Chinese literature is one of the oldest forms of art; its history goes back thousands of years. It originated in the distant era of the Shang dynasty, at the same time as the so-called buts - “fortune telling words” appeared, and throughout its development it was constantly changing. The development trend of Chinese literature is continuous - even if the books were destroyed, then this was certainly followed by the restoration of the originals that were considered sacred in China.
Books that were written on turtles
“Guessing words” - buts - are pictographic signs that, as a rule, were applied to tortoise shells. They are the ancestors of modern Chinese writing - hieroglyphs. It is worth noting that Chinese writing has always stood apart from spoken language and also developed separately.
This is what makes Chinese literature different from world literature. The Chinese consider the art of mastering the word the highest of all possible, as well as calligraphy.
History of the development of literature
Modern Chinese literature, of course, has a completely different structure and meaning than the ancient one, which can be divided into 8 parts - the stages of development and formation. Myths and legends became its beginning and foundation. This is followed by historical prose and stories about the masters, written in an artistic style, ditties, poems and songs. So, in the era of the Tang dynasty, poetry arose, and in the Song era - poetry.
Chinese literature, created at the initial stage of cultural development in China, can be considered quite primitive. It is based mainly on the legends and myths of ancient China, they were transmitted by word of mouth. Such works can be called folk art and traditions.
However, it was these traditions that gave impetus to the general cultural development in China. And over time, individual genres began to appear, various variations of literature.
Culture of Leah and Confucius
At the beginning of the reign of the Zhou Dynasty , the patrimonial system was practiced, which opened a new stage in the history of the state of China. And the most common trend in the literature of that time was the political views of the Chinese - ideals and judgments.
Each country of the Autumn and Spring periods had its own annalistic books, but the most representative was Spring and Autumn, written by Confucius. It was a story about the history of the state of Lu. Even to this day, in the art of modern Chinese literature, it does not lose its artistic value.
Confucius, as you know, very much believed in the value of society. He worked for a rather long time on this chronicle, putting a lot of work into it.
Unlike other literature
Unlike the literature of the whole world, artistic fiction was not very popular in China, on the contrary, they had historiographic and ethical-philosophical genres. This was a direct consequence of the ideology of the notorious Confucius, which enjoyed and still enjoys great popularity in China.
Also, drama arose in China in a fairly late period. Such genres of literature as memoir and epistolary were less developed in comparison with European prose, they occupied a certain niche only by the 20th century. But an essay, or Chinese biji, has been popular in China for more than two millennia. Of course, biji cannot be called an essay in the full sense of the word, but still these two subgenres are very similar.
A special language for writing books
In China, as in other countries, there is its own classic of literature. It is an inextricable cultural movement that existed exactly until 1912. This is a huge number of works that have been created in about 2400 years. That is, for the whole time the development of books of Chinese literature has never spoken - conversation was written in the classical language. If literary history in Europe were similar, then classic writers of the 20th century would have to write their works in Latin or Ancient Greek, which had long died out and were not used in everyday speech. That is why Chinese classical literature is so different from world literature.
This particular language, in which absolutely all books have been written in China for 2,400 years, has been imperial writing for more than 1,000 years. For this reason, all ruling strata of the population needed to know all neo-Confucian literature.
This is the first time the world has seen Chinese literature. References can be found below.
Classic Literature - Books
"Journey to the West." This unique novel was first published in the 1590s, the author is not known for certain. Already in the XX century, the opinion was firmly established that he was written by the scribe Wu Chenghen. The work can be attributed to the genre of fiction. The book tells about the adventures of the monkey king - Sun Wukong. To this day, it occupies a leading position in sales, not only in China, but throughout the world.
"A dream in a red tower." The author of the novel “A Dream in a Red Tower” is Cao Xueqin. His work has become a classic for a number of reasons, the main of which is the plot and narrative features. There is hardly any other book in China that could describe Chinese life, traditions, customs, and the originality of the Chinese national character and life with such authenticity and truthfulness. The reader observes all this against the background of the story of the decline of two branches of the Jia family.
River backwaters. The classic Chinese novel opens before the reader life in China during the reign of the Northern Song Dynasty, and talks about the so-called noble robbers that gathered in the rebel camp - Liangshanbo. The novel "River backwaters" was the first written in the chivalrous genre - whiskers.
The Three Kingdoms. This novel also belongs to a particular genre of Chinese literature. It was written in the distant XIV century. It was based on folk tales, myths and legends that tell about the sad events of the III century, when China was divided into three parts. All three of these new countries waged a continuous bloody war among themselves. The main characters of the book are the Chinese heroes who fought for justice.
The history of Chinese literature, of course, has a much larger number of books. We talked only about the most popular and sought-after works on the world book market.
It's time to get acquainted: Chinese literature presented in Russia
Chinese books are presented in the Russian book market in a much smaller amount than, for example, in the Japanese or Korean market. They are published and published, as a rule, in a rather modest circulation, but books are very high in price, and I am only interested in specialists in this field. In fact, the demand for Chinese books is low.
The writer Mo Yan, who received the Nobel Prize for his literary works, made the world talk about Chinese literature. Our country was no exception. The first book translated into Russian by Mo Yang is “The Land of Wine”. She went out of print on the very day when her author received the award, and aroused certain interest among the population.
In the near future, the translation of other new books by Mo Yang is also expected, which will also appear on the shelves of Russian bookstores, and may take their place in the hearts of readers. Chinese literature in Russia is only just beginning to win over the audience and holds great promise.
Difference in perception
As already mentioned, the history of Chinese literature is unique, there are a fairly large number of books written in a special language. Sure, they are very interesting, but modern Chinese writers, such as Lisa Xi, Amy Tan, Anchi Ming and others, are of no less interest.
Of course, the translation of their books sounds somewhat different, as the aftertaste leaves another - everyone knows that reading books and watching movies is best in the original language. It is known that there is a big difference between Russian and English, but an even greater gap separates languages such as Russian and Chinese. The literature in our countries is also different, with its own characteristics and zest. But the literature of the Middle Kingdom cannot be overlooked, if only because of its uniqueness.
Modern Books - Three Best Novels
Wild Swans, Yoon Zhang. The real epic. The plot of the book covers the life story of three generations of one family at once - mainly women. Events are developing very slowly, and their description is extremely detailed, which may seem boring, but you should read the lines and you will feel the unique and unique Chinese flavor. And the plot of the novel "Wild Swans" is truly amazing and unusual. It tells about the strength and masculinity of three female generations, about the trials they had to go through: repressions from the time of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, persecution and torture. Despite all the difficulties and fears, they were lucky to build strong families and happy harmonious relationships.
Club of Joy and Good Luck, Amy Tan. This book, like the previous one, is dedicated to the fate of women. It is divided into many stories and short stories that are told on behalf of mothers, daughters and grandmothers. All of them are united by the author in the so-called "Club of joy and good luck." Amy Tan’s novel is a very inspiring and life-affirming work that can impress even the most demanding reader.
“Girls from Shanghai,” Lisa X. The main heroines of the novel are young and often very frivolous girls, offspring of wealthy parents who are engaged in posing for photos on wall calendars. In their life there are no difficulties, failures or ups. Every evening they relax in expensive restaurants and bars with frivolous friends and representatives of golden youth. And then - the ruin of families, marriage, war, hunger and many other troubles that will make girls look at life from a completely different angle.
The development of modern literature
The books of Chinese writers have recently begun to conquer the world and have already achieved quite great successes. The development of literature continues, but at a modern level. And right now in China there is the so-called Literary Revolution, the largest in the history of the country. To date, in the Celestial Empire every year they publish about 30,000 books of various topics and genres. It is worth noting that the most popular among the Chinese are fantastic works about Shaolin masters. But, of course, other literary directions are in demand.
Translation difficulties
The Chinese people are much more familiar with Russian prose and classics than Russian with Chinese. In China, books of Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Ostrovsky and Tolstoy were published and reprinted. This is partly due to the fact that it is relatively easier to translate a book from Russian into Chinese without losing special speech turns.
But now this business has been put on stream. The best translators work on the books of modern Chinese writers, and it is worth noting that it turns out quite well with them.
The library of Chinese literature is regularly updated with new books, which are translated into several dozen different languages. We invite you to learn about the most famous writers of modern China.
Gao Xinjian
The future writer was born in 1940 in the province of Guangzhou. His craving for creativity began to manifest itself from an early age: he wrote his first story when he was still a 10-year-old child. But the writer had to burn all of his impressive works during the Cultural Revolution, and he himself was sent into exile in a remote remote village for educational purposes. There, Gao Xinjian continued to write.
Many of his works are prohibited to this day. Others publish quite freely. For example, the play “The Other Coast” was censored in 1986, while a year earlier his book “The Pigeon by the Name of the Red Bull” was published.
In 1987, the writer left his native country and moved to France. And after he condemned the actions of the Chinese government in 1989, he was completely deprived of citizenship.
Van man
Wang Meng was born in the capital of the Middle Kingdom, in Beijing, in 1934. He began to write early, and by the age of 15, the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, he had already written two books. Wang Meng participated in an underground struggle against the government, for which he served time in a colony. After his release, the writer was offered a high post of party leader, but he preferred literature to politics.
For the novel "Long Live Youth", which describes the lives of participants in underground resistance, Wang Meng received a second term and went into exile for as long as 20 years. And about this he also wrote a book - “On the River”.
Jia Pingwa
Jia Pingwa is a very popular Chinese novelist. Especially in demand is his book The Corrupt City, in which the writer narrates the temptations of a metropolis, its frantic pace of life, and the reverse side of its sparkling well-being. Many critics believe that Jia Pingwa talks about Shanghai, but the writer himself does not confirm this information, nor does he refute it.
In addition, the writer also worked in the erotic genre. It is believed that some erotic books that are for sale, so to speak from under the counter, were written by Jia Pingwa, although he himself had long since given up authorship. Therefore, it cannot be reliably said that he really wrote them.
Today, Chinese literature is striking in its diversity and brightness. Undoubtedly, every book lover is obliged to read at least one book from the Middle Kingdom, because they differ from other works of world literature in their originality.