A Journey To Its

History And
Literature
China
Quick Facts

Formal name: Peoples Republic of China (PRC)

Capital: Beijing
Government type: Communist state
Legal System: Based on a civil law system,
which was derived from the
Soviet legal System.
Population: 1.3Billion
 The red color symbolizes communist revolution.
Red is also the traditional color in Chinese
culture.

Golden yellow is the official color of the Manchu

dynasty and also implies that China belongs to
the Chinese people, a "yellow race

The large star represents the Communist Party.

The four smaller stars represent the four social

classes of the traditional Chinese society - the
working class, the peasantry, the urban petty
bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie
(capitalists) - united under the Communist Party
of China.

The Chinese Five 5-pointed stars reflects the importance of

the number five in Chinese philosophy (The

Flag
number 5 is associated with the five elements -
Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Metal - and hence,
it was historically associated with the Emperor of
China)
It has been said
that Shang
Dynasty
flourished in
1600BC, during
the Bronze age.
 Literature
The Chinese Oracle
Bones

Made around 1500 BC,

during the time of Shang
Dynasty

Used by priests to tell

the future

The writing on these

oracle bones is the same
writing that people use in
modern China, just in an
earlier version.
 By analyzing oracle
bone inscriptions, other
artifacts, and archaeological
sites such as tombs and
ancient cities, scholars have
been able to piece together
many details of Shang
civilization.
They have confirmed
the names of its kings, its
style of government, its
military history, its religious
beliefs and rituals, and its
society.
The Qin Dynasty (221-206
BC)
From this dynasty came two
Chinese heritage sites: The
Terracotta Army and the
Great Wall of China
 During this dynasty,
the emperor Qin Shih
Huang Di unified the
currency, system of writing,
and even the philosophical
thought through book
burning throughout the
 Han Dynasty 206 BC 220CE
Confucianism became
the state philosophy.
Men of wisdom and
virtue were put in
place through the civil
service examinations.
Scholar-officials were
expected to be junzi or
noble. Women,
however, were not
allowed to take the
exam.
 Kung Fu Tze or Confucius was born around 551 BCE in Lu
province in Zhou. His parents were nobility, but had become poor.
When Confucius was about 15 years old, he became quite
interested in learning. In those days, only the nobility and royals
were allowed education. All the teachers were government
officials.
It was hard for Confucius to find a way to learn because he was
poor.
To solve this, he went to work for a nobleman. This gave
him the opportunity to learn and to travel to the imperial capital.
Confucius studied and learned until he probably was the most
learned man of his day. People heard of his knowledge and sent
their sons to study with him. He was the first private teacher in
China.
 Confucianism

Confucius taught anyone who was eager to

learn. His ideas, called Confucianism, stress the
need to develop responsibility and moral
character through rigid rules of behavior.
Confucianism is not, properly speaking, a
religion; it's a way of behaving, so you'll do the
right things.
The Confucian Analects
It is a collection of moral and
ethical principles enunciated by the
Chinese thinker Confucius (Kung Fu-
tzu) around 500 BC in conversations
with his disciples. These principles set
standards for individual conduct and
the administration of government
and community.
 Excerpts from
The Confucian Analects
Tsze-kung asked what constituted the
superior man. The Master said, "He acts
before he speaks, and afterwards speaks
according to his actions.

The man who moves a mountain

begins by carrying away small stones.

"To have faults and not to reform them-

-this, indeed, should be pronounced having
faults.
 Ssu Ma Chien (145-
86 BC) is Chinas great
historian. He was also an
astronomer and calendar
expert during after the Han
Dynasty. He was the first to
write a comprehensive
history of China, thus
earning the title of Father
of Chinese History.
The Ballad of Hua Mulan - 5th or 6th
century
 7th-12th Century CE Chinas Golden Age

The Tang (618-907), along with the Song

dynasty (960-1279 CE) that follows, is often referred to
as China's "Golden Age.

Poetry, calligraphy, landscape painting,

philosophy, political thought, historical writing,
scientific advances in astronomy, chemistry, and
medicine, and the production of fine silks, porcelain,
and teas all flourish, particularly in the period from the
7th to the 12th centuries
 Taoism
Tao (pronounced Dow) means The Way
(to happiness). It is during the Tang
Dynasty that Taoism becomes the
official state philosophy of China, and
as such is integrated into the imperial
court system.
It was also the time of the second
Daozang an expansion of the official
Taoist canon, ordered (in CE 748) by
Emperor Tang Xuan-Zong.
Taoism is not a religion. Taoism is
a philosophy, a way of looking at
life and a way of thinking about
things.

Taoists believe if you look at life

and think about things in the right
way, you'll be much happier.
Tang Dynasty - Literature
During the Tang Dynasty,
the great poets Li Po and Tu Fu
became popular. Tu Fu became
known for his poem about war
and bitter human experiences.
Li Po, a friend of Tu Fu, wrote
lyrical poetry about love.
Li Yian, a woman poet
also became famous.
 Li Po
706-761 AD

Also called Li Bo or Li
Bai

He wrote about the

good things in life,
emphasizing love,
friendship, wine, nature
and simple village living.
 The River Merchants wife
While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead I played about
the front gate, pulling flowers. You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums. And we went on living in
the village of Chokan: Two small people, without dislike or suspicion. At
fourteen I married My Lord you. I never laughed, being bashful. Lowering my
head, I looked at the wall. Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.
At fifteen I stopped scowling, I desired my dust to be mingled with
yours Forever and forever and forever. Why should I climb the look out? At
sixteen you departed, You went into far Ku-to-yen, by the river of swirling
eddies, And you have been gone five months. The monkeys make sorrowful
noise overhead. You dragged your feet when you went out. By the gate now,
the moss is grown, the different mosses, Too deep to clear them away! The
leaves fall early this autumn, in wind. The paired butterflies are already yellow
with August Over the grass in the West garden; They hurt me. I grow older. If
you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang, Please let me
know beforehand, And I will come out to meet you As far as Cho-fu-Sa.
 Tu Fu

Also known as Du
Fu

poet friend of Li
bai

became known
for his poem about
war and bitter
human experiences
 The Solitary Goose

The solitary goose does not drink or eat,

It flies about and calls, missing the flock.
No-one now remembers this one shadow,
They've lost each other in the myriad layers of cloud.
It looks into the distance: seems to see,
It's so distressed, it thinks that it can hear.
Unconsciously, the wild ducks start to call,
Cries of birds are everywhere confused.
The worlds oldest book The worlds oldest surviving
book is Chinese Buddhist text called the Diamond Sutra,
which bears the date 868 AD. Along with other printed
manuscripts, the book was discovered in 1907 in a walled-
up cave in Dunhang (north-west China) and is on display
at the British Library.
Lu Hsun was the pen name of
Zhou Shuren (1881-1936). He
introduced modern Chinese
literature. Aside from being a
critic , he became the leader of
the Modern Cultural Revolution.
One of his famous works is A
Madmans Diary which serves
as Lu Hsuns declaration of war
against Chinese Literature.
In the 1930s he became the
titular head of the
Chinese League of the Left-
Wing Writers in Shanghai.
 The Diary of A Madman
written by Lu Hsun (1918)
The story presents itself as diary entries of a madman has now been cured of his
paranoia. The diary describes a growing fear, then, after extensively studying the Four
books and five classics of old Confucian culture, the diary writer, the supposed
"madman", began to see the words "Eat People!" (chiren) written between the
lines of the texts (in classical Chinese texts, commentary was placed between the lines of
the text, rather than in notes at the bottom of a page). Seeing the people in his village as
potential man-eaters, he is gripped by the fear that everyone, including his brother, his
venerable doctor and his neighbors, who are crowding about to watch him, are
harboring cannibalistic thoughts on him. Despite the brother's apparent genuine
concern, the narrator still regards him as big a threat as any stranger. Towards the end
the narrator turns his concern to the younger generation, especially his late sister (who
died when she was five) as he is afraid they will be cannibalized. By then he is convinced
that his late sister had been eaten up by his brother, and that he himself may have
unwittingly tasted her flesh.
The story ends with the famous line: "Save the children..."
Chinese Literary History

Summing Up
 Things to remember from this presentation:

Why is the Shang dynasty significant to Chinese Literature? Because

it was the time when the archaeologists found written evidences about
the existence of an ancient dynasty through the discovery of the
oracle bones. The oracles bones made from tortoise shells and animal
bones provided details about the Shang civilization.

The Chinese Axial Age and the preoccupations of the philosophers

during this time , and the reason for that. Because war is rampant
during the Axial Age, the pHilosophers wanted to restore social order
and harmony so they came up with philosophies that might be helpful
to achieve peace.

Kung Fu Tze, Confucianism and his teachings (The Confucian

Analects)
Ssu Ma Chien The Father of Chinese History
The Ballad of Hua Mulan and its era
The Golden Age of China : Why is it called the Golden Age?
The Tang Dynasty (Taoism, Li Po, Tu Fu, and some of their works)
Modern Chinese Literature: Lu Hsun