What is literature? What are the characteristics of China ancient literature?

Literature refers to the artistic form of creating, expressing and expressing aesthetic experience with language, which is a branch of art. The characteristics of China ancient literature are:

1. A long history: China ancient literature came into being spontaneously, with a history of thousands of years.

2. Close combination of literature and culture: China ancient literature and culture are closely combined, covering many fields such as poetry, prose, novels and operas.

3. Nationality, inheritance and times: China ancient literature has distinct national characteristics and times characteristics, reflecting the history, culture, society, emotion and other aspects of the Chinese nation.

4. In the process of development, China ancient literature constantly absorbed the influence of foreign culture and literature, and formed a rich and colorful literary style and genre.

5. Rich in connotation and diverse in forms: China ancient literature covers myths, history, philosophy, ethics, etc. In form, there are many forms of poetry, such as five-character, seven-character, regular poem and quatrains, as well as prose, novels, operas and other literary forms.

To sum up, literature is a language art form, which expresses the author's feelings and thoughts through words. China ancient literature has the characteristics of long history, close combination of literature and culture, nationality, inheritance and times, inclusiveness, richness, connotation and diversity of forms.