Chinese literature dates back thousands of years to early hieroglyphic writings from the Shang Dynasty in the 18th-11th century BC. Major works include philosophical and religious texts from the Zhou Dynasty, historical texts from the Han Dynasty, and poetry from the Tang Dynasty. Famous novels emerged in later dynasties like Water Margin, Journey to the West, and Dream of the Red Chamber. Chinese literature experienced western influence in the modern era following the overthrow of the last dynasty in 1912.

1. CHINESE
LITERATURE

2. There is a wealth of early
Chinese literature dating
from the Hundred Schools
of Thought that occurred
during the Eastern Zhou
Dynasty (770–256 BC).

3. 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.

4. What are the famous
literature in China?
1. Water Margin
 Water Margin is one of the earliest Chinese
novels written in vernacular Mandarin and is
attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as
Outlaws of the Marsh and All Men Are Brothers.

6. 2. Journey to the West
Journey to the West is a Chinese novel
published in the 16th century during the Ming
dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is
regarded as one of the Four Great Classical
Novels of Chinese literature, and has been
described as arguably the most popular literary
work in East Asia.

10. 4. Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story
of the Stone is a novel composed by Cao
Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century.
The intricate strands of its plot depict the
rise and decline of a family much like Cao's
own and, by extension, of the dynasty
itself.

12. Writing in China dates back to the
hieroglyphs that were used in the Shang
Dynasty of 1700 – 1050 BC. Chinese
literature is a vast subject that spans
thousands of years. One of the
interesting things about Chinese
literature is that much of the serious
literature was composed using a formal
written language that is called Classical
Chinese.

13. However, this written language
wasn’t the vernacular language even
two thousand years ago. The
empires and groups of kingdoms of
all these eras were composed of
people speaking many different
native languages.

14. If Europe had a literary history like
China’s, it would be as if most
European writers until the 20th
century always tried to write in
ancient Classical Greek that became
a dead language more than two
millennia ago.

15. Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) —
Development of Chinese Writing

16.  The first dynasty for which there is
historical record and archaeological
evidence is the Shang Dynasty. It was
a small empire in northern central
China. No documents from that
country survive, but there are
archaeological finds of hieroglyphic
writing on bronze wares and oracle
bones. The hieroglyphic writing
system later evolved into ideographic
and partly-phonetic Chinese
characters.

17. Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) — Basic
Philosophical and Religious Literature
Confucius Statue

18.  The Zhou Dynasty was
contemporaneous with the Shang
Dynasty, and then they conquered the
Shang Dynasty. Their dynasty lasted
for about 800 years, but for most of
the time, their original territory was
broken up into dozens of competing
kingdoms, and these finally coalesced
into several big and warring kingdoms
by the end of the Zhou era.

19. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) — Literary Disaster
and Legalism
The First Imperial Dynasty in China

20.  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.

21. Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) —
Scientific and Historical Texts
Cai Lun invented the writing paper

22.  A former peasant leader overthrew
the Qin Empire. 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.

23. Tang Dynasty (618-907) — Early
Woodblock Printing and Poetry
Li Bai

24.  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.

25. Song Dynasty (960-1279) — Early
Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature,
Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-
Confucian Classics
Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty

26.  The next dynasty is called the
Song Dynasty. It was weaker than
the Tang Dynasty, but the imperial
government officials made
remarkable scientific and
technical advances. Military
technology greatly advanced.

27.  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.

28. Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) — Drama and Great
Fictional Novels
The puppet drama in Yuan Dynasty

29.  The Mongols were nomadic people
who herded cattle north of the Tang
Empire and wandered over a large
area fighting on horseback. They
believed that they might be able to
conquer the world. They easily
conquered Persia far to the west. It
was a big empire with high technology,
a big population and a big army.

30.  Then they decided to try to conquer
all the countries around them.
They attacked the Tang Dynasty, the
Dali Kingdom in Yunnan, and much of
Asia, and they formed the biggest
empire in the history of the earth
until then.

31. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) — Novels
Xuanzang

32.  The Chinese rebelled against the
Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty
era began about 1368. 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.

33.  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.

34. Modern Era (1912-present) —
Westernized Literature
Sun Yat-sen

35.  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.

36.  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.

37. THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!
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Presented by: Amado C. Manuel III