Information about Chinese Classical Masterpieces

The Four Great Classical Novels of China

The first one to rank the popular novels was Jin Shengnan, according to him he was planning to review six books of talent, Zhuangzi, Li Sao, Shiji, Du Shi, Water Margin, and The Story of the Western Chamber. After the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty Mao Zonggang father and son pseudo Jin Shengqan's name will be revised by the Three Kingdoms called "the first book of talent - the Three Kingdoms" (they trust Jin Shengqan's name rather than earlier can also explain some of the problems). At that time, there was the "Ming Dynasty Four Great Wondrous Books", it is also proposed when the booksellers of the commercial means, and then after the Red Chamber instead of the Golden Vase became the "Ming and Qing Dynasty Four Great Wondrous Books", the four great wonders of the book has been finalized. The "four great masterpieces" as the "four great books" of the modern saying, time naturally will not be early. Therefore, now the "four great masterpieces" (four great books) of the reference must have appeared in the "Dream of the Red Chamber" after the book.

But some people have also proved that the "Four Great Wondrous Books" were established in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Li Yu has been in the drunken field hall publication of the "Three Kingdoms" preface, said: "Feng Menglong also has the four great wonders of the book of the eye, said the three kingdoms, water margaret, also, the western tour and the Golden Lotus also. ......" can be seen, to the late Feng Menglong already have the four great wonders of the book mentioned, Li Yu Cheng said, and to "the first wonders of the book" crown the Three Kingdoms and published, it is probably the end of the Ming and early Qing dynasties, "four great The "Four Great Wondrous Books" had already been fixed and popularized by the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. But in any case, "four strange books" this reference is the "four masterpieces" of the original reference, this point should be determined.

Now the four great masterpieces are recognized as: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Dream of the Red Chamber". Others consider Ulysses, Memories of Lost Years and Lolita to be the three classic literary masterpieces of the twentieth century.

The Four Great Masterpieces are valuable cultural heritages owned by China and even all mankind*** together, and have a profound influence in the whole Chinese world. Mao Zedong said, "When you have a son, you should be Zhongmou, make friends like Luda, have confidence like Monk Tang, and read the Four Great Masterpieces." Studying China's four great masterpieces is a sea of intelligence for navigating classical Chinese literature, and a storehouse of knowledge for experiencing traditional Chinese humanities, society, ethics, history, geography, folklore, psychology, and strategies for dealing with people.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Author: Luo Guanzhong

Full name: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

***120

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Introduction of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Based on Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms" (《三国志》) and Fan Ye's "The Book of the Later Han" (《后汉书》), "Three Kingdoms" (《三國志平话》) of the Yuan dynasty (《三國志平话》) and some folklore, the book was written. The earliest published version is the Ming Jiajing version, which is divided into 24 volumes and 240 rules. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Mao Zonggang made some modifications to it, and it became the 120-volume version that is now in use.

The story of Romance of the Three Kingdoms begins with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei in the Peach Orchard and ends with Wang Joon's pacification of Wu, depicting the military and political struggles between Wei, Shu, and Wu in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era. The text is shallow, the characters are y portrayed, the plot is twisted, and the structure is grand.

The end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, China's novels entered a new period, especially the chapter book novel into the stage of perfection. China's first most widely circulated, the deepest influence, the highest achievement, the most ambitious chapter book of classical novels, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", that is, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", was born and popularized through the rafters of Luo Guanzhong, an outstanding novelist who lived in this historical period. He has made great and indelible achievements in the history of our country's literary development. At the same time, for the treasury of world literature, also added a brilliant luster.

Luo Guanzhong (between 1330 and 1400), known as Ben, the Lake and Sea Scatterer, was a popular novelist in the Ming Dynasty. His place of origin is said to be Taiyuan (present-day Shanxi) and Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang), which cannot be confirmed. According to legend, Luo Guanzhong had served as a guest of Zhang Shicheng, a peasant insurgent at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In addition to "Three Kingdoms", he also wrote "Sui and Tang Zhi Zhuan" and other popular novels and "Zhao Taizu Longhu Fengyunhui" and other plays. In addition, there is a considerable part of the people believe that "Water Margin" after thirty times is also his work.

Water Margin

Also known as: Zhongyi Shuihu Zhuan

Author: (late Yuan and early Ming) Shi Nai'an, Luo Guanzhong

Ming Gao Ru, "Baichuan Shuzhi", recorded the book he saw, before the sign of "Qiantang Shi Nai'an's book, Luo Guanzhong edited second". Hu Yinglin, "Shaorou Shanfang Pen Cong" that Shi Nai-an, Wang Qi, "renewed literature" that Luo Guanzhong.

Introduction of Water Margin: The author created the book on the basis of Xuanhe Remains and related books and stories. The book takes the description of the peasant war as the main theme, shapes the heroes of Liangshan Mountain, such as Li Kui, Wu Sung, Lin Chong, Lu Zhi Shen, and reveals the social contradictions of the time. The story has twists and turns, vivid language, distinctive characters, and high artistic achievement.

Water Margin Version: In the circulation of Water Margin, there are many different versions. Now we see, mainly 100 back of this, 120 back of this and 70 back of this. 100 back of this in the "recruited" after the "conquest of Liao" and the suppression of the Fang La revolt and other episodes; 120 back of this and inserted the suppression of the Tian Hu, Wang Qing plot. After Jin Shengqian will be this book, deleted the recruitment and later, known as the 70 times (actually 71 times).

Outside the Gate of Heaven in the city of Suzhou, there was a family surnamed Shi in Shi Jia Lane, north of Huaixu Bridge, descended from Shi Zhichang, one of the seventy-two disciples of Confucius. This family has been passed down to Shi Nai'an's father for fourteen generations. In the second year of Yuan Chengzong's reign (1296 A.D.), a male child was born to the Shi family. An old scholar named the baby Yan Duan (彦端), meaning that the child would grow up to be a talented man of good behavior. This baby was later to become Shi Nai-an, the author of the famous novel Water Margin. When he was seven years old, his family was poor and he could not go to school. However, he was smart and eager to learn, and often borrowed books to read, asked his neighbors to teach him, and sometimes went to the academy to listen. In this way, he read many books such as University, Analects, Poetry, Rites, etc. At the age of 13, he was already able to answer questions and write fluently in a large crowd. Once, the elderly neighbor died of illness, asked Ji Xucai, who taught private school in Hushuguan, to write a tribute. When Ji Xucai failed to arrive in time, others suggested that Yan Duan try. Nai'an was a young man who wanted to show off his talent, so he did not push, and came over and wrote in one stroke. Later, Ji Xiu Cai read the ritual essay, which was both childish and talented, and praised it. He took the initiative to bring Shi Nai'an to Hu Shuguan to study, and did not charge tuition. Later, he even betrothed his daughter to Shi Nai'an. Shi Nai'an studied very hard in Hushuguan. He not only familiarized himself with the Hundred Schools of Thought, but also browsed through all kinds of books. At that time, the publication of "The Remains of the Song Dynasty" (大宋宣和遗事), which told the stories of Chao Gai (晁盖智取生辰纲), Song Jiang (宋江) killing Yan Bushi (阎婆惜), and Yang Zhi (杨志) selling swords (杨志 selling swords), aroused Shi Nai-an's interest, and he used to read them outside of class. He also practiced martial arts with his buddies by dancing with swords and sticks. At that time, the city of Suzhou often rapped some such as "Stone Sun Li", "Green-faced Beast", "Flower Monk", "Martial Artist", "Yan Qing Fighting Fish in Tong Le Yuan", "Li Kui Taking Bauhinia" and other plays and dramas, and Sze Nai-an sometimes went to amuse himself, and showed his admiration for these "heroes of righteousness" and "good men of the sky".

The "Heroes of Justice" and "Heroes of the Sky" are the most admired of all.

The Journey to the West

Author: (Ming) Wu Cheng'en

***One Hundred Times

Introduction to the Journey to the West

The Journey to the West

The Journey to the West is based on the folklore of the story of the Tang Monk's fetching of scriptures and on the related dramas and miscellaneous plays (written by Yang Ne in the late Yuan and early Ming). The first seven times of Journey to the West recounts the birth of the Monkey King, with stories such as making a fuss in the Palace of Heaven. After that, it is written that Sun Wukong accompanied the Tang Monk to seek scriptures in the West, and along the way, he got rid of the demons and overcame the difficulties. In the book, the Tang Monk, Sun Wukong, Piggy, Sha Monk and other images are vividly portrayed, magnificent scale and complete structure.

Wu Cheng'en (c. 1504 - c. 1582), with the character Ruzhong and the name Shiyang Shanren, was a native of Huai'an, Jiangsu Province. Wu Cheng'en was about 40 years old before he got a yearly tribute student, went to Beijing to wait for the allocation of official positions, was not selected, because of his mother's old family poverty, went to do the Changxing County Minister, finally because of false accusations, two years later "brush his sleeve back", in his later years to sell literature for a living, about living nearly 80 years old.

A Dream of Red Mansions

Original name: The Book of Stones

Author: (Qing Dynasty) Cao Xueqin

A Dream of Red Mansions

One hundred and twenty times, the first eighty times were written by Cao Xueqin, and the last forty times are generally regarded as being written by Gao Osprey. Cao made eighty times in the process of writing, revising in the way of copy circulation. In the 50th year of the Qianlong reign (1791), Cheng Weiyuan printed the first 80 books and the last 40 books in movable type, and the 120 books were popularized. However, the text of the first eighty times had been changed.

Introduction of Dream of Red Mansions: Dream of Red Mansions was written in the mid-eighteenth century during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, with the background of the four great families of Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue, and with the tragedy of the love of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu as the main line, it focuses on the whole process of the Jia family's Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion, which goes from strength to weakness. The work has a beautiful and vivid language and is good at characterization, creating distinctive characters such as Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, Wang Xifeng, Xue Baochai, and You Sanjie. The book is grand in scale and rigorously structured, with high artistic achievement.

Cao Xueqin (曹雪芹), a Chinese novelist of the Qing Dynasty, with the character Meng Ruan (梦阮), the number Xueqin (雪芹), also known as Qinpu (芹圃), and Celery Stream (芹溪), and with the ancestry of Liaoyang (遼陽), was born in 1715 and died in 1763. He was born in Liaoyang in 1715 and died in 1763. His ancestors were originally Han Chinese, but later he became a baoyi (family slave) of the Manchurian Cao Xueqin White Banner. Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao Xi, grandfather Cao Yin, his father's generation of Cao Stern and Cao Fu successively served as Jiangning Weavers for more than 60 years, quite favored by the Kangxi Emperor. Cao Xueqin grew up in wealth and honor. In the early years of the Yongzheng era, due to the involvement of the internal struggle of the feudal ruling class, the Cao family suffered a number of blows, Cao Fu was dismissed from his post and sent to prison, the family assets were confiscated, the family moved back to Beijing, the family has been declining. This turn of events made Cao Xueqin y aware of the cruelty of the world, and more soberly recognized the essence of the feudal social system. From then on, he lived in penniless he can poetry and painting, good at writing, with tenacity and perseverance to concentrate on the novel "Dream of Red Mansions" writing and revising, phi 10 years, add and delete 5 times, wrote this classical Chinese novels to the pinnacle of the creation of the literary masterpiece. Dream of Red Mansions has become a great work of realism in Chinese classical novels with its rich content, twisted plot, profound ideological understanding and exquisite artistic techniques. Qianlong twenty-seventh year (1762), the death of his young son, Cao Xueqin in excessive sorrow and grief, to the New Year's Eve of this year (February 1, 1764), due to poverty and illness and died (about the year of Cao Xueqin's death, there are another twenty-eighth year of the Qianlong twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth year of the two said), burial expenses funded by a close friend.