Chinese literature
The Chinese literature has a special place in the history of humanity, being given the worship reserved to the thing written in China and single character of the Chinese Caractères, which draw their origin from rites divinatoires and are different radically from the sound systems use in the majority of the other languages.
One can thus consider the emergence of the Chinese literature at the time when the Chinese ideograms left their original vocation to be constituted in characters usable independently, undoubtedly 2000 years before J-C. These first writings keep however a canonical rigidity or a philosophical vocation which poses sometimes problem with the Western concept of “literature”.
Table of synthesis
First texts
Detailed article: Writing ossécailleIt is under the Dynastie Shang (- 1570 to -1045 front J-C) that appear the first forms of Chinese writings constituting of true texts (before one can find only pictograms isolated). It is primarily about Pictogramme S engraved on bones, scapulas of bovines, scales of tortoises or on bronze or the pottery. The interpretation of this writing remains difficult, indeed on the few 2.500 characters which one knows coming from these texts, only 1400 correspond to Sinogramme S Chinese posterior, and can consequently be interpreted. The function of these texts is not on the other hand any doubt, it acts mainly of oracles used at end of divination.
The traditional period
Detailed article: Traditional Chinese
China has a rich old literature, as well in prose as in poetry. The traditional texts go back for the majority from the dynasty to Zhou (1046 with 256 av. J. - C) and were written in Chinese traditional. All these texts forged the culture, the philosophy and the religious thought of the country.
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traditional the confucéens
The study of what is called the " Four Livres" and " five Classiques" (四書五經, 四书五经, Sìshūwǔjīng) was obligatory for the students who wished to pass the contests of mandarinat to become civils servant of the state. Some are allotted to Confucius, but it was perhaps only their compiler. At all events, all were largely influenced by its ideas.
The Four Books (四書, 四书, Sìshū) consist of four texts compiled by Zhu Xi during the Dynastie Song to be used as introduction to Chinese philosophy and the Confucianisme. Among these four texts, two are extracted from Lijing 禮經 or Classique from the rites which describes the old rites and the religious ceremonies of the court. It is about the Grande Study (大學, 大学, Dàxué) and of the Invariable Medium (中庸 Zhōngyōng), the two others are: the Analectes de Confucius (論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ), a compilation of words allotted to Confucius and gathered by its disciples; and the Mencius (孟子 Mèngzǐ), compilation of the talks between Mencius and the kings of his time.
The Traditional Five (Wǔjīng 五经 or 五經) as for them were probably compiled by Confucius itself. The first is the Classique changes or Yi King (易經, 易经, Yìjīng), handbook of divination based on the combination of eight trigrams whose invention is allotted to the mythical emperor Fuxi. The second, the Traditional of the worms (詩經, 诗经, Shījīng), is a work made up of 305 poems divided into 160 songs sung at the time of the festivities or the religious ceremonies of the imperial court. The third, the Traditional of the documents (" Shūjīng" 書經, 书经, or " Shang Shu" 尚書 or quite simply " Shu" 書) is a documentation and speech which one supposes that they were written by the noble ones and the official ones of the dynasties Xia, Shang and Zhou. The fourth, the Book of the rites (禮記, 礼记, Lǐjì), is a restoration of the book Lǐjīng lost in IIIe front century J-C which describes the old rites and the ceremonies of court. And the last, the Yearly of Springs and the Falls (春秋 Chūnqiū, alias 麟經, 麟经 Línjīng) constitutes a chronicle of the State of Lu, (state of birth Confucius) of -722 with -479.
Le Classique of the music (樂經, 乐经, Yuèjīng) is sometimes quoted like the sixth traditional one, but it was lost during the Dynastie Han.
One adds sometimes the other traditional ones to this list to constitute the nine traditional ones (九 經, jiujing) or even the thirteen traditional ones (十 三 經, shisan jing). But these other texts are of secondary importance.
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the traditional ones of the Taoism
For these three traditional, it is necessary to add a high number of other texts canonical which were nouveau riches and gradually compiled to the liking of the schools of thought and the successive dynasties.
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the traditional ones of the Mohisme
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the traditional ones of the Légisme
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the traditional ones of the Art of warfare
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the traditional ones of the History of China
Traditional poetry
Principal article: Chinese Poetry Among the first poetic anthologies most influential one finds Chuci 楚辭 ( Chants of Chu ) initially made up of poems allotted to legendary qu Yuan 屈原 (towards 340-278 Av. J-C) and to his disciple Song Yu 宋玉 (). The songs of this collection are more lyric and romantic and represent a tradition different from those of the first collections of worms like the Shijing. During the dynasty of Han (206 av. J-C to 220 a. J-C), this style with advanced until becoming the Fu 賦: a poem generally built in worms rhymes except for its introduction and of its conclusion which are written in prose, often in the form of questions/answers. The era of national disunion which will follow the period of Han will see the development of a new poetry, deeply influenced by the Taoïsme and in search of harmony with nature.Traditional poetry reached its apogee during the dynasty of Tang (618-907 a. J-C.). The beginning of the period of Tang is well-known for its Lushi 律詩 (“regular worms”) poems of eight stanzas containing five or seven words per line, its " Zi" poems in worms following of the very rigorous rules of prosody, and its Jueju 絕句 (“towards truncated”) poem of four lines containing five or seven words per line. The two most famous poets of this period were Li Bai 李白 (701-762 ap J-C) and Of Fu 杜甫 (712-770 a. J-C). Li Bai was celebrated for the romanticism of its poetry and Of Fu was regarded as a moralist Confucianist preaching an acute sense of the duty towards the company.
The poets of the late period of the dynasty of Tang developed a greater realism and are known for their critical vision of the company. They also contributed to the refinement of the art of the narration. One of most famous of these poets was Bai Juyi 白居易 (772-846 a. J-C) whose poems are presented in the form of a comment inspired and critical of the company of its time.
Late traditional prose (3rd century at the 12th century)
The period of Tang also sees the rejection of prose decorated and artificial developed during the period previous and emergence of a new prose, powerful, direct and simple, based on the writings of the periods Han and pre-Han. The first partisan of this neo-classic style and which will abundantly influence the literature during nearly 800 years, was Han Yu 韓愈 (768-824), a Master essay writer and an unconditional partisan of the return to orthodoxy Confucianist.
Modern prose (of the 14th century at the beginning of the 20th century)
The fictions in vernacular Language, although ever recognized by the official ones of the imperial court, started to become very popular after the 14th century. Recovering a broad panel of subjects, structured longer and on a level less low than the literary fictions, these popular fictions include/understand certain numbers of main works. Most famous Hong Lou Meng 紅樓夢 was certainly the family romance which one can translate by: the Dream in the red house . This semi-autobiographical work written by a descendant of a middle-class family on the decline, is recognized by all the specialists in the Chinese fiction as being a part impossible to circumvent of this kind.A new current is started with works of Lu Xun (1881-1936). He preached a revival of the literature and, in particular, to make it more accessible, he forsook traditional Chinese with the profit of news written in modern Chinese (Baihuà).
The contemporary period (20th century)
The Chinese literature underwent a shock of width up to that point unknown in its history following the fall of the Dynastie Qing and the end of the traditional culture well-read woman, asserted with vehemence at the time of the movement of May 4th 1919. The traditional literary language then is largely replaced by vernacular Chinese in all the fields of the literature. The writing resulting from the oral language, called baihua 白话, becomes a new vector of creation and of engagement on behalf of writers who are quickly confront with the new ideas come from Occident, in particular the Socialisme and the Marxisme (creation of the Chinese Communist party in 1921), and influences of foreign authors like Romain Roland.
End of the culture well-read woman
This change was initiated mainly by Lu Xun (1881-1936) which was the first Chinese writer of prose (other that the novel) in vernacular language, like by the literary reformers Hu Shi 胡適 (1891-1962) and Chen Duxiu 陳獨秀 (1880-1942). The writer Lu Xun writes news and tests which incarnate the evolution of the writing busy of the wenyanwen, the traditional writing, with the baihua. The contents of its works also carry a testimony on the progressive federation of the writers within the Association of the Chinese writers, who will have to subscribe to the precepts of propaganda and censure of the cultural Bureau starting from the advent of the Popular republic of China in 1949.
The end of the year 1920 and years 1930 were periods of creativity for the Chinese fiction, and literary associations and reviews adopted many artistic theories which proliferated then. Among the major writers of this time Guo Moruo 郭沫若 (1892-1978) appears, a poet, essay writer and critical literary; Mao Dun 茅盾 (1896-1981), the first novelist to be left the League of the movement liberator of China and one of those whose works reflect the revolutionary fight and the disillusion of the end of the year 1920; and Ba Jin 巴金 (1904-2005), a novelist whose work was influenced by Ivan Tourgueniev and of another Russian writers. In the years 1930, Ba Jin wrote a trilogy which depicted the fight of modern youth against the predominance of the antique family system Confucianist. Lao She 老舍 (1899-1966), satirist and novelist talented, was another important writer of this period.
Après 1949, many these writers reached important stations while becoming administrators of the new artistic policy and Chinese arts person. Many of these authors who were always in life at the time of the Cultural revolution (1966-1976) were often eliminated or forced to subject itself to public humiliations.
The Ligue of the movement liberator of China was founded in 1930 and included Lu Xun 魯迅 in its direction. In 1932, it adopted the Soviet doctrines of the socialist realism which affirmed that art must be focused on contemporary events through a realistic approach, exposing the evils of the nonsocialist companies and promoting the advent of the glorious future under the reign of the Communism. After 1949, the socialist realism based on famous “the Speech of Yan' year on the Literature and the Art” pronounced by Mao in 1942 became the single literary style of the Chinese authors whose works were published. However, of the conflicts quickly developed between the government and the writers. The talents of satirists and critics of the contemporary company who had made so useful the writers for the Chinese Communist party before his accession for the capacity, were not any more welcome thereafter. In addition, persistence among the writers of what was deplored as being of “the idealism of small middle-class man” or “the humanitarism” and a will of freedom in the choice of the topics of their works, still became more awkward for the party.
Literature under the mode of the censure
A great number of writers and Chinese intellectuals were sent in the Laogai. Others are old Zhiqing , i.e. lived the deportation in the campaign most of urban Chinese youth at the conclusion of the Cultural revolution as from 1967.
After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, Deng Xiaoping lance economic reforms and the progressive opening of the country. The Literature of the scars, witness of the traumatisms related to the painful blossoming of modern China, makes its appearance then, jointly with an anthology of other modes of writings, assoiffés of creative freedom.
The surge of the contemporary literature
The expression of political ideas and in particular of democratic ideas emerges then, until the Manifestations of the place Tian' anmen, which hardens the policy of repression and of censure of the cultural Bureau. However, of the writers as Wang Shuo has continues has to publish novels, very critical of the Chinese company: one wrongly to regard China as a cultural Gulag. The disproportionate volume of the publications in China, the thousands of publishers, leave many interstices or a relative freedom of expression can find its place.
In particular, the writer Mo Yan seems to have a total freedom of expression without to be censured.
The Chinese theater
The theater ( xijù ) can indicate spoken modern plays ( huàjù ), or sung traditional parts, like those of the opera of Beijing ( Jingjù ), of the opera of Canton ( Yuèjù ) or of the opera of the province of Seutchouan ( Chuanjù ). The parts of these regional operas are often written in local dialect and contain literary expressions sometimes difficult to include/understand. In the spoken theater, the comic dialogs ( xiansheng ) are forms very appraisals. The sketches are generally truffles of dialectal and popular expressions, word games and plays on the homophonous sinogrammes which support the situations of misunderstanding. This literary kind with its famous authors like Hou Baolin, Guo Qiru or My Ji.
For that it is necessary to add the puppet theater ( Mùouxi ) and the Chinese shadow theater ( piyingxi , “shadow theater in skin”), the figurines being formerly cut out in skin of ass.
Cyber-literature
In the years 1990, the exponential development of Internet gave place to the creation of a nebula of personal Web pages, and more recently, of blogs, of which that of Mu Zimei, newspaper of the sexual life of an young girl of Canton, attracted the lightnings of the censure but also a national notoriety.
Both blogs of the poetess and analyst Tibetan Öser were suddenly closed at the end of July 2006, at the request of the Chinese authorities and whereas a wave of censure denounced by Reporters without borders struck the Chinese Internet. Öser published tests there on the culture Tibetan, as well as articles of her husband, the Chinese writer Wang Lixiong, whose forum was also closed.
China has the most powerful filtration system of Internet sites with the world, but which prevails in the field of the literature only when “excesses” acquire a certain notoriety.
Chinese literature beyond the borders
Compared to vastness of the Chinese literary production, since the oldest times, only a very thin part was translated into Western languages. Since the economic emergence of China, this leading phenomenon starts to evolve/move, with the appearance of publishers specialized like the editions Picquier or Bleu of China in French language.
New phenomenon, of the writers of Chinese origin start today to be expressed directly in French language, the most edifying example being François Cheng, first Chinese of origin admitted with the French Academy. Others, like Gao Xingjian, emigrated in France where their ideas can be received publicly. Beatrice Lao, Chinese poetess which works in Europe, written in English.
The recent passion for China thus had an positive impact on Chinese literary creation and its reception abroad, parallel to a marketing of certain writers answering the tastes of the French public: Mian Mian, Wei Today or Mu Zimei is thus literary phenomena whose value still remains to be proven.
Major works, like those of Mo Yan, fortunately continue to be published.
See too
- List of Chinese literary works
- List of Chinese authors
- List of poets of Chinese language
- Chinese Cartoon
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