Afro-Asian Literature- Chinese Literature
square kilometers)
China
- located in East Asia
- the third largest country in the world in
terms of area (after Russia and Canada) and
total population
- Its coastline, bordering on the Yellow, East
China, and South China seas, is about 12,000
km (7,500) mi) long. China shares a land
border of about 21,260 km (13,210 mi) with
14 other countries: North Korea, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Mongolia, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bhutan, Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.
HISTORY
 China is the home of one of the world's oldest
civilizations, but it has only recently become a
"modern" nation. In the last 20 years, China
has changed faster than any other country in
the world.
 Chinese history is divided into dynasties, each
of which marks the period when a line of
emperors ruled. The first empire was the Qin
dynasty and began in 221 B.C. The last
emperor was overthrown in 1912, and China
became a Republic. The communist
government began its rule in 1949 following a
civil war with the Chinese nationalists.
 Ancient China was the land of invention. For
centuries, China was way ahead of most other
countries in science and technology,
astronomy, and math. The Chinese invented
paper, the magnetic compass, printing,
porcelain, silk, and gunpowder, among other
things.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT CHINA:
The first time Zhongguo was used as the Chinese
nation's official name was in the Sino-Russian Treaty
of Nerchinsk of 1689. In 1912, Zhongguo was
designated the short-form Chinese name for the
Republic of China, and the People's Republic inherited
the name in 1949.
 OFFICIAL NAME: People's Republic of
China
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Communist
state
 CAPITAL: Beijing (Peking)
 POPULATION: 1,397,897,720
 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Standard Chinese,
Mandarin
 MONEY: Yuan (or renminbi)
 AREA: 3,705,405 square miles (9,596,960
 MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Himalaya
 MAJOR RIVERS: Yangtze, Yellow
The name China, which is commonly used by
foreigners, is probably derived from the Qin (Ch'in)
dynasty (221-206 B.C.), which first unified the nation.
The Chinese themselves use the name Zhonggua
(Chung-kuo; Middle Country), which originated with
the early Chinese concept that China was in the middle
of the world.
CHINESE FLAG
 The red Chinese flag has two historical bases.
It special delivers the revolutionary communist
philosophy that has subjugated China for
several years. Red is also the traditional
cultural color of the Han, who form the
overwhelming mainstream in the nation. The
first republic was established in 1912 and
these five stars in Chinese Flag form
horizontal stripes in the national flag. Indeed,
five has long been a substantial number in
Chinese representation; it resembles to the
four serious points plus the center. It also
means traditional five rulers, five classics, five
virtues, and five elements.
 On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of
China officially hoisted five stars appearing in
yellow in the upper hoist canton. The big star
stands for the Chinese Communist Party and
its foremost role in guiding the nation. Flag of
China has smaller stars represent the
proletariat, the peasants, the petty bourgeoisie,
and the patriotic capitalists. Later,
reinterpretations of the party construction led
to a studied symbolism: the large star was
considered for China, the smaller stars meant
for country’s national minorities.
GEOGRAPHY
 Stretching 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) from
east to west and 3,400 miles (5,500
kilometers) from north to south, China is a
large country with widely varying landscapes.
Its territory includes mountains, high plateaus,
sandy deserts, and dense forests.
 One-third of China's land area is made up of
mountains. The tallest mountain on Earth,
Mount Everest, sits on the border between
China and Nepal.
 China has thousands of rivers. The Yangtze
and the Yellow Rivers are the most important.
 At 3,915 miles (6,300 kilometers) long, the GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY
Yangtze is the world's third largest river.
 China is an authoritarian state ruled by a very
 China is divided into 23 provinces (including
powerful central government. A huge
Taiwan) and 5 autonomous border regions,
workforce and lots of natural resources have
where other ethnic groups constitute a
driven economic change. This has forced the
majority of the population.
communist government to permit more
 For ease of reference the provinces and
economic and personal freedoms, but it has
autonomous regions are usually grouped into
come at a huge cost to the environment.
six large administrative regions. These units
 Many experts predict that the 21st century will
are as follows:
be the "Chinese century." Whether or not that
a) The Northeastern Region, which includes the
proves to be true, there is no doubt that what
provinces of Heilongjiang (Heilungkiang),
happens in China will affect many other
Jilin (Kirin), and Liaoning;
nations.
b) The Northern Region, which includes the
prov inces of Hebei (Hopei) and Shanxi  China was ruled by a series of dynasties until
(Shansi), the Inner Mon golia Autonomous 1912, when a republic was established. In
Region (Nei Menggu Zizhiqu; and the 1921 the Chinese Communist party was
centrally controlled municipalities of Beijing founded, and in 1926 the long civil war
(Peking) and Tianjin (Tientsin); between the ruling nationalists, or
c) The Eastern Region, which includes the Kuomintang. led by Chiang Kaishek, and the
provinces of Shandong (Shantung), Jiangxi Communists, led by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-
(Kiangsi), Jiangsu (Kiangsu), Anhui (Anhwei), tung), began. The communists took over the
Zhejiang (Chekiang), and Fujian (Fukien); mainland in 1949, establishing the People's
d) The Central Region, which includes the Republic of China.
Guangxi Zhuang (Kwangsi Chuang)  The Kuomintang retreated to the island of
Autonomous Region; Taiwan, continuing as the Republic of China.
e) The Southwestern Region, which includes The United Nations recognized Taiwan as the
the provinces of Sichuan (Szechwan), Guizhou legitimate government of China until 1971,
(Kweichow), and Yunnan (Yunnan) and the when the People's Republic assumed the U.N.
Xizang Zizhiqu (Tibetan) autonomous Region; seat formerly held by Taiwan. In 1979 the
and United States rec ognized the legitimacy of the
f) The Northwestern Region, which includes People's Republic, and diplo matic relations
the provinces of Shaanxi (Shensi), Gansu between the two nations were established. The
(Kansu), and Qinghai (Tsinghai) and the sovereignty of Taiwan is still disputed.
Xinjiang Uygur (Sinkiang Uighur)  China is a Communist state, with all
Autonomous Region. authority resting in the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP). The country has had six
PEOPLE AND CULTURE constitutions since the Communists
reorganized the national government in 1949.
 With a population of 1.4 billion, China has
more people than any other country on Earth.
About a third of the population lives in cities.
The rest of the people live in the country.
 Arts and crafts have a long history in China.
Thousands of years ago the Chinese were
some of the first people to use silk, jade,
bronze, wood, and paper to make art. The
artistic writing called calligraphy was invented
in China.
 Much of China's modern beliefs and
philosophies are based on the teachings of a
government official who lived nearly 3,000
years ago. Kongfuzi, also known as
Confucius, taught people the value of such
things as morality, kindness, and education.
PEOPLE
 China is a multiracial state whose population
includes about 92 percent Han Chinese and
about 8 percent some 60 other ethnic groups,
the largest being Huis, Mongols, Uighurs,
Zhuangs (Chuangs), Yis, Tibetans, Miasos,
Manchus, Buyis (Puyis), and Koreans,
National autonomous regions, districts, or
countries have been established in areas where
these ethnic groups are concentrated.
LANGUAGE
 China's languages are classified into four
major linguistic families; the Indo-European,
Sino-Tibetan, Ural-Altaic, and Mon-Khmer.
Mandarin dialects, the largest group of the
Sino-Tibetan family, are spoken by about two-
thirds of China's population. The Mandarin
Beijing dialect is now China's national spoken
language.
 The Ural -Altaic linguistic family includes the
Turkic linguistic groups (Kazakh, Kirghiz,
Uzbek, Salar, and Uighur), Mongolic groups:
(Meng, Tu, Dongsiang/Tungsiang.
Baoyin/Paoan, and Daghurs), and Tungusic
groups (Manchu, Evenki, Orochan Gold, and
Sibo). The Mon-Khmer linguistic family of
Southeast Asia is represented in Yunnan
province by the Wa (Kawa), the Puland
(Palaung), and the Penglung. The Indo-
European linguistic family is represented only
by Tajik speakers.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
 Traditionally, the major religions of China
were Buddhism and Taoism. Most Chinese
also believed in ancestor worship and
Confucianism, a system of social and political
values. Tibetan Buddhism was the religion of
the Mongols and the Tibetans. Large Muslim
and Christian (primarily Roman Catholic)
minorities were important.
 Chinese literature and all of Chinese culture
has been profoundly influenced by three great
schools of thought: Confucianism, Taoism,
and Buddhism.
 Unlike Western religions, Chinese religions
are based on the perception of life as a process
of continual change in which opposing forces,
such as heaven and earth or light and dark,
balance one another.
 These opposites are symbolized by the Yin
and Yang. Yin, the passive and feminine
force, counterbalances yang, the active and
masculine force, each contains a ‘seed’ of the
other, as represented in the traditional yin-
yang symbol
a. Confucianism
- The philosophical system founded on the
teaching of CONFUCIUS (551-479 B.C.),
dominated Chinese socio-political life for most
of Chinese history and largely influenced the
cultures of Korea, Japan, and Indochina.
- Confucianism provides the Chinese with both
a moral order and an order for the universe.
It is not a religion but it makes individuals
aware of their place in the world and the
behavior appropriate to it. It also provides a
political and social philosophy.
 Confucius
- The fame of CONFUCIUS grew greater in the
land than at any time when the Great Teacher
had been alive and he became widely known
as the "First Sage of China." he is
remembered as the "Second Sage of China."
Analects of Confucius:
a. The Master said: "Love makes a spot
beautiful: who chooses not to dwell in
love, has he got wisdom?"
b. The Master said: "Loveless men cannot
bear need long, they cannot bear fortune
long. Loving hearts find peace in love:
clever heads find profit in it."
c. The Master said: "Love can alone love
others, or hate others.
d. The Master said: "A heart set on love will
do no wrong."
e. The Master said: "Wealth and honors are
what men desire, but abide not in them by
the help of wrong. Lowliness and want are
hated of men, but forsake them not by the
help of wrong.
f. The Master said: "A friend to love, a foe
to evil, 1 have yet to meet. A friend to love
will set nothing higher In love's service, a
foe to evil will let no evil touch him. Were
a man to give himself to love, but for one
day, have seen no one whose strength
would fail him. Such men there may be,
but I have not seen one
g. The Master said: "A man and his faults
are a piece. By watching his faults, we
learn whether love be his"
h. The Master said: "To learn the truth at
daybreak and die at eve were enough.”
i. The Master said: "A scholar in search of
truth who is ashamed of poor clothes and
poor food, it is idle talking to
 j. The Master said: "A gentleman has no
likes and no dislikes below heaven; he
follows right."
 The First Sage of China
- CONFUCIUS or Kung Fu-tzu, 551-479 B.C.,
was the Chinese sage who founded
Confucianism. Born of a poor but aristocratic
family in the state of Lu, he was orphaned at
an early age. As a young man, he held several
minor government posts; in later years, he
advanced to become minister of justice in his
home state. But he held these positions only
intermittently and for short periods because of
conflicts with his superiors. Throughout his
life, he was best known as a teacher. When he
died at the age of 72, he had taught a total of
3,000 disciples who carried on his teaching.
 The Five Books Left by Confucius:
a. Book of Changes (Yi King)
- Ascribed to Wan Wang, it is made up of a
geometrical combination of six lines plus
sixty-four explanatory essays. This book was
used by the Chinese for divination, and it was
supposed by some to present a secret and
profound philosophy but no key has been
found.
b. Book of Ceremonies (Li King)
- This voluminous work on etiquette was re-
edited about 100 B.C. by the two Tai cousins,
based on documents allegedly written by
Confucius.
c. Book of Historical Documents (Shu
King)
- This is a formulation of the political ideals and
the fundamentals of good government.
d. Book of Poetry (Shi King)
- A selection of 305 best poems, the book
stresses the cherishing of thoughts and
sentiments of forebears. Some of the poems
are odes written for various occasions; some
are lyric. The book is valuable for insight into
the manners and customs of the ancient
Chinese.
e. Book of Spring and Autumn (Ch' un-
Chiu)
- So-called because, according to its admirers,
its praises were as stimulating as spring, while
its censures were as withering as autumn. It
has little philosophical content, but it is
noteworthy for a history of Confucius' native
province of Lu from 722 to 484 B.C.
 A century after the Great Teacher died, a child
was born in the same province that had been
the birthplace of Confucius and he was named
MANG. At an early age, MANG showed an
aptitude for mimicry.
 Very early in his life Mang became interested
in the teachings of Confucius. He set himself
the task of reviving an interest in them, and
gathered about him many students to whom he
taught the wisdom of the Great Teacher. The
students began to call him, Mang the
philosopher (Mang tze), from which we get
the name MENCIUS.
 Mencius
- MENCIUS was a good organizer and
proselytizer. Wherever he went he made
converts. He gathered the discourses and
sayings of Confucius as recorded by the
disciples and organized them into books, the
best-known of which is The Book of Analects.
He went out among the people to teach the
essential goodness of man's nature as taught by
CONFUCIUS.
But the teachings had already assumed a religious
nature, and CONFUCIUS began to be regarded as
the Teacher of a religion.
The people were taught six principles:
1. Human nature is good and evil is essentially
unnatural.
2. Man is free to conduct himself as he wills, and
he is master of his choice;
3. Virtue is its own reward. If one does good for
a reward or avoids evil for fear of punishment
that is not a virtue.
4. The rule for individual behavior is: what you
do not want others to do to you, do not do to
them.
5. A man has five duties: to his ruler; to his
father; his wife (and she to him); to his elder
brother; to his friends; and the most important
of these is filial duty.
6. Man should strive to become a superior man.
About a hundred and fifty years following the death of
Mencius, the new Emperor of China, who was a young
boy, became enraged by the teachings of Confucius as
taught by his disciple Mencius. He ordered all his
books burned and all the scholars who knew these
books orally to be driven out of the country.
The people, however, loved the teachings of
CONFUCIUS and they kept his memory alive in their
hearts. As soon as the Emperor died, the eminence of
the First Sage became greater than ever. Sacrifices
were offered to his memory and his works were
canonized. Later he was given the rank of an earl, and
still, later he was raised to the rank of an emperor. The
people began to venerate and worship him as a god.
Temples were built where he could be worshipped and
Confucianism became a religion.
b. Taoism
- Taoism holds that humans and animals should
live in balance with the Tao, or the universe.
- Taoism, was expounded by Lao Tzu during
the Chou Dynasty. Taoist beliefs and
influences are an important part of classical
Chinese culture. “The Tao” or “The Way”
means the natural course that the world
follows. To follow the tao of to “go with the
flow” is both wisdom and happiness. For the
Taoist, unhappiness comes from parting from
the tao or from trying to flout it.
 Lao-tzu
- Known as the “old philosopher”, Lao-zi is
credited as the founder of Taoism and an
elder contemporary of Confucius who once
consulted with him. He was more pessimistic
than Confucius was about what can be
accomplished in the world by human action.
 The Tao-Te Ching
- (Classic of the Way of Power) is believed to
have been written between the 8th and 3rd
centuries B.C. The basic concept of the dao is
wuwei or “non-action” which means no
unnatural action, rather than complete
passivity. It implies spontaneity, non-
interference, letting things take their natural
course i.e., “Do nothing and everything else is
done.” Chaos ceases, quarrels end, and self-
righteous feuding disappears because the dao
is allowed to flow unchallenged.
 Realize the Simple Self
Banish wisdom, discard knowledge,
And the people shall profit a hundredfold;
Banish love, discard justice,
And the people shall recover the love of their
kin;
Banish cunning discard utility,
And the thieves and brigands shall disappear.
As these three touch the externals and are
inadequate;
The people have need of what they can depend
upon:
Reveal thy Simple Self,
Embrace the Original Nature, Check thy
selfishness,
Curtail thy desires.
c. Buddhism
- Buddhism was imported from India during the
Han dynasty. Buddhist thought stresses the
importance of ridding oneself of earthly
desires and of seeking ultimate peace and
enlightenment through detachment. With its
stress on living ethically and its de-emphasis
on material concerns, Buddhism appealed to
both Confucians and Taoists.
EDUCATION
 Major changes have occurred in China's
educational system since 1949. During the
1950s and early 1960s educational policy was
directed toward producing college and
secondary school graduates who were
politically reliable and technically qualified.
Students were required to spend half of their
school hours on academic subjects and the
other half learning practical skills in factories
and fields.
 During the Cultural Revolution, the emphasis
was on political indoctrination in revolutionary
ideology. Workers, peasants, and soldiers were
invited to lecture in universities, and university
students were selected on the basis of work
performance and party loyalty.
 In 1977 the educational policies of the Cultural
Revolution were abandoned. Entrance
examinations were reintroduced, and tuition
for higher education was reinstituted in 1985.
Thousands of bright students were sent to
study in colleges and universities in Western
Europe, Japan, and the United States. After the
1989 prodemocracy demonstrations, students
were required to complete a year of political
edu cation before entering college, and
restrictions were imposed on study abroad.
Efforts have been made to extend the years of
schooling to ten in urban areas and nine in
rural (five years at the elementary level and
four to five of secondary school). In 1988.99%
of school-age children were enrolled in
primary schools.
CHINESE LITERATURE
- reflects the political and social history of
China and the impact of powerful religions
that came from within and outside the country.
Its tradition goes back thousands of years and
has often been inspired by philosophical
questions about the meaning of life, how to
live ethically in society, and how to live in
spiritual harmony with the natural order of the
universe.
- Is among the most imaginative and
interesting in the world. The precision of the
language results in perfectly realized images
whether in poetry or prose and, as with all
great literature, the themes are timeless.
 - The Chinese valued literature highly and even
had a god of literature named Wen Chang,
also known as Wendi, Wen Ti.
- 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.
GENRES IN CHINESE POETRY
Are always been highly valued in Chinese culture and
were considered superior to prose. Chief among its
characteristics are lucidity, brevity, subtlety,
suggestiveness or understatement, and its three-fold
appeal to intellect, emotion, and calligraphy.
There are five principal genres in Chinese poetry:
JINGXI (Peking opera)
1. Shih
- was the dominant Chinese poetic form from
the 2nd through the 12th century characterized
by: i) an even number of lines; ii) the same
number of words in each line, in most cases
five or seven; and iii) the occurrence of
rhymes at the end s of the even-numbered
lines. Shih poems often involve the use of
parallelism or couplets that are similar in
structure or meaning.
2. Sao
- was inspired by li sao or ‘encountering
sorrow’, a poem of lamentation and protest
authored by China’s first known great poet,
Chu Yuan (332-295 B.C.). It was an unusually
long poem consisting of two parts: i) an
autobiographical account that is Confucian in
overtones; and ii) a narration of an imaginary
journey undertaken by the persona. The sao
enables the poets to display their creativity of
describing China’s flora and fauna, both real
and imaginary. It is also filled with
melancholia for unrewarded virtue.
3. Fu
- was a poem partially expository and partly
descriptive involving a single thought or
sentiment usually expressed in a reflective
manner. Language ranges from the simple to
the rhetorical.
4. Lu-shih or ‘regulation poetry’
- was developed during the Tang dynasty but
has remained popular even in the present
times. It is an octave consisting of five or
seven syllabic verses with a definite rhyming
scheme with all even lines rhyming together
and the presence of the caesura in every line.
The first four lines of this poem is the ching
(scene) while the remaining four lines describe
the ch’ing (emotion). Thus, emotion evolves
from the setting or atmosphere and the two
becomes fused resulting in a highly focused
reflection of the persona’s loneliness but with
determination to struggle.
5. Chueh-chu or truncated poetry
- a shorter version of the lu-shih and was also
popular during the Tang dynasty. It contains
only four lines but within its twenty or twenty-
eight syllables or characters were vivid
pictures of natural beauty.
6. Tzu
- was identified with the Sung dynasty. It is not
governed by a fixed number of verses nor a
fixed number of characters per verse. The tzu
lyrics were sung to the tunes of popular
melodies.
 Since the 18th century jingxi (or jingju),
popularly known as Peking opera, has arisen
as the principal form of Chinese music-drama.
Credit for the beginning of jingxi is given to
actors from Anhui (now a province in eastern
China) appearing in Beijing (then called
Peking) in the 1790s.
 The most common melodic instrument for
opera is some form of fiddle, or
bowed lute (huqin). It comes in several
different forms, such as the small, shrill-
voiced jinghu and the larger, more mellow-
toned erhu. Although the shape of the body
may be different, all traditional Chinese
fiddles exhibit certain
structural characteristics.
 Conventions of Chinese Theater:
- Chinese drama may be traced to the song and
dances of the chi (wizards) and the wu
(witches) whom the people consulted to
exorcise evil spirits, to bring rain, to ensure
bountiful harvest, etc., an origin in worship or
in some sacred ritual.
There are four principal roles: sheng, tau,
ching, and chao.
 The sheng is the prerogative of the leading
actor, usually a male character, a scholar, a
statesman, a warrior patriot and the like.
 The tau plays all the women’s roles. At least
six principal characters are played by the
female impersonator who has taken over the
role after women were banned from the
Chinese stage as they were looked down upon
as courtesan.
 The ching roles usually assigned the roles of
brave warriors, bandits, crafty and evil
ministers, upright judges, loyal statesmen, at
 times god-like and supernatural beings.
Conventionally, the ching must have broad
faces and forehead suitable for the make-up
patters suggestive of his behavior.
 The chau is the clown or jester who is not
necessarily a fool and may also do serious or
evil character. He is easily recognized for the
white patch around his eyes and nose, his use
of colloquial language and adeptness in
combining mimicry and acrobatics.
Unlike Greek plays, classical Chinese plays do not
follow the unities of time, place, and action. The plot
may be set in two or more places, the time element
sometimes taking years to develop or end, and action
containing many other subplots.
Chinese drama conveys an ethical lesson in the guise
of art in order to impress a moral truth or a Confucian
tenet. Dramas uphold virtue, condemn vice, praise
fidelity, and filial piety. Vice is represented on the
stage not for its own sake but as contrast to virtue.
TWO TYPES OF SPEECHES:
a. Dialogue
- carries forward the action of the day
- usually in prose
b. Monologue
- the means for each character to introduce
him/herself at the beginning of the first scene
of every scene as well as to outline the plot.
- usually in prose
Chinese plays are long – six or seven hours if
performed completely. The average length is about
four acts with a prologue and an epilogue. The Chinese
play is a total theater. There is singing, recitation of
verses, acrobats, dancing, and playing of traditional
musical instruments.
Music is an integral part of the classical drama. It has
recitatives, arias, and musical accompaniment. Chinese
music is based on movement and rhythm that
harmonized perfectly with the sentiments being
conveyed by a character.
The poetic dialogue, hsieh tzu (wedge), is placed at
the beginning or in between acts and is an integral part
of the play.
The stage is bare of props except a table and a pair of
chairs may be converted to a battlefield or a court
scene, a bedroom, even a prison through vivid acting
and poetry
Property conventions are rich in symbolism table
with a chair at the side, both placed at the side of the
stage, represents a hill or a high wall.
Dramatic conventions that serve to identify the nature
and function of each character. Make-up identifies the
characters and personalities. Costumes help reveal
types and different colors signify ranks and status.
Action reflects highly stylized movements. Hand
movements may indicate embarrassment or
helplessness or anguish or anger.
MAJOR CHINESE WRITERS
a. Chuang Tzu (4th century B.C.)
- was the most important early interpreter of
the philosophy of Taoism. Very little is
known about his life except that he served as a
minor court official. In his stories, he appears
as a quirky character who cares little for either
public approval or material possessions.
b. Lieh Tzu (4th century B.C.)
- was a Taoist teacher who had many
philosophical differences with his forebears
Lao-Tzu and Chuan Tzu. He argued that a
sequence of causes predetermines everything
that happens, including one’s choice of action.
c. Lui An (172 – 122 B.C.)
- was not only a Taoist scholar but the grandson
of the founder of the Han dynasty. His royal
title was the Prince of Hauinan. Together
with philosophers and under his patronage, he
produced a collection of essays on
metaphysics, cosmology, politics, and
conduct.
d. Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145 – 90 B.C.)
- was the greatest of China’s ‘Grand
Historians’ who dedicated himself to
completing the first history of China the
Records of the Historian. His work covers
almost three thousand years of Chinese history
in more than half a million written characters
etched onto bamboo tablets.
T’ANG POETS
a. Li Po (701 –762)
- was Wang Wei’s contemporary and he spent a
short time in courts, but seems to have been
too much of a romantic and to give to drink to
16 carry out responsibilities. He was a Taoist,
drawing sustenance from nature and his poetry
was often other-worldly and ecstatic. He had
no great regard for his poems himself. He is
said to have mad thousands of them into paper
boats which he sailed along streams.
- Chinese poet, one of the greatest figures of
Chinese literature. LI PO (LI T'ai-po or Li
T'ai-peh) was born into the minor nobility in
what is now Sichuan (Szechwan) Province.
After an apprenticeship with a Taoist hermit
 and a time of wandering, he lived briefly as a
poet at the T'ang court in Ch'angan but left as
the result of intrigue. Then he returned to a life
of Taoist study and carefree reflective
wandering, writing poems and enjoying nature
and the pleasures of wine, supplied free by the
emperor's order According to legend, LI PO
was drowned while drunkenly leaning from a
boat to embrace the moon's reflection on the
water.
- Most of LI PO'S vast output is lost, but about
2000 poems collected in 1080 are remarkable
for their musical quality, rich and exact
imagery, and beauty of language. Their themes
are the sorrows of those separated by the
demands of duty, the relief found in wine, and
a Taoist appreciation for the awesome
tranquility of mountains and rivers and a sense
of the mysteries of life.
Conversation in the Mountains
If you were to ask me why I dwell among green
mountains.
I shall laugh silently; my soul is serene.
The peach blossom follows the moving water.
There is another heaven and earth beyond the
world of men.
The Moon Over the Mountain Pass
The bright moon soars over the Mountain of
Heavens.
Gliding over an ocean of clouds.
A shrill wind screaming ten thousand li away.
And a sound of whistling from Yu-men pass.
The imperial army marches down White Mound
Road.
The Tartars search the bays of the Blue Sea.
The warriors look back to their distant homes.
Never yet has one been seen to return.
Tonight, on the high towers she is waiting
There is only sorrow and unending grieving.
b. Tu Fu (712 –770)
- the Confucian moralist, realist, and
humanitarian. He was public-spirited, and his
poetry helped chronicle the history of the age:
the deterioration
- He was regarded by many as the greatest
Chinese poet. TU FU was raised according to
Confucian tradition in a family known for its
scholarly interests. Having failed the
examination that would have assured him of a
government post, he spent much of his youth
traveling around China. For a while, he was
influenced by Taoist philosophy and by the
poet LI PO, but eventually, he reembraced
Confucianism and returned to live in the
imperial capital.
- TU FU again failed to secure a bureaucratic
position, and after the fall of the T’ang
dynasty, he suffered financial hardship. He
traveled about in poverty until his death. TU
FU'S early poetry is marked by lyrical praise
of the beauties of the natural world, but as his
own life became more difficult. elements of
satire and expressions of somber feelings
about the suffering of humankind entered his
verse.
The Empty Purse
The bitter pine cone may be eaten,
The mist on high give nourishment.
The whole world takes to go-and-getting;
My way alone is difficult:
My oven is cold as the well at morning,
And the bed wants warmth from coverlets;
My purse ashamed to be found empty,
Still keeps on hand a single coin.
c. Wang Wei (796? – 761?)
- was an 8th century government official who
spent the later years of his life in the country,
reading and discussing Buddhism with
scholars and monks. He is known for the
pictorial quality of his poetry and for its
economy. His word-pictures parallel Chinese
brush artistry in which a few strokes are all
suggestive of authority, the disasters of war,
and official extravagance.
- Wang's poems, which are preserved, are
admired for their sensitivity to nature. His
work as an artist is known only in a few
inadequate rubbings taken from stone
engravings of his famous Wang-ch'uan hand
scroll and in paraphrases of his paintings by
later artists (such as the Landscape in the
Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii). Most
information about his significance as a painter
comes from literary sources. He is believed to
have been the first painter to treat the
landscape as an evocation of nature rather than
as a vehicle for colorful, artificial decorations,
which was the accepted manner of his day.
d. Po Chu-I (772 – 846)
- was born two years after Tu Fu died, at a time
when China was still in turmoil from foreign
invasion and internal strife. He wrote many
poems speaking bitterly against the social and
economic problems that were plaguing China.
- Chinese poet and government official, held
various posts, starting in the palace library and
rising to become a provincial governor, he
retired from public life as a major of Luoyang
(Loyang), the eastern capital. One of the
greatest writers of the Tang dynasty, which is
 renowned for their poetry, PO CHU-I was
much influenced by his predecessor TU FU.
Believing that literature should have a social
purpose, PO CHU-I employed satire and
humor in his work to protest against
contemporary evils. His poetry was extremely
popular in his own time, its elegantly simple
style still attracts readers.
Seeing Hsia Chan Off By River
Because you are old and departing I have wetted
my handkerchief,
You who are homeless at seventy, belonging to the
wilderness.
Anxiously I watch the wind rising as the boat sails
away,
A white-headed man amid white-headed waves.

e. Li Ch’ing-chao (A.D. 1084 – 1151)

- regarded as China’s greatest woman poet and
was also one of the most liberated women of
her day. She was brought up in court society
and was trained in the arts and classical
literature quite an unusual upbringing for a
woman of the Sung dynasty. Many of her
poems composed in the tz’u form celebrate her
happy marriage or express her loneliness when
her husband was away.
f. Chou-Shu-jen (1881 – 1936)
- has been called the ‘father of the modern
Chinese short story because of his
introduction of Western techniques. He is also
known as Lu Hsun whose stories deal with
themes of social concern, the problems of the
poor, women, and intellectuals.