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There are a few heavy-hitters, though. I'd expect China, for example, to have written some great literature over the years. (Epistemic status: I don't actually
by pjscott 8y ago
There are a few heavy-hitters, though. I'd expect China, for example, to have written some great literature over the years.
(Epistemic status: I don't actually know anything about Chinese literature, and I welcome correction on this point.)
- lunaru 8y agoMost discussions regarding Chinese literature would start with the big four (novels): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Chinese_Novels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Chinese_Novels
- pjscott 8y agoI'm queueing up one of these as the next book I'll read. Thanks for helping me out!
- lunaru 8y agoI recommend Journey to the West out of the four. Kind of like an RPG-esque journey about a monkey and his gang traveling in search of Buddhist scriptures. You'll get to learn about Sun Wukong, who is the basis for a lot of Chinese, Japanese, and (I believe?) Korean spin-off characters, like Goku from Dragonball[1] Another good option is Romance of the Three Kingdoms which will cover a good portion of Chinese history (in a mythological way). A lot of the characters like Zhu Geliang [2] are still highly influential in modern Chinese culture. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong#Influence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong#Influence [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuge_Liang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuge_Liang
- oh-kumudo 8y agoChinese literature is indeed very rich, especially the ancient poetries/verses, from Tang and Song dynasty. They are indeed the essential part of, not only Chinese, but East Asian aesthetics in general.