What is the first Chinese novel?

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Chinese novel is generally considered to have first appeared in the mid to late 14th century with the original version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, attributed to Luo Guanzhong. This gradually developed into a late 16th century maturity, represented by Journey to the West and Jin Ping Mei.

Is Water Margin a true story?

Based on a true story from the Song dynasty (960–1279), Water Margin — sometimes described as China’s answer to the Robin Hood legend — tells of groups of 108 bandits who team up at Mount Liang and succeed in their rebellion despite their differences: clever savants and dumb brutes, ferocious warriors and learned …

What is the most important classics in Chinese literature?

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Dream of the Red Chamber are most commonly grouped as the Four Great Classic Novels (Chinese: 四大名著; pinyin: sì dà míngzhù; lit. ‘four great masterpieces’).

What is the beginning of Chinese literature?

Writing in China dates back to the hieroglyphs that were used in the Shang Dynasty of 1700 – 1050 BC.

What are the four great classic novels?

What are the four famous Chinese novels?

Chinese literature contains four masterpieces known as the Four Great Classical Novels (四大名著). Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber were written during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Is the Water Margin worth reading?

This is a very long but worthwhile book. It’s not difficult to understand why, in Chinese tradition, “The Water Margin” is considered one of the great Chinese books. Whoever reads it will find a well conceived ethic, romance, violence, and nobility of spirit.

Which book is widely regarded as China’s greatest novel?

As critically acclaimed as it is beloved, Story of the Stone is widely regarded as China’s greatest novel due to the intricacy of its narrative, the complexity of its characters, and the sophistication with which it deals with themes as varied as romance, enlightenment, sexuality and gender identity, and the …

What is the most famous novel in Chinese literature?

Perhaps the most influential of the four classic novels of Chinese literature, and certainly the most widely known beyond China’s borders, Journey to the West was written in the 16th century by Wu Cheng’en.

How did the novel form emerge in China?

The writing and dissemination of these four works marked the emergence of the novel form in China as a counterpart to more refined philosophical and poetic works. The more expansive form of the novel allowed for a synthesis of the historical and the mythological, whilst also developing along more accessible narrative lines.

How was the book Dream of the Red Chamber written?

The book was written in dribs and drabs: each new chapter circulated among family and friends, often in exchange for a meal and a pitcher of wine. He died in 1763, heartbroken it is said, by the death of his only son. Dream of the Red Chamber was finally published in print in 1791, but the text is still surrounded by controversy.

What is the writing style of Cao Xueqin’s novel?

The novel is composed in written vernacular (baihua) rather than Classical Chinese (wenyan). Cao Xueqin was well versed in Chinese poetry and in Classical Chinese, having written tracts in the semi-wenyan style, while the novel’s dialogue is written in the Beijing Mandarin dialect, which was to become the basis of modern spoken Chinese.