What are the famous literature and history works in ancient China?

The Stages of China's Literary History

Three Ancient Periods and Seven Periods: Nine Aspects of the Development and Change of Ancient, Medieval and Modern Literature

If the history of China literature is compared to a long river, it can be traced back from the lower reaches, and the source is a cloudy sky, which cannot be distinguished in detail. We can't find the sign of origin, and we can't determine the age of origin. The literature of that oral era should be a long time ago, and the later written records are only memories of that beautiful dream. The most conservative view is that the outline of this long river has been clear since some poems appeared in the Book of Songs in 1 1 century BC, and then gradually merged into tributaries, becoming wider and wider. There are high tides and low tides, but they never stop. If literature has a long history, only ancient Greek literature and ancient Indian literature can be compared with China literature; If the literary tradition continues, the literature of any other country or nation will be inferior to that of China.

Rivers have upper reaches, middle reaches and lower reaches, and the history of China literature can also be divided into upper reaches, middle reaches and lower reaches, which are ancient, medieval and modern. The distinction between the Three Classics and the Ancient Classics is a major time limit in the history of China literature. Within the three ancient times, it can be subdivided into seven sections.

The specific division of the three sections and the seven sections is as follows:

Ancient times: Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties (before the 3rd century AD)

The first paragraph: Pre-Qin Dynasty

The second paragraph: Qin and Han Dynasties

Medieval period: Wei and Jin Dynasties to the middle of Ming Dynasty (3rd century to16th century).

The third paragraph: Wei and Jin Dynasties to the middle of Tang Dynasty (the last years of Tianbao)

The fourth paragraph: from the middle of Tang Dynasty to the end of Southern Song Dynasty.

The fifth paragraph: from the early Yuan Dynasty to the middle Ming Dynasty (the last year of Zheng De)

Paleogene: from the middle of Ming Dynasty to the May 4th Movement (16th century to the beginning of 20th century).

Paragraph 6: From Jiajing in Ming Dynasty to Opium War (1840)

Paragraph 7: From the Opium War to the May 4th Movement (19 19)

The theories of "three considerations" and "seven paragraphs" mainly focus on the development and changes of literature itself, reflecting the stages of its own development and changes, while taking the changes of social system and dynasties as the background of literary development and changes. The development and change of literature itself is the basis of the boundary, and other conditions are the reference of the boundary. One basis and many references may be the most suitable to describe the historical process of China literature. The stage of literary development and change can be consistent with the change of social system and dynasty, but the change of social system or dynasty is only an important reason for literary change, not the fact itself.

The so-called development and change of literature itself can be divided into the following nine aspects: first, the development and change of the creative subject; Second, the development and change of the ideological content of the work; Third, the development and change of literary genre; Fourth, the development and change of literary language; Five, the development and change of artistic expression; Sixth, the development and changes of literary schools; Seven, the development and change of literary thoughts; Eight, the development and change of literary media; Nine, the development and changes of the recipient. Three ancient and seven paragraphs comprehensively investigate the nine factors of literature itself and refer to social conditions, and draw a conclusion that the study of literary history pays little attention to literary media and recipients, which is not enough to make a comprehensive investigation of the development and changes of literature. Literary media and recipients have a profound influence on literary creation.

First, in ancient times,

Ancient times included pre-Qin, Qin and Han dynasties.

We first noticed that almost all China literary schools were born in this period. Prose can be traced back to Oracle Bone Inscriptions; Poetry can be traced back to The Book of Songs, Songs of the South and the Han Yuefu. Novels can be traced back to legends of gods, historical essays such as Zuo Zhuan and Historical Records, and fables in hundred schools of thought's essays. Cifu can be traced back to Chuci. The double rhetoric in parallel prose also appeared in this period; Even the elements of China's traditional opera have sprouted in Jiuge. Secondly, the ideological basis of China literature was also conceived in ancient times. In particular, Confucianism and Taoism have influenced writers' world outlook, outlook on life and values for thousands of years. Thirdly, China's literary thoughts are mainly Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism pays attention to the social function of literature, while Taoism pays attention to the aesthetic value of literature, which has also been formed in ancient times. Some concepts that have influenced the whole China literature, such as "expressing ambition through poetry", "respecting nature", "being naive in thinking" and "being gentle and sincere", were all put forward during this period. Fourthly, judging from the creation, dissemination and acceptance of literature, literati are the subject of creation and the object of acceptance, and writing is the main media. This basic pattern of China literature was also laid in ancient times. It was not until the emergence of citizen literature in Song Dynasty that this pattern changed.

The first paragraph in ancient times is pre-Qin literature. At this stage, the subject of literary creation experienced the evolution from group to individual, and most of the poems in The Book of Songs were sung by groups. From then on, it took hundreds of years for Qu Yuan, the first poet in the history of China literature, to appear. In ancient times, witchcraft and history were inseparable, and history was separated from witchcraft and specifically recorded affairs and personnel, which was a great progress. The rise and activity of literati played a key role in the development of literature. The form of pre-Qin literature, on the one hand, is the distinction between literature, history and philosophy, on the other hand, it is the combination of poetry, music and dance. This chaotic state has become a major landscape of pre-Qin. The so-called distinction between literature, history and philosophy means that in the field of prose, we can't exclude historical works such as Shangshu, Zuozhuan, Guoyu and Warring States Policy, nor can we exclude philosophical works such as Zhouyi, Laozi, The Analects of Confucius, Mencius and Zhuangzi. There was no pure literary prose at that time. As for poetry, it was originally combined with music and dance. The joy of "Ge" recorded in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, and "Beating the Stone and Dancing the Beast" recorded in Shangshu Yaoqu are all examples. Many poems in The Book of Songs and Songs of the South are also closely related to music and dance. The important difference between style and elegance lies in the difference of music. According to the historical records of Confucius, 350 poems can be sung harmoniously. Nine Songs of Chu is a sacrificial song, accompanied by music and dance.

The literature of Qin and Han dynasties belongs to the second period of ancient times, and some new features have appeared in the literature of Qin and Han dynasties, which are different from the literature of pre-Qin. First of all, the situation of the creative subject has changed. During the Warring States period, taxis lobbied in countries gathered around the emperor or prince of the unified empire, forming many writers' groups, and they took it as their duty to praise or satirize. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Mei Chenghe held it under his eyes. These "speech ministers" just became the authors of the new style of Da Fu in Han Dynasty. Adapting to the unified political bureau of the Han Dynasty, the literature of the Han Dynasty became a fashion, great beauty and great publicity. In line with the policy of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", the literature of the Han Dynasty lost its vividness and diversity and formed a formatted and dignified style. However, for China's poetry, the Han Dynasty is an extremely important dynasty. By the Han Dynasty, the four-character style of The Book of Songs had become rigid, and the form of Chu Ci was transformed into Fu. However, with a new posture and vitality, the folk songs of Han Yuefu show irresistible power first among the people and then among the literati, thus brewing a new rhythm and new form of China's poetry, which is the enduring May 7th style.

Second, the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages began in Wei and Jin Dynasties, went through the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Song and Yuan Dynasties, and ended in the middle of Ming Dynasty.

Why should Wei and Jin Dynasties be regarded as the beginning of a new period, and such a long period from Wei and Jin Dynasties to the middle of Ming Dynasty should be divided into a middle age? This is based on the following facts: First, the conscious era of China literature began at this time, and this conscious process was completed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Second, the literary language has undergone epoch-making changes, from ancient Austria to simple. Thirdly, this is the heyday of three important literary genres: poetry, ci and qu, which reached its peak in the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties in the Middle Ages. Fourthly, China's classical novels had begun to take shape in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and reached maturity in the Tang Dynasty. Vernacular short stories flourished in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and vernacular novels appeared in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. Fifth, various new forms of literary media, such as printing and publishing, rap and stage performance, have emerged. Sixth, the subject and object of literary creation include court, literati, countryside, market and so on. In a word, all the elements of China literature were possessed and matured in this period.

The first period of the Middle Ages was from Wei Jin to the middle of Tang Dynasty. This is the stage of the prosperity and development of ancient poems with May 7th words, and it is also the stage of the rise, finalization and prosperity of modern poems with May 7th words. Poetry occupies a dominant position in the literary world. Prose is close to poetry, and poetic parallel prose appears; Fu is close to poetry, and parallel prose appears. From "Three Cao" and "Seven Zi", through Tao Yuanming, Xie Lingyun, Yu Xin, "Four Masters" and Chen Ziang, to Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Gao Shi, Cen Can, Li Bai and Du Fu, the flow of poetry is clear and complete. Du Fu is not only the last poet at this stage, but also the earliest poet at the beginning of the next stage, standing like a milestone in the history of literature. Two poetic paradigms, Jian 'an Style and Prosperous Tang Dynasty Meteorology, were established at the beginning and end of this stage, and became the ultimate admiration of later poets as an excellent tradition. This is another stage in which literary creation tends to be personalized, and the writer's unique personality and style can be fully displayed. Tao Yuanming, Li Bai and Du Fu all have distinctive personalities in their achievements. In addition, in this stage of literary creation, the imperial court played a central role, and a number of literary groups were formed with the imperial court as the center. The members of the literary groups learned from each other and improved their literary skills. The role of Ye Group, which is based on Cao Cao, in the development of five-character ancient poems, and the role of Qi Liang and court poets in the early Tang Dynasty in the establishment of modern poetic metrical forms are all powerful proofs. At this stage, metaphysics and Buddhism infiltrated into literature, which made literature take on a colorful new look. In addition to the literary and political enlightenment advocated by Confucianism, the truth and nature advocated by metaphysical scholars have become the aesthetic pursuit of writers; Buddhism's concept of reality, mind and realm also promotes the diversification of literary concepts.

The second medieval period began in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, specifically from the outbreak of the "An Shi Rebellion" in the last years of Tianbao to the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, some noteworthy changes have taken place in literature: the ancient prose movement advocated by Han and Liu caused changes in literary language and style, and Ouyang Xiu and others continued the path of Han and Liu in the Song Dynasty and completed this change. The reform realized by the Eight Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties decided the literary language and style pattern from then on, and it was not broken until the May 4th Movement. After the climax of the Tang Dynasty, poetry faced an extremely difficult situation, and poets found another way. Through the efforts of poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty such as Bai Juyi, Han Yu, Li He and Li Shangyin, they finally found another way in the Song Dynasty. As far as the continuity between the Song Dynasty and the poems after the middle Tang Dynasty is concerned, there are two points: from the poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, they paid attention to the description of daily life, and the humanistic images related to daily life increased obviously, which became a general trend in the Song Dynasty; The tradition of active participation in politics and deep sense of hardship initiated by Du Fu and Bai Juyi were weakened in the late Tang Dynasty and generally strengthened in the Song Dynasty. As far as the new fashion in Song Dynasty is concerned, the identity of poets and literati is unified, the discussion elements are increased, and the aesthetic pursuit of turning vulgarity into elegance is also worthy of attention. As representatives of the Song Dynasty, Huang Tingjian and Jiangxi Poetry School have distinct creative ideas and artistic characteristics. Su Shi, Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda and Lu You. They also have their own characteristics, and together with Jiangxi poetry school, they have formed a melody different from Tang Yin. In the middle Tang Dynasty, the post-Qu Zi Ci developed rapidly. The hand of five pronouns, such as Jing Wen and Li Yu, became a great landscape in the Song Dynasty and became the representative of the literature in the Song Dynasty. The names of Liu Yong, Su Shi, Zhou Bangyan, Li Qingzhao, Xin Qiji and Jiang Kui will be forever engraved in the history of Ci. The prosperity of legends after the middle Tang Dynasty marked the maturity of China's novels. Under the background of urban culture, the rise of "citizen novels" in Tang Dynasty and the prosperity of "storytelling" in Song Dynasty are the new development of literature at this stage.

The third period of the Middle Ages began in the Yuan Dynasty and lasted until the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Narrative literature has dominated the literary world since the Yuan Dynasty.