Table of Contents

Foreword; Part I. Ancient Chinese Literature: 1. The book of songs: the earliest anthology of poetry; 2. Prose writing during the spring and autumn and warring states periods; 3. Qu Yuan: a romantic lyricist; 4. Records of the historians; 5. Literature in the Wei and Jin period; 6. Li Bai and Du Fu: the two summits of Tang poetry; 7. Ci poetry: poems to be sung; 8. Yuan opera: Guan Hanqing and Wang Shifu; Classical fiction in the Ming Dynasty: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh and Journey to the West; 9. Short stories of the Qing Dynasty; 10. A dream of red mansions: the pinnacle of Classical literature; Part II. Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature: 11. Lu Xun: founder of new vernacular literature; 12. Modern fiction: echo of the times; 13. New poetry finding a voice of their own; 14. Modern drama; 15. Literature in the new era; 16. Literature today; Appendix: chronological table of the Chinese dynasties.

Promotional Information

This accessible, illustrated introduction takes the reader through the rich Chinese literary tradition from ancient times to the twentieth century.

About the Author

Yao Dan is Dean of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature in the School of Liberal Arts, China Renmin University. She is a member of the Society of Modern Chinese Literature and a special researcher of the Christian Culture Institute at China Renmin University. She has published a number of works on Chinese literature.