The Four Classic Novels of

Chinese Literature
• Four novels form the core of Chinese classical literature and
still inform modern culture.
• Four novels are the bedrock of Chinese literary culture.
• Spread across Asia to inform elements of Japanese, Korean
and South East Asian mythology.
• Works marked the emergence of the novel form in China as a
counterpart to more refined philosophical and poetic works.
• Revealed the novel’s potential to embrace a multitude of
perspectives about the ruling order.
• Water Margin
-Published in the 14th century
-First of the four classical novels to be released, and
introduced the vernacular form and style.
-Ironic representation of common grievances against the
ruling classes.
-Its depiction of outlaw’s rebellion tapped into resentments
held by many during the Ming dynasty, and the novel was
indeed banned for a period for its potential for promoting
sedition.
• Journey to the West
-written in the 16th century by Wu Cheng’en
-most influential of the four classic novels of Chinese literature.
-most widely known beyond China’s borders.
-It depicts the pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang to India
accompanied by his three disciples.
-framework of the story is based on Buddhism.
-incorporated a range of fantastical fiction focusing on the exploits of
gods or demons.
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms
-historical novel which recounts the political intrigue and deceit
within the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.
-written by Luo Guanzhong
-incorporates hundreds of characters, weaving a multitude of
complicated plotlines in its portrayal of the disintegration of a unified
China.
-Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu
-disintegration and unification
‘It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided
will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide’
Dream of the Red Chamber
-Written in the mid-18th century
-a semi-autobiographical work which focuses on the financial
and moral decay of author Cao Xueqin’s family.
-The novel is thus a repository for those interested in Chinese
culture, granting readers an insight into the religious, social and
political world of upper class China.
MAJOR WRITERS OF CHINA
QU YUAN (340-278 BC)

• China’s Greatest Poet

• Loyal Official of the State Chu during the
Warring State Period
• Number one advisor of the kingdom Chu
• Famous Work: Li Sao (Encountering Sorrow)
• Cause of Death: Suicide
WANG WEI (701-761 BC)
• A poet and a painter
• Founder of the Southern School of
Landscape Painting
• Also called as Mo-chieh or ch’i
• He lost his both mother and wife
• Greatest Contribution: Developed
monochrome and pomo (“breaking
the ink”)
SHI NAI’AN (1296-1372)
• Chinese writer from
Suzhou China
• First Compiler of Water
Virgin: One of the Great
Classical Novels of
Chinese Literature
Luo Guanzhong (1296-1372)
• Original name Luo Ben
• Credited as classic Chinese
novel: Sanguozhi yanyi
(Three Kingdoms)
• Also known by his
pseudonym Huhai Sanren:
"Leisure Man of Lakes and
Seas"
WU CHENG’EN (1500-1582)
• Known for his courtesy name
Ruzhong
• “Sheyang Hermit” as his pen
name
• Chinese novelist and poet of
Ming Dynasty
• Famous Work: Journey to the
West
• Thrown into the prison
CHUANG TZU (4th Century BC)
• Also known as Zhuangzi or
Master Zhuang
• Most significant of China’s
early interpreters of
Daoism
• Greatest Work: Zhuangzi
(The Pure Classic of
Nanhua)
LITERARY READINGS
The Trial of the Stone
The Trial of the Stone is a humorous folk tale in which a stone is accused of a crime and the
villagers at the trial must learn to take the judicial system seriously.
A young boy named Matt is off to visit his grandfather in a faraway village. He has been on
the road all day, and when dusk falls, Matt finds a place to sleep near a big rock. He hides
the few pennies he has for the next day's breakfast safely under a stone. A scoundrel in a red
shirt watches Matt settle in and sees him hide his money. When the boy is fast asleep, the
man tiptoes over, steals the few pennies and runs away.
In the morning, the boy wakes to find his breakfast money gone. He looks everywhere - but
no pennies. In his distress, he raises such a ruckus that the people from a nearby village
come running. The constable takes charge and inquires what is wrong. Matt tells his sad
story. The village chief then orders the constable to carry the stone to the village to stand
trial for theft. The villagers trail along to see what will happen
In the trial, the stone is accused of stealing Matt's money. The rock remains silent, but the
crowd giggles. They are warned to keep quiet, as this is a serious matter. The rock refuses to
answer any further questions and is finally charged with contempt of court. This causes the
crowd to laugh out loud. As their laughter continues and they further annoy the court, they
all end up being charged one penny for the disturbance. The chief awards the pennies to the
boy. And it is the man in the red shirt who is ordered to carry the disobedient rock back
where it belongs. With his new money, Matt buys his breakfast and goes happily on his way.
 Excerpts from the Analects of Confucius
On Filial Piety
Mang asked what Filial Piety is. The Master said “It is being
obedient.” Soon after as Fan chi was driving him, the Master told
him “Mang asked what Filial Piety is and I answer him “being
obedient.” Fan Chi asked “What exactly did you mean?” The
Master replied, “That parents, when alive, should be served
according to ritual; that when dead, they should be buried
according to ritual; and that they should be sacrificed to
according ritual.
 On Learning
The Master said, “Anyone learning without thought is lost; anyone
thinking but not learning is in peril.”
The Master said, “Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When
you know a thing to realize that you know it; and when you do not
know a thing, to allow that you do not know it: that is knowledge.”
 On Truth and Virtue
The Master said, “A plausible tongue and a fascinating expression
are sometimes associated with true virtue.”
The Master said, “Let loyalty and truth be paramount with you, if
you have faults shrink not from correcting them.”
A COUNTRY BOY QUITS IN SCHOOL
• His pen name is Lao She
• Novelist, was born in Peking (now beijing)
• One of China's best modern writers
 A country boy in an early age
Forced to go to school by a proclamation
English illustrations in books leads to confusion in their household
He frequently read these books results to chaos and
misunderstanding
Father decided not to read these books again
The boy was pulled out of the school
Father chooses to be rather in jail
 A Little Incident
By: Lu Hsun

It happened during the winter of 1917. A bitter north

wind was blowing.
- “I” woke up early because he needs to work for his living
- “I” met scarcely a soul on the road
- After a long while, “I” was able to hire a Rickshaw puller
- The puller ran momentarily
- A woman, with streaks of white in her hair, wearing ragged clothes entangled in the
rickshaw and tumbled to the ground
- The rickshaw pulled quickly, stopped and helped the old woman lay on the ground
- “I” did not think the old woman was hurt. “I” thought she was just pretending
- The puller asked the old woman if she’s hurt
- The woman was completely hurt and might be injured more if not because of the
puller’s help
- The cold-hearted “I” commanded the puller to just go on
- The puller paid no attention, however—perhaps he had not heard—for he set down the
shafts, and gently helped the old woman to get up
- “I” saw a police station
- “I” experienced a curious sensation
- The policeman’s dusty, retreating figure seemed larger at that instant. The further he walked
the larger he loomed, until I had to look up to him.
- At the same time he seemed gradually to be exerting a pressure on me, which threatened to
overpower the small self under my fur-lined gown.
- The policeman came up and told “I” to get another rickshaw because the puller cannot pull
him anymore
- Without thinking, “I” pulled a handful of coppers from his coat pocket and handed them to
the policeman. "Please give him these.”
- The wind had dropped completely
- After the incident, “I” think back to the situation and to himself
Lu Xun or Lu Hsun, pronounced "Lu Shun"; 1881-1936)
has been considered China's greatest modern writer for
most of the 20th century. Many of the other authors of
fictional works of social criticism popular during the
1920s and 1930s have been at least partially discredited or
criticized during the various political movements in
China since 1949, but Lu Xun's reputation has remained
consistently distinguished. Mao Zedong (1893-1976)
called him "commander of China's cultural revolution."
A Little Accident
By: Lu Hsun

• Setting- The story happened in China; where social classification was

apparent
• Characters- 1) The Narrator or “I”, the one who hired the rickshaw puller
2) Rickshaw Puller – the one who helped the old woman, the
cause of “I’s” realization
3) Old woman- The one who got entangled in the rickshaw
4) Police
Kindness lies in everyone's
heart. It's just a matter of
waking it up.
THE BOOK OF ODES
THE BOOK OF ODES (Shi Jing/Shih Ching)

Collection of 305 poems

Three sections: Feng (songs), Ya (odes), Song (hymns)
One of the Five Confucian Classics
Oldest existing examples of Chinese poetry
Believed to be compiled by Confucius
A Friend Forgotten The winds blow soft from the East,
But the storm welters by.
In the day of disaster and fear,
It was you and I.
In the hour of your pride,
You have cast me aside.

The bland winds blown from the East,

Tornadoes pursue.
In the hour of disaster and fear,
More than brothers were you.
In the hour of delight,
I am cast from your sight.

The winds come fair from the East

On the hills overhead
There is never a blade that is green,
Not a leaf but is dead.
My worth you forget,
But my faults linger yet.
Sorrow
She sought her native land again.

The swallow takes its ragged flight.

Around, about the swallows dark
We went together day and night,
She fared into a far country,
Till parting drew her from my sight
And when I vainly sought to see
And the tears fell down like rain.
The empty landscape mocked at me,

She went her native land to seek. And great grief settled on my heart.

Now up, now down and swallow flies.

And oh!-the last of tender ties,

The form that fades from aching eyes

And the tears coursing down my cheek.

 She went up the mountains to pluck wild
Old and herbs; “My new wife comes in front the new
road to meet me;
New She came down the mountain and met
her former husband My old wife always comes down from
her tower.
She knelt down and asked her former
husband My old wife was good in plain sewing

“What do you find your new wife like?” My new wife is clever in
embroidering silk
Of silk embroidery one can do an inch
“My new wife, although her talk is a day;
clever. Of plain sewing, more than five feet.
Cannot charm me as my old wife could’ Putting he silk by the side of her
sewing
In beauty of face there is not much to
choose, I see that the new will not compare
with the old.”
But in usefulness they are not all alike”