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LITERATURE OF ANCIENT CHINA

By

David Bannon, Ph.D.

China is the only country in the world with a literature written in one language for more

than 3,000 consecutive years. This continuity results largely from the nature of the

written language itself. It is the use of characters, not letters as in Western languages,

that is most important in the Chinese language. The characters stand for things or ideas

and so, unlike groups of letters, they cannot and need never be sounded. Thus Chinese

could be read by people in all parts of the country in spite of gradual changes in

pronunciation, the emergence of regional and local dialects, and modification of the

characters .

The dominance of the written language has had significant effects on the development of

the literature. In handwriting or in print, a piece of literature has visual appeal. This has

given rise to the great respect that calligraphy enjoys in China, where it has been

regarded for at least 16 centuries as a fine art comparable to painting. The main disadvantage of written

Chinese is the great number of characters it contains: Even basic reading and writing require a knowledge

of more than

1,000 characters. This has often made it difficult to spread the skills of reading and

writing into certain areas of the country. But even with this disadvantage, Chinese has

been a potent factor in shaping and maintaining a cultural continuity for millions of

people. Because the written characters tend to keep the language stable, Chinese never

developed into distinctly separate languages as did Latin in southern Europe with the

formation of the several Romance languages.

China has a very old and rich tradition in literature and the dramatic and visual arts.

Early writings generally derived from philosophical or religious essays such as the

works of Confucius (551-479 BC) and Lao-tzu (probably 4th century BC). These

writings were often about how people should act and how the society and political

system should be organized and operated. A strong tradition of historical writing also

evolved. After the fall of a dynasty, for example, a grand history of the late dynasty was

commissioned and written by scholars in the next dynasty.

In addition to philosophical, religious, and historical writings, China also produced

poetry, novels, and dramatic writings from an early date. Poetry became well

established as a literary form during the T'ang Dynasty, from AD 618 to 907. One of

China's greatest poets, Li Po, wrote during this period. This tradition of poetry, often

dealing with the relationship of humans to their natural surroundings, has continued.

Drama is another old and important literary form. Chinese drama usually combines

vernacular language with music and song and thus has been popular with the common

people. A variety of popular and standard themes are presented in Peking Opera,

which is probably the best known of several operatic traditions that developed in

China. Chinese opera is a favorite artistic and cultural medium.

Early Chinese novels often stressed character development and usually centered on an

adventure or supernatural happening; an example is the classic Ming version of

`Shui-hu chuan' (The Water Margin). Historical themes were also popular, as in the

`Romance of the Three Kingdoms', written in the late Yuan period. There were also

love stories such as the extremely popular

"Dream of the Red Chamber', probably China's most famous novel. Many of the early

novels were written anonymously. Often these works were written in the vernacular,

and many authors felt it was beneath their station to be associated with this type of

writing.

China's literary tradition continues to the present, though much 20th-century writing has

concentrated on efforts to reform or modernize China. Probably the most famous

20th-century writer is Lu Xun, a poet, essayist, and novelist whose work focused on

the need to modernize through revolution. Under Communism, writers have been

expected to uphold the values of the socialist state, though the degree of control over

their output has varied.

DYNASTIC LITERATURE FROM 221 BC TO AD 960

With the unification of China by the short-lived Ch'in Dynasty (221 to 206 BC), the

singular feature in literary matters was what is called the "Burning of the Books." The

emperor, Shih Huang Ti, was determined to be an absolutist ruler and opposed to

writings on good government such as those in the Classics. In 213, it is believed, he

ordered the burning of all texts that appeared threatening to him. Whether the books

were actually burned or simply kept from the people is uncertain. The result was the

same: It was necessary during the next dynasty to reconstruct the texts of the Classics.

The Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220) actively promoted the restoration and

teaching of the Classics. In 124 BC a national university was opened for the purpose of

teaching Confucianism. Probably at about this time civil-service examinations, which

determined the appointment and promotion of government officials, began to be based

on the Classics. It was also during the Han period that the Classics became established

as the basis of Chinese education.

Literature flowered again during the Han Dynasty. Traditional poetry and prose forms,

especially the fu prose poems, flourished. But the most notable achievement came with

the reactivation of the Yueh Fu, or Music Bureau, in 125 BC. This agency was

founded in the previous century to collect traditional songs. One of its achievements

was the compiling of folk songs and ballads. The most outstanding folk ballad of the

period, about AD 200, was `Southeast the Peacock Flies'. It tells of the tragedy of a

young married couple who committed suicide as the result of the cruelty of the

husband's mother.

The major prose authors of the Han Dynasty were Liu An, Ssu-ma Ch'ien, and Pan

Ku. Liu An was a prince of Huai-nan in the 2nd century BC. The work attributed to

him, but probably done under his patronage, is `The Master of Huai-nan'. It is a

compilation of 21 chapters on cosmology, philosophy, politics, and ethics. Although the

book contains little that is not traditional, its cosmology was highly regarded by the

Taoists and became part of their accepted teaching. The masterpiece of the period was

the `Shih-chi', meaning "Historical Records," of Ssu-ma Ch'ien. It was completed in

about 85 BC and took 18 years to produce. It contains a record of events and

personalities for the previous 2,000 years. The text is divided into 130 chapters with

more than 520,000 words. It was the first attempt at a national history in China, and it

set the pattern for the histories of dynasties in the following centuries.

In the next century Ssu-ma Ch'ien was followed as historian by Pan Ku, who was born

about AD 32 and died about AD 92. He was also a poet, soldier, and the author of

`Han shu', meaning "History of the Former Han Dynasty." Completed after 16 years of

study, the history contains more than 800,000 words. Because he was court historian,

Pan Ku could get all the official records as well as the family histories of the emperors.

In addition to information about the rulers, the author added sections on geography,

natural phenomena, memorable biographies, and a descriptive account of books in the

imperial library.

The Han Dynasty was followed by the period of the Six Dynasties and the Sui

Dynasty (AD 221 to 618). The major poet of this era was T'ao Ch'ien (365-427). In

his 20s he became a government official, but after about ten years he resigned and with

his family went to live in a farming village to contemplate nature and to write poetry. His

verse was in a plain style that was imitated by poets long after. He was a master of the

five-word line and has been called the first of China's great nature poets because most

of his writings deal with rural activities. Although he was essentially a Taoist, his work

also showed elements of Confucianism and Buddhism.

The 3rd and 4th centuries were, for prose writers, a time of individuality and partial

rejection of slavish imitation of past models. Lu Chi (261-303) was a renowned poet

and literary critic who emphasized originality in creative writing. He wrote a great deal

of lyric poetry but is best remembered for his `Wen fu', an essay on literature.

The revolt against imitative writing was also expressed in a 5th-century style called

"pure conversation," an intellectual discussion on lofty matters. Some of these were

recorded in a collection of anecdotes entitled `Sayings of the World'. In the 6th century

the first book of literary criticism, `Carving of the Literary Dragon', was published by

Liu Hsieh (465-522). It was written in the p'ien wen, or parallel prose, style. Two other

6th-century prose masters were Yang Hsien-chih, author of `Record of Buddhist

Temples in Lo-yang', and Li Tao-yuan, author of `Commentary on the Water Classic'.

Both of these are outstanding records of not only what was happening but also of the

folklore of the time.

The period from 618 to 960, the time of the T'ang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, is

considered China's golden age of poetry. The works of more than 2,000 poets, totaling

more than 48,900 pieces, have been preserved. The writing adapted traditional verse

forms and created new ones. Among the new and popular forms were lu shih, meaning

"regulated verse"; chueh chu, "truncated verse"; and a song form called tz'u. Regulated

verse consisted of eight lines of five or seven syllables set in accordance with strict tonal

patterns. Truncated verse was an outgrowth of regulated verse: It omitted four of the

lines but maintained the tonal qualities of regulated verse. The tz'u consisted of lines of

irregular length written as lyrics for music. Because the lines varied from 1 to 11

syllables, they were comparable to the natural rhythms of speech and were easily

understood when sung. The tz'u served as a major style for poetry during the

succeeding Sung Dynasty.

Two of the greatest poets in all Chinese literature lived during the T'ang Dynasty: Li

Po (701-762) and Tu Fu (712-770). Li Po was a romantic who celebrated such things

as drinking, friendship, and nature as well as solitude and the passage of time. His work

showed a great deal of imagination and a fresh approach to old themes. Tu Fu also

celebrated the beauties of nature and bemoaned the passage of time, but he was also a

satirist and critic. In `The Army Carts' he condemned the senselessness of war, and in

`The Beautiful Woman' he made fun of the luxuriousness of the imperial court. Tu Fu's

great reputation in literature comes in part from his expert use of all types of poetic

style. His mastery of the regulated verse form was unmatched.

Chinese prose also underwent a stylistic reform during the T'ang period. The major

change was brought about by Han Yu (768-824). He promoted classic Confucian

doctrines at a time when they had begun to fall into neglect because of the rising

popularity of Buddhism and Taoism. In his writing he advocated a return to the free,

simple prose of the ancient philosophers. His own essays are among the most beautiful

ever written in Chinese and became models for the style of writing he prized. At his

death he was honored with the title "Prince of Letters."

SUNG DYNASTY (960-1279)

During the Sung Dynasty, especially in the 11th century, the tz'u form of poetry and

song was brought to its greatest heights, particularly through the efforts of China's best

woman poet, Li Ch'ing-chao (1081-1141). She produced six volumes of poetry and

seven volumes of essays, all of which have been lost except for some poetry fragments.

Her early poems dealt with the joys of love and were intensely personal. Later in life

her writing began to reflect a dark despair, caused by long separations from her

husband and, eventually, by his untimely death.

The prose reform continued under followers of Han Yu, and poetry of the conventional

type continued to be written by members of rival literary schools. The only real

innovation came with the use of everyday speech in local dialects in storytelling. This

literature had its origin in unrecorded oral tales recounted by individuals to audiences

gathered in marketplaces or temple yards. By the 12th century these tales became fairly

lengthy narratives, many dealing with fictionalized history. This style opened new vistas

in prose fiction in later periods, though its use was at first despised by professional

writers.

YUAN, OR MONGOL, DYNASTY (1279-1368)

The best-known ruler of the Yuan, or Mongol, Dynasty was Kublai Khan. In literature

Chinese drama came to the fore for the first time, and vernacular fiction was firmly

established.

Puppet shows, skits, vaudeville acts, and shadow plays of previous ages had laid the

foundation for a full-fledged drama. Plays in four or five acts, including songs and

dialect in language quite close to that of the common people, became popular. More

than 1,700 musical plays were written, and more than 105 dramatists were recorded.

The first, and probably the greatest, playwright of classical theater was Kuan

Han-ch'ing (1241?-1320?), author of about 60 plays. He wrote in a simple and

straightforward manner, often about common everyday occurrences. Among his best

works were `Injustice Suffered by Tou-o', `Meeting Enemies Alone', and `Saving a

Prostitute'.

Wang Shih-fu (1250-1337?) wrote one of the best dramas of the period, `Romance of

the Western Chamber', a work that is still popular. It is about the romantic exploits of

the poet Yuan Chen, renamed Chang Chun-jui in the play. It is notable for its length,

two or three times that of the standard Yuan drama.

In vernacular fiction one of the greatest novelists was Lo Kuan-chung (1330-1400),

known for his masterpiece, `The Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. He is also

presumed to be the author of one of China's best-known novels, `The Story of the

Water Margin' (translated by novelist Pearl S. Buck as `All Men Are Brothers'). The

work is a semihistorical collection of stories about a band of enlightened

outlaws--social and political dissenters whose exploits were recorded in official

dynastic history. This is one of the few traditional novels approved today by Chinese

Communist authorities and critics.

MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Most Ming literature in both prose and poetry was traditional, imitative, and

old-fashioned. Two schools of writing challenged this trend, claiming that literature

should change with the age instead of slavishly imitating the past. The influence of these

schools did not last long, however.

It was in the vernacular literature of the period that writers made significant

contributions. The dramatic form ch'uan-chi (tales of marvels) became popular. Some

examples were full-length dramas with many changes of scene and many subplots,

while others were one-act playlets. This drama form won gradual support from literary

figures, and in the 16th century the influential K'un school, which was to dominate the

theater until the end of the 18th century, was formed.

In fiction there were some novels that are still considered outstanding. Wu Ch'eng-en

(1500?-82?) wrote `Monkey', the adventures of a cunningly resourceful animal that

accompanied the Buddhist monk Hsuan-tsang on a pilgrimage to India. `Adventure to

the Western Ocean' was an expanded tale of the 15th-century explorer Cheng Ho. The

author of `Gold Vase Plum', subtitled "The Adventurous History of Hsi-men and His

Six Wives," is unknown. It was the first realistic social novel to appear in China--the

first fiction work not derived from popular legends or historical events. In a very

naturalistic, somewhat coarse way it describes the life of a well-to-do businessman who

has acquired his wealth largely through dishonest means; his goals in life are animal

pleasures and heavy drinking. Although the novel was banned in China more than once,

and Western translators have occasionally resorted to Latin for offensive passages, it is

one of the most popular Chinese novels.