SURVEY OF CHINESE LITERATURE. Geography Livable with hard work.
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Transcript of SURVEY OF CHINESE LITERATURE. Geography Livable with hard work.
Confucius
Philosopher, not writer Compiler of “Five Chinese Classics” Disciples wrote down The Analects
Thoughts on marriage, music, death, etc. Morality fixed in nature, not divine God Morality & Government are one.
Five Chinese Classical Text
The Book of Changes Text for divination
The Book of History Records, history, announcements from rulers
Book of Songs 300 poems
Book of Rites Centers on rules of everyday life
Spring and Autumn annals Commentaries of events up to fifth century BCE
The Book of Changes
No epic survives Earliest work: Book of
Changes Interprets the universe Cryptic symbols predict
future Order derived from
balance between: Four seasons Five elements Five powers of creation
Diagrams symbolize cosmic unity
Poetry
Realist and Allegorical
Many authors; compiled by Confucius
From Yellow River area (China proper)
Sung
Folk, imaginative One author (Qu
Yuan) From Yangtze
River (South)
Book of Songs The Song of Chu
Zhou Literature
The Book of Songs 305 poems From 10th Century to 600 BCE Three sections:
Feng – Folk Songs (106 of 305) Inspired DuFu
Ya – Court poems (105 of 305) Inspired LiBo
Song – Odes (40) Read “We Have in Hand” Hymns used in dynastic rituals
Addressing deified sprits of King Wen
Zhou Literature
“Fishhawk” First poem in the Classic of Poetry Shows absence of jealousy, perfect
harmony is royal household
Qin Literature
Not much Legalist state
Dissemination of laws Uniform Chinese
language Unreadable today
Bamboo book binding
Han Literature
China’s classical age “Children of Han”
Restored Confucianism
Silk scrolls replaced bamboo strips Advantages?
Easier to transport Learning became
“mobile” Reading became a rule Stories written instead
of retold
Han Poetry
Written Hymns and ritual songs
No heroic epics Personal & intimate Humanism & common sense A lot of female poets
Han Prose
History Detailed record of
rulers Sima Qian
Shi JI (Records of the Grand Historian
Historical romance Ban Zhao
Lessons for Women Female historian
“The Peach Blossom Spring” T’ao Ch’ien (365 – 427)
Utopia : An imagined
perfect place or state of things
Describe your Utopia
“The Peach Blossom Spring
What’s so desirable about this place? Why can’t anyone find it again? How does the Peach Blossom Spring
compare to the utopia imagined by you? To Utopians by Western philosophers?
Tang Literature
Non-Fiction: Treatises:
A formal written work that deals with a subject systematically and extensively. History Religion Economics Architecture Botany and zoology
Essays Encyclopedias
Fiction: Drama Lyric poetry Opera
A drama set to music and making use of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment
Novel An extended fictional
prose narrative Romance of the Three
Kingdoms
Tang Poetry
“Golden Age of Chinese Poetry” Characteristics:
Monosyllabic language Many words rhymed
Restrained and sophisticated Occasional Poems
Written and used in a particular social exchange
Parting Poems
Two Greatest Poets
Li Bo (701-762) Member of court, removed
for poor behavior Arrested for treason,
pardoned, died shortly after Part of “counter-culture” Poet of fantasy
“The Old Airs V” Poems of the common
man: "Drinking Alone by
Moonlight" "Summer Day in the
Mountains" Rising Drunk on a Spring
Day, Telling My Intent"
Du Fu (712-770) “Greatest Chinese Poet?”
Immense variety Classical tradition
Reflect history of the time Occasional poems more
stylized than we've seen "Boating on the
reservoir West of the City"
Wrote historical poems about the An-Lu shan rebellion He was behind enemy
lines "The View in Spring"
Tang and Song Literature
Lyrics Follow specific rhyme and meter. Include:
Party songs Songs of romance
Blurred lines of reality and fiction
Classical prose Non-fiction:
Essay, letters, accounts. Fiction not “legitimate” until late
Yuan & Ming Literature
Preserved past Dictionaries encyclopedias 36 volume anthology of
Chinese classics Novels flourished
The Dream of the Red Chamber
Da-du (Beijing) cosmopolitan Vernacular Songs
flourished Counter-culture
Drama Opera Variety Plays