Table Of Content“In this game-changing tome, Professor Zhang traces those topics that mattered
most to poets, writers, and readers in China from ancient through modern times,
including love, social justice, the challenges of life and ‘the natural,’ among oth-
ers. In lucid prose he furnishes easy access to the masters, schools, and debates that
every literary scholar of China needs to know, so not only students, but specialists
alike will find themselves perusing this book again and again.”
—Professor Martin Powers, Professor Emeritus in the History of Art,
formerly Sally Michelson Davidson Professor of Chinese Arts and Culture
at the University of Michigan.
A History of Chinese Literature
Zhang Longxi, an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese and comparative
literature, is your guide to the three-millennia-long history of Chinese literature
from the remote antiquity of oracle bones to contemporary works.
Professor Zhang charts the development of the major literary forms in Chinese,
including poetry, prose, song lyrics, and plays, and introduces the most famous
poets and writers and their representative texts. Taking a period-based approach
through the major dynasties, he places these forms, texts, and authors within
their historical contexts and tells the fascinating story of Chinese literature with
copious examples in English translation. He writes in a clear and accessible style
and assumes no prior knowledge of Chinese history or Chinese literature.
This book is an ideal introduction for students and the general readers who
want to get a broad but thorough overview of Chinese literature in all its richness
and diversity.
Zhang Longxi, PhD Harvard, is Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and
Translation at the City University of Hong Kong. He is a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and of Academia
Europaea, and was President of the International Comparative Literature
Association for 2016–2019. He serves as an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of
World Literature and an Advisory Editor of New Literary History. He is the
author of more than 20 books in English and Chinese and numerous articles on
Chinese literature and East-West comparative literature.
A History of Chinese
Literature
Zhang Longxi
Cover image: Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
© 2023 Zhang Longxi
The right of Zhang Longxi to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-75827-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-75828-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-16417-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003164173
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
To Weilin,
The hairs on our heads have grown white together.
Contents
Preface xiv
Chronology of Chinese Dynasties and Periods xvii
1 Pre-Qin Antiquity and Foundational Texts of the Chinese
Cultural Tradition 1
From Myth to Recorded History 1
The Chinese Concept of Poetry 6
Pre-Qin Foundational Texts: The Confucians 7
Pre-Qin Foundational Texts: The Daoists 10
Notes 15
2 The Book of Poetry and the Songs of Chu 16
Shi jing or the Book of Poetry 16
Confucian Allegorical Commentaries 18
Love, Disappointment, and Social Critique 22
Chu ci or the Songs of Chu 26
Qu Yuan the Man and the Poet 27
Note 33
3 The First Great Empire: The Han Dynasty 34
From the “Sound of Chu” to fu or Rhyme-prose of Han 34
Literary Prose: Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian 38
“Music Bureau” Poetry 41
Literati Poetry and the 19 Ancient Poems 45
Early Translation of Buddhist Texts 48
4 Another Wave of Intellectual Excitement: The Wei-Jin Period 50
Political Disunion and Intellectual Diversity 50
Leaders of the Jian’an Period: The Three Caos 52
Seven Masters of Jian’an and the Other Poets 57
