CHINESE
LITERATURE
21st Literature
GROUP 1

Graziella Marrone

Pamela Catacutan

Ezekiel Baltazar
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Christina Calderon

Raemie Bondoc
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HISTORY
• Writing in China dates back to the hieroglyphs
that were used in the Shang Dynasty of 1700 –
1050 BC.
• The Chinese language has over 20,000 characters
and the average Chinese only learns about 5,000.
• The flag of China was officially adopted on
October 1, 1949.
• The red of the Chinese flag symbolizes the
communist revolution, and it's also the traditional
color of the people.
• The large gold star represents communism, while
the four smaller stars represent the social classes
of the people.
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HISTORY
• The People's Republic of China has 23 provinces, 5
autonomous regions, 4 centrally administered
municipalities and 2 special administrative regions
• Buddhism spread from India to China some 2,000 years
ago. The majority of Buddhist believers are Han Chinese
while Buddhist believers in Tibet also make up a sizable
portion.
• Taoism is native to China and has a history of more than
1,700 years. Its founder was Lao Tzu and its doctrines are
based on his writings about the Tao or the Way. Taoism is
centered on the "three treasures" which are: Humility,
Compassion, and Frugality.
• Islam spread from the Arab Countries to China more than
1,300 years ago. It now has more than 14 million believers
• Catholicism and other forms of Christianity began to make
their way into China very early.
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7 MAJOR GROUPS OF CHINESE DIALECTS
MANDARIN
• The North varieties of Chinese are
usually known as the Mandarin
dialects.
WU
• The Wu dialects are spoken in the
Yangtze delta and the coastal region
around Shanghai.
GAN
• To the west and somewhat south of
the Wu area are the Gan dialects.
XIANG
• The Xiang dialects are also a
Southern group in transition-even
more so than Gan.
HAKKA
• Scattered over most of South China are
communities of Hakka.
YUE
• The Yue dialects are popularly known as the
Cantonese dialects. They are spoken in
Guangdong and Guangxi, in the area around
the southernmost point in the curve of the
South China coastline.
MIN
• The Min-speaking part of China is Fujian
Province and the northeastern tip of
Guangdong.
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Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) —
Development of Chinese Writing
The first dynasty for which there is historical
record and archaeological evidence is the
Shang Dynasty. It was a small empire in
northern central China. No documents from
that country survive, but there are
archaeological finds of hieroglyphic writing on
bronze wares and oracle bones. The
hieroglyphic writing system later evolved into
ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese
characters.
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Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) — Basic
Philosophical and Religious Literature
Confucius Statue. Confucius Statue.
• Their dynasty lasted for about 800 years
(longest).
• Major literary achievements originated in
the late Spring and Autumn period and
Warring State Period,
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Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) — Literary
Disaster and Legalism
• Mohism – big philosophical religious school
• Li Si – Qin emperor who introduced a
writing system and developed into Modern
Chinese Writing.
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Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) — Scientific
and Historical Texts
• Era’s major contributions were historical
texts and scientific works.
• Sima Qian – wrote historical records
• Historical records – major history
concerning the overall history of China
from Shang Dynasty to Han Dynasty
• Cai Lun – 1st person in the world to create
writing paper.
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Tang Dynasty (618-907) — Early Woodblock
Printing and Poetry
• Dufu and Li Bai – China’s greatest poets
• Li Bai – one of the greatest Romantic poets
• Dufu – one of the greatest Realists poets.
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Song Dynasty (960-1279) — Early
Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature,
Poetry, Scientific Texts and the NeoConfucian Classics
• 5 classics and 4 books – written in the
classical language
• Shen Kuo and Su Song – both work
scientific treatises
• Shen – discovered the concept of true north
and magnetic declination
• Su Song – famous for his hydraulic-powered
astronomical clock tower.
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Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) — Drama and
Great Fictional Novels
• Guan Hanquing – one of the best
playwrights of the time
• Mid Summer Snow – one of the most
popular drama pieces
• The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and
Water Margin – two of the four greatest
novels in Chinese Literature
• The Romance of the Western Chamber by
Wang Shifu – one of the best romantic
dramas ever written in China.
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Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) — Novels
• Journey to the Wesr by Wu Cheng’en –
based on the historical journey of a
Buddhist to India.
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Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) — Novels and
Pre-modern Literature
• Manchus – established the last dynasty
• The Dream of the Red Chamber – last of
China’s four great classic novels
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POETRY
• Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the
Chinese language.
• The Shijing is a preserved collection of Classical Chinese
poetry from over two millennia ago.
• The poems of the Shijing were originally sung to the
accompaniment of music, and some of them, especially
temple songs, were also accompanied by dancing.
• In contrast to the classic Shijing, the Chu Ci anthology
consists of verses more emphasizing lyric and romantic
features, as well as irregular line-lengths and other
influences from the poetry typical of the state of Chu.
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THE FOUR CLASSIC NOVELS OF CHINESE
LITERATURE
• These four novels form the core of Chinese classical
literature and still inform modern culture. As with Dante or
Shakespeare in Europe, they are touchstones to which
Chinese literary culture persistently returns to discover new
relevance and fresh insight.
1. Water Margin
2. Journey to the West
3. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
4. Dream of the Red Chamber
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SHI NAI'AN
Born: 1296, Suzhou, China
Died: 1370, Ming dynasty
was a Chinese writer from Suzhou.
He was attributed as the first
compiler of the Water Margin, one of
the Four Great Classical Novels of
Chinese literature.
Not much biographical information
is known about him. Traditionally it
was believed that he was a teacher
of Luo Guanzhong, who was
attributed as a main compiler of
Romance of Three Kingdoms,
another of the Four Great Classical
Novels. Some modern scholars
doubt that Shi actually existed, but
was merely a pseudonym for Luo
himself.
Within the bounds of the four seas,
all men are brothers.-Shi Nai’an
(Water Margin)
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WU CHENG'EN
Born: 1500 or 1505
Died: 1582 or 1580
courtesy name Ruzhong (汝
忠), pen name "Sheyang
Hermit," was a Chinese
novelist and poet of the Ming
Dynasty, best known for
being the probable author of
one of the Four Great
Classical Novels of Chinese
literature, Journey to the
West, also called Monkey.
"If a man has been your teacher for
a day, you should treat him as your
father for the rest of his life."
— Wu Cheng'en (Journey to the
West
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LUO GUANZHONG
Born: approximately
1330
Died: approximately
1400
Luo Ben, better known by his style
name Luo Guanzhong was a
Chinese writer who lived during
the Yuan Dynasty. He was also
known by his pseudonym Huhai
Sanren (Chinese: 湖海散人; pinyin:
Húhǎi Sǎnrén; literally "Leisure
Man of Lakes and Seas"). Luo was
attributed with writing Romance of
the Three Kingdoms and editing
Water Margin, two of the Four
Great Classical Novels of Chinese
literature.
"The world under heaven, after a long period
of division, tends to unite; after a long period
of union, tends to divide. This has been so
since antiquity. "
— Luo Guanzhong (Romance of the Three
Kingdoms Vol. 1)
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DREAM OF THE
RED CHAMBER
Born: 1715 or 1724
Died: 1763 or 1764
Cao Xueqinn, was a Qing
Dynasty Chinese writer, best
known as the author of Dream
of the Red Chamber, one of the
Four Great Classical Novels of
Chinese literature. His given
name was Cao Zhan (曹霑)
and his courtesy name is
Mengruan (夢阮; 梦阮;
literally "Dream about Ruan"
or "Dream of Ruan")
"Truth becomes fiction when the
fiction's true;Real becomes not-real
where the unreal's real."
— Cao Xueqin (The Golden Days (The
Story of the Stone #1))
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THANK YOU
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