What are the four most important ancient books in the history of Chinese literature?

The Book of Poetry is the first collection of poems in China, ****incorporating three hundred and five poems from the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty (eleventh century BC) to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (sixth century BC) over a period of about five hundred years, initially known as the "Poetry", because Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty regarded it as a classic, and so it was called the "Poetry Classic". The Poetry Classic is divided into three parts: the Wind, the Elegance, and the Ode. The "Winds" section includes the folk songs of fifteen places, called the "Fifteen National Winds", with 160 pieces, which are the core content of the Book of Songs. The word "Feng" means "earth wind" or "wind ballad". The "Ya" is a formal and elegant music, divided into "Daya" and "Xiao Ya", with 105 poems, of which 31 are Daya and 74 are Xiao Ya. "Ode" is a ritual music, divided into "Ode to Zhou", "Ode to Lu" and "Ode to Shang", with 40 poems. It is one of the "Five Classics". The Book of Songs has a history of 2500 years. The poems are divided into fugue, bi and xing, and together with the wind, elegance and ode, they are known as the "six meanings".

Second, pre-Qin prose

The beginning of China's ancient prose can be traced back to the Yin and Shang dynasties, the Shang dynasty oracle bone oracle bone divination, has appeared in many complete sentences. The inscriptions on Western Zhou bronzes, some as long as 300 to 500 words, record the achievements of the nobles, litigation, or the reasons for reward, etc., the narrative content has been quite rich. These can be regarded as the prototype of ancient prose.

Spring and Autumn, Spring and Warring States period, is China's ancient prose flourishing stage, there are many excellent prose writings, which is the literary history of the pre-Qin prose. Pre-Qin prose is divided into two kinds, historical prose and the prose of the sons. The former includes historical works such as Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu and Strategies of the Warring States; the latter is the writings of Confucianism, Mozi, Taoism and Dharma, etc. Among them, such as Lun Yu, Mozi and Mencius, which are the records of the words and deeds of Kong Qiu, Mozi and Meng Ke's disciples, and Zhuang Zi, Xun Zi and Han Fei Zi, etc., which are the writings of themselves. The prose style of the pre-Qin zhuzi is diverse, or majestic, or eloquent and sharp, or romantic fantasy. The prose of the sons has had a profound impact on the development of Chinese literature.

Three, Chu Rhetoric

Chu Rhetoric, the original meaning of which refers to the song of Chu, was gradually fixed to two meanings: one is the genre of poetry, and the other is the name of the general collection of poetry (which, to a certain extent, also represents the literature of Chu). The creative method of Chu Rhetoric is romanticism, which has unrestrained emotion, peculiar imagination, and has strong local characteristics and mythological colors of Chu. Compared with the ancient and simple four-character poem of the Classic of Poetry, the sentences of Chu Rhetoric are more lively, sometimes using the Chu dialect in the sentences, and unique in rhythm and rhyme, which are more suitable for expressing rich and complex thoughts and feelings.

In terms of poetic genre, it is a new poetic style created by the poets represented by Qu Yuan in the late Warring States period on the basis of the folk songs of Chu. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang compiled the works of Qu Yuan and Song Yu, as well as the works of the Han Dynasty that imitated this poetic style, and the title of the book was titled Chu Rhetoric, which was another far-reaching collection of poems in ancient China after the Classic of Poetry. In addition, because Qu Yuan's "Li Sao" is the masterpiece of Chu Rhetoric, Chu Rhetoric is also known as "Sao" or "Sao Style".

Four, Han Fu

Han Fu is a kind of rhymed prose emerged in the Han Dynasty, which is characterized by the combination of scattered rhymes, specializing in narrative, is a far-reaching genre in classical literature. Fu is the most popular literary style in the Han Dynasty. During the 400 years of the two Han Dynasties, the general literati devoted themselves to the writing of this style, which was very popular for a while, and was often regarded as the representative of Han Dynasty literature in later times. Han Fu is divided into big fu and small fu. The big fu is also called the bulk of the big fu, the scale is huge, the structure is magnificent, the momentum is magnificent, the language is gorgeous, often thousands of words of the long masterpiece. Jia Yi, Meixian, Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong in the Western Han Dynasty, and Ban Gu and Zhang Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty are all experts in the big fugue. The small fugue abandoned the big fugue lengthy, rhetoric pile up, the end, lack of emotion defects, in the retention of the basic literacy of the Han fugue on the basis of the creation of a smaller, elegant, ridicule of current events, lyrical and aesthetic short fugue, Zhao Yi, Cai Yong, You Heng and so on is a small fugue masters.

Fifth, the north and south dynasty folk songs

Because the north and south dynasties have long been in confrontation, in politics, economy, culture, and national customs, the natural environment and so on, there are obvious differences, and thus the north and south dynasty folk songs also show different moods and styles. The folk songs of the Southern Dynasty were clear and delicate, reflecting the sincere and pure love life of the people; the folk songs of the Northern Dynasty were rough and bold, reflecting the social reality of the troubled North and the people's life style. The lyrical poem "Xizhou Qu" in the folk songs of the Southern Dynasty and the narrative poem "Mulan Poem" in the folk songs of the Northern Dynasty represent the highest achievements of the folk songs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties respectively.　In the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, like the Han Dynasty, there were specialized music organs to collect poems and sing them with music. There were folk songs in these musical poems, as well as the works of noble literati; among them, the folk song part was more fresh and lively and the charm power of art.

Sixth, Tang Poetry

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was the heyday of China's classical poetry development. Tang poetry is one of the outstanding literary heritages of China and a splendid pearl in the treasure house of literature all over the world. Although more than a thousand years have passed since then, many poems are still widely circulated for us.

The Tang Dynasty was especially rich in poets. Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi were world-famous poets, and in addition to them, there were countless other poets, like stars in the sky. There are still more than 2,300 of these poets who are well known today. More than 48,900 of their works are preserved in the All-Tang Poems. The subject matter of Tang poems was very wide, from natural phenomena, political developments, labor life, social customs to personal feelings, all of which could not escape the poets' keen eyes and became the subject matter of their writings. In terms of creative methods, there are both realistic and romantic schools, while many great works are examples of the combination of these two creative methods, forming the excellent tradition of China's classical poetry.

The forms of Tang poetry are varied. The ancient poems of the Tang Dynasty were basically of two kinds, pentameter and heptameter. There were also two kinds of proximal poems, one called the stanza and the other called the metrical poem. There were also two kinds of proximal poems, one was called a stanza and the other was a metrical poem. Therefore, there are basically six basic forms of Tang poems: five-character ancient style poems, seven-character ancient style poems, five-character stanzas, seven-character stanzas, five-character stanzas, and seven-character stanzas. The requirements for rhyme and meter are relatively broad: the number of stanzas in a poem can be more or less, the chapter can be longer or shorter, and the rhyme scheme can be changed. The requirements for rhyme and meter are more strict: the number of lines in a poem is limited, i.e., four lines in a stanza, eight lines in a stanza, and the level and oblique sounds of the words used in each line of the poem have a certain rule, and the rhymes cannot be converted; the stanzas also require that the four lines in the middle of the stanzas become the counterpoints. The style of ancient poetry is handed down from previous generations, so it is also called ancient style. Close style poems have a strict meter, so some people also call it metrical poetry.

The form and style of Tang poetry is colorful and innovative. It not only inherited the tradition of folk songs and music of the Han Dynasty and Wei Dynasty, but also greatly developed the style of songs and lines; it not only inherited the ancient poems of the previous generation of five or seven words, but also developed into a long and dramatic narrative; it not only expanded the use of the five-word and seven-word forms, but also created a particularly beautiful and neat style of proximal poems. The creation and maturity of the near-poetry was a major event in the history of poetry development in the Tang Dynasty. It pushed the artistic features of syllabic harmony and textual refinement of China's ancient poetry to an unprecedented height, and found a most typical form for ancient lyric poetry, which is still especially popular among the people.

Song Lyrics

Lyrics, a kind of poetry. Because it is the lyrics of the music, it is also known as the lyrics of the song, music, music, long and short sentences, poems, qin interest, and so on. It began in the Tang Dynasty, finalized in the Five Dynasties, and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Song lyrics is a huge diamond in the crown of ancient Chinese literature, in the ancient literature of Langyuan, she is a fragrant and gorgeous garden. She is a garden of fragrance and splendor in the ancient literary garden. She is beautiful and colorful, with a thousand styles of wind and god, and the Tang poetry competition, and Yuanqu colorful fight, traditionally and Tang poetry and known as the double best, are on behalf of a generation of literature of the sheng.

The earliest words originated from the folk, and later, the literati wrote new words in accordance with the sound rhythm of music, called "fill in the words" or "according to the sound". From then on, words and music were separated, forming a kind of metrical poetry with uneven sentence lengths. Pentameter and heptameter poems are evenly paired, showing the beauty of neatness; while words are mainly long and short sentences, showing the beauty of disparity. Words have word signs, i.e. tunes. Some words and tunes have different "bodies" depending on the number of words or sentence patterns. There are about 100 commonly used word tags. The structure of the word is divided into pieces or sections; those not divided into pieces are monotonous, those divided into two pieces are diatonic, and those divided into three pieces are called triple. According to the music, there are order, introduction, close and slow. The "order" is generally shorter, and early literati words were often filled with small orders. "The "citation" and "near" are generally longer, and the "slow" is more The "slow" is longer than the "cited" and "near", and became popular after the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Liu Yong said that he "began to develop the slow lyrics". According to the number of words, there is a "small order", "middle tone", "long tone".

Song lyrics are basically divided into two categories: the euphemistic school and the bold school. Representatives of the Euphemism school: Liu Yong, Li Qingzhao, Qin Guan, Yanshu, Yan Qidao, Zhou Bangyan, Jiang Kui and so on. Representatives of the bold school: Xin Qiji, Su Shi, Yue Fei, Chen Liang and so on. The characteristics of the Euphemism School are mainly the content focusing on children's feelings. The structure is deep and meticulous, emphasizing the harmony of sound and rhythm, and the language is rounded, fresh and beautiful, with a kind of beauty of softness and elegance. The content is relatively narrow. Since the words tend to be soft and beautiful for a long time, people have formed the concept of Wanjiao as the orthodox one. To Li Houzhu, Liu Yong, Zhou Bangyan and other words for the "word of the authentic", is representative of this view. Euphemism has dominated the word world for a long time, until the Southern Song Dynasty, Jiang Kui, Wu Wenying, Zhang Yan and a large number of lyricists, all from different aspects of its influence. The characteristics of the Magnificence School are, generally speaking, a broader vision of creation, a grand and majestic atmosphere, and the use of poetic techniques, syntax and wordplay to write words, with a wide range of language, more things, and not sticking to the rules of music and rhythm, and the Northern Song Dynasty's Huang Tingjian, Chao Tingzhi, and He Casting have all produced works in this style. After the South China Sea, due to the dramatic change of the times, the sad and generous high-pitched tone should be developed and became a trend, and Xin Qiji became a generation of giants and leaders in the creation of bold and generous words. The school not only stood apart from a school, shimmering Song Dynasty, and widely irrigate the word after the school, from the Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty, there have always held up the banner of luxury, vigorously study Su, Xin's words.

Eight, Yuanqu

Following the Tang poetry, Song lyrics after a literary flourish of Yuanqu has its unique charm: on the one hand, Yuanqu inherited the poetry and lyrics of the clear and graceful; on the one hand, Yuan society so that the readers are located in the "eight prostitutes, nine Confucian ten beggars" status, political dictatorship, social darkness, thus making Yuanqu radiate a very eye-catching light of battle. Extremely eye-catching fighting glory, penetrate the mood of resistance; sharp pointed to the social ills, directly rebuke "do not read the highest, do not know how to read the best, do not know how someone boasts pretty" society, pointing directly to the "people are all afraid of life embarrassment, who do not see the money pro" of the world wind. The works depicting love in Yuanqu are also spicier and bolder than the poems of the past generations. All these are enough to make the Yuan dynasty operas retain their artistic charm. The Yuan Dynasty was the heyday of Yuanqu. Generally speaking, Yuan miscellaneous operas and Yuan songs are collectively called Yuanqu, which is the main body of literature in the Yuan Dynasty. However, the achievements and influence of Yuan miscellaneous operas far exceeded that of the loose operas, so some people use "Yuanqu" to refer to miscellaneous operas alone, and Yuanqu is also known as "Yuan Dynasty Opera". The Yuanqu is a rare flower in the splendid cultural treasury of the Chinese nation, which embodies unique characteristics in both ideological content and artistic achievement, and has become one of the three important milestones in the history of Chinese literature, along with Tang poetry and Song lyrics.

The rise of Yuanqu for the development of China's national poetry, cultural prosperity has far-reaching impact and outstanding contribution, Yuanqu appeared with the other flowers of art, immediately showed exuberant vitality, it is not only the literati chants and expresses the feelings of a handy tool, but also for the reflection of the social life of the Yuan Dynasty provides a new form of art that the masses are happy to see. The rise and development of Yuanqu has complex reasons. First of all, the social reality of the first generation is the basis for the rise of Yuanqu, the Yuan Dynasty, a vast territory, urban economic prosperity, grand theaters, active book clubs and day and night audience, laid the foundation for the rise of Yuanqu; secondly, the Yuan Dynasty, the various ethnic cultures interacted with each other and melted, to promote the formation of the Yuanqu; once again, the Yuanqu is the inherent rules of poetry itself and the inevitable outcome of the inheritance of literary traditions, and development.

The development of Yuanqu can be divided into three periods. Initial period: the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty to the destruction of the Southern Song Dynasty. In this period, Yuanqu just from the folk common slang into the poetry world, there is a distinctive colloquial colloquialization of the characteristics and rugged and cool, simple and natural mood. The authors were mostly from the north, among which Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Wang Shifu, Wang Xiaojun, Bai Park and others had the highest achievements. For example, Guan Hanqing's miscellaneous operas were written in a state of imitation of the world, and their styles were varied, and the small orders were lively and deep and crystalline, and the sets of numbers were bold and spicy and rotten, and the pain and pleasure were great. Ma Zhiyuan creation of broad subject matter, far-reaching, distinctive image, beautiful language, rhyme and harmony, known as the first of Yuan's loose songs, "Qu Scholar" and "the ancestor of the autumnal thoughts". The middle period: from the reign of Yuan Shizuizu to the reign of Yuan Shundi to the reign of Yuan Shundi. During this period, the creation of Yuan dynasty compositions began to make a full transition to culture and specialization, and prose compositions became the main genre in the poetry world. Important writers include Zheng Guangzu, Su Jingchen, Qiao Ji, and Zhang Kejiu. The end of the period: from the reign of Emperor Chengzong to the end of the Yuan Dynasty. At this time, the writers of prose songs were specialized in playing songs, and they paid attention to the metrical diction and deliberately sought to work on the art, advocating the elegance and delicacy, representing writers such as Zhang Yanghao and Xu Zaisi. In short, Yuanqu as a "generation of literature", rich and varied subjects, broad and wide creative vision, reflecting the life of distinctive and vivid, full of touching characters, easy to understand the language, is China's ancient cultural treasure trove of indispensable and valuable heritage. The Four Great Masters of Yuanqu Opera: According to one theory, Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Zheng Guangzu and Bai Pu. Another way of saying it is Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan, Bai Park.

Nine, Ming and Qing Dynasty Novels

On the basis of the novels of the Wei and Jin dynasties and the legendary novels of the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese classical novels began to enter a mature stage. Novels developed along with the prosperity of urban commercial economy. Before and after the Song Dynasty, the development of handicrafts and commerce brought about urban prosperity, which provided venues and audiences for the development of the folk art of rap, and the ever-expanding demand for culture and entertainment among the public greatly stimulated this development, thus giving rise to a new style of literature, the storybook. The storybook had begun to take shape as a novel, and in the course of its subsequent circulation, new creations were constantly added to it, and it gradually matured. The development of economy and printing industry in the Ming Dynasty provided the material conditions for the novel to leave the oral creation of the folk and enter the written creation of the literati. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the vernacular novel formally appeared on the literary scene as a mature literary style.

The Ming and Qing dynasties were the prosperous period in the history of Chinese novels. From the Ming Dynasty onwards, the novel as a form of literature fully demonstrated its social role and literary value, breaking the monopoly of orthodox poetry and literature, and acquiring a position alongside Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan dynasty compositions in the history of literature. The Qing Dynasty was a period in which classical Chinese novels flourished and declined and transformed into modern novels.

The novels created by the literati in the Ming Dynasty mainly consisted of two categories: vernacular short stories and novels. The Ming Dynasty vernacular short story has made brilliant achievements, the collection of vernacular short works more and have a greater impact on later generations is the end of the Ming Dynasty during the Tianqi Feng Menglong edited the "three words" ("Metaphors of the world", "cautionary tales" and "wake up the world of the HengYin"). Later, Ling Mengchu imitated the "Three Words" and created "The First Scale of the Beat" and "The Second Scale of the Beat", collectively known as the "Two Beats". "Three Words" and "Two Beats" are representative works of vernacular short stories in the Ming Dynasty. The vernacular short stories of the Ming Dynasty reflected social life more directly and more widely than the long novels. Among them, love and marriage works accounted for a large portion, these works reflect the progressive concept of love and marriage of the public class, criticized the irrationality of feudalism, and glorified the young men and women to fight for marriage autonomy and the struggle for a happy life. The representative works of the Ming Dynasty novels are "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Plum in the Golden Vase" and so on.

The class conflicts, national conflicts and struggles in the field of ideology and culture in the Qing Dynasty had a profound impact on the creation of novels. From the beginning of the Qing Dynasty to the Qianlong period was the heyday of the Qing novels, the quantity and quality, content and form, style and genre had a greater development compared with the previous generation. The novels of the Qing Dynasty were basically the creations of the literati. Though there were materials from history and legends, most of the works were drawn from real life, fully reflecting the author's personal will, and reaching maturity in the structure, narration, and depiction of characters. The Liaozhai Zhiyi and the Dream of the Red Chamber, produced during the Qianlong period, brought the creation of literary novels and vernacular novels to their peaks respectively. Although there have been new novels in the literary language since the Tang Dynasty, most of them are simple in narration and lack of literary talent, but "Liaozhai Zhiyi" is like a new peak. The author Pu Songling used the literary language like vernacular, and had the pen to convey the spirit. The main characters of the novels were mostly foxes and ghosts, but they were lovely in appearance and rich in human interest. It represents the highest achievement of literary novels.

The narrative literature of ancient China entered a mature period in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In terms of literary concepts, literary styles and means of literary expression, the Ming and Qing novels pushed narrative literature to the extreme with their completeness and richness. In terms of the broad scenes of social life, fruitful artistic creation and rich socio-political ideals expressed in the novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties undoubtedly forged the final splendor of classical Chinese literature.