CHINA’S LITERARY WORKS-HISTORIES:

 Philosophy
 Lyrics
 Tales China’s dynasties:
 Dramas  Chou (Joh) Dynasty
 Letters  Chin Dynasty
Famous writers:  Han Dynasty
 CONFUCIUS  Sui Dynasty
 TU-FU
 LAO-TSU  T’ ong Dynasty
 Ssu-ma Ch’ien  Sung Dynasty
 Chu Yuan
 Li Po  Ming Dynasty
 Po Chu-I
 Mencius

Historical and geographical background

 The third largest country in the world.
 Located in eastern Asia bounded by pacific in the east.
 China has 6,536 islands than 500 square meters.
 Taiwan was the largest second is the hainan.

Chou (Joh) Dynasty

 The longest in China’s history
 The time of war, lawlessness and disunity
 Rulers of this period introduced the feudal system
 This period was known as China’s classical age because of their classical books
 This dynasty was the time of the famous philosophers like Confucius, Lao- Tse, and
Mencius
Chin Dynasty
 Founded by Prince Cheng used the name Shih Huang Ti or (first great Emperor)
 The name China originated during from this period
 During this period, “the great wall of china” was build as country’s contribution to the
wonders of the world
 The great wall of China was also built to protect the empire from the Nomadic tribes
 Chinese literature suffered a literary holocaust during this period
Han Dynasty
 Ruled China for 400 years and was founded by Lin Pang.
 Improved the government by appointing qualified officials who passed examination.
 In this period, literature had flourished.
Sui Dynasty
 This period is remembered for the building of the Grand Canal.
 Built by cruel task masters through force labor.
 Those laborers ages 15-50 years old.
T’ong Dynasty
 China became the most civilized, most progressive, and mightiest nation in the world.
 Gun powder and method of printing from carved wood were discovered.
 The diamond sutra and Peking Gazette were produced during this period.
 Chinese sculpture, painting, literature and education developed.
 This period is known as the “Golden Age of Chinese Poetry”.
Sung Dynasty
 This was the continuation of the T’ ong empire.
 This dynasty often called the “Literary Dynasty of China”
 It produced the following personalities:
1. Wang An-Shin – a noted statesman and scholar who advised the emperor to institute
state socialism.
2. Chu His – profounded the concept of Confucianism.
3. Szu-Ma Kuang – compiled a voluminous history of China consisting of 294 chapters.
4. Chao-Ju-Kua – wrote book which describes China’s relations with the countries and
people of southeast Asia.
Ming Dynasty
 The emperors during this period wanted to bring back the pure Chinese state.
 During this dynasty, famous novels were read by ordinary people.
 One of the famous adventure story is the “All Men are Brothers”.
 Its all about a band of outlaws led by a hero like Robinhood was the most famous and
this novel remained popular until this modern times.

THE ANALECTS (SAYINGS)

Confucius
BOOK I
1. The Philosopher Yu said, “There are few who being filial and fraternal, are fond of
offensing their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion.”
2. “The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all
practical courses naturally crop up. Filial piety and fraternal submission-are they not
root of all benevolent actions?”
BOOK III
3. The Master said, “A man who is not Good, what can he have to do with ritual? A man
who is not Good, what can he have to do with music?”
7. The master said “Gentlemen never compete. You will say that in archery they do so. But
even then they bow and make way for one another, when they going up to the archery-
ground, when they are coming down, and at the subsequent drinking-bout. Thus even
when competing, they still remain gentlemen”.
BOOK IV
2. 2. The Master said, “Without Goodness a man cannot for long endure adversity,
cannot for long enjoy prosperity. The Good man rests content with Goodness; he that is
merely wise pursues Goodness in the belief that it pays to do so.
17. The master said, “in the presence of a good man, think all the time how you may learn
to equal him. In the presence of a bad man, turn your gaze within”.
BOOK V
8. The Master in discussing Tzu-kung said to him, which do you yourself think is the
better, you or Hui? He answered saying, I dare not so much as look at Hui. For Hui has
but to hear one part in ten in order to understand the whole ten. Whereas if I hear one
part, I understand no more than two parts. The Master said, “Not equal to him-you and I
are not equal to him!”
23. The master said, how can we call even Weisheng Kao upright? When someone asked
him for vinegar, he went and begged it from the people next door and then gave it as
though it were his own gift.
BOOK VI
9. The master said, incomparable indeed was Hui! A handful of rice to eat, a gourdful of
water to drink, living in a mean street-others would have found it unendurably
depressing, but to Hui’s cheerfulness it made no difference at all. Incomparable indeed
is Hui!
BOOK VII
15. The Master said, He who seeks only coarse food to eat, water to drink, and bent arm for
pillows will, without looking for it, find happiness to boot. Any thought of accepting
wealth and rank by means that I know to be wrong is as remote from me as the clouds
that float above.
21. The Master said, Even walking in a party of no more than three, I can always be certain
of learning from those I am with. There will be good qualities that I can select for
imitation and bad ones that will teach me what requires correction in my self.
BOOK VIII
16. The Master said, Learn as if you are following someone with whom you could not catch
up, as though it were someone you were frightened of losing.
BOOK IX
24. The Master said, Fist and foremost, be faithful to your superiors, keep all promises,
Refuse the friendship of all who are not like you; and if you have make a mistake, do not
be afraid of admitting the fact and amending your ways.

A MEETING
Tu Fu
We were often separated
Like the dipper and the morning star.
What night is tonight?
We are together in the candlelight.
How does your youth last?
Now we are all gray-haired
Half of our friend are dead,
And both of us were surprised when we met.

Who would know that after twenty years

I would call upon you in your hall?
You were not married when we last parted,
And now you have sons and daughters
Who come courteously to their father’s friend
And ask me where I came from
While we are thus greeting each other,
Your sons and daughters begin to prepare the wine.
They gather the spring spinach on this rainy night
And prepare for the feast with new made ale.

THE NEW YEAR’S SACRIFICE

 By Lu Shun, the pen name of Chou-Shu-Jen, the founder of the modern Chinese
literature.
 The New Year’s Sacrifice exposes the issues of women’s rights.
Characters:
• Narrator/Speaker • Brother-in-Law of Hsiang Lin’s Wife
• Hsiang Lin’s Wife • Liu Ma
• Mr. Lu – the fourth son of their family; An old • Ho Family
student of the imperial college who went in
• Second husband
for Neo-Confucianism
• Ah Mao-son
• Mrs. Lu
• Ah Nui – cousin of the speaker
• Old Mrs. Wei – maidservant
• Mother-in-Law of Hsiang Lin’s Wife