I.

Literature of China
Chapter III
II. Literature of India

Asian III. Literature of Japan

Literature
IV. Literature of Arabia

V. Literature of Lebanon

VI. Literature of the Hebrews

 -Literature Of China-
ANALECTS The People of
by Confucius
Ta o - C h o n
by Po Chu-I
The Wisdom of
Confucius The Flower Market
b y L i n Yu Ta n g
by Po Chu-i

Memories of
Home
Peking
by Han Suyin
Confucius

• China’s most famous leader,

philosopher, and political theorist
• His ideas was influenced by the
civilization of East Asia
• He was born in 551 B.C
• He was the first teacher in China
who wanted to make education
available for them
 Analects
• In governing, cleave to good; as the
north star holds his place, and the
multitude of stars revolve upon him
• To sum up three hundred songs in a
word, they are free from evil thought
• Guide the people by law, subdue
them by punishment; they may shun
crime, but will be void of shame. Guide
them by example, subdue them by
courtesy; they will learn shame and
come to be good.
• The duty of a son is to be
obedient
• It is to serve our parents with
courtesy whilst they live; to bury them
with courtesy when they die and to
worship them with all courtesy
• Look at man’s acts; watch his motives;
find out what pleases him; can the man
evade you? How can a man conceal his
character?
• Who keeps the old akindle and adds
new knowledge is fitted to be a teacher
 Analects
• A gentleman is not a vessel
• He puts a words into deeds first,
and sorts what he says to the deed
• A gentleman is broad and fair; the
vulgar are biased and petty
• Study without thought is vain; and
thought without study is dangerous
• To know what we know, and know
what we do not know, that is called
understanding
• Exalt the straight, set aside the crooked
and the people will be loyal
• Behave with dignity, they will be
Lowly; be pious and merciful, they
will be faithful: exalt the good, teach
the unskillful, they will grow willing
• To worship the ghost of strangers is
fawning. To see the right and not do it
is want of courage
• Love makes a spot beautiful: who
chooses not to dwell in love, has he got
wisdom?
 Analects
• Loveless men cannot bear need long,
they cannot bear fortune long. Loving
Hearts find peace in love; clever heads
find profit in it
• A man and his faults are of a piece.
By watching his faults we learn whether
Love be his
• To learn the truth at daybreak and die
at eve were enough
• A scholar in search of truth who is
Ashamed of poor clothes and poor food
it is idle to talk
• A gentleman has no likes and no
dislikes below heaven. He follows right.
• Gentleman cherish worth; the vulgar
cherish dirt. Gentleman trust in
Justice; the vulgar trust in favor
• The chase of gain is rich in hate
• Be not concerned at want of place,
be concerned that thou stand thyself.
Sorrow not at being unknown, but
seek to be worthy of note
• Who contains himself goes seldom
wrong
 Analects
• A gentleman wishes to be slow to
speak and quick to act
• Good is no hermit. It has ever
neighbors
Lin Yu Tang (1985-1976)

• He is a Chinese writer and philologist

• He was born in Changzhou
• He devised a Chinese Indexing
System and help formulate the
official plan for Romanizing Chinese
language
• English professor and editor of
English journals.
• He contributed essays in Chinese
History Magazines
 The Wisdom
• Confucius was teaching the Chinese
people how to get along with one another;
how to be true to themselves as well as
honest in their social relationships
• His was a very practical religion and
still a national force in China, shaping
the conduct of everyday affairs
• Confucius wandered from place to
place, a gentle kindly teacher of
history, poetry, music, winning
disciples and spreading his wisdom
far and wide
of Confucius
• He regretted not putting his ideas
about good government into practice
• He was forced to leave his native
state of Lu as an exile
• After his death, a temple was built in
honor for him and after centuries, his
disciples worshipped him and spread
his teachings
• His followers were persecuted by the
new emperor whose afraid of his
wisdom
 The Wisdom
• His books were burned and his
followers were also thrown into flames
• It was called the “great destruction”
and some his disciples who survived
Were able to reproduce his teaching to
Pass it down the generations
• As it was provisioned by Confucius,
there were writings found hidden in his
House, inscribed in bamboo strips
• Confucius taught that no government
can be better than the character of its
rulers, and except politics grows out of
moral truths, it has no foundation
of Confucius
• Confucius was best known for his
aphorisms:
“Men are born pretty much alike, but
through their habits, they gradually
grow further and further apart from
each other”
“To know what you know and know
what you don’t know is the
characteristic of one who knows”
“It is easy to be rich and not haughty;
It is difficult to be poor and not
grumble"
 The Wisdom
“When a country is in order, it is a
shame to be a poor and common man.
When a country is in chaos, it is a
shame to be rich and an official.”
“Do not worry about people not knowing
you, but strive so that you may be
worth knowing.”
“If a man would be severe toward
himself, and generous towards the
Others, he would never arouse
resentment.”
of Confucius
“A man who does not think and plan
long ahead, will find trouble right by
his door.”
“To repay evil with kindness is the
sign of generous character. To repay
kindness with evil is the sign of a
criminal.”
“When you see a good man, try to
emulate his example, and when you see
a bad man, search yourself for his
faults.”
 The Wisdom
“Don’t criticize other people’s fault;
Criticize your own.”
“The superior man is always candid
and at ease (with himself or others);
the inferior man is always worried
about something.”
“A gentleman is ashamed that his
words are better than his deeds.”
“Reading without thinking gives one a
disorderly mind, and thinking without
reading makes one flighty.”
of Confucius
“That type of scholarship which is bent
on remembering things in order to
answer people’s questions does not
Qualify one to be a teacher.”
• These are just some of the popular
proverbs and epigrams of Confucius
that were written for almost 2,500
years ago and still vital for this
present generations
Han Suyin (1917-2012)

• Rosalie Matilda Kuanghu Chou

• She was a Chinese-born Eurasian
Physician and author
• She is extremely sympathetic with
the government of Mao Tse-tung and
said to be that she turned a blind eye
of that government’s negative sides.
• She married a Chinese Militarist in
1938 and published her first book
Destination Chungking in USA, year
1942
 Memories
• It was the time when the writer’s
family went to China as refugees and
Ended up being in Peking.
• China, at this point, was in the state
of doing wars, territorial intrusion of
the war lords and the government was
Somehow disjoined.
• “One people under one heaven”
• It is not strange for people to set up
his own dominion and fought with his
neighbor to extend his sovereignty.
of Peking
• The strange things is—throughout the
era of the war lords—China is still
considered as one nation, undivided in
spirit
• They considered each other as a one
Race, one nation, but different in
governance and territory intrusion
• Power is for the one who can seized it
• Foreigner’s house can be respected
Po Chu-I (772-846)
• He was a government official
considered as one of the greatest
poets of the Tang Dynasty
• He incorporated satire and social
purpose in many of his works, which
are usually poems in ballad style
• His works also served as a protest
against contemporary evils and
various government policies
• The elegance of his poetry contributed
to its popularity.
 The People
In the land of Tao-Chou
Many of theofpeople are dwarfs;
The tallest of them never grow to more
than three feet.
They were sold in the market as dwarf
slaves and yearly sent to Court;
Described as “an offering of natural
products from the land of Tao-Chu”
A strange “offering of natural
products”, I never heard of one yet
That parted men from those they loved,
never to meet again!
Tao-Chou
Old men—weeping for their grandsons;
mothers for their children!
One day—Yang Ch’eng came to
govern the land;
He refused to send up dwarf slaves in
spite of incessant mandates.
He replied to the Emperor “Your servant
finds in the Six Canonical Books
‘In offering products, one must offer
what is there, and not what isn’t
there’
On the waters and land of Tao-Chou,
among all the things that live
 The People
I only find dwarfish people, no
dwarfish of
slaves.’
The emperor’s heart was deeply moved
and he sealed and sent a scroll
“The yearly tribute of dwarfish slaves
is henceforth annulled.”
The people of Tao-Chou,
Old one and young ones, how great
their joy!
Father with son and brother with
brother
Henceforward kept together;
Tao-Chou
From that day forevermore they lived
as free men
The people of Tao-chou,
Still enjoy this gift.
And even now when they speak of the
Governor
Tears start to their eyes
And least their children and their
children’s children should get
Governor’s name.
When boys are born the syllable “Yang”
is often used in the forename.
 The Flower
In the Royal City spring is almost
over;
Tinkle, tinkle—the coaches and horse
men pass.
We tell each other, “This is the peony
season”:
And follow with the crowd that goes to
the flower market.
“Cheap and dear—no uniform price:
The cost of the plant depends on the
number of blossoms.
For the fine flower—a hundred pieces of
damask:
Market
For the cheap flower—five bits of silk.
Above is spread an awning to protect
them:
Around is woven in wattle fence to
screen them.
If you sprinkle water and cover the
roots with mud,
When they are transplanted, they will
not lose their beauty.”
Each household thoughtlessly follows
the custom,
Man by man, no one realizing
 The Flower Market
There happened to be an old farm
laborer
Who came by the chance that way.
He bowed his head and sighed a deep
sigh:
But his sigh nobody understood.
He was thinking, “A cluster of deep-red
flowers
Would pay the taxes of the ten poor
houses.”
 Home
Great trees in the south
Give me no shelter
And women loitering by the Han
Leave me cold.
O Han too deep for diving,
O Kiang too long for poling!
Faggots, brambles,
I cut them with a will—
But those girls facing home,
I should like to feed their horses
O Han too deep for diving,
O Kiang too long for poling?
Faggots, Artemisia,
I cut them with a will—
But those girls facing home,
I should like to feed their colts.
O Han too deep for diving,
O Kiang too long for poling!