What literary genres are there in the history of China literature?

The Book of Songs is China's first collection of poems, which contains 305 poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty (1 1 century BC) to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period (6th century BC). Originally called The Book of Songs, it was called The Book of Songs because Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty regarded it as a classic. The Book of Songs is divided into three parts: style, elegance and vulgarity, and fu. Among them, The Wind contains the folk songs of fifteen places, which is called The Wind of Fifteen Countries, with 160 articles, which is the core content of The Book of Songs. "Wind" refers to rural wind and wind ballads. "Ya" is elegant music, which is divided into "Ya" and "Xiaoya". Poems 105, including 3 poems by Yashi1and 74 poems by Xiaoya. Ode is a sacrificial music song, which is divided into Zhou Song, Truffle and Shang Ode, with 40 songs in total. It is one of the five classics. The Book of Songs has a history of 2500 years. The performance of The Book of Songs can be divided into fu, bi and xing, which are called "six meanings" together with wind, elegance and praise.

Second, pre-Qin prose

The origin of China's ancient prose can be traced back to the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and many complete sentences have appeared in Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang Dynasty. Bronze inscriptions in the Western Zhou Dynasty, some of which are as long as 300 to 500 words, record the deeds of nobles, the causes of lawsuits or rewards, etc. And the narrative content has been quite rich. These can be regarded as the embryonic form of ancient Chinese prose.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China's ancient prose flourished and many excellent prose works appeared, which is the pre-Qin prose in the history of literature. There are two kinds of pre-Qin prose, historical prose and various schools of thought prose. The former includes Zuo Zhuan, Mandarin, Warring States Policy and other historical works. The latter are the articles of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Legalism, among which The Analects of Confucius, Mozi and Mencius are the words and deeds of Kong Qiu, Mo Zhai and Mencius, while Zhuangzi, Xunzi and Everything is done wrong are my own works. The prose styles of pre-Qin philosophers are diverse, either magnificent, eloquent or romantic and fantastic. Hundred schools of thought's essays have a far-reaching influence on the development of China literature.

Third, Chu Ci.

Chuci, whose original meaning refers to Chuci, is gradually fixed into two meanings: one is the genre of poetry, and the other is the name of poetry collection (which also represents Chuliterature to some extent). The writing techniques of Chu Ci are romantic, passionate and imaginative, with strong local characteristics and mythical colors of Chu State. Compared with the simple four-character poems in The Book of Songs, the sentence patterns of Chu Ci are more vivid, and sometimes Chu dialect is used in sentences, which is more suitable for expressing rich and complicated thoughts and feelings.

As far as the poetic genre is concerned, it is a new poetic style created by poets represented by Qu Yuan on the basis of Chu folk songs at the end of the Warring States Period. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang collected the works of Qu Yuan and Song Yu, as well as the works of Han people who imitated this poetic style. The book "Songs of the South" is another far-reaching poetry collection in ancient China after the Book of Songs. In addition, because Qu Yuan's Li Sao is a masterpiece of Chu Ci, Chu Ci is also called "Sao" or "Sao Style".

Fourth, Han Fu.

Han Fu is a rhyming prose that appeared in the Han Dynasty. It is characterized by the combination of prosody and rhyme, specializing in narrative, and is a far-reaching genre in classical literature. Fu is the most popular style in Han Dynasty. During the 400 years of Han Dynasty, ordinary literati devoted themselves to writing this style, which was very popular, and later generations often regarded it as the representative of Han Dynasty literature. Han Fu can be divided into big Fu and small Fu. Da Fu, also known as Three-body Da Fu, has a huge scale, magnificent structure and magnificent vocabulary, and is often a huge system with thousands of words. Jia Yi, Mei Cheng, Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong in the Western Han Dynasty, and Ban Gu and Zhang Heng in the Eastern Han Dynasty were all great fu writers. Fu Xiaoyang abandoned the shortcomings of Da Fu, such as long length, flowery rhetoric, abandonment of everything and lack of emotion. On the basis of retaining the basic literary talent of Han Fu, they created short fu and short fu by Zhao Yi, Cai Yong and Mi Fei.

Five, the Southern and Northern Dynasties folk songs

Due to the long-term confrontation between the northern and southern dynasties, there are obvious differences in politics, economy, culture, national customs and natural environment, so the folk songs in the northern and southern dynasties also show different emotional appeal and styles. The beautiful and lingering folk songs in the Southern Dynasties more reflect the sincere and pure love life of the people. The folk songs of the Northern Dynasties are rough and bold, which widely reflect the turbulent social reality and people's living habits in the North. The lyric poem Xizhou Qu in the Southern Dynasties and the narrative poem Mulan Poetry in the Northern Dynasties respectively represent the highest achievements of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, as in the Han Dynasty, there were special Yuefu organs to collect poems and sing them with music. These Yuefu poems include folk songs and works of noble literati. Among them, folk songs have fresh and lively artistic charm.

Sixth, Tang poetry

The Tang Dynasty (AD 6 18-907) was the heyday of the development of classical poetry in China. Tang poetry is one of China's outstanding literary heritages and a bright pearl in the world literature treasure house. Although it has been over 1000 years, many poems have been widely circulated by us.

There were many poets in the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi are world-famous great poets. Besides them, there are countless other poets, like the stars all over the sky. There are more than 2300 famous poets today. More than 48,900 of their works are preserved in the whole Tang poetry. The subject matter of Tang poetry is very extensive, from natural phenomena, political dynamics, working life, social customs, to personal feelings, which cannot escape the keen eyes of poets and become the subject matter of their writing. In terms of creative methods, there are both realism and romanticism, and many great works are examples of the combination of these two creative methods, forming an excellent tradition of China's classical poetry.

There are various forms of Tang poetry. There are basically two kinds of ancient poems in Tang Dynasty: five-character poems and seven-character poems. There are also two kinds of modern poems, one is called quatrains, and the other is called metrical poems. Quatrains and metrical poems are five words and seven words respectively. Therefore, there are basically six basic forms of Tang poetry: five-character archaic poetry, seven-character archaic poetry, five-character quatrains, seven-character quatrains, five-character rhythmic poems and seven-character rhythmic poems. Classical poetry has a wide range of requirements for rhyme and meter: in a poem, the number of sentences can be more or less, the chapters can be long or short, and the rhyme can be changed. Modern poetry has strict requirements on rhyme and meter: the number of sentences in a poem is limited, that is, four-line quatrains and eight-line meter poems. The words used in each poem have certain rules, and the rhyme cannot be changed; Rhyme also requires that the middle four sentences become antithesis. The style of ancient poetry is handed down from the previous generation, so it is also called ancient style. Modern poetry has strict rules, so some people call it metrical poetry.

The forms and styles of Tang poetry are colorful and innovative. It not only inherited the tradition of Han and Wei folk songs and Yuefu, but also greatly developed the singing style. It not only inherited the five-character or seven-character ancient poems of the previous generation, but also developed into a long and huge system of narrative romance; It not only expanded the use of five-character and seven-character styles, but also created modern poems with particularly beautiful and neat styles. Modern poetry was a new style of poetry at that time, and its emergence and maturity was an important event in the history of Tang poetry development. It pushed the artistic features of China's ancient poems with harmonious syllables and refined words to an unprecedented height, and found a typical form for ancient lyric poetry, which has been especially loved by people so far.

Seven, Song Ci

Ci is a kind of poetry. Because it is the lyrics of music and harmony, it is also called tune, Yuefu, music movement, long and short sentences, poetry, piano music and so on. It began in the Tang Dynasty, took shape in the Five Dynasties and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Song Ci is a brilliant diamond in the crown of China ancient literature. In the ancient literature of Yuen Long, it is a fragrant and gorgeous garden. With its colorful and varied charm, she is on a par with Tang poetry and Yuanqu, and has always been said to be the best companion of Tang poetry, representing the prosperity of a generation of literature.

Ci originated from the folk, and later literati wrote new words according to the rhythm of music score, called "Ci" or "Yin". From then on, the word was separated from music, forming a kind of metrical poem with uneven sentence length. Fifth, the seven-character poem is symmetrical and dual, presenting the beauty of neatness; The characters are mainly long and short sentences, showing uneven aesthetic feeling. Words have epigrams, that is, tunes Some intonations have different "styles" because of different words or sentence patterns. Common aphorisms are about 100. The structure of a word is divided into blocks or pieces, which are monotonous, two are disyllabic, and three are called triple. According to different music, there are differences in order, quotation, approach and slowness. "Ling" is generally short, and the words used by early literati are mostly filled in poems. "Yin" and "gold" are generally longer, and "slow" is longer than the "Yin" and "gold" that prevailed after the mid-Northern Song Dynasty. There is a saying that Liu Yong "began to speak slowly". According to the number of words, there are also "Xiao Ling", "alto" and "long tune".

The factions of Song Ci are basically divided into two categories: graceful and unrestrained. Representatives of Gracious School: Liu Yong, Li Qingzhao, Qin Guan, Yan Shu, Yan, Zhou Bangyan, Jiang Kui, etc. Representatives of the uninhibited school: Xin Qiji, Su Shi, Yue Fei, Chen Liang, etc. Graceful school is characterized by its content focusing on children's customs. The structure is profound and meticulous, paying attention to the harmony of melody, the language is round and fresh, and there is a gentle beauty. Narrow content. For a long time, characters tend to be gentle and graceful, so people have formed the concept that grace is authentic. Li Houzhu, Liu Yong, Zhou Bangyan and other poets' The Truth of Ci represents this view. Graceful words once dominated the ci world for a long time, until a large number of poets such as Jiang Kui, Wu Wenying and Zhang Yan in the Southern Song Dynasty were influenced by graceful words in different aspects. The characteristics of the bold school are, in general, broad creative vision, majestic atmosphere, love to write words with poetic techniques, syntax and typology, wide use of words, many uses, and unconventional temperament. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Huang Tingjian, Chao, He Zhu and others all had works of this style. After Du Nan, due to the great changes of the times, tragic and generous high notes came into being, which became a common practice, and Xin Qiji became a giant and leader of a generation who created bold and unconstrained ci. The school of bold and unconstrained ci is not only unique, but also has a great influence on the ci circle in Song Dynasty. From the Song and Jin Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, there were always poets who held high the bold banner and made great efforts to study Su and Xin.

Eight, Yuanqu

Yuanqu is another literary prosperity after Tang poetry and Song poetry, and it has its unique charm: on the one hand, Yuanqu inherits the beauty and gracefulness of poetry; On the one hand, in the Yuan Dynasty, the soldiers and soldiers were placed in the position of "eight prostitutes, nine men and ten beggars", and the political monopoly and social darkness made Song Yuan radiate extremely dazzling fighting brilliance and reveal rebellious feelings; Sharp-edged pointed at the drawbacks of society, denounced the society that "not reading is the highest, illiteracy is the best, and people who are not sensible are bragging", and pointed at the world trend that "everyone is embarrassed to live, and no one can see the money". The works describing love in Yuan Qu are also more inflammatory and bold than the poems of past dynasties. All these are enough to keep the artistic charm of Yuanqu forever. The Yuan Dynasty was the heyday of Yuanqu. Generally speaking, Yuan Zaju and Sanqu are collectively called Yuan Qu, which is the main body of Yuan literature. However, the achievements and influence of Yuan Zaju far exceeded that of Sanqu, so some people called Yuan Zaju "Yuan Qu" or "Yuan Qu". Yuanqu is a wonderful flower in the splendid cultural treasure house of the Chinese nation, which embodies its unique characteristics in ideological content and artistic achievements and has become three important milestones in the history of China literature.

The rise of Yuanqu has a far-reaching influence and outstanding contribution to the development of China's national poetry and cultural prosperity. As soon as Yuanqu appeared, just like other artistic flowers, it immediately showed great vitality. It is not only a convenient tool for literati to express their feelings, but also provides a brand-new art form to reflect the social life of the Yuan Dynasty. There are complicated reasons for the rise and development of Yuanqu. First of all, the social reality of the first generation is the foundation of the rise of Yuanqu. The vast territory, prosperous urban economy, grand theater, active book club and all-weather audience laid the foundation for the rise of Yuanqu. Secondly, the exchange and integration of the cultures of all ethnic groups in the Yuan Dynasty promoted the formation of Yuan Qu. Thirdly, Yuanqu is the inherent law of poetry itself and the inevitable result of the inheritance and development of literary tradition.

The development of Yuanqu can be divided into three periods. Early stage: from the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty to the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty. During this period, Yuanqu has just entered the poetry world from folk slang, with distinctive characteristics of popularization and colloquialism, bold and straightforward, simple and natural. Most of the authors are northerners, among whom Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Wang Shifu, Wang Xiaojun, Bai Pu and others have the highest achievements. For example, Guan Hanqing's zaju vividly depicts the world, with wonderful songs, changeable styles, vivid and profound poems, crystal-clear beauty and gorgeous and bitter sets. Ma Zhiyuan's creation has a wide range of themes, lofty artistic conception, vivid images, beautiful language and harmonious phonology. He is known as the first master of Yuan Sanqu, "the first person of Qu Yuan" and "the father of Qiu Si". Mid-term: From Yuan Shizu to the first year to Yuan Shundi, and then to the first year. During this period, the creation of Yuanqu began to make a comprehensive transition to knowledge and specialization, and Sanqu became the main genre of poetry. Important writers include Zheng Guangzu, Sui, George and. The last period: from Yuan Chengzong to mindfulness, to the end of Yuan Dynasty. At this time, Sanqu writers were specialized in composing music. They pay attention to metrical words, deliberately seek work in art, and advocate gracefulness, exquisiteness, elegance and beauty. Representative writers are Zhang, Xu Zaisi and so on. In a word, Yuanqu, as a "literature of one generation", has rich and diverse themes, broad creative vision, vivid life, full and touching characters, and easy-to-understand language, which is an indispensable and valuable heritage in China's ancient cultural treasure house. The four masters of Yuan Qu: one is Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Zheng Guangzu and Bai Pu. Another way of saying it is Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan and Bai Pu.

Nine, Ming and Qing novels

On the basis of strange novels in Wei and Jin Dynasties and legendary novels in Tang Dynasty, China's classical novels began to enter a mature stage. Novels developed with the prosperity of urban commercial economy. Around the Song Dynasty, the development of handicrafts and commerce brought prosperity to the city, providing places and audiences for the development of folk rap art. The expanding cultural and entertainment needs of the citizens greatly stimulated this development, thus producing a new literary style-storytelling. Storybook, as a novel, has begun to take shape. In the later spread process, new creations are constantly added and gradually mature. The development of economy and printing industry in Ming Dynasty provided material conditions for novels to break away from folk oral creation and enter literati written creation. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, vernacular novels formally entered the literary world as a mature literary style.

Ming and Qing Dynasties are the prosperous periods in the history of China's novels. Since the Ming Dynasty, novel, as a literary form, has fully demonstrated its social function and literary value, broken the monopoly of orthodox poetry, and achieved the status of literary history on a par with Tang poetry, Song ci and Yuan qu. The Qing Dynasty was a period when China's classical novels flourished and declined and turned into modern novels.

The novels created by literati in Ming Dynasty mainly include vernacular short stories and novels. The vernacular short stories in Ming Dynasty have made brilliant achievements. Among them, Sanyan, edited by Feng Menglong at the end of Ming Dynasty, has a great influence on later generations. Later, Ling Mengchu imitated "Sanyan" and created "One Moment Surprise" and "Two Moments Surprise", which were collectively called "Two Beats". Sanyan and Erpai are representative works of vernacular short stories in Ming Dynasty. Vernacular short stories in Ming Dynasty reflect social life more directly and widely than novels. Among them, love and marriage works account for a large proportion, which reflects the citizens' progressive view of love and marriage, criticizes the irrationality of feudal ethics and praises the struggle of young men and women for marriage autonomy and happy life. Representative novels in Ming Dynasty include Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, The Journey to the West and Jin Ping Mei.

Class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and struggles in the ideological and cultural fields in the Qing Dynasty had a profound impact on novel creation. The period from the early Qing Dynasty to the Qianlong period was the heyday of the development of novels in the Qing Dynasty, with great development in quantity and quality, content and form, style and genre compared with the previous generation. Novels in the Qing Dynasty were basically created by literati. Although they draw lessons from history, legends and other materials, their works are mostly based on real life, which fully reflects the author's personal wishes and has reached a mature level in structure, narration and character description. Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio and A Dream of Red Mansions, which came into being in the Qianlong period, pushed the creation of classical Chinese novels and vernacular novels to the peak respectively. China's classical novels have appeared continuously since the legend of the Tang Dynasty, but most of them are simple in narrative and lack of literary talent, while Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is like the peak of otherness. The author Pu Songling uses classical Chinese as the vernacular, which is quite vivid. Most of the protagonists in the novel are foxes and ghosts, but their images are lovely and full of human feelings. It represents the highest achievement of China's classical novels.

China ancient narrative literature entered a mature stage in Ming and Qing Dynasties. As far as literary concepts, literary styles and means of literary expression are concerned, novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties pushed narrative literature to the extreme with their completeness and richness. Judging from the broad social life scenes, rich artistic creation achievements and rich social and political ideals expressed by Ming and Qing novels, there is no doubt that Ming and Qing novels cast the last glory of China classical literature.