ASIAN

LITERATURE
PRESENTED BY: GROUP 5
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 ASIA
World’s largest and most diverse
continent
 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ASIA

 The people of Asia  Derived from

have established the
the Assyrian
broadest variety of

ASIA
human adaptation. word asu,
meaning “east.”
 Ancient Greeks
 Its origin has and Romans
been variously extended to
explained.  It is more a geographic term refer first
to Anatolia.
than a homogeneous continent.
 It was originally a
 The name Asia local name given
is ancient. to the plains
of Ephesus.
 INTRODUCTION TO
ANCIENT LITERATURE
 DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE LITERATURE
 Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature
 It was contemporaneous with the
Shang Dynasty, and then they conquered the
Shang Dynasty.
 The great literary works of philosophy and
religion that became the basis for Chinese
religious and social belief stem from what is
called the Spring and Autumn Period and the
Warring States Period.
 Taoism, Confucian literature, and other
prominent religious and philosophical
schools all emerged during these two periods.
 Scientific and Historical Texts
 At the beginning of the era, Confucianism was
revived.
 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 Han Dynasty era was one of the two main
hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance.
 Cai Lun of the imperial court is said to be the first
person in the world to create writing paper.

Shang Dynasty Qin Dynasty Tang Dynasty

About 1700-1050 BC 221-206 BC 618-907

Zhou Dynasty Han Dynasty

1045-255 BC
 Development of Chinese Writing
 First dynasty for which there is historical
record and archaeological evidence.
 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.
206 BC – 220 AD
 Literary Disaster and Legalism
 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.
 The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school
that was called Legalism. This philosophy of
course justified the strong control of the emperor
and maintained that everyone should obey him.
 Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry
 This era’s main contribution to Chinese
literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai
and many other poets.
 Li Bai was one of the greatest romantic
poets of ancient China.
 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.
 DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE LITERATURE
 Drama and Great Fictional Novels
 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.
 Puppet drama continued to entertain the rich
dynastic courts in vernacular language.
 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.
 Novels and Pre-modern Literature
 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 and near the end of the era, modernistic
literature developed.
 The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for
scientific and technical advance.
 The dynastic rulers came under increasing pressure both from
foreign attacks and internal rebellions.

Song Dynasty Ming Dynasty Modern Era

960-1279 1368-1644 1912-Present

Yuan Dynasty Qing Dynasty

1279-1368
 Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry,
Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics
 The imperial government officials made remarkable
scientific and technical advances.
 One of the era’s technological accomplishments was
the invention of movable type about the turn of 2nd
millennia during the Northern Song period.
 The Five Classics that were thought to have been
penned by Confucius and the Four Books that were
thought to contain Confucius-related material but
were compiled during the Southern Song era.
1644-1911
 Novels
 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.
 It is interesting that a book that is one of the four
great classics called Journey to the West .
 Westernized Literature
 Sun Yat-sen led a revolution that marked the end of
Chinese dynasties in which a clan rules an empire.
 There was a lot of politically oriented literature
printed. Scholars had access to foreign literature, and
many students studied abroad.
 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.
 DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE LITERATURE
 A time when the use of the hiragana alphabet
derived from Chinese characters had become
widespread, court ladies played the central role in
developing literature.
 Murasaki Shikibu wrote the 54-chapter novel Genji
monogatari, while another, Sei Shonagon, wrote
Makura no soshi, a diverse collection of jottings and
essays.
 Others also wrote diaries and stories, and their
psychological portrayals.
 The appearance of the Konjaku monogatari around
1120 added a new dimension to literature.
Around this time the function of literature as a
means of social intercourse broadened.
 Composing renga became a favorite pastime, ,
and this gave birth to in the sixteenth century.
 It was the renowned seventeenth century poet
Matsuo Basho who perfected a new condensed
poetic form of 17 syllables (5-7-5) known as
haiku.
 Due in large part to the rise of the working and
middle classes in the new capital of Edo
(modern Tokyo), forms of popular drama
developed which would later evolve into Kabuki.

Kamakura-Muromachi
Nara Period Period Meiji Period
710-794 1185-1573 1868-1945

Heian Period Edo Period

794-1185
 Traces its beginnings to oral traditions that were first
recorded in written form in the early eighth century
after a writing system was introduced from China.
 The Kojiki and Nihon shoki were completed in 712
and 720, respectively, as government projects.
 The most brilliant literary product of this period was
the Man'yoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves)
 In 905 the Kokin wakashu or Kokinshu (Collection of
Poems from Ancient and Modern Times) was published
as the first poetry anthology
1603-1868
 In the latter half of the twelfth century warriors of the Taira
clan (Heike) seized political power at the imperial court,
virtually forming a new aristocracy.
 The Shin kokin wakashu, an anthology of poetry
commissioned by retired Emperor Go-Toba, was also
completed around this time.
 This period also produced literature by recluses, typified
by Kamo no Chomei's Hojoki.
 Japan experienced many civil wars which led to the
development of a warrior class, and subsequent war
tales, histories, and related stories.
 Marks the re-opening of Japan to the West, and a
period of rapid industrialization.
 Introduction of European literature brought free verse
into the poetic repertoire; it became widely used for
longer works embodying new intellectual themes.
 Young Japanese prose writers and dramatists
struggled with a whole galaxy of new ideas and
artistic schools.
 Fukuzawa Yukichi and Water Margin authored
Enlightenment literature, while pre-modern popular
books depicted the quickly changing country.
 WELL-KNOWN WRITERS IN ASIA
01 02
Natsume Soseki Ishikawa Takuboku
 A Japanese novelist  A Japanese poet
 Best known around the  Well known as both a tanka
and “modern style” or “free
world for his novels
 A scholar of British style” poet
 Began as a member of the
literature
Myojo group of naturalist
poets
03
Qu Yuan
 A statesman and poet
 He has been attributed to
the first seven poems of the
Chu ci
 Served under King Huai but
was banished after
composing the poem “Li
Sao”
04
Wang Wei
 A painter, musician, poet,
and devout Buddhist
 Composed “landscape
poems” while roaming the
lands near the Wang River
 He was referred to as Shi fo,
or the Buddha of Poetry
 WELL-KNOWN WRITERS IN ASIA
01 02
Nawal El Saadawi Rabindranath Tagore
 Egyptian feminist author  Bengali poet, short-story writer, song
composer, playwright, essayist, and
 Called the ''Simone de painter who introduced new prose and
Beauvoir of the Arab verse forms and the use of colloquial
language into Bengali literature.
world'' and ''Egypt's most  He was highly influential in introducing
fiery feminist.'' Indian culture to the West and vice
versa.
 She is also a physician,  He became the first non-European to
activist and psychiatrist. receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
03
Su-chen Christine lim
 The first winner of the Singapore
Literature Prize (Fiction) in 1992
for her novel, A Fistful of Colours.
 She has written short stories,
children’s stories, students’
textbooks as well as a play.
 She first started writing fiction
when she was attending a
literature honours course.
04
Ryunoske Akutagawa
 Prolific Japanese writer has
known especially for his stories.
 His stories of modern life lack
the exotic and sometimes lurid
glow of the older tales.
 Last important work entitled
“Kappa” in 1927.
 ASIAN LITERARY PIECES
01 02 03 04

STORM IN A TEACUP THE OLD MAN CANDLES IN A GROVE

 A short story by XINJIANG  It was written by a  It was written by
Singaporean poet,
Lu Xun.  A Chinese short fiction Alvin Pang Ryūnosuke
 It was later by Xue Mo  Takes the form of a skit, Akutagawa
 This story captures a writing in Singlish (  Tells a story about a
included in his distinctive street patois
poor old man’s day in death of man
first collection of a village where
of English infused with
short stories, A the grammar and through seven
everyone knows his diction of other, mostly
different accounts.
Call to Arms. sad life story. Asian, tongues).
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Behind the short story "In a Grove", is a man who was called Ryūnosuke
Akutagawa (1892-1927), with a pseudonym Chōkōdō Shujin or Gaki. With
approximately 150 short stories including “In a Grove” and “Rashōmon,” he earned the
title "Father of the Japanese Short Story”. He was notable for his stories which were
based on events that happened in the past and on his stylistic virtuosity. Akutagawa was
born in Tokyo to a mentally-ill mother who committed suicide shortly after his birth. His
father, who struggled to raise him, transferred the child to his brother-in-law’s care.
Akutagawa as a kid was sickly and hypersensitive and in spite of those things he was still
able to excel at school and began his literary career while attending Tokyo Imperial
University with the influence of Edgar Allan Poe.
Akutagawa also refused to accept literary naturalism and was drawn to
mysterious and bizarre subjects. It is also to be noted that he has viewed the world as
“Olympiad of Lunatics” In 1915, with the encouragement from Natsume Sōseki. He
began to write a series of stories that were mostly based on the 12th and 13th-
collections of Japanese tales but were retold in the light of modern psychology. Then, in
1922, he changed his direction towards autobiographical fiction which was said to lack
exotic and sometimes lurid glow of the older tales. With his last important work
"Kappa", it was said to reflect his last period and mental state at that time. By the age
of 35, his suicide came as a shock to the literary world as he is one of the most widely
translated of all Japanese writers, and a number of his stories have been made into
films.
BACKGROUND ABOUT IN A GROVE
Main Characters: Minor Characters:
Takehiro High Police Commissioner of Tokyo
He was the one who interrogated
He was the 26-year-old dead samurai who was
found in the grove. Through the medium, it was for the crime.
stated that he is still angry with his wife who Woodcutter
left with her rapist even after his death. The man who discovered the body in
the woods.
Tajomaru Buddhist
He was the infamous captured criminal in the story. The traveling Buddhist priest who saw
He was the one who confessed to the murder of
the man with his wife on horseback
Takehiro through a duel afterward, he took his
possessions and left his corpse to rot. He also stated
on the road, the day before the
that after raping Masago, she begged to either kill murder.
himself or her husband because of the shame she Hōmen
has to live on. A released prisoner working under
Masago contract to the police.
She is the 19-year old girl who was married to The old woman
Kanazawa no Takehiro. Based on her report, she was She identified herself as the mother
raped by Tajomaru who fled after the deed and was of the missing girl, Masago and
left with her husband who looked at her with hatred. As
a result, she decided to kill herself but wanted Takehiro begged the officer to find her
to die with her. After she allegedly killed Takehiro by daughter.
plunging her dagger to his chest, she tried to kill Medium
herself a couple of times, but all attempts turned out to
The one who talked to Takehiro’s
be unsuccessful. She finished telling her report in tears.
spirit.
 BACKGROUND ABOUT IN A GROVE
SETTING
The primary setting is the court
of the Police Commissioner.
The story was set in Tokyo,
150 meters off the Yamashina
stage specifically in a grove
wherein horses cannot fit
properly. It was about noon.
THEME
The theme of the story is all
about the examination of the
distortion of the truth. The story
leaves pondering the meaning
and it would be up to the
readers to form the puzzle.
POINT
OF VIEW
The form of the story is split
into seven sections, with each
presenting a personal
testimony, which is, by
definition, the first-person
point of view.
 THE SYNOPSIS
The story presents seven varying accounts of the murder of a samurai, Kanazawa Takehiro. It starts out with the account of a woodcutter
who has found a man’s corpse in the forest during his work.

The second testimony is told by a Buddhist who has been traveling the day before the murder. He said that he met the man during his
journey accompanied by a woman on a fine manned horse. According to the priest, the man has a sword, a bow, and a black quiver.

Next to tell her story is an old woman, the one who identified herself as the mother of the woman who was seen with the dead man. She
reveals that the dead man was Kanazawa no Takehiro, a samurai and husband of her daughter Masago. She emphasizes that her daughter has
never been intimate with anyone but her husband, and she asks the police to find her. Following is a confession of Tajomaru, who admitted that he
has met the couple and that he wanted to have sex with Masago. He did not want to kill her husband, therefore, in order to get his way, Tajomaru
needed to separate them. He lured Takehiro to the grove in the forest, surprised him, tied him with a rope, and stuffed his mouth full of leaves so he
could not scream. Then he returned for Masago and asked her to come with him to the forest under the pretext that Takehiro was suddenly feeling
unwell. Upon the sight of her motionless husband, Masago took out a small dagger and tried to attack the criminal, however, he knocked her down.
According to Tajomaru, after the rape, Masago told him to kill her husband or to kill himself because she could not live with two men 'knowing' her.
She said, she would be the wife of the one who survived. Tajomaru did not want to come out as a coward, so he untied Takehiro and they had a duel.
Meanwhile, Masago escaped. After Tajomaru has killed Takehiro, he admitted that he has taken his bow, quiver, sword, and a horse, but he has
disposed of the sword later on. Afterward comes the testimony of Masago. Based on her account, Tajomaru has left after he raped her, and her
husband was looking at her with hatred. She was ashamed and no longer felt the desire to live. Masago decided to kill herself, but she wanted
Takehiro to die with her too. According to her, Takehiro agreed even though he could not speak because of the leaves in his mouth. Consequently, she
pulled out her small dagger and stabbed him into his chest. She also cut the rope that Takehiro was tied with. Later she ran into the forest and
attempted to kill herself numerous times, but each attempt was in vain. Masago concluded that she was not supposed to die.

The last account is from Takehiro, the dead man, delivered through the medium. According to him, after Masago has been raped, the
criminal persuaded her to go with him and become his wife. Masago agreed with this proposal but asked Tajomaru to kill Takehiro first. As it was not
Tajomaru's intention to do so, he knocked Masago down and asked her husband if he should kill the woman for her shameful behavior. In an attempt
to save herself, Masago ran away. The ghost reveals that after Tajomaru untied Takehiro, Takehiro picked up Masago's dagger that was thrown on
the ground and stabbed himself. He also admits that while he was dying he felt someone take out the dagger from his chest.
 The Literary Approach / Theory:
THE ANALYSIS
Femenistic Approach
Feminist Approach is a literary criticism informed by feminist theory, or more broadly, by the politics of
feminism. Moreover, it focuses away from the male viewpoints and experiences rather it focuses on women. It normally
overlooks social problems regarding trends and issues which were normally misidentified by historically dominant male
perspective within social theory.

Statement 1:
“Yes . . . without taking his life. I had no
wish to kill him. I was about to run away
from the grove, leaving the woman
behind in tears, when she frantically
clung to my arm. In broken fragments of
words, she asked that either her husband
or I die. She said it was more trying than
death to have her shame known to two
men. She gasped out that she wanted to
be the wife of whichever survived. Then
a furious desire to kill him seized me.”
Statement 2
“Unable to end my life, I am still
living in dishonor. (A lonely smile.)
Worthless as I am, I must have
been forsaken even by the most
merciful Kwannon. I killed my own
husband. I was violated by the
robber. Whatever can I do?
Whatever can I . . . I . . .”
Statement 3:
“That man in the blue silk kimono, after
forcing me to yield to him, laughed mockingly
as he looked at my bound husband. How
horrified my husband must have been! But no
matter how hard he struggled in agony, the
rope cut into him all the more tightly. In spite
of myself, I ran stumblingly toward his side.
Or rather I tried to run toward him, but the
man instantly knocked me down. Just at that
moment, I saw an indescribable light in my
husband’s eyes. Something beyond expression
. . . his eyes make me shudder even now.”
 GUIDE QUESTIONS:
03
How are
women’s lives 04 06
01 portrayed in What behavioral How do the images of
Differences expectations are
the work? imposed on the
women in the story
between men reflect patriarchal
characters? What social forces that have
and women? effect do these impeded women’s
expectations have? efforts to achieve full
equality with men?

02
The female 05
How does the marital status
experience
of a character affect her
decisions or happiness?
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