and about various destinations
became popular perhaps because the texts could be cheaply bought.

30. • The Five Classics and Four Books were written in the written Classical Language.
• The Five Classics include: The Book of Changes, The Classic of Poetry, The Record
of Rites that was a recreation of the original Classic of Rites of Confucius that was
lost in the Qin book purge, The Classic of History, and The Spring and Autumn
Annals that was mainly a historical record of Confucius' native state of Lu.
• The Four Books include: The Analects of Confucius that is a book of pithy sayings
attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples; Mencius that is a collection of
political dialogues attributed to Mencius; The Doctrine of the Mean; and The Great
Learning that is a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao. For foreigners
who want a taste of this Confucian philosophy, reading the Analects of Confucius is a
good introduction since the statements are usually simple and like common sense.
• Another contribution to the literature of China was the poetry of the Song era.
• A Southern Song poet named Lu is thought to have written almost 10,000 poems. Su
Tungpo is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era.

31. Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)
Drama and Great Fictional Novels
• Mongols were nomadic people who herded cattle north of the Tang Empire and wandered over a large area fighting
on horseback.
• They easily conquered Persia far to the west.
• It was a big empire with high technology, a big population and a big army.
• Then they decided to try to conquer all the countries around them. They attacked the Tang Dynasty,
• They conquered Russia, a part of eastern Europe and a part of the Middle East. In China, the Mongols established
the very rich Yuan Dynasty. In their camps, the Mongols were entertained by shadow puppet plays in which a
LAMP cast the shadows of little figurines and puppets on a screen or sheet.
• Also two of the four novels that are generally considered China’s best literary classics were written in vernacular
language then.
• So though the Yuan Empire wasn’t ruled by Chinese, it was an era of some historically renowned dramatic
playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular language.
• The Romance of the Western Chamber was written by Wang Shifu. It is considered one of the best romantic dramas
ever written in China.
• A Yuan dynasty blue-and-white porcelain dish with fish and flowing water design, mid-14th century,

32. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Novels
• Rebelled against the Mongols.
• The Mongols and the Ming government still sometimes fought.
• Because of this and the presence of Muslim countries in between, trade with the west
was reduced to the pre-Yuan level.
• The Ming initially were interested in exploration, and Muslims whose ancestors
arrived during the Yuan Dynasty and who were familiar with seagoing trade were
employed to make long voyages to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and perhaps
Africa.
• Then they became isolationist. It is interesting that a book that is one of the four great
classics called Journey to the West about a monk going to India was written during
this time of isolation.
• Maybe the thought of travel to the lands in the west was appealing then. Novels were
the era’s main contribution.

33. • The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a
Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn Buddhist teachings
and bring back scriptures and information. In 1629, Xuanzang
(602 - 664) left Chang'an in 629 and arrived back in Chang'an in
646. Mythical tales about this journey including the character of
an intelligent monkey began to be circulated long before the book
was written. The author drew on known tales.
• Journey to the West is thought to have been published
anonymously by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century though scholars
have doubt about the authorship. The trend in that era was for
people to write in Classical Chinese and imitate the literature of
the Tang Dynasty and Han Dynasty. However, this book was
written in the vernacular.

34. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Novels and Pre-modern Literature
• The last dynasty
• The Manchus were not Chinese, but they retained the Neo-Confucian governing
system of the Song and Ming eras.
• The Qing Dynasty came under increasing attack from both internal rebellions and
foreign countries.
• In the 19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the
middle of this era, the last of China’s four great classic novels was written called
Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢); and near the end of the era, modernistic
literature developed.
• The Dream of the Red Chamber also has an uncertain authorship. Like the other
three great classic novels, it was written in a vernacular language – the Mandarin
language that was the language of the Qing capital. It is probably mostly composed
by Cao Xueqin (about 1715-1763) in the middle 1700s, and the first printing of the
book was in the late 1700s.

35. • It is thought that Cao did not live to see the first printing. It is
thought that another person or other people contributed the
ending of the story since the original ending of the story was lost.
• The book has a lot of textual problems, and there are different
versions. In a preface to a printed version in 1792, two editors
claimed to have put together an ending based on the author's
working manuscripts that they had bought from a street vendor.
• Educated Chinese had easier access to foreign literature, and they
were more influenced by Western culture.
• Students started to travel abroad to study, and schools built by
missionaries educated tens of thousands of students.
• tarted translating foreign works on science, politics, and
literature. These were popular, and the culture started to change.
Some writers produced fiction more like Western fiction.

36. Modern Era (1912-present)
Westernized Literature
• Sun Yat-sen led a revolution that marked the end of Chinese dynasties in
which a clan rules an empire. Of course, the big change of Chinese society
that happened with the change of government led to a change in literature. It
became westernized, and the Classical Language wasn’t used. The national
government wanted women to have more of an equal status in society, and
women writers and scholars were taken more seriously. There was a lot of
politically oriented literature printed. Scholars had access to foreign
literature, and many students studied abroad.
• Until about 1923, there was a New Culture Movement. Writers generally
wanted to lead the way in transforming China into a modern industrialized
country and replacing Confucian life-style with a westernized one. Under the
national government, there was some freedom of expression, and lots of views
and styles of literature were popular. China came under attack from Japan.
After the Communist victory, only literature approved by the government
was allowed.

37. A Wife Mourns For Her Husband
• The dolichos grows and covers the thorn,
• O'er the waste is the dragon-plant creeping.
• The man of my heart is away and I mourn--
• What home have I, lonely and weeping?
• Covering the jujubes the dolichos grows,
• The graves many dragon-plants cover;
• But where is the man on whose breast I'd repose?
• No home have I, having no lover!
• Fair to see was the pillow of horn,
• And fair the bed-chamber's adorning;
• But the man of my heart is not here, and I mourn
• All alone, and wait for the morning.
• While the long days of summer pass over my head,
• And long winter nights leave their traces,
• I'm alone! Till a hundred of years shall have fled,
• And then I shall meet his embraces.
• Through the long winter nights I am burdened with fears,
• Through the long summer days I am lonely;
• But when time shall have counted its hundreds of years
• I then shall be his--and his only!
• Confucius :

38. Three Chinese Poets
• Wang Wei - Wang Wei was a Tang dynasty Chinese poet, musician, painter, and
statesman. He was one of the most famous men of arts and letters of his time. Born
699 AD, Qi County, Shanxi, Jinzhong, China, Died 761 AD, Xi'an, China,
• Li Bai - also known as Li Bo, was a Chinese poet acclaimed from his own day to the
present as a genius and a romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new
heights. Born 701 AD, Suyab, died 762 AD, Yangtze, China, Spouse Zong (m. 744
AD–762 AD), Books. (quiet night thought, i didnt notice the mountain growin, li pai
200 selection poems, banished immortal: vision of li t`ai, the work of LI PO, the
chinese Poe, Chinese Makars: Du Fu, Li Bai, Works of Li Po 1966)
• Du Fu - Born: 712, Died: 770 (aged 57–58) was a prominent Chinese poet of the
Tang dynasty. Along with Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the
Chinese poets. He has been called the "Poet-Historian" and the "Poet-Sage" by
Chinese critics, while the range of his work has allowed him to be introduced to
Western readers as "the Chinese Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns,
Wordsworth, Béranger, Hugo or Baudelaire".

39. References
• http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/history-of-chinese-literature.htm
• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Modern+Era&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=490&site=webhp&source
=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiti4yAj93RAhVCGJQKHbvKD0EQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=ceSSI
Fwey1t1gM%3A
• http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/history-of-chinese-literature.htm
• https://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/confucius/a-wife-mourns-for-her-husband/
• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Modern+Era&ei=44GIWPr9CYKp0gTgvJKoCw&emsg=NCSR
&noj=1
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Fu
• https://www.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl=http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/sites/default/files/W
ang-Wei-2A1%5B1%5D.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/wang-wei-aka-
wang-
youcheng%3Fpage%3D4&h=875&w=594&tbnid=WRHgpn5INeLzHM:&vet=1&tbnh=186&tbnw=126
&docid=xAzc8-
BCybUwCM&itg=1&usg=__w3uL9zJ9EwUUk2RXvvjEZ4_825s=&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvtJ2Qod3R
AhWDp5QKHUQqDdAQ_B0IcTAK&ei=5pSIWO-pE4PP0gTE1LSADQ