Chinese literature is a vast subject that spans thousands of years. One of the things about the Chinese Literature is that much of the serious literature was composed using a formal of written language that is called CLASSICAL CHINESE. Writing in China dates back to the hieroglyphs that were used in the Shang Dynasty of 1700-1050 BC. Chinese Literature includes fiction, philosophical and religious works, poetry, and scientific writings. This written language, the classical language was used be people of many different ethnic groups and countries during the Zhou, Qin and Han eras spanning 1050 BC to 220 AD. After Han Dynasty, the written language evolved as the spoken languages changed, but most of the writers based on Classical Chinese. These eras were composed of people speaking many different native languages.
NINE DYNASTIES:
· SHANG DYNASTY- The first dynasty which there is historical record and archaeological evidence. It was a small empire in northern central China. The Shang Dynasty is the earliest ruling dynasty of China to be established in recorded history, though other dynasties predated it. The Shang ruled from 1700 to 1050 B.C. and heralded the Bronze Age in China. They were known for their advances in math, astronomy, artwork and military technology. Lastly, it the development of Chinese Writing.
· ZHOU DYNASTY- Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) was among the most culturally significant of the early Chinese dynasties and the longest lasting of any in China's history. Zhou Dynasty was contemporaneous with Shang Dynasty and they conquered the Shang Dynasty and their dynasty lasted for about 800 years. But most of the time their original territory was broken up into dozens of competing kingdoms, and finally coalesced into several big and warring kingdoms by the end of the Zhou era. Chinese religious and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and the Warrior States Period (475-221) basis the great literary works of philosophy and religion. Taoism, Confucian literature, and other prominent religious and philosophical schools all emerged during these two periods.
QIN DYNASTY-The Qin dynasty or Ch'in dynasty was the first dynasty of Imperial China, lasting from 221 to 206 BC. Named for its heartland in Qin state, the dynasty was founded by Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin. The Qin Dynasty was responsible for the construction of the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall marked national boundaries and acted as a defensive infrastructure to protect against invading nomadic tribes from the north. However, later dynasties were more expansionist and built beyond Qin's original wall. The Qin region was located in modern-day Shaanxi province, north of the Zhou Dynasty territory - Qin served as a barrier between it and the less civilized states above it. The capital of the Qin Dynasty was Xianyang, which was extensively enlarged after Qin dominance was established. In 207 BC, Xiang Yu's army defeated the Army of Qin and Liu Bang swept into the capital which finally ended the Qin Dynasty. At the end of the Qin Dynasty in 207 BC, war broke out between Liu bang and Xiang Yu. The main achievement of the Qin is the fact that it unified China, creating the first dynasty ruled by the first emperor Qin Shi Huang. Other well-known achievements is the creation of the Great Wall and a large army of Terracotta Warriors.
· HAN DYNASTY- Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China (202 BC–220 AD), established by the rebel leader Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. A former peasant leader overthrew the Qin Empire. The Han Dynasty lasted for 400 years. The Era Confucianism was revived. Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. Historical texts and scientific works were the era’s major contributions. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records concerning overall history of China. The book’s prose was considered a model for writers in succeeding dynastic eras. The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. Cai Lun, first person in the world to create writing paper, this was important for written communication.
· TANG DYNASTY- Tang Empire was an imperial dynasty ruling China from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Tang dynasty had a big empire that benefited from trade with the west along the Silk Road, battled with the Tibetan Empire, and experienced the growing influence of organized Buddhist religions. 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. He wrote at least a thousand poems. Du Fu also wrote more than a thousand poems and one of the greatest realist poets of China.
· SONG DYNASTY- was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty but the imperial government officials made remarkable scientific and technical advances. Military technology greatly advanced and their northern territory was invaded and they were forced to move their capital to southern China. So the era was divided into two eras called the Northern Song and Southern Song. Era’s technological accomplishment was the invention of movable type about the turn of 2nd millennia during the northern song period. This helped to spread knowledge. Travel Literature became popular because the texts could be cheaply bought. Confucian Classics were the five classics penned by Confucius and the four books related material but were compiled during the southern song era. Confucianism became dominant political philosophy of the several empires until modern times. High education in this system was thought to produce nobility.
· FIVE CLASSICS: THE BOOK OF CHANGES, THE CLASSIC OF POETRY, THE RECORD OF RITES, THE CLASSIC OF HISTORY AND THE SPRING AND AUTUMN ANNALS.
· FOUR BOOKS: THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS, MENCIUS, THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN, AND THE GREAT LEARNING.
Another period of scientific progress and technical invention was the song era. Song technicians have made a lot of achievements in mechanical engineering. The Imperial court officials did remarkable scientific research in many areas of mechanics and science. Shen discovered the concepts of true north and magnetic declination towards the North Pole. He also described the magnetic needle compass and did advance astronomical research for his time. While Su Song wrote treatise called the Bencao Tujing with information on medicine, botany and zoology. He also was the author of a large celestial atlas of five different star maps, and made land atlases.
· YUAN DYNASTY- Mongols were nomadic people who herded cattle north of the Tang Empire and wandered over a large area fighting on horseback. In China, Mongols established the very rich Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols entertained by a shadow puppet plays. In the Yuan Dynasty, puppet drama continued to entertain the rich dynastic courts in vernacular language. Yuan empire renowned dramatic playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular language. Guan Hanqing is one of the best playwrights of the times, he wrote Midsummer Snow that was one popular drama series. While Wang Shifu wrote The Romance of the Western Chamber. Considered as one of the best romantic dramas ever written in China.
· MING DYNASTY- officially the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by Han Chinese. The Chinese rebelled against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty era began about 1368. Ming initially were interested in exploration, and Muslims whose ancestors arrived during the Yuan Dynasty were employed to make long voyages to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and Perhaps Africa, they became Isolationist. Journey to the West have been published by Wu Cheng’en in the 16th century. This book was written in vernacular.
· QING DYNASTY- officially the Great Qing was the last imperial dynasty of China. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. The Manchus invaded the Ming Empire from the north and established the last dynasty called the Qing Dynasty. Manchus were not Chinese, but they retained Neo-Confucian governing system of the Song and Ming eras. The Qing Dynasty came under increasing attack from both internal rebellions and foreign countries. In the 19th century foreign literature and west became better known. China’s four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber and near the end of era, Modernistic literature developed. The modern era, Sun Yat-sen led a revolution that marked the end of Chinese in which a clan rules an empire. The big changed of Chinese society happens. Until about 1923, there was a New Culture Movement. Writers wanted to lead the way in transforming China into a modern industrialized country and replacing Confucian lifestyle with a westernized one. Some freedom of expression, and lots of views and styles of literature were popular. After the Communist victory, only literature approved by the government was allowed.
A COUNTRY BOY QUITS SCHOOL
BY: LAO HSIANG
A Country Boy Quits School Lao Hsiang (Translated by Chi-Chen Wang) A boy in the country gets to be at least half as useful as a grownup by the time he is eight or nine years old. He can weed in the spring or ti7e up harvest bundles in summer: he is able to pass bricks when a house is built or open and shut the furrows to the irrigation ditches. This, being the case, who'd want to send him to school? But an official proclamation had been issued in the city to the effect that unless a boy over six years of age. When they found the cause of her distress, Father said, "We'll have the boy ask his teacher whose mama this really is. Maybe it is the teacher's mama." The next morning before dawn, Mother woke up her son and made him go to school and ask the teacher for a solution to the problem that had bothered her all night. Arriving at school, the boy found that it was Sunday and that there would be no school. Moreover, the teacher had drunk more wine than was good for him the night before and was still sound asleep. The boy told Mother the circumstances, which made her curse the institution of Sunday. At general assembly on Monday, the teacher said gently to his charges, "One who wants to learn must not be afraid to ask questions. Anyone who has any question should raise it at once, to his teacher at school or to his parents at home." Thereupon our hero stood up and asked, (the reader says) "This is Mama." Whose is she, really?” The teacher answered even more gently than before. "It is the mama of anyone who happens to read the book, do you understand now?" "No," the boy said. This embarrassed the teacher a little but he said patiently, "Why don't you understand?" "Baldy is also reading this, but his mama is not like this lady," the boy said. "Baldy's mother is lame in one arm and has only one eye," Hsiao Li said. "And you have no mama at all. She died a long time ago," Baldy said in self-defense. "Don't talk among yourselves" the teacher said, knocking on the blackboard with his ferule. "We are going to have the lesson plan today: This is Papa. Look, everyone. This is Papa, the man with spectacles and patted hair." After school, Mother was still warned about who the picture woman was, but when she heard her son reiterating "this is Papa," she did not dare to pursue the question, being afraid that her husband might want to know when she'd found a new papa for their son. She was puzzled more than ever and wondered why the book insisted on presenting people with papas and mamas when they had them already. A few days later, the boy learned two new sentences: "The ox tends the fire; the horse eats noodles." He read the text over thousands of times but he could not get over the feeling that there was something queer about the assertions. They had an ox and a horse and he had himself taken them out to tend the hills, but he had never once seen a horse eat noodles and he was sure that their ox could not tend the fire. But could the book be wrong? Since he could not answer these questions, he obeyed his teacher's injunction of the week before and asked his father about it. Father said, "I once went to a foreign circus in the city and saw a horse that could ring a bell and fire a gun. Perhaps the book is talking about such horses and oxen." It in our circumstances. You' 11 be very ungrateful if you don't study hard and learn something." The boy took his father's instructions to heart and set out for school the next day at dawn. When he got there, however, the porter said to him in a low voice, "Classes don't start till nine. It's now only five thirty. You are too early. The teacher is asleep and the classroom isn't unlocked. You had better go home now." The boy looked around the yard and found that he was indeed the only student there; he listened outside the teacher's window and heard him snoring; he walked around the lecture room and found no open door. There was nothing for him to do but run back home. Grandfather was sweeping the yard when he suddenly caught sight of the boy. He threw down his broom and said. "What is the use of trying to make a scholar of a boy whom Heaven and Earth intended for the hoe? Look at him. it's only the second day and he is playing truant already!" The boy was just about to explain when his mother gave him two resounding slaps and made him tend the fire for breakfast. Needless to say, the price of the books that they had to buy had a great deal to do with their temper. When the boy went to school again after breakfast, the teacher was already on the platform and was holding forth on the subject of being late to school. To illustrate his point, he told a story about a little fairy that waited by the wayside with a bag of gold to reward the earliest boy. Our boy was enchanted with the story and the words "fairy" gold" but he could not figure out just what was meant by "earliest." In the afternoon, our young hero came back from school at three thirty, just as his father was going back to work after his midday nap. Luckily his father happened to see the other boys also coming home from school and the teaching laking a stroll with his “dog stick," and concluded that his son was not playing truant. He kept wondering, however, about the strange ways of these foreign schools. The first six days of school were taken up with the first lesson in the reader, with the text. “This is mama." It couldn't be said that the boy was not diligent He reviewed his lesson every day after school, reading over and over again "This is Mama," until dusk. With his left hand holding the book open and his right following the characters, he read on faithfully and conscientiously if afraid that the characters would fly away if he did not fix his entire attention on them. But every time he reads "This is Mama," his mother's heart would jump. On the sixth day of 2 school she could stand it no longer. She snatched the book from him and said, “Let me see who your mama is!" Thinking that his mother was really eager to learn, the boy pointed to the accompanying picture and said, This is Mama- the lady with leather shoes, bobbed hair, and long dress." One glance at the picture and Mother burst out crying. Grandfather, Grandmother, and Father were frightened, thinking that she might have become possessed by some evil spirits. At first, she only cried and would not say anything when they asked her what the matter was, but when they persisted, she said. “Where did the boy get that vampire-like mama?" Grandmother, however, did not agree with father's explanation. She said, "The ox must be the Ox-Head Devil King and the horse must also be a demon. Don't you see that all wear human clothing? They haven't changed their heads if human heads yet, but that alone will take to live hundred a years." The old lady then went on to tell stories about demons that could command the wing and summon rain; the result was that the boy dreamed that night of being seized by a winged-wolf demon and woke up crying. The following day, the boy asked his teacher "Is this ox that can tend the fire a foreign ox ?" The teacher laughed and said, "You are too literal! The book has only made those things up. It is not true that oxen can really tend the fire or that horses really eat noodles." The explanation cleared up at one stroke many things in the book that had puzzled the boy. He had read about such things as bread, milk, park, ball, and the like, which he had never seen and which had made him wonder, it dawned upon him that the book dealt only with make believe things. One day, the boy and his schoolmates decided that they would play tea party as they had read about it in their reading. They agreed that each would contribute twenty cents so that they could send to the city for oranges, apples, chocolates, and things. Our boy knew, of course, that he would be only inviting a beating to ask money for buying sweetmeats. Grandmother always mumbled that school would bankrupt them yet, whenever he had to buy a sheet of writing paper. But be could not resist the glowing picture that his book gave of the tea party, and decided to help himself to the money that his mother had just got from selling more of her jewels and which she had set aside for buying cabbage seedlings. Grandfather had been suffering for a long time from a chronic cough, and someone had hold him that orange peels would give him relief. He kept on asking what orange peels were like and where they could be gotten. Thinking that this was a chance for him to ingratiate himself into his grandfather's favor, the boy said, "We are getting some oranges?" Grandfather asked. "What are you getting oranges for?" We want to hold a tea party," the boy said. "What is a tea party?" "It means to get together and eat things and drink tea," the boy said. "It is in the book "What kind of book is this that is either making animals talk or tea people to eat and play? No wonder the boys have become lazy and choosy about their food since they went to school" Grandmother said. "And it is always about foreign food. There doesn't seem to be any corn stew or bean curd with onions in it." Grandfather said. "Remember, son, to bring back some orange peels for your grandfather's cough," said Mother. "Where did you get the money to buy oranges?" asked Father. "The teacher - "but before the boy could finish making up his story, they heard Badly, who live in the next dwelling to the east, suddenly begin to cry. Then they heard his father shout, "We can't even afford salt, and yet you want to buy candy." This was followed by the voice of Hsiao Lin's uncle, who live in the west. "I let you buy books with my earned-money because it is for your good, but I haven't any money for you to buy sweetmeats. You can ask whoever you want to hold tea parties for it." The truth came out. The boy's father aimed a kick at him, but fortunately the table intervened. He only upset the table and broke a few rice bowls. Grandfather was of the opinion th at it might be better to take the boy out of school, but Grandmother did not want her son to go to jail. After long arguments, it was decided that they would let him try school for a few more days. After this Humiliation, our young scholar vowed to study harder and to recover his lost prestige in the family. Everyday after school, he read without stopping until it was dark. He did not realize that the source of his troubles lay in the textbook itself. Grandmother had been feeling that her son was no longer as close to her as before his marriage and that her position in the family had been gradually slipping. Now as she listened to the boy reading aloud his latest lessons, she heard him say, "In my family I have a papa, a mama, a brother, and a sister," but nothing about Grandfather and Grandmother. She became very indignant and shouted. "So this house is now all yours and I have no longer a share in it!" She was mad with fury. She picked up a brick and broke their iron pot into pieces. “Don't be angry any more!" the boy's father said. "We won't let him read this kind of book any longer. I would rather go to jail." And so the next day, Father discharged a day laborer and the teacher marked the boy's absence in the record book at school.
The story entitled, Country Boy Quits School shows the importance of education to our lives. It clearly demonstrates how poor education may result to chaos and confusion to someone's life, even family. Just as much as it issues how significant education is, this story also addresses how not just books and teachers define education. The story Generosity on the other hand, shows the very irony of life during those times. No matter how hard one works, he is easily brought down by someone with a higher class, with no effort at all. We clearly see how large the gap between people of different classes really is.
The advancement of civilization not only brought about easy living for us, but also brought more problems, reflected by the two stories. Before, life is peaceful, and problems are not that big of a trouble. But now, people have become greedier and more power-hungry. “
A LITTLE INCIDENT
BY: LU XUN
Six years have gone by, as so many winks, since I came to the capital from the village. During all that time there have occurred many of those events known as “affairs of the state”, a great number of which I have seen or heard about. My heart does not seem to have been in the least affected by any of them, and recollection now only tends to increase my ill temper and cause me to like people less as the day wears on. But one little incident alone is deep with meaning to me, and I am unable to forget it even now.
It was a winter day in the sixth year of the Republic, and a strong northernly wind blew furiously. To make a living, I had to be up early, and on the way to my duties I encountered scarcely anyone. After much difficulty, I finally succeeded in hiring a rickshaw. I told the puller to take to me to the South Gate.
After a while, the wind moderated its fury, and in its wake the streets were left clean of the loose dust. The puller ran quickly. Just as we approached the South Gate, somebody ran in front of us, got entangled in the rickshaw, and tumbled to the ground.
It was a woman with streaks of white in her hair, and she wore ragged clothes. She had darted suddenly from the side of the street, and directly crossed in front of us. My puller tried to swerve aside, but her tattered jacket, unbuttoned and fluttering in the wind, caught in the shafts. Fortunately, the puller had slowed his pace, otherwise she would have been thrown head over heels, and probably injured. After we halted, the woman still knelt on all fours. I did not think she was hurt. No one else had seen the collision. And it irritated me that the puller had stopped and was apparently prepared to get himself involved in some foolish complication. It might delay and trouble my journey.
“It’s nothing,” I told him. “Move on!”
But either he did not hear me or did not care, for he put down the shafts and gently helped the old woman to her feet. He held her arms, supporting her, and asked:
“Are you alright?”
“I am hurt.”
I thought, “I saw you fall and it was not all rough. How can you be hurt? You are pretending. The whole business is distasteful, and the rickshaw man is merely making difficulties for himself. Now let him find his own way out of the mess.”
But the puller did not hesitate for a moment after the old woman said she was injured. Still holding her arm, he walked carefully ahead with her. Then I was surprised as, looking ahead, I suddenly noticed a police station, and saw that he was taking her there. No one was outside, so he guided her in through the gate.
As they passed in, I experienced a curious sensation. I do not know why, but at the moment, it suddenly seemed to me that his dust-covered figure loomed enormous, and as he walked farther he continued to grow, until finally I had to lift my head to follow him. At the same time, I felt a bodily pressure all over me, which came from his direction. It seemed almost to push out from me all the littleness that hid under my fur-lined gown. I grew week, as though my vitality had been spent, as though the blood had frozen in me. I sat motionless, stunned and thoughtless, until I saw an officer emerge from the station. Then, I got off from the rickshaw as he approached me.
“Get another rickshaw,” he advised. “This man can’t pull you anymore.”
Without thinking, I thrust my hand into my pocket and pulled forth a big fistful of coppers. “Give the fellow these,” I said.
The wind had ceased entirely, but the street was still quiet. I mused as I walked, but I was almost afraid to think about myself. Leaving aside what had happened before, I sought an explanation for a fistful of coppers. Why had I given them? As a reward? And did I think of myself, after my conduct, fit to pass judgment upon the rickshaw puller? I could not answer my own conscience.
Till now that experience burns in my memory. I think of it, and introspect with pain and effort. The political and military drama of these years is to me like the classics I read in childhood: I cannot recite half a line of it. But always before my eyes, purging me with shame, impelling me to better myself, invigorating my hope and courage, this little incident is reenacted. I see it in every detail as distinctly as on the day it happened.
I just read a story, "An Incident," by Lu Xun, and I really enjoyed it because it talks of reforming yourself as a person. In the story, it shows that even a cold, rigid person had found kindness through an experience. A single incident changed his moral values and ideas of life. You can learn a valuable lesson from this story and it can even help you to become a better person.
END!!!
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