中国文学英文介绍-Chinese-Literature

Zhōngguówénxué中国文学ChineseLiteratureChinaistheonlycountryintheworldwithaliteraturewritteninonelanguageformorethan3,000consecutiveyears.DoyouknowhowlongisChineseinliteraturewritten?Thiscontinuityresultslargelyfromthenatureofthewrittenlanguageitself.Itistheuseofcharacters,notlettersasinWesternlanguages,thatismostimportantintheChineselanguage.Thecharactersstandforthingsorideasandso,unlikegroupsofletters.ThusChinesecouldbereadbypeopleinallpartsofthecountryinspiteofgradualchangesinpronunciation,theemergenceofregionalandlocaldialects,andmodificationofthecharacters.ReasonChinahasaveryoldandrichtraditioninliteratureandthedramaticandvisualarts.EarlywritingsgenerallyderivedfromphilosophicalorreligiousessayssuchastheworksofConfucius(551-479BC)andLao-tzu(probably4thcenturyBC).Thesewritingswereoftenabouthowpeopleshouldactandhowthesocietyandpoliticalsystemshouldbeorganizedandoperated.Astrongtraditionofhistoricalwritingalsoevolved.Afterthefallofadynasty,forexample,agrandhistoryofthelatedynastywascommissionedandwrittenbyscholarsinthenextdynasty.Introduction•TheprincipalgenreofChineseliteratureispoetry.•TheearliestChinesePoemcollectionis诗Shi经jing(ClassicofPoetry)ismadeupof305poemsdividedinto160folksongs;earlyfolksongsestablishedthe乐Yue府fu诗shiformthatcrystallizedduringtheHandynastyanddominatedforthenext1,200years.Beginningwiththesimplecomplaintsandlongingsexpressedinrhymedcoupletsoffolksongs,thisformgraduallybecamemoreandmorecomplex,orregulated,untilittookyearsofstudytomasteritsformalrulesofcomposition.•PoetrybecamewellestablishedasaliteraryformduringtheT‘angDynasty,maincontributiontoChineseliteraturewasinthepoetryofDufu,LiBaiandmanyotherpoets.杜Du甫fuand李Li白BaiareoftenthoughtofasChina’sgreatestpoets.ClassicalPoetry李Li白Bai(701–762)wasoneofthegreatestromanticpoetsofancientChina.Hewroteatleastathousandpoemsonavarietyofsubjectsfrompoliticalmatterstonaturalscenery.Dramaisanotheroldandimportantliteraryform.Chinesedramausuallycombinesvernacularlanguagewithmusicandsongandthushasbeenpopularwiththecommonpeople.AvarietyofpopularandstandardthemesarepresentedinPekingOpera,whichisprobablythebestknownofseveraloperatictraditionsthatdevelopedinChina.Chineseoperaisafavoriteartisticandculturalmedium.DramaTheFourGreatClassicalNovelsofChineseliteraturearethefournovelscommonlyregardedbyChineseliterarycriticismtobethegreatestandmostinfluentialofpre-modernChinesefiction.DatingfromtheMingandQingdynasties,theyarewell-knowntomostChineseeitherdirectlyorthroughtheirmanyadaptationstooperaandvariouspopularculturemedia.Theyareamongtheworld'slongestandoldestnovelsandareconsideredtobethepinnacleofChina'sachievementinclassicalnovels,influencingthecreationofmanystories,plays,movies,games,andotherformsofentertainmentthroughoutEastAsia,includingChina,Japan,Korea,andVietnam.ChineseNovelsSìdàmíngzhù四大名著Fourclassicalnovels红楼梦HónglóumèngSānguóyǎnyì三国演义水浒传ShuǐhǔzhuànXīyóujì西游记Itisaclassichistoricalnovelofenormousinfluence,iswidelyknowninChinaasoneofthefourgreatChineseclassicnovels.ItsauthorLuoGuanzhong,asthetextualresearchgoes,wasascholarlivedinthelateYuanDynastyandearlyMingDynasty,buthisexactbirthanddeathyearsarenotknown.Sānguóyǎnyì三国演义RomanceoftheThreeKingdomsRomanceoftheThreeKingdomsisbasedonthehistoryofthethreekingdoms,Wei,ShuandWuthatstrovetoreunitetheempireattheendoftheEasternHanDynasty.ThehistoryofthisperiodisexpoundedintherenownedhistorybookThreeKingdoms,andstoriesoftheheroesandtheirdeedswithinhavealsocomedownfromvariousfolktales,plays,balladsandverses.Outofhistoricalrecordsandfolktales,LuoGuanzhongcreatedtheenduringhistoricalandliterarymasterpiece.TheliteraryvalueofRomanceoftheThreeKingdomsliesmuchinthevividcharacterssketchedinthenovel:Forinstant,loyalGuanYu,whoisthebestknownChinesehistoricalfiguresthroughoutEastAsia,reveredbylatergenerationsastheMartialSaint(theLiteralSaintisConfucius),thesaintofloyaltyandcourage.Traditionally,heisportrayedasared-facedwarriorwithalonglushbeard.Alternatively,theideaofhisredfacecouldhavebeenborrowedfromoperarepresentation,whereredfacesdepictloyaltyandrighteousness.GuanYuistraditionallydepictedwearingagreenrobeoverhisbodyarmour.Supposedly,GuanYu'sweaponwasaBroadswordnamedGreenDragonCrescentBlade.Witty——ZhugeLiangEmptyFortStrategyTheEmptyFortStrategyisthe32ndoftheChineseThirty-SixStratagems.Thestrategyinvolvesusingreversepsychology(andluck)todeceivetheenemyintothinkingthatanemptylocationisfulloftrapsandambushes,andthereforeinducetheenemytoretreat.Someexamplesarelistedinthefollowingsections.WaterMarginisaboutthelivesandidealsofagroupofcharacterswhofoughtagainstthecorruptSongDynastythattheMongolsconquered.ItissaiditwaswritteninvernacularlanguagebyShiNaiAn,butscholarsdebateabouttheauthorshipofthisbookalso.Manyscholarsthinkthatthefirst70chapterswerewrittenbyShiNaiAnandthatthelast30chapterswerewrittenbyLuoGuanZhongwhotheysaywasalsotheauthorofTheRomanceoftheThreeKingdoms.Itisconsideredtobeofthetoptwobesthistoricalnovels.WaterMarginisreminiscentofthestoryofRobinHood.Likewise,theremayhavebeenactualoutlaws,andpopularlegendsandstorieslater